Radiohead OKNOTOK: ZX Spectrum

In 2017 Radiohead put out “OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017”, an anniversary box set. Inside was a C90 cassette of demos and session outtakes, and people who had pre-ordered the box got a digital copy of it in July. While listening, I heard a familiar screech near the end of side B. I grew up with a Commodore 64, and I know what a program loading from tape sounds like.

I messaged my friend Marcin Skoczylas, who knows old computers inside out and makes things for the demoscene. He was the first to get it running, and it turned out to be a ZX Spectrum program, not a C64 one.

White C90 cassette from the OKNOTOK box lying on a printed track list — The C90 cassette from the OKNOTOK box. The last item on the track list is “Ok Computer Program”.

What’s inside

The program prints “inside your home computer are…”, followed by the band members, Nigel Godrich, Stanley Donwood and the date 19 December 1996. After that it’s random colours, characters and noise. Its memory also hides a message: “congratulations… you’ve found the secret message / syd lives / hmmmm. we should get out more…”.

Memory Browser window of the emulator showing the hidden text: congratulations, you've found the secret message, syd lives — The hidden message in the Fuse emulator's memory browser.

On 13 July I wrote up how to do it yourself on Medium: cut the last seconds of side B (38:57–39:12), run them through EQ and normalisation in Audacity, save as WAV and load the file into the Fuse emulator. Marcin uploaded a recording of the program running to YouTube.

Coverage

Gizmodo and Stereogum ran the story on 13 July and named me as the Redditor who got the program running. Ars Technica had linked to my Reddit profile as “one keen fan” the day before. Chieftan Mews, a mysterious Twitter account close to the band, replied to me with “Shine on, you crazy diamond”.

On 20 September 2017 Mateusz Gołaszewski and I were guests on “!pod powierzchnią!” on Polskie Radio Białystok, talking about the story and about Radiohead’s music. At the time the station introduced me as the founder of the Radiohead Polska fan page.

Mateusz Gołaszewski and Maciej Korsan, guests of “!pod powierzchnią!”, 20 Sept 2017. Photo: S. Krassowska / Polskie Radio Białystok

Sources

How to run secret ZX Spectrum message from Radiohead’s OKNOTOK C90 tape, Medium, 13 July 2017
Radiohead Secretly Hid an Old App in the Anniversary Edition of OK Computer, Gizmodo, 13 July 2017
Radiohead Hid A Vintage Computer Program Inside The OK Computer Reissue, Stereogum, 13 July 2017
Radiohead releases a surprise ZX Spectrum program for OK Computer anniversary, Ars Technica, 12 July 2017
Radiohead hides ZX Spectrum proggie in OK Computer re-release, The Register, 17 July 2017
!pod powierzchnią! | Maciej Korsan, który odszyfrował przekaz od Radiohead, Polskie Radio Białystok, 20 Sept 2017 (in Polish)