Thom Yorke Says EMI Head Guy Hands Is Spreading Crap

by Paul Cashmere - January 1 2008
photo by Ros O'Gorman

Radiohead's Thom Yorke has bitten back at EMI head Guy Hands who announced to the press that his company did not resign Radiohead because they wanted too much money.

Hands suggested that the Radiohead deal with EMI fell over because the band wanted £10 million.

Yorke said that is "crap".

In a posting at his blog, Yorke has decided to set the record straight.

"We did not ask for a load of cash from our old record label EMI to re- sign. That is a L I E," he said.

He said the English newspaper The Times printed only one said of the story, what he calls the lie from Hands. "The Times in the UK should check its facts before it prints such dirt, he continued. What we wanted was some control over our work and how it was used in the future by them. That seemed reasonable to us,? as we cared about it a great deal".

He says Hands didn't get the creative control aspect of the negotiation. "Mr Hands was not interested, so neither were we, he said. "We made the sign of the cross and walked away. Sadly".

Since then, Radiohead released their 7th album 'In Rainbows' on online with a revolutionary new business model. They allowed fans to pay whatever they wanted for the album.

Yorke says this whole EMI/Hands thing in the press is upsetting. "We are extremely upset that this crap is being spread about. To be digging up such bullsh*t, or more politely airing yer dirty laundry in public,? seems a very strange way for the head of an international record label to be proceeding".

'In Rainbows' is released this week through independent label XL Recordings. Yorke says that the band did not take an advance from XL for the deal.