Vocalist Garbage Shirley Manson ( Shirley Manson) has always stood apart among her colleagues. While many of them placed too much emphasis on visual perception and flashy outfits (every now and then provoking scandals and often forgetting that music still dominates in a musical project), the bright native of Edinburgh confidently honed her style, almost never falling into under the scrutiny and barrage of criticism from the Fashion Police. Style Shirley Manson as if he had never known failure. He simply was and is. Inspired by one of latest photo shoot Shirley for Billboard magazine, we decided to remember how the images of one of the brightest rock vocalists of our time have changed over the past twenty years.

Growing up as a star: what influenced Shirley Manson's style?

Born in 1966 (yes, the singer will turn fifty this year), Shirley Manson witnessed the change of different fashion eras with her own eyes. In the late 1960s, fashion was dominated by hippie culture and its opposite in spirit, minimalist avant-garde pop art. The crazy 1970s gave the world disco, safari and military styles, giving way to punk culture in the second half of the decade. In the 1980s, the time came when fashion trends, as such, ceased to exist separately from each other. And the same punk fashion became the quintessence of this mixture. Depending on taste and musical preferences young people actively worked on their unique style, looking for inspiration in literally everything: in bygone decades and even centuries, in other cultures, in different movements and types of art. And Shirley Manson’s style became unique in its own way precisely because of the atmosphere of freedom and rebellion in which she had the opportunity to grow up.

Having experienced serious problems with the perception of her own appearance due to attacks from peers, the owner big eyes and a luxurious head of red hair began to spend a lot of time on the streets of Edinburgh along with various informals. Shirley's tastes were largely influenced by the post-punk wave with its tendency towards gothic and artsy gloom, as well as the style of her favorite performers - Patti Smith, Debbie Harry (you can read about the style of the Blondie vocalist), the groups Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Pretenders and others. It is thanks to such wide choice fashion landmarks, Shirley Manson learned to skillfully combine femininity and androgyny in her images, to emphasize sexuality without being vulgar.

As a result, already in the early 1980s, even before participating in his first group Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie, Shirley became known in music circles as a stylish person. It was not uncommon for her to work as a stylist with various musicians. With her height of 170 cm, the singer managed to become a model in Jackie magazine, as well as a salesperson in the famous Miss Selfridge store (in outfits from which the girl often went to clubs).

This is how we saw Shirley Manson in the 1990s

Already while participating in my second group Angelfish (1992-1994), Shirley gravitated toward interesting sexual images, which the whole world would later see in the videos and concerts of the Garbage group. The main element of the singer's wardrobe was a small short dress. Available in different styles and colors, Shirley's dresses most often sent us straight back to the 1960s. But! As soon as you put on heavy boots and classic black mesh, the outfit began to be more aggressive, defiant and daring. The girl complemented her look with voluminous styling (at that time the singer’s hairstyle varied from a torn bob to long hair below the shoulders), as well as catchy makeup using bright single-color shadows or pretentious black smoky eyes. It was almost impossible to imagine Shirley in the 1990s without eyeliner and bright ruby ​​lips.

However, in the group’s videography one can also find an example of a calmer image of the singer, such as Manson could be seen on tours. In the 1995 Vow video, Shirley appeared in black jeans and a T-shirt, with simple black boots. The heart of the image was a bright shaggy fur coat of rich red color, which contrasted favorably with the red color of her hair.

Particularly piquant and memorable at that time was the image of Shirley in the video I Think I’m Paranoid, where the singer appeared before the audience in a short black polka dot dress with open shoulders, which was complemented by panties with the same print and heavy black boots. If you grew up in the 1990s, you'll definitely remember how sexy this video was.

Late 1990s - first half of 2000s: the other side of Shirley Manson

However, already during the promotion of the second album Version 2.0, Shirley Manson’s style began to undergo changes. Special, You Look So Fine videos and then the subsequent Bond soundtrack The World Is Not Enough showed us the luxurious Shirley, who is no stranger to femininity in its most classic and even strict manifestations. The images of that period combined women's military and evening wear, a reference to military fashion of the 1930s and 1940s and the aesthetics of sadomasochism. For example, remember a vest with fur collar aviator style and leather miniskirt from the Special video. Or the iconic image of Manson from the video The World Is Not Enough, where the singer appeared before the public in a tailored ruby ​​evening dress with an equally sophisticated hairstyle. By the way, the tall horse suited Shirley very well.

