Tag Archives: Shirley Manson

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Song of the Day #435: ‘Only Happy When it Rains (Live on MTV Awards)’ – Garbage

shirleyMy final installment in this week’s ‘sexy series’ is the only one who’s part of a group. But, like her friend and contemporary Gwen Stefani, Shirley Manson so dominates the men surrounding her that they may as well be session musicians.

I’m sorry, that’s not fair to Bruce Vig and the rest of Garbage, who co-write all of the songs, play instruments and work magic in the studio. Garbage is so successful because of the way that musicianship and production wizardry blends with such a charismatic lead singer. Shirley Manson could no doubt embark on a solo career but I doubt she’d be as effective as she is when taming the mechanical bull of a band that plays behind her.

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Song of the Day #56: ‘Queer’ – Garbage

I first heard this song, and about this band, when I worked for a production company in South Florida. One of the cameramen was a young married guy who was clearly infatuated with my fellow production assistant, a pretty blonde punk type. He played this song for us in his car on the way to a shoot. He was into really weird, loud music so I was surprised that this song was listenable, let alone so addictively creepy-sexy.

I always felt sort of sorry for him, the way he kept his home life so separate from his work life (for months I didn’t even know he was married) and the way he so obviously lusted after this friend of his. I don’t know if the attraction was mutual, but she did seem to enjoy playing with his emotions. This is definitely a tangent, but in a way it ties into what I find so appealing about Garbage and Shirley Manson in particular.

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