Garbage is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Madison, Wisconsin. The band's line-up, consisting of Scottish musician Shirley Manson (vocals) and American musicians Duke Erikson, Steve Marker, and Butch Vig, has remained unchanged since its inception.
All four members are involved in songwriting and production. Garbage has sold over 17 million albums worldwide.
members: Shirley Manson
formed in: Wisconsin
labels: Mushroom Records, Almo Sounds
genres: alternative rock
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Duke Erikson and Butch Vig had been in several bands together, including Spooner and Fire Town (with Steve Marker as a sound engineer). In 1983, Vig and Marker founded Smart Studios in Madison and Vig's production work brought him to the attention of Sub Pop. Spooner reunited in 1990 and released another record, but disbanded in 1993 as Vig and Marker's career as producers took over. In 1994, as Vig had become "kind of burned out on doing really long records". He collaborated with Erikson and Marker by doing remixes for acts such as U2, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, and House of Pain. The remixes featured different instrumentation, and often highlighting new guitar hooks and bass grooves. This experience inspired the three men to form a...
Initial sessions with Vig on vocals, along with the members' past work with all-male groups, led to the band's desire for a woman on lead. Vig declared that they wanted to find a female vocalist like "Debbie Harry, Patti Smith, Chrissie Hynde and Siouxsie Sioux—all really strong, unique personalities". Marker and Vig desired someone "who didn't have a high, chirpy, girly quality to her voice" and who could sing in an understated way, in contrast to "these alterna-rock singers [that] have a tendency to scream". Marker was watching 120 Minutes when he saw the music video for Scottish band Angelfish's "Suffocate Me", and had been watching 120 Minutes in order to seek a singer for the newly formed band by himself, Vig and Erikson. He showed...
Garbage's musical style has been described as alternative rock, electronic rock, electropop, trip hop, post-grunge, industrial rock, dance-rock, grunge, and hard rock. Garbage's intention is to make pop-like songs which mix a variety of genres, with Steve Marker saying that the band wanted to "take pop music and make it as horrible sounding as we can." These genres include trip hop, grunge, 1980s rock music, techno, power pop, and shoegaze. Shirley Manson has stated that the band itself "used to describe [their sound] as sci-fi pop, because we felt it was taking a futuristic approach." Vig has said the crossover-heavy sound was inspired by the band's background with remixes, where songs would be rearranged to every musical style to which...
Are you them, or do you know them? The mail slot is open.
"Only Happy When It Rains" is an alternative rock song written and produced by American alternative rock band Garbage for their self-titled debut studio album (1995). It was recorded at the band's own studio, Smart Studios, in Madison, Wisconsin, and is known for its tongue-in-cheek lyrics parodying the typically angst-filled themes of mid-'90s alternative rock.
"Only Happy When It Rains" was written and recorded between March 1994 and May 1995. It was written in sessions with band members Duke Erikson, Shirley Manson, Steve Marker and Butch Vig in Marker's basement recording studio, and recorded at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. Bass guitar was played by Mike Kashou, and additional percussion by Pauli Ryan. In the latter stages of the album's recording, Garbage mixed this song twice before it was mastered. At the last minute, Vig made the guitar tracks louder; he later claimed it still did not sound the way he heard it in his head. The mix was noted for Manson's voice being at the same volume as the instruments; in mainstream pop, the lead vocal is usually louder than the instruments.
Initially, Mushroom Records had scheduled "Queer" to be the lead single for the UK release of the debut album Garbage, matching the single release strategy internationally. At last minute, it was decided to release "Only Happy When It Rains" as a single ahead of the album, with "Queer" rescheduled to later in 1995. "Only Happy When It Rains" was quickly picked up by radio, and was C-listed by Radio One, and reached number 47 on the airplay chart. Mushroom issued the single on a limited-edition 7-inch vinyl, CD and cassette on September 18, 1995. All formats were backed with two new tracks recorded specifically for the single: "Girl Don't Come" and "Sleep".
Upon both the release of Garbage and of 'Only Happy When It Rains' as a single, the song received a positive reception from music journalists. Larry Flick from Billboard described it as "solid all the way through", praising the overall production. Steve Baltin from Cash Box named it Pick of the Week, adding, "When Shirley Manson requests "pour your misery down on me", it's hard to say no. Rarely has sadism sounded as inviting as it does on Garbage's high-energy, poppy masochistic anthem." He noted Manson's "alluring vocals" and stated that "giving the song its cool rock star vibe is the strong guitar solo in the middle. A winning song, 'Only Happy When It Rains' validates the accolades being heaped upon the group." Caroline Sullivan of The...
The music video for "Only Happy When It Rains" was filmed in mid-January 1996 in Los Angeles by American director Samuel Bayer, simultaneously with the video for single "Stupid Girl". As Almo Sounds thought "Only Happy When It Rains" would be more successful, the video was given a higher budget than the video for "Stupid Girl". The music video debuted in the United States on February 12, where MTV playlisted it immediately as a "Buzz clip", thus guaranteeing it heavy rotation.