The album Beautiful Garbage that followed in 2001 and the clips released one after another in support of the record were accompanied by a sharp change in the singer’s image. If in the Androgyny video we are in last time When they saw Shirley with her usual red hair color, in subsequent videos the performer appeared before the public as a bright blonde. She also opted for a short, boyish haircut with lots of choppy, asymmetrical strands. In her clothing style, as well as in her lyrics, Manson flirted with the theme of glamor, but, according to the musicians themselves, this period of creativity was filled with irony: it is no coincidence that the title of the album is translated as “Beautiful Trash.” Shirley's outfits were dominated by interesting cuts, a combination of leather and stiff fabrics, and high-heeled shoes.

With the release of the album Bleed Like Me, the singer returned to her usual red hair color and systematically demonstrated different sides of her style. For example, in the Why Do You Love Me video we saw not only the old style of Shirley Manson (remember the scene where she dresses in a small black dress with a photo of Debbie Harry in the background), but also could appreciate a tweed jacket straight out of the 1960s, as well as a variety of stockings and a pair of wonderful striped socks. In the city video Run My Baby Run, filmed in a documentary style, Shirley showed off her casual style: sneakers, jackets, scarves. However, in the video you can also see an allegorical image of a girl with long blond hair and in a golden cloak. The clips Bleed Like Me and Sex Is Not The Enemy can be called more fashion-oriented.

There is 1970s glamor and animal prints, interesting military looks. By the way, Garbage’s work of this period became more socio-politically oriented: Manson often wrote lyrics on the topics of equality and military action that concerned her. That is why military style and khaki print most often appeared in Shirley's concert wardrobe.

Late 2000s - 2010s: Shirley Manson takes glamor to the extreme

Promotional photo for the new album Garbage – Strange Little Birds

After the release of the collection in 2007 greatest hits and the new song Tell Me Where It Hurts, the audience saw Shirley Manson in a sophisticated image. To this day, the singer often adheres to a retro style in her outfits. She experiments with feminine images of the pre-war era, for example, as in the videos Blood For Poppies and Big Bright World - flowing dresses and tops that emphasize the figure, soft curls or interesting high buns. He uses leopard print, preferring it both on stage and in videos, and in life (by the way, it was the one that became the focal point in the design of the latest album of the group Strange Little Birds).

Shooting for NOTOFU magazine (2014)

5-12-2011

At the origins of the American alternative team Garbage stood three very experienced musicians and producers - guitarists Duke Eriksson and Steve Marker, as well as drummer Butch Vig, who became famous as the album's producer Nevermind. From about the mid-80s. all three collaborated in one way or another in different teams, until in the early 90s. We didn’t decide to assemble our own full-fledged team. The name Garbage (garbage, garbage - English) came after one caustic comment on their joint work. Having begun the search for a vocalist, the musicians soon came to the conclusion that a girl should stand at the microphone. By chance Marker saw a video of the group on TV Angelfish, whose vocalist was someone Shirley Manson.

All four musicians met on the day of death from Nirvana– April 8, 1994 Close cooperation, however, had to be postponed until later due to the fact that Angelfish We were on tour at the time. And Manson’s first audition left much to be desired, but the musicians warmed to each other and, as it turned out, had many common interests. At the end of the tour Angelfish broke up, and the vocalist herself contacted Garbage's manager and asked for a new audition. Despite the fact that the process went wrong this time too, Manson was hired as a vocalist. From that moment on, the group began recording a demo tape, trying to move away from the “” style sound in which the musicians had worked before.

Also in 1994, the Mushroom UK label took the group under its wing. Garbage's first release was the song "Vow", released on music collection from Volume magazine - at that time it was the only completely finished song. Oddly enough, “Vow” was a good success - the track was immediately picked up by various radio stations. Since the magazine owned the rights to the song, a limited series of singles from "Vow" were released through Garbage's own label. The musicians continued to prepare the album.

The debut album of the same name was released in August 1995 and settled at the very bottom of the American Billboard 200 chart - in the UK and Australia the disc ranked where best places. The band immediately went on tour and received a Brit Awards nomination for Best New foreign performer. The musicians spent the entire next year on tour in support of their first child. Singles " Only Happy When It Rains», « Milk" And " Stupid Girl"took good positions in the charts. The single “Milk,” reworked together with musician Tricky, entered the top ten in the UK. Garbage played the song at the MTV European Music Awards and even received an award for Breakthrough of the Year. A remix of the song “#1 Crush” was featured in the film “ Romeo and Juliet", and also received a nomination for an MTV Movie Award in 1997. That same year, the group received three Grammy nominations.

