In October 1988 Thom Yorke, then current front man of On A Friday who would become RADIOHEAD, went to Exeter University to study Fine Art & English. Yorke was unimpressed by much of what he was taught there, baffled at being told to paint when the camera had been invented, for example. Outside of Exeter Thom formed a band with his friend, now know as sHack, called Headless Chickens. The song High & Dry originated with this band.

Eventually the Headless Chickens recorded  the track "i don't want to go to woodstock" at daylight studios in 1989. Producer: Paul Bateman. Band line up: Shack-vocals/bass, Thom-guitar/vocals, Martin-drums, John-violin, Laura-violin. The song was released on a 7" EP in 1989 at the Hometown Atrocities label (flyer).

After the Headless Chickens disbanded Thom Yorke eventually went on to front RADIOHEAD (obviously), violinist John Mathias has sessioned on various RADIOHEAD recordings, such as The Bends, while vocalist Shack had a track included on the soundtrack of the film 'The Matrix' with his most recent band.

At the request of Thom Yorke, Hometown Atrocities have made a contribution for the use of the Headless Chickens track on 'Year Zero' to Friends Of The Earth.