While they have notoriously barred the use of their songs in advertising campaigns and initially resisted selling their music on iTunes, Radiohead has been more than willing to lend their vast brooding catalog to filmmakers, exposing mainstream culture to what might have otherwise remained a marginally popular band.
At every concert we've attended someone in the crowd has shouted some variation of, "Hey! It's the song from that movie!", and we expect Saturday's Toyota Center performance will be no exception.
Rocks Off has listed a few of our favorites from the most often-cited examples below. And yes, we said favorites -- that means In Rainbows' "15 Step" in the closing credits of Twilight has purposefully been omitted. Ditto for "High and Dry" in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry.
"Creep," The Social Network theatrical trailer (2010): Mark Zuckerberg was only eight years old when Radiohead's debut single hit the airwaves in 1992, but some 20 years later "Creep" -- performed here by Flemish choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers -- would serve as ideal theme music for the shallow motives and shrewd methods behind the inception of his social-media empire. The track is also a fitting anthem for Facebook itself: A sort of highlight reel for life, with more than a billion members presenting only the most flattering photos and status updates -- perfect bodies and perfect souls -- in the hope that someone will notice how very (fucking) special they are.
"Everything In Its Right Place," Vanilla Sky (2001): The artificiality of perceived perfection, a recurring thread in Radiohead songs, is represented with the use of "Everything in Its Right Place" in the opening scene of Cameron Crowe's similarly-themed 2001 sci-fi thriller. The lyrics assure us repeatedly that everything is just as it should be and the character on screen leads a charmed and enviable existence, but the cool, detached electronic tones and rising digital interference suggest a flimsier manufactured illusion. That, and the fact that Tom Cruise starts running like a maniac down an empty street in New York City.
"High and Dry," 50/50 27-year-old is diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of cancer, then learns live-in girlfriend is sleeping with some art dude who looks like Jesus. In such situations, only Bends-era Radiohead will do.
