The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy and the mistrust of technology also found its way into one of the album’s tracks: the Heart Of Gold’s onboard robot has a “Genuine People Personality”… which unfortunately results in an automaton with clinical depression. Nothing ever seems to work properly… or gets done. The comedy series has a dim view of the commercialisation of technology: computers have hyped-up personalities and even the spacecraft’s doors are chatty. Originally broadcast in 1978 on BBC Radio 4, the sci-fi comedy was written by Douglas Adams and includes a moment when the two-headed, absconding Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox gets into a sticky situation as guided missiles head for his spaceship the Heart Of Gold.Įddie, the talkative shipboard computer, claims that no evasive action can outrun the missiles, so Zaphod demands that he is given control of the ship so he can perform some nifty manoeuvres… despite not having a clue how to pilot the craft. As the Bends tour wound its way around the world in 1996, the band’s listening material on the bus included a copy of the original radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. However, the real answer might be a little closer to home. It's actually a really resigned, terrific phrase.” “Then he had 500 people chant it all at once.

“This one kid shouted at the top of his voice, 'OK COMPUTER!' really, really loud,” said Yorke. One of the most-quoted stories has Thom Yorke relating a tale of the band visiting a record shop in Japan. What's the inspiration behind Radiohead's OK Computer album title?

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