So I've been thinking of how to introduce my father to Radiohead for a while. You see, he's a hardcore jazz guy. He's of the school of thought that if it isn't hard to play, it's not worth listening to, as it offers nothing to him. So I knew it was going to be a tough sell to him. I've been afraid that to him, Radiohead was just going to sound too simple, as it did not have flashy instrumentation or "chord changes" that would make him "wet his pants", as he often described his beloved Oscar Peterson.So my parents had a couple of friends we haven't seen in a while over for dinner and I joined them. After a tasty meal we adjourned to the living room, where we started talking about music. His friend was a huge blues fan, and he played us a cd of his. While listening to it, we were talking about what kinds of music we like, and I jokingly chided my father again for not listening to lyrics in music, and purely the instruments. My step-mom asked me how I had gotten into lyrics, and I said it was pretty much from a band called Radiohead. We chatted and commented on the music his friend was playing some more, as well as other things, and it was a very nice atmosphere. After 8 years, it felt like the air was finally ripe to put in Radiohead and see what my father thought.So after a few moments of silence in the conversation I meekly said "Do you guys mind if I play couple of songs for you?". They were enthusiastic and oddly receptive to the idea, so I ran out in my car and grabbed the only Radiohead I had on me at the moment, OK Computer. On my nervous walk up the walkway, I thought of how I would preface it, and which songs to play. Seeing as how Airbag is my favorite Radiohead song at the moment, I decided I'd just start at the beginning and let it play as far as it would survive.To be honest, I didn't expect my father to like it that much. Previously, he had peaceably called Sigur Ros "just too over-produced" for him, and I still had the scar from that burn. So I go in and handed the cd to my dad who was making room for it for it in his disc changer. As he was hunched over the cd player I began to explain to the adults: "Ok so, this album is called OK Computer. It means how we're allowing technology to take us over....or something like that. (silence) It's on a lot of critics top ten lists, and it was covered by a string quartet and a piano guy." They seemed mildly impressed by this, giving little nods and looks of "Hm." As my dad pressed play, I quickly thought of anything else to say and blurted out, "This is my number one desert island album." Similar reactions.As the beginning notes of Airbag started up, my dad stood up and walked into the kitchen to get something, not sitting on the couch and listening intently and enthusiastically silencing all interruptions from this utterly fascinating music, as I had hoped he would. "Well, he's just going to half listen to it and give a it placating 'It's not bad'" I thought to myself. The other three were kinda just sitting there, with subdued expressions.I explained to them, "so there's this opening guitar part, and then the song...for me at least...brings you on this sort of (circely hand motions) musical journey, then you hear the guitar part again and it sounds more mature and changed." We listened a bit more, with the adults tapping various bodyparts in time. And then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up and it was my father from the kitchen. "Ya' know...this kinda reminds me of Sgt. Pepper's", he said, and told me I should listen to that some time."Of course!" I exclaimed in my head. "The Beatles!" I had forgotten of his love for The Beatles and saw a glimmer of hope. He sat back down on the couch and crossed his legs. Airbag ended and we proceeded into Paranoid Android without any protest, which I took as another good sign. The wonderful guitar layers seemed to take the room over, and we were silent. All of a sudden my dad said, "Ya know, these aren't stock chord changes....and they actually work", sounding slightly surprised. As the song moved into the heavier parts, I sat there with shivers as Jonny's guitar cut out through the speakers. When the "Rain down" section got underway, I actually saw my dad turn his head away from his talking friend to hear the song better. He said again how good these changes were and I had chills. I couldn't believe my dad was enjoying it! I told him to keep listening.We finished Paranoid Android and started into Subterranean Homesick Alien when my father's friend said he wanted to show him an Irish band called the McKrell's. Recognizing then that my time was limited, I skipped ahead to Let Down. As we worked through that and into Karma Police, the friend went to his car to grab his cd, and I asked if we could just listen to the end of this song when he came back in. By the end, a conversation had started up again through Fitter Happier, which delayed the other cd. At the end of it, my dad's friend handed dad the cd to put into the player, when something remarkable happened. Electioneering had started up, and my dad just kinda froze on the couch holding the invading cd. He was on the edge of his seat and looking at the cd player, seemingly transfixed. During the first verse he again stated how these were not stock chords and how well the changes worked. I excitedly told him to wait for the chorus.So we got through Electioneering and seeing as how the battle was won, I pressed stop on the remote, and the McKrell's were put in. I went out for a cigarette with the noodling fiddles, penny whistles, and mandolins of the McKrell's in the background. My dad joined me after a bit as he lit up a cigarette too. "So you liked it?" I asked. "Yeah I did. Can I borrow that cd?" I told him he could have it as it was a burned copy of mine (store bought of course). I told him about the band some more, like how they spend months on just the tracklist, and how the guitar player plays every instrument under the sun and is now a composer. He complimented them on their musicianship and how they sounded like they knew what they were doing. He also said he liked their originality.So after my ultimate conversion, I sit here with relief and jubilation. However, there is something new that bothers me: How the heck am I going to explain Kid A to him?__________________
Read more…
