There were many other recordings involving the band & members of the band that would be RADIOHEAD before they took the name. Most of this information is from the official Unbelievable Truth biography . These are heavily obscure demos which will probably never be heard by the public. All demos etc. date before the Union Street Demo, if just barely.



The Illiterate Hands Demo



Who: The Illiterate Hands which consisting of Matt Hawkesworth (guitars), Jonny Greenwood (keyboards, harmonica), Andy Yorke (vocals), Simon Newton (bass), & Mark Schofield (manager).



When: Early 1987

Where: Sphincter Studios (Nigel Powell's Parent's House)

The Story Behind It:



"The most outgoing guy in school, Alan Welby, had, for some reason, brought his drum machine into an art lesson. My curiosity overcame my shyness, so I sidled over to ask about it. I think around this time I'd got my first Portastudio (a four track cassette recorder with a very basic mixer connected), so we chatted about that for a while, and through him I met a lot of other music connected guys. Eventually, hearing through Welby (as we referred to him - it was a public school after all) that I had some recording equipment, Mark Schofield, who was managing a band called The Illiterate Hands, approached me to find out if I would record them. Through him I met Jonny, and we formed an instant connection, discovering we used the same drum machine (the SpecDrum, a small box attached to the back of a ZX Spectrum computer - what dynamic and exciting lives we led). I also met Andy, but my earliest memories of him are how completely silent he was. Early in 1987 we convened at my parent's house to record 8 songs onto my portastudio, although two of them were alternate versions of the same songs. For a reason that now escapes me, I insisted that the recording be credited to 'Sphincter Studios'. The recording came out to my satisfaction, and cemented very close friendships between me and Andy, and me and Jonny." -Nigel Powell







Who: On A Friday including Jonny Greenwood



When: June 1987

Where: Sphincter Studios (Nigel Powell's Parent's House)

The Story Behind It:



"..Andy mentioned that his brother was jealous of the quality of the Illiterate Hands' demo (??),and was asking who'd done it. So after my exams that June (1987), I spent a good few weeks of the summer recording a demo for On A Friday, who by this time had included Jonny in their ranks, as a keyboard player." -Nigel Powell



Illiterate Hands

Demo





Who: Illiterate Hands as mentioned above plus Nigel Powell (Drums)



When: 1988?

Where:

a big studio near Oxford

The Story Behind It:



"..Illiterate Hands recorded some more songs at a big studio near Oxford through a school friend whose dad worked for mixing desk makers SSL .." -Nigel Powell







Illiterate Hands Demo



Who: Illiterate Hands



When: 1988?

Where: Sphincter Studios (Nigel Powell's Parent's House)

The Story Behind It:

"..some more recording happened at my parent's house for IH.." -Nigel Powell



Nightshade Demo

Nightshade Demo Who: Nightshade which consisted of Nigel Powell (Drums), Adrian Powell (?), Jonny Greenwood (Keyboard), Rik (Bass)

When: 1988?

Where: Sphincter Studios (Nigel Powell's Parent's House)

The Story Behind It:

"..some more recording happened at my parent's house for ..Nightshade.." -Nigel Powell

It is not sure who in the Nightshade lineup was on this demo.





Who: Thom Yorke

When: 1988?

Where: Sphincter Studios (Nigel Powell's Parent's House)

The Story Behind It:

"..some more recording happened at my parent's house for IH, Nightshade, and some solo tracks for Thom.." -Nigel Powell





Illiterate Hands Songs

Who:

Illiterate Hands

When: 1988? 1989?



Where: Probably

Sphincter Studios

Tracks:

Shave The Beaten Trail & ???



The Story Behind It:

"By this time Andy had become a mean saxophonist, adding a great solo, heavily influenced by 'Fireplace' from REM's 'Document' to 'Shave The Beaten Trail', which is also the first time me and Andy wrote a song together. It certainly bore all the hallmarks of one of mine, since there were so many chords in it that Jonny had to read them off a piece of paper to keep up, and had some impenetrable but ecological sounding lyrics from Andy. It wasn't much good though. Although we collected all these songs together, I don't think we ever tried to sell any copies, so it's probably buried somewhere in time, thankfully." -Nigel Powell





Thom & Jonny Songs Who: Thom Yorke & Jonny Greenwood

When: 1988?

Where: Jonny’s bedroom

The Story Behind It:

Being the only ones of On A Friday still in town Thom and Jonny wrote songs, taping them on a four-track in Jonny’s bedroom. Thom: “Composing songs with Jonny made me feel more comfortable with writing lyrics--an activity I hadn’t felt like bothering with for a long time.”



Various Demo Information:

Excerpt from From A Great Height :

" One afternoon, a young man named John Butcher, a close friend of Chris's assistant, came into Courtyard with a demo tape. It was the complete works of a band which featured two of Butcher's classmates, Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood. "You couldn't hear any one band on it," Hufford says now of his first taste of On A Friday. "There were some good tunes but it was all obviously ripped off mercilessly." He might have ignored it were it not for the 15th track. "It was a weird looped-up dance thing which was completely mental but had something about it that was very different. I asked if they had anything else. After about six months John brought in another tape with Stop Whispering and What's That You Say on it. These were great songs. Now they had an identity."

One afternoon, a young man named John Butcher, a close friend of Chris's assistant, came into Courtyard with a demo tape. It was the complete works of a band which featured two of Butcher's classmates, Thom Yorke and Colin Greenwood. "You couldn't hear any one band on it," Hufford says now of his first taste of On A Friday. "There were some good tunes but it was all obviously ripped off mercilessly." He might have ignored it were it not for the 15th track. "It was a weird looped-up dance thing which was completely mental but had something about it that was very different. I asked if they had anything else. After about six months John brought in another tape with Stop Whispering and What's That You Say on it. These were great songs. Now they had an identity." The first demo was brought in about six months before the 2nd which means it was probably brought there about Oct. 1990. The 2nd demo mentioned was the Self Titled On A Friday Demo recorded at Dungeon Studios in April 1991. It was the Manic Hedgehog demo & Drill that were recorded at Courtyard Studios. Manic Hedgehog was recorded & distributed in September 1991 & work began on Drill in February 1992. Non-Demoed or Unfound Demo Songs:

This is an extract taken from the From

'All five members of the band are Oxford born and bred and all have returned to their home town after time away at college. How much influence has Oxford had on their songs?



Tom: "Loads. ‘Jerusalem’ is all about Oxford. So is ‘Everybody Lies Through Their Teeth’. It’s such a weird place and it’s very important to my writing." This is an extract taken from the From Curfew Magazine 'All five members of the band are Oxford born and bred and all have returned to their home town after time away at college. How much influence has Oxford had on their songs?Tom: "Loads. ‘J’ is all about Oxford. So is ‘’. It’s such a weird place and it’s very important to my writing."