Classic Album Sundays: Radiohead 'The Bends' with Producer John Leckie

Radiohead’s second album The Bends was released on the 13th March, 1995 and exactly 30 years later Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy interviewed producer John Leckie on the story behind the album at an event at The British Library. The interview was followed by an uninterrupted vinyl playback of the full album on British audio brand Bowers & Wilkins’ iconic 800 Series loudspeakers, which were used in the mixing of The Bends at Abbey Road Studios. 

The Bends is generally considered to show the remarkable evolution of their sound, which soon made them one of the most acclaimed bands in the world. With a healthy dose of the guitar rock and melancholic pop that characterised breakthrough single “Creep”, it also features beautiful ballads, a new range to Thom Yorke’s voice, blistering riffs and solos from Jonny Greenwood and multiple acoustic treats.

It was produced by John Leckie, one of the most important and distinctive producers in British music. John Leckie has had an extraordinary career. His early career at Abbey Road Studios, saw him working with John Lennon and George Harrison and then as an engineer for Pink Floyd’s Meddle and Wish You Were Here and Paul McCartney and Wings’ Red Rose Speedway. Among much else he then produced Public Image Ltd debut single, a brilliant early sweep of albums by Simple Minds, The Stone Roses, Muse and many others.