Colin Greenwood
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Colin Charles Greenwood (born on 26 June 1969, in Oxford, England) is a member of Radiohead. He usually plays the bass guitar and in more recent albums he has taken to keyboards, samplers, and synthesizers. He is the older brother of fellow bandmember Jonny Greenwood. About his brother Jonny he says: "Unlike the Gallaghers we beat each other up in private and get on very well in public ... It's really nice to be in a position where you're with a member of your family and you get on really well."
While an undergraduate studying English Literature at Peterhouse, Cambridge, Colin served as the college's entertainment officer, and helped arrange several gigs for Radiohead, which was then known as On a Friday. Later, whilst working at the music chain store Our Price, he apparently had a big hand in helping the band get off the ground. When Keith Wozencroft, nearing his run as a sales rep for EMI, entered the store one day, Colin said, "you should sign my band" and handed him their demo tape. That got it all started for the band with EMI.
Colin is often described as the intellectual of the band, having completed his studies in modern American literature. Among his greatest musical influences are Booker T and the MGs. In 2004, Colin served as a judge for the Next Generation Poets talent contest, sponsored by the Arts Council of England. His wife Molly McGrann is an American literary critic and novelist; they have a son, Jesse, born in December 2003.
[edit] Trivia
- Colin was instrumental in creating the song Dollars and Cents, which arose when he played his bassline over an Alice Coltrane record he particularly liked; brother Jonny set about creating an original string arrangement with the same vibe.
- The bass line in The National Anthem, perhaps Radiohead's most recognizable, was actually played in the Kid A recording by Thom Yorke. However, Colin plays it live.
- Airbag is Colin's own favorite of his bass lines. He has said that he played the distinctive fragments heard in the song and planned to come up with something to fill all the gaps, but never got around to it.
