The Fascinating Music History of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’
The hit track copied from others, while others copied it
On September 21, 1992, the mainstream musical landscape changed for good. Well, at least it did for me.
Radiohead released their single Creep, which would be featured on their first studio album Pablo Honey released in February 1993. (I talk about my first time hearing the song here, and my subsequent love for this still relatively unknown band.)
While the song was well-received by the listening public, and was likely responsible for the band’s meteoric rise, lead singer Thom Yorke has reportedly always hated the song. Jonny Greenwood, the band’s guitarist, also didn’t like it — and reportedly tried to sabotage the track with his hard guitar riffing (which ended up boosting the song’s appeal. The track reached #7 in the singles charts.)
Meanwhile, across the ocean from the UK, another rising band called Stone Temple Pilots (STP) released an album called Core with a single of the same name within a week of Radiohead’s single — on September 29, 1992. The single of Creep by STP was then released on November 1, 1993, and reached #2 on Billboard’s mainstream rock charts.
