Trivia / Garbage

• Black Sheep Hit:
  • "Androgyny". It posted desultory chart positions in UK and USA, but performed well in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and across South America and Europe. In Australia, it launched the parent album to their first #1 debut there. It was one of the few official singles left off 2007's Absolute Garbage, because Shirley Manson personally objected to its inclusion^*See Old Shame for more information as it was since included in 2012's The Absolute Collection released only in Australia and New Zealand, and then again in 2022's Anthology which was released worldwide. Admitting to liking it online starts flame wars.
    • The band did not play the song live between 2002 and 2016, only resuming playing the song in protest of controversial measures being put forward in the USA regarding trans people's access to bathrooms). Since then the band have since spoken more positively about the video, particularly due to the increasing attention being paid to both androgyny and gender-fluidity.
  • "Cherry Lips", which followed after "Androgyny" is a subversion - the album version is notable for Shirley's uncharacteristically high-pitched vocals and a Mind Screw of a video (which Shirley since admits was an Old Shame). Despite this, it was massive in Australia and Italy, and the song has been played at almost every concert since its release - albeit in Shirley's normal singing voice.
• Chart Displacement: "Stupid Girl" is their best charting single in both the US and the UK, but "Only Happy When It Rains" was not as successful (#55, #29), outpeaked by two Version 2.0 singles in America and just about every follow-up across The Pond. Also, their only chart-topper is "#1 Crush" on the Modern Rock Charts, which while frequently in setlists would hardly be guessed before actual album tracks.
• Colbert Bump: While certainly not an unknown band, their appearance in the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain won over quite a few fans of the game.
• Creator Backlash: Shirley Manson used to be extremely negative towards the music, image and reception of her first band Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie, who, despite going for ten years and being very well known in Scotland at the time, only managed one Top 40 single in the UK ("The Rattler") before losing their major label deal. Shirley played keyboard, performed backing vocals, and did a lot of admin for the band, but she wasn't allowed to write any material. She used her first royalties from Garbage to pay off the Mackenzie's debts, and wasn't too happy when they ran off to the UK press to dish dirt on her later. The song "Not My Idea" references her time with them. The song "Cup of Coffee" references her break-up with the band's lead singer.
  • She hasn't mentioned them much in the last decade, though in 2012 she referred to the former lead singer as "the most talented person I have ever been in a room with... but he couldn't muster his forces for long enough to navigate a tricky business."
  • The two later reunited briefly in 2013 and proceeded to perform together. And then again in 2015 as part of a one-off reunion with Angelfish.
  • She has said in a recent interview that she's not very happy with the "Cherry Lips" music video.
  • Interviews from both 2012 and 2022 revealed that the band had minimal involvement with 2007's Absolute Garbage and that its release was required due to contractual requirements under the expectation the band would be dropped soon after.
• Creator Breakdown: beautifulgarbage (Shirley got divorced) and Bleed Like Me (whose Troubled Production had plenty of intra-band conflict) have many shades of this in the lyrics.
• Dye Hard: Although a natural redhead, Shirley normally dyes her hair in a wide variety of shades from bright red to brown to dark purple. Exceptions would be her cropped blonde look◊ during the beautifulgarbage era and the vivid pink hair◊ she donned for the "20 Years Queer" tour and Strange Little Birds era.
  • Steve also fell into this category before he went bald (compare his appearance in "Queer" and "Only Happy When It Rains" before his first video bald in "Push It").
• Groupie: Shirley has professed her adoration for Siouxsie and the Banshees's lead singer Siouxsie Sioux multiple times, even ending the band's 2023 cover of "Cities in Dust" with "I love you Siouxsie".
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: The B-sides (one was even a single in the UK). The band even wanted to compilate them in an album, but the sales of their former labels (Almo Sounds and Mushroom Records) prevented this. The deluxe edition of a 2015 reissue of Garbage included seven b-sides from the era, however, as does the 2018 one for Version 2.0 and the 2021 one for beautifulgarbage.
• Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition: After the band's 20th anniversary the albums started being reissued in deluxe editions, and while the debut only got an extra disk, Version 2.0◊ and Beautiful Garbage◊ had some nice Feelies. No Gods No Masters also earned a box set.◊
• Promoted Fanboy: Shirley Manson is a huge 007 fan and when asked to do the theme for The World Is Not Enough, she "squeed for an hour straight".
• Real Song Theme Tune:
  • "#1 Crush" was the Thematic Theme Tune for the UK TV show HEX. Given that it's a downright creepy song about a Stalker with a Crush, it fitted the show's premise quite well. Bonus points to the show for using the original B-side, and not the remixed chart-bothering version.
  • "Control" is the theme for the video game adaptation of The Amazing Spider-Man. It was even used in the trailer.
• Screwed by the Network:
  • Once they were directly under a major, Universal Music (first through Interscope, then Geffen), the label expected too much of the band commercially and even wanted some market-friendly actions such as guest rappers. Following their UK label forcing the Greatest Hits Album and then releasing it with Invisible Advertising - plus UMG refusing to release Shirley's solo album - the band became independent.
  • This also happened with Beautifulgarbage to some extent. In addition to the failure of lead single "Androgyny," the album also had the unfortunate luck of being released a mere three weeks after 9/11. This resulted in it being heavily underpromoted by their label and, thus, a commercial disappointment.
• Similarly Named Works: "Stupid Girl" and P!nk's "Stupid Girls" - both are lyrically similar however.
• Throw It In!: While singing "Push It", Shirley begun "Don't worry baby... it'll be alright". Soon after Butch sent a demo to Brian Wilson requesting permission for this Shout-Out to The Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby" (he approved, and a sample of the song is even used live). She also went "we were the talk of the town" during "Special", and the contact regarding this reference of The Pretenders led to the amusing fax 'I, Chrissie Hynde, do solemnly swear that the rock band Garbage can sample my sound, my voice or indeed my very ass.'.
  • The constant use of Stop and Go in "Supervixen" was inspired by a faulty tape machine they were using while recording the song: The playback kept abruptly pausing in the middle of a guitar part that was supposed to play through smoothly, and the band thought the mistake sounded interesting enough that they worked deliberate silences into the song's structure.
• Troubled Production: The band nearly broke up making Bleed Like Me, even taking a four-month hiatus after the first attempts. It's because of this that they would take a two-year break after abruptly ending their tour promoting the album.
  • The recording of No Gods No Masters was impacted by the early stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Shirley and Marilyn Manson teamed up to record a cover of The Human League's "Don't You Want Me", which has not been publicly released.
  • It was planned for Andy Mackay to feature as a sax player on "Anonymous XXX" in a nod to the heavy influence Roxy Music (in particular the song "Love Is The Drug") had on the band during the recording of No Gods No Masters.
• Working Title: Bleed Like Me was Hands on a Hard Body (the name of a documentary) and Strange Little Birds, Teaching Little Fingers to Play (one of the album's songs).

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