in 1993 Radiohead wasn't an amazing band. They
were a weird alt-rock outfit with this hit song fittingly called Creep, and they were unprepared
for the rockstar fame it would bring them. So when they were invited to play on MTV, what resulted
was one of the most chaotic concerts in televised history, one that lead singer Thom Yorke was lucky
to get out of alive. This is the story of anyone can play guitar live at the MTV Beach House,
of a new and immature band's wrestle with fame, of a moment in Radiohead's career
that will forever live in infamy. [Music] Believe it or not, there was a time
when Creep was not Radiohead's most popular song. It didn't break the UK's top 40 when it was
first released in 1992, and BBC Radio refused to play it because it was too depressing...bet
radiohead never got tired of hearing that. But their second single anyone can play
guitar, released February 1st 1993, did reach number 32 on the charts. The band seemed
to advertise it rather proudly: "huh huh huh music that doesn't suck" and as this ad suggests
it even had its own music video [Music] Anyone can play guitar was early Radiohead
at their noisiest. True to its name, everyone in the studio including the cook was given a
guitar and Johnny used a paintbrush on his part. Its performances were known
for being even more chaotic, with Thom and Johnny practically destroying
their instruments towards the end. [Music] Yet none of this could have prepared for what
would ensue in a matter of mere months. As fate would have it, soon after releasing a song mocking
the idea of earning fame by becoming a rockstar, Radiohead would be blasted into rock stardom
by an Israeli DJ playing Creep on repeat, making the song climb charts in Israel and soon
worldwide. Places all across the world suddenly wanted Radiohead to play and their concerts were
booked and sold out. Among these was a little Channel called MTV, which that summer had moved to
a nine room house in the Hamptons of Long Island New York. The hour-long show MTV beach house
would get refined over the course of a decade, eventually having guests such as Beyonce and
becoming a paragon of youth-directed marketing. But in 1993 it had just debuted and the producers
decided that the best music for a bunch of smiling college students at a pool party was a sad British
man groaning about being a creep and a weirdo. On a sweltering 4th of July Radiohead arrived at
the beach house to perform Creep. The production staff asked them beforehand to play an
additional song, anyone can play guitar, but the band refused. They had to play Creep
around four times to get all the camera angles and Thom was getting increasingly annoyed
with Kennedy the presenter. [Kennedy] "hey stick around we've got Radiohead performing
their big song Creep, their buzzclip, and right now actually coming up we've got a Red Hot
Chili Peppers video so stick around, thanks Ed." To be fair I'd be pretty annoyed too if they
interrupted me to play the Red Hot Chili Peppers. On top of all that, this was a Thom that was
wrestling with his newfound fame. Apparently it inflated his ego and he was known for being
rather short-tempered and unpleasant at the time. But perhaps the greatest most painful irony
for him was that at that moment Radiohead had become exactly what they made fun of: famous rock
stars standing on the beach with their guitars. This culminated in a completely unplanned spur of
the moment decision. When the cameras shut down for creep the band suddenly began playing
anyone can play guitar, to the Delight of the production staff. Cameras were hastily
flipped on again and thus began one of the finest moments in music history. Thom continues
his feud with Jim Morrison: "Fat, ugly, dead!" Johnny almost destroys his guitar as usual,
and the band experiments with screamo vocals. Most famously, Thom jumped into the pool in a
fit of rage. This was a problem for two reasons: first, Thom's heavy Doc Martens made it hard
to stay afloat. Second, as the first thing he tried to grab onto was a live microphone,
there was a high risk of electrocution. Thankfully, Destiny protected him from the
world that day and Thom did not go to join a band in heaven. Two production assistants
saw Thom struggling and pulled him safely out of the pool while the band played on seemingly
oblivious. You can read a detailed firsthand account on this website which I'll link in the
description. After that, the producers decided to call it a day, and that was the end of
radiohead's time at the MTV beach house. Anyone can play guitar fell out of favor with
the band as they shifted their gears towards OK Computer, and the song stopped being played
live after 1996. As a result, to this day, the legendary performance at the beach house is
the first thing many fans associate with the song. It doesn't help that Radiohead has removed the
official music video for anyone can play guitar from YouTube, along with other Pablo Honey videos
such as stop whispering and a little ditty known as Pop is dead. This makes the MTV beach house one
of the few remaining relics of early Radiohead on the site. In fact, it's almost as if the band is
proud of this performance, since they would rather have people watch it than the carefully produced
music videos their record label advertised...wait what's this? "to become a Radiohead write
to Capital Records care of I wanna be a creep 1750 Northline Street T12 Hollywood
California..." Dear Pablo Honey, how do you? I hope I don't come off as a creep, but it
has always been my dream to become a Radiohead. So when I saw your ad, I thought to myself
this is your chance to prove yourself, don't let it blow out. I'm hoping you won't
say I can't, even if anyone can play guitar. Thinking about you, William AKA Cloudstie. PS,
I'm afraid I must inform you that Pop Is Dead.
