Radiohead hid a bizarre app for an 80's computer in the anniversary edition of 'OK Computer'

There's a bizarre Easter egg hidden in Radiohead's latest album.
 By 
Karissa Bell
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

There's a very bizarre Easter egg hidden in Radiohead's latest album.

Buried within the boxed edition of the band's OK Computer anniversary release is a computer program for a 1980's computer with a hidden message.

Discovered by a group of dedicated fans on Reddit, the program is for a ZX Spectrum, an 8-bit computer that was popular in the UK in the 1980's. They noticed that the end of the boxed set's cassette tape (because of course Radiohead also made a cassette version of OK Computer for the anniversary release) sounded like the startup sounds of a ZX Spectrum.

This quickly fueled speculation that the band, which reportedly used a ZX Spectrum for sound effects on the original release of OK Computer, had hidden a secret program for fans. So, naturally, it didn't take long before a fan had filtered the audio and ran it through an emulator. The result was a bizarre "radiohead" program, which you can see in its entirety below.

Besides the "inside your home computer are... " introduction, there's apparently a separate hidden message in black text on the video's black background the poster says he pulled directly from the program's code.

"congratulations....you've found the secret message syd lives hmmmm. We should get out more"

Topics Music

Mashable Image
Karissa Bell

Karissa was Mashable's Senior Tech Reporter, and is based in San Francisco. She covers social media platforms, Silicon Valley, and the many ways technology is changing our lives. Her work has also appeared in Wired, Macworld, Popular Mechanics, and The Wirecutter. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and watching too many cat videos on Instagram. Follow her on Twitter @karissabe.

Mashable Potato

Recommended For You
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 5, 2026
A phone displaying the New York Times game 'Connections.'

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 6, 2026
A phone displaying the New York Times game 'Connections.'

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 7, 2026
A phone displaying the New York Times game 'Connections.'

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 8, 2026
A phone displaying the New York Times game 'Connections.'

NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for January 9, 2026
A phone displaying the New York Times game 'Connections.'

Trending on Mashable
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 4, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 4, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone

NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for April 3, 2026
Connections game on a smartphone

NYT Strands hints, answers for April 4, 2026
A game being played on a smartphone.

Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 3, 2026
Wordle game on a smartphone
The biggest stories of the day delivered to your inbox.
These newsletters may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. By clicking Subscribe, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up. See you at your inbox!