[infobox title=’Avec Radiohead’]

Strangelove est un groupe né en 1991, un peu dans la lignée de The Smiths et de ce que faisait Radiohead à cette époque, et dont le chanteur est Patrick Duff. Le succès est très vite arrivé, mais les paroles très très personnelles du groupe lui ont empêché de voir le succès exploser, ils se sont donc souvent cantonnés à faire les premières parties… dont celles de Radiohead.

Ed aurait déclaré que suite au rapprochement du groupe, Radiohead était devenu ’a post Strangelove band’, reconnaissant là une influence du groupe de Duff sur Radiohead. Il aurait même dit :
[quote cite=”source inconnue”]We toured with them and changed quite a bit after. They were inspirational. Apart from their trousers.[/quote]
C’est d’autant plus aisé pour Ed de reconnaître l’influence qu’il est un grand fan du groupe !

Le 14 août 1993, Le Melody Maker fait un article sur ce que Radiohead aime/écoute. Voici ce que chacun répond :

[quote cite=”Melody Maker, 1993″]FAVOURITE BANDS
THOM: The Faith Healers, Underground Lovers. Swell. David Gray, Stereolab.
EDWARD: Strangelove. Kitchens Of Distinction. Sonic Youth.
JONATHAN: Moonshake. Strangelove. Sonic Youth, Human Torches (Oxford band). Boo Radleys, The Fall.
COLIN: American Music Club. kd ang, David Gray, Strangelove
PHILIP: CNN, A House. The Cranberries, Moonshake. Strangelove.[/quote]

Thom ne serait pas fan de Strangelove ? Eh bien si, dans un article de Select en mai 1993 :
[quote cite=”Select, mai 1993″]Were you ever much of a fan?

“Oh yeah. REM. The Blue Aeroplanes. Five Thirty. My current faves are Moonshake, Molly Half Head and Strangelove.[/quote]

En 1996, dans un livret de présentation du groupe pour le Japon, on trouve également une présentation des goûts personnels de chacun :
[quote cite=”1996″]Full name Edward John O’Brien
Born 15 April 68
Blood type ?
Hobby My job
Make of instruments The Plank, Nilsson Guitar, Mesa Boogie Amps, Rickenbacker 360 Korg AZ/FX 500 effects.

Favourite bands and musicians Harry Nilsson, Stevie Wonder, Glenn Campbell (early material), REM, The Posies, Strangelove, the Jam.[/quote]

Les tournées en commun se sont bien passé, comme le raconte Duff dans un article de 2005 pour The Independant :
[quote cite=”The Independant, 2005]« I’ve liked all their albums and I like them as people, » he says. « They’re quite unusual in the world of rock. I felt we were all trying to do the same thing, which was unusual. Normally there was tension with other bands we toured with, but with Radiohead it was different. Everybody got on really well. »[/quote]
Interrogé par The Argus en 2010, Duff revient à nouveau sur cette période :
[quote]We toured with them before they broke massive, and spent hours and hours with them. I knew they were going to be big. I could sense it. Not so much because of their music, they were still finding themselves. But there was an undeniable sensitivity and support for one another. And that becomes more interesting as time goes on because with their success you think about more as someone in a band who didn’t make it. Also, Thom was incredibly focused, very driven. I can remember seeing it. And I knew I didn’t have it at that time in my life. I just knew I didn’t have it.[/quote]

Sur son site officiel, Patrick Duff revient sur la période avec beaucoup de modestie :

[quote] Around this time we toured with Radiohead. This was before they released The Bends and it was the beginning of their career before they’d made it big. There were totally cool people and we got on really well with them and made friends. That was a really exciting time. You could see that they really had something even then, though I don’t believe they’d truly found their vibe at that time. I notices how supportive they were on each othen and Thom was very focussed like a man on a mission. Most other bands we met at that time were just into getting out of it and having a laugh but Radiohead were different. They took things more seriously but they were not in any way pretentious like some people used to say at the time. I’m happy they made it now and I reckon they totally deserved it. Mind you I suppose that kind of goes without saying .[/quote]

En 1998, Strangelove a cessé d’exister. En 2006, Patrick Duff a créé un nouveau groupe, Rosabella. Une compilation de faces B de Strangelove est sortie en 2008 chez EMI.