Radioheadache

MAIDENHEAD (Reuters) - British rock band Radiohead has lent one of its songs to an MTV campaign to raise awareness about sweatshop labor and human trafficking.

The chart-topping group has allowed the international music network to produce a video set to "All I Need" from its latest hit album "In Rainbows" which MTV will air from Thursday and make available to broadcasters.

The MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) Campaign (http://www.mtvexit.org) has made a video shown in split screen, one side depicting a day in the life of an affluent young child and the other of a child forced to work in a sweatshop.


First of all, by my count, the acronym for End Exploitation and Trafficking would be EEAT, or at least EET. Not EXIT. There is no I anywhere in consideration. More importantly however, Isn't it nice that Radiohead has finally taken up a cause? I was wondering when they would give up trying to play music with balls and put their efforts towards something more realistic. In all seriousness, I am very skeptical of bands who jump behind causes. For me, many times my trust unfortunately is tied to personal tastes. For instance, ill let the world's biggest ego, Bono, slide because i love U2 and I can see that they are at least putting forth solid effort behind their words. Likewise, I don't jump all over Bands who affiliate politically (Pearl Jam, Rage, etc.) because that's their right and, to an extent, their responsibility what with their major influence. That having been said, I have a few problems with this Radiohead thing. I guess I just have a problem with Radiohead. I mean, "Karma Police" and "Creep" were okay, but the bottom line is they are neither comercially viable on a large-scale or good. They aren't that big to anyone who's not a Radiohead fan, which there are substantially less of than say, U2 fans. Thom Yorke, lead singer, admittedly has had a hard time justifying touring while at the same time preaching about climate change. Well Thom, I don't know how to help you there. Because excuse me if I don't want to listen to your tears about the climate when you just burned more fuel getting to a show than I will in 4 months. Maybe the lesson of the story here is pick your battles and back it up. This one looks winnable for Radiohead- I mean who's a fan of sweatshops? Must be nice though to have enough disposable income to buy only eco-/labor-friendly products, huh Mr. Yorke?


p.s. Do I really hate Radiohead this much? I JUST DON'T GET IT WHAT'S THE POINT, THEY'RE BORING. "I'm a creep I'm a wierdo..." Really? You Think?