Why Did Radiohead Change Their Band Name?

Imagine buying tickets to see On A Friday headline Glastonbury. Because that's what Radiohead could have been called.

Thom Yorke, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway and Jonny Greenwood originally performed under the brilliantly imaginative name On A Friday while attending Abingdon School.

Why? They usually rehearsed on Fridays. That's genuinely it.

When the band signed to EMI in 1991, the label requested a name change. They eventually settled on Radiohead, taking inspiration from “Radio Head”, a song by Talking Heads from their 1986 album True Stories.

It turned out to be a reasonably important bit of rebranding.

OK Computer by On A Friday doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

James Waddingham
Collaborator, BritRock Heaven