Philip James Selway 23-05-1967
They liked the simple way they’d recorded Black Star (on the Bends) and Lucky (for the Bosnian charity album HELP) with engineer Nigel Godrich and asked him to build and man a mobile studio for them. Radiohead began writing OK Computer in early 1996 at their rehearsal studio, Canned Applause, a converted apple shed near their homes in Oxford, England. By July they had recorded four songs with producer Nigel Godrich. Having learnt from the Bends, they decided to break the songs in live before completing the record.
By July 1996, Canned Applause was set up for recording. It was the first time the band had attempted to cut album tracks outside of a conventional studio environment. Despite the experimental and unconventional setting, four songs from Canned Applause found their way onto the album. The songs were Subterranean Homesick alien, Electioneering, The Tourist and No Surprises. This last song was, in fact, the first day of the Canned Applause sessions.
In August 1996, Radiohead returned to America to tour, and again used it as an opportunity to play in new material. The band’s new material was premiered on a 13-date American tour supporting Alanis Morissette.
While on the road, they sampled some of their new material live, including an epic, expansive version of “Paranoid Android.” “If you think it’s a long song now, you should have heard it then,” boasts O’Brien. “It was eight to ten minutes longer, and when we started playing it live, it was completely hilarious. There was a rave down section and a Hammond organ outro, and we’d be pissing ourselves while we played. We’d bring out the glockenspiel and it would be really, really funny.”
September 1996, Radiohead moved their equipment from Canned Applause to St. Catherine’s Court, a mansion in Bath once owned by the actress Jane Seymour. There, they recorded the rest of Ok Computer away from the pressures and distractions of the big city. “We set up in the ballroom,” remembers bassist Colin Greenwood, “and the control room was set up in the library, which had these amazing views over the gardens. There were some magical evenings as we sat down with pieces of music with the windows open.”
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