Carol Baxter, qui supervise au sein de Parlophone ­ la maison de disques anglaise de Radiohead ­ les filiales du monde entier, est considérée comme l’un des personnages clés de ce succès.

I was getting ready to quit EMI when these lads appeared,” Carol Baxter, Radiohead’s international record-company representative, recalled. “Bunch of disturbed consumptives, I thought. But they were ambitious and smart. At first, I had to hide my Radiohead paperwork behind the Tina Turner and Queensrÿche files, because my boss thought I was wasting my time. Then the call came in, from Israel, actually, saying that the band had a hit.

Cue Carol Baxter, of EMI’s international office, the department responsible for ensuring that EMI’s overseas branches release and promote British signings. “I know nothing about instruments or drum riffs, or what have you, but this funny little band came on and they obviously had something. This was a hideous record company do but Thom gave it everything”. Baxter, tired of the ‘priority acts’ of the ’80s had been considering leaving the job. “I sat there thinking, I’m not going to leave: I want Radiohead on my roster! I bumped into Colin and Thom in the corridor after their performance and I thought they were junkies. Bloody druggies sitting there in the corridor looking so pale. I asked Thom if he was all right. He said he was. So I asked if they wanted a drink and all they wanted was a glass of Coca-Cola. I bought that for them and we got talking, and I found out they were from Abingdon which is where I’m from”. Baxter began introducing the world to the charms of Radiohead.