Before becoming the frontman of Radiohead, a young 20-year-old Thom Yorke was a member of a melodic punk band called Headless Chickens. Not to be confused with the Flying Nun Records-signed, New Zealand-based band of the same name, Yorke’s Headless Chickens saw brief success in the Exter, England punk scene in the late 1980s, including gigs opening for De La Soul and Eat.

Today, video surfaced of Headless Chickens performing an early version of “High and Dry”. Considering the year, the previously unseen clip is of remarkably high quality, as you can see below.



Yorke would ultimately leave Headless Chickens and reunite with his bandmates from his college band On a Friday to form Radiohead in 1991. “High and Dry” would later appear on Radiohead’s 1995 album, The Bends.