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Radiohead sketchpad containing hand-drawn notes from The Bends album to go on sale

Notebook was used by band as they rehearsed in 1993

Isobel Lewis
Tuesday 16 February 2021 09:37 GMT
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Radiohead on stage in 2018
Radiohead on stage in 2018 (Bobby Singh/Shutterstock)

A sketchpad once used by Radiohead to map out ideas for their second album is going on sale.

Back in 1993, the “Creep” band rehearsed for their new record The Bends in a barn in Oxfordshire.

At the time, Radiohead used an A2 notebook to put down ideas for the album, including hand-drawn sketches, chords and lyrics to songs such as “Street Spirit (Fade Out)”.

It was left at the studio after the end of the session, where it was picked up by a man who had lent the group instruments and a PA sound system.

The piece of music memorabilia will go on sale at Omega Auctions on 23 February, where it could fetch upwards of £10,000.

Lyrics to ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ (PA)
Notes from the sketchpad (PA)

The anonymous seller said: “When the sessions were over I went to retrieve my equipment and ‘clear out’ the room. I was informed that anything remaining in the room was not required by the band and should be thrown away or kept by me if I so wished [so] I kept the sketch pad.”

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Experts have said that the sketchpad gives an insight into “a crucial period in the group’s history”. It contains lyrics for two unreleased songs titled “Too Easy” and “Idiot Boy” and notes for a track called “Dead Bank Clerk”.

Last month, a demo tape featuring unheard tracks recorded by the band under their old name of On A Friday sold for £7,600.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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