As excitement (and the monstrous rates of scalped tickets) continues to rise for Radiohead’s forthcoming Australian tour, their first down under in nearly a decade, news have surface that it’s not only tickets for their five dates across Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney that are going for a ridiculous price on internet auction sites.
As Stereogum reports, enterprising “Top Rated” eBay seller 619andyp has put up a set of four Radiohead cassette tapes for sale, that are reportedly the band’s first ever demos. Which means you can be the envy of the legion of Radiohead obsessives for the cool asking price of $US 50,000.
That’s right, $50,000 smackaroos, and a piece of rock history can be yours. Never mind that the veracity of these items – along with most collectables on eBay – is questionable. Particularly given the only description from the seller is the succinct write-up of:
Artist: Radiohead (a.k.a. On A Friday, Shindig)
Title: First four Radiohead demo cassette tapes
Comments: Greatest band in the world
Taken from back when the band were a fledgling five-piece in their hometown of Oxford and went by the less-than-inventive name of On A Friday, because they rehearsed *ahem* on a Friday…
There’s also a demo included from 1990, during which the band were briefly known as Shindig, long before they became one of the most influential and revered acts of modern music of course.
The demo tapes also include tracks that wound up on the band’s 1993 debut, Pablo Honey, as well as a swathe of pre-Radiohead material including such (non)classics as ‘Climbing Up A Bloody Great Hill’ and ‘Life With The Big F’. Who knew that the five lads who wrote ‘Tell Me Bitch’ would be the same group who would go on to write the cerebral Kid A or King Of Limbs?
If you really want to hear these historical recordings but the hefty $US 49.999.99 (+ shipping) price tag seems a bit hefty but, remember, where there’s the internet – there’s a way (*cough* Radiohead fans *cough*).
But never mind, chances of the On A Friday staple ‘Phillipa Chicken’ appearing during the encore of the band’s upcoming November Australian Tour are as likely as an airing of ‘Creep’ – or convincing someone to donate their ticket to any of the band’s five sold out dates.
Radiohead Australian Tour 2012
Friday November 9 – Entertainment Centre, Brisbane – SOLD OUT
Monday November 12 – Entertainment Centre, Sydney – SOLD OUT
Tuesday November 13 – Entertainment Centre, Sydney – SOLD OUT
Friday November 16 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
Saturday November 17 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne – SOLD OUT
