NOT OK, COMPUTER

Hack Leads Radiohead to Release Secret ‘OK Computer’ Tapes for Charity

Hackers were demanding money for recordings from the legendary 1997 album—so the band decided to release the whole thing themselves.

Radiohead has responded to the hacking of 18 hours of secret recordings from their legendary 1997 album OK Computer in the most Radiohead way possible: by releasing the whole thing themselves. Last week, some of the unreleased material made its way online and hackers were reportedly asking for “upwards of $150,000 for the entire set” or “$800 per studio track and $50 per live track.” Now, the band has released all of the material and have vowed to give all proceeds to environmental group Extinction Rebellion. “We got hacked last week,” said guitarist Jonny Greenwood. “Someone stole Thom’s minidisk archive from around the time of OK Computer, and reportedly demanded $150,000 on threat of releasing it. So instead of complaining—much—or ignoring it, we’re releasing all 18 hours on Bandcamp in aid of Extinction Rebellion. Just for the next 18 days. So for £18 you can find out if we should have paid that ransom.” Before you get too excited, Greenwood described the recordings as “only tangentially interesting” and “very, very long.”