Top 10 Radiohead Covers

by Ciaran Thompson

January 23, 2011

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Like them or not, Radiohead are most often summed up in one word: important. They have been critically important to the last twenty-plus years of alternative rock music, and even more important to the legions of bands who cite their music as an influence. Since forming in the mid-’80s, the band has managed to do everything their way, demonstrating a certain amount of integrity with regards to accepting the fame they’ve been awarded while speaking to the social and political climate of an entire generation. Although a new record is reportedly on the way (their eighth), the band’s legacy has more or less been cemented; now it’s just interesting to see who can do the best rendition of a song by one of the quote-unquote greatest currently active rock acts. Below is AUX’s top 10 Radiohead covers (thus far).

10. “Black Star” – Gillian Welch

In 2006, Gillian Welch released a three song EP named after her cover of Radiohead’s “Black Star” (from their sophomore album The Bends). The version that was released is a live take by Welch and frequent collaborator David Rawlings and it pretty much follows the original version, but with a bit of a country vibe. It sounds like something you’d hear while sitting with a large group around a fire pit while the acoustic guitar gets passed from person to person.

9. “Optimistic” – Hanson

Hanson might be the last band you’d think would make this list (and maybe the last to cover a Radiohead track to begin with). But they did. And they choose “Optimistic” from Kid A, one of Radiohead’s most experimental albums, involving little or no guitars. Once you get past the twelve-year-old girls JUST LOSING IT at the beginning of the video (and at various points throughout the song), you realize that these boys did a decent job and they deserve credit for being audacious enough to cover a song by a band some of their fans don’t know exists.

8. “Lucky” – My Brightest Diamond

Shara Worden, the prominent singer/songwriter for My Brightest Diamond, has cited Radiohead as being one of the band’s favorites when they recorded a cover of “Lucky” for Stereogum. This haunting number from OK Computer is perfect for Worden’s vocals, with the piano and drum machine complimenting the track’s slow rise. Although there’s no guitar and the original boasts a ripping solo near the song’s conclusion, this cover still manages to provide the listener with just the right dose of drifting into space.

7. “Paranoid Android” – Sia

Australian singer/songwriter Sia Furler recorded this take of “Paranoid Android” for a Radiohead tribute album called Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads in 2006. This is the only track from that record to make this list, and after listening it’s not difficult to understand why. The song is stripped down considerably, but Furler’s vocals are so passionate that it doesn’t require the sonic explosion the original carries, rather just a few strings. Now we’re only left to decide which version we like best and that is no easy call.

6. “Fake Plastic Trees” – Amanda Palmer

Earlier this year, Amanda Palmer put out an EP appropriately titled Amanda Palmer Performs the Hits of Radiohead on Her Magical Ukulele. One of the tracks covered is “Fake Plastic Trees,” another from The Bends. The word magical might be an understatement as this cover transforms from the gentle sounds of its beginnings to a big electric guitar near its end, pairing flawlessly with Palmer’s gentle, but firm vocals.

5. “Karma Police” – Easy Star All-Stars

In 2003, Easy Star All Stars, a collaboration of reggae and ska artists (please don’t stop reading now), released Dub Side of the Moon featuring reggae version of Pink Floyd songs from Dark Side of the Moon (don’t stop reading now either). Three years later, the band followed up with Radiodread, an album that applies the same technique, but using Radiohead’s OK Computer instead. Guitarist Jonny Greenwood reportedly described the album as “truly astounding” after listening to it. You be the judge.

4. “Exit Music (For a Film)” – Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend really put the typical Vampire Weekend spin on this quiet track off of OK Computer by adding a steady beat and delicate horns. Lead vocalist Ezra Koenig’s take on Thom Yorke’s memorable croon towards the end of the track comes off as a valiant effort. The most successful covers tend to be by artists who have little or nothing in common with the band they are covering, here’s one of them.

3. “No Surprises” – Regina Spektor

Back in April, Regina Spektor released her cover of “No Surprises” with 100% of the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders, who in turn distributed funds to various relief efforts for earthquake victims in Haiti and Chile. With just piano, voice, and a limited amount of strings, Spektor’s beautiful rendition makes for a memorable cover, all in the name of a good cause.

2. “Reckoner” – Gnarls Barkley

While out touring The Odd Couple, Gnarls Barkley’s second studio album, the band gave London’s Astoria venue their rendition of “Reckoner” off of Radiohead’s In Rainbows. It seems Cee Lo Green is meant for moments like these as his high-pitched vocals match nicely with Yorke’s and add a little something that compliments the original, yet doesn’t make it seem superior or inferior.

1. “Creep” – Prince

At the Coachella Festival in 2008, Prince performed one of Radiohead’s earliest hits, “Creep.” It wasn’t until sometime later that folks could watch it on YouTube, as his label NPG immediately removed it, claiming a copyright violation. Eventually someone pointed out that the videos were shot by fans and the track itself is Radiohead’s not Prince’s, so footage was again uploaded and there it has stayed. This isn’t any ordinary cover, but rather something that probably will never happen again, making it even more special for those who were there to witness it. Or us, via the magic of the internet.

Tags: Music, Featured, News, Amanda Palmer, Easy Star All-Stars, Gillian Welch, Gnarls Barkley, Hanson, Radiohead, Regina Spektor, Vampire Weekend

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