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Unheard Radiohead cassette demo sells for an unbelievable £6,000

A vintage Radiohead cassette demo from the band’s school days, recorded between 1987-88, has sold for a cool £6,000 at auction.

Featuring unheard tracks and a handwritten note from the band’s frontman Thom Yorke, this demo cassette from Radiohead’s early days, then known as On a Friday, has sold for a bold £6,000, roughly $10,654 AUD, at Omega Auctions in the UK. 

Entitled ‘Gripe’, the cassette bares 3 unheard tracks from the band’s early recording days in Abingdon School, Oxfordshire, between 87-88, with the inside liner notes reading before the ones overleaf are the following (most recent recordings 1989) Promise Me (Thom), Body(?) in a box (Colin/Thom), These are the Chains (Thom).

Radiohead, cassette demo
Liner notes of the Radiohead demo cassette 

These previously undocumented tunes, recorded to a classic TDK D60 cassette, are complimented by Happy Song, To Be A Brilliant Light and Sinking Ship as well as an inlay card, hand-drawn by Yorke. 

Gripe was recorded at Woodworm Studios in Oxfordshire, a venue fundamental to the band’s formative years and development, recording a number of early demos there before being signed to EMI in 1991 and being urged to change their name. 

Crediting the likes of Thom Yorke and Ed O’Brien on vocals and guitar, Phil Selway on drums, Jon Greenwood on keys, viola and harmonica, Colin Greenwood on bass, Raz Petersen on lead alto sax and Liz and Charlotte cotton on alto sax, as stated by Omega Auctions, Gripe is an incredible piece of Radiohead early recording history!

Check out the listing here.