Watch Radiohead on Conan O’Brien in 1993
Prepare yourself for a bunch of “this was 30 years ago” moments in 2023. We’ll start with Radiohead on Conan O’Brien in 1993.
This would be Late Nite with Conan O’Brien, which debuted on September 13, 1993. So we’re a little bit ahead of ourselves when it comes to a proper 30th anniversary, but there’s a reason behind that which I’ll get to shortly. If you remember, Conan took over Late Night after David Letterman left the show (and NBC) to host CBS’s Late Show in 1993. What you probably don’t remember is the actual debut episode.
As mentioned, that first episode aired on September 13, 1993. Conan debuted with Andy Richter as his sidekick and his first slate of guests were actors John Goodman, Drew Barrymore, and Tony Randall. And the musical guest? Radiohead. I’d completely forgotten about this until my pal Graham shared this MTV News clip covering the story.
https://twitter.com/grahamspector/status/1592722867174924288
Watch Radiohead on Conan O’Brien in 1993
Of course, as soon as Graham’s post popped up in my feed, I had to go hunt down the actual performance. Thankfully, Radiohead fans are rabid. And very online. As are fans of ’90s rock and pop culture. The clip came up on YouTube a few times, just with the date a day off. No matter, the performance of “Creep” is as good as I remembered it.
I share all of this with you because just days ago, NME had this story about a potential Radiohead get-together in 2023. Here’s the quote, from drummer Phil Selway:
“We’ve been very focused on the whole ‘Kid A’/’Amnesiac’ thing, and I think that’s coming to its natural conclusion, going back through the reissue and [creating] the game scenario around that,” he said.
“We’re going to get together at the start of [2023], and I’m sure we’re going to start looking at other ideas for what comes next. ‘Hail To The Thief’ — it’s a long time since that record, isn’t it?”
We’ll keep you up-to-date on all things Radiohead here.