Rhinestone Remembered

One of my most surreal Radiohead memories took place at the end of an Underworld Show in Camden, around 1993. They closed a rather bedraggled set with a version of 'Rhinestone Cowboy' by Glen Campbell. The music was hilariously out of step with the Radiohead method, but they were more concerned with the lyric: "there's been a load of compromisin', or the road to my horizon". This became a band mantra during those lost years and at frequent intervals I have also repeated them to myself.

In 2005 I was asked to script a Radio 2 documentary on the life of Glen Campbell. This was a weighty, two part production, but the singer's life was never dull and the music, especially the Jimmy Webb period, was outstanding. My colleague Helen Toland did the interviews, and so I listened to those Glen anecdotes and hung a bit of structure around them.

The script was then read by Mike Mills of REM. We did this in a dressing room at the Odyssey Arena, just ahead of the band's gig there. Again, that was a strange but satisfying moment.

The documentary has just gone out again, with some extra material to reflect Glen's experiences with Alzheimer's. It will break your heart. You can listen back here.