I came across this interesting story while reading about Peter Gabriel's new album of cover songs Scratch My Back. Gabriel's initial idea was to have each artist he covered on Scratch My Back cover one of his songs for a companion album, I'll Scratch Yours, which was to be released at a later time. It seems like this plan hit a snag or two:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/02/peter-gabriel-scratch-my-back
[T]here have been some high-profile drop-outs: Radiohead are no longer covering Wallflower, Gabriel's 1982 song about political prisoners in Latin America [. . .] [Peter Gabriel] sent a stream of his cover of Radiohead's Street Spirit (Fade Out) [. . .] to Thom Yorke; the code used to access the music showed Gabriel whether the track was played. It was, but only once. "[Yorke] said he hadn't listened [to it]," Gabriel says, "but that seems very strange to me. It's pretty extreme, I guess. And I have heard since that the band didn't like what I did with it." Radiohead's record company declined to comment.
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First of all, what the fuck is up with everybody in this story coming across as schoolgirls passing notes with little "Do you like me? Check 'Yes' or 'No'" messages on them? It has to be because they're all British, right? This shit wouldn't be happening between Pearl Jam and Lou Reed.
Setting aside the prissy Britishness of the whole thing, let me remind Radiohead of these two points:
(1) Digging in the Dirt and Solsbury Hill are better than anything you have ever done ever. And yes I meant to use "ever" twice. I'm allowed to do that. It's called writing.
Now where was I? Oh, yeah - Those two songs are better than anything on Pablo Honey and The Bends. They are better than anything on OK Computer, which is your best album by far. And they are definitely better than all those subsequent albums that sound like they were put together by an Aphex Twin tribute band in 1993. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you were required to send Richard D. James a royalty check every month.
(2) Gabriel was in Genesis! The good version of Genesis! The really, really, really good version of Genesis!
Look - Thom . . . Can I call you Thom? Actually, I should probably just call you Mr. Yorke because I'm not quite sure how to pronounce Thom . . . you don't pronounce the TH sound, right? That would be weird, right? It's just Tom but spelled with an H? Seems like you could just leave the H out, but whatever. Thom Cruise . . . that looks weird . . . okay . . . What we were talking about? That's right: Genesis.
Genesis! I want you to do something for me, Mr. Yorke. I want you to stop doing that weird squinting thing you're always doing and go to the nearest Tower Records [Editor's Note: Yeah, they, umm, they don't exist anymore.] and buy a copy of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway and a copy of Selling Britain by the Pound and listen to them both. Listen to them real close-like. Pay attention. Go ahead. I'll wait. Now, and this is the important part, the next time that man asks you to sing one of his songs for him, you shut the fuck up, suck it up, and sing the song. Okay?
Now, go record another album and do that thing you did with In Rainbows where you sell it online and let the consumers set the price they want to pay so I can give you zero moneys again. Cheers!
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