Almost a year - until mid-February 1998 - was spent preparing the second album. The group actually tried to surpass themselves, which in principle they succeeded. The album Version 2.0 was released in May and immediately topped the British charts (in the US it only managed to take 13th place). Singles " Push It», « Special" And " I Think I'm Paranoid"were also very popular on the other side of the ocean, and the latter was included in the soundtrack to the video games Gran Turismo 2 and Rock Band. The group was on tour from May 1998 until the end of 1999. In October, Garbage received three nominations for the European MTV music awards, and in early 1999, two Grammy nominations for Version 2.0 - although again they failed to receive a single statuette. Sales, meanwhile, exceeded 1 million discs, for which the musicians received an award from the International Recording Federation. Single " When I Grow Up"was featured in the film Big Daddy and became the group's most successful single in Australia. This was followed by collaboration, which made the group even more famous - in October the single “ The World Is Not Enough", recorded together with composer David Arnold and an orchestra especially for the next Bond series, "The Whole World Is Not Enough." The single entered the hot tens of many European countries. At the end of the tour, the musicians took a vacation.

The group reunited in the spring of 2001. It was planned to release a collection of B-sides, but the plans were not destined to come true because the American distributor of Garbage Almo Records products was sold to UMG. The group decided to leave the label, but UMG was against it, and the case ended in court, which sided with the musicians, whose new home was Interscope. The album was recorded in the summer, and the first single was “Androgyny”. However, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 turned the nation's interest away from the music, and promotion for the album stalled. The album itself Beautiful Garbage was released in October and still managed to take good positions in the charts, and sales in the first three months amounted to 1,200,000 copies. Garbage toured the North a lot (opening for U2) and Central America, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. However, the tour was somewhat spoiled by the illnesses of the musicians. Some of the concerts were canceled due to problems with Manson's voice, and the group went to Europe with Matt Chamberlain on drums - Vig first fell ill with hepatitis A, and then he was struck by Bell's palsy. Single " Breaking Up the Girl"was heard in an episode of the TV series "Daria", and " Cherry Lips" became a No. 1 hit in Australia.

After a long break, in March 2003 Garbage reconvened to work on their fourth disc, but the work did not go well due to the fact that Manson had to undergo surgery on her ligaments, as well as due to complicated relations within the team. As a result, the musicians dispersed to different cities and countries. However, after the New Year's meeting with fans, Vig, who by that time had already given up on Garbage, decided that he had rushed to conclusions. Already in January the group gave their first performance, and after that they went to the studio, where they recorded until December. new material. The album Bleed Like Me was released in April 2005 and took good positions in the charts on both sides Atlantic Ocean. Then Garbage went on tour again, which, however, ended quickly - last performance became a concert in Australia on October 1st. The reason, according to the official statement, was the general fatigue of the musicians both from touring and from each other. The band members officially announced that the band had gone on indefinite leave, and after that everyone went about their own business. Manson began working on the still unreleased solo album, at the same time I participate in different projects, Vig returned to producing, Ericsson collaborated with the BBC and worked on an anthology of American folk music, and Marker began composing music for films.

The next Garbage reunion took place in January 2007, when the group performed at charity concert for musician Wally Ingram, who was diagnosed with throat cancer. Next, the group recorded the song “ Tell Me Where It Hurts", which became a single from the Absolute Garbage compilation released in July. Vig stated that Garbage planned to begin work on a fifth album in 2008, but silence soon returned.

At the beginning of 2010, Vig received a Grammy statuette as the producer of the best rock album, which was the disc 21st Century Breakdown

Bright, daring, red-haired! Garbage singer Shirley Manson - real symbol rebellious 90s. She was always sharp-tongued, devilishly charismatic and endlessly assertive. Remains the same Shirley now. And thank God: maybe it was the determination of this fragile person that helped Garbage enter the list of top rock bands in the world and record The World Is Not Enough for the 19th James Bond film.

On November 11, at Moscow's Crocus City Hall, Garbage, led by Shirley Manson, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its first album with a big concert. Shortly before the show, we called the singer in Los Angeles and found out why feminism is needed, why you shouldn’t be afraid of numbers in your passport, and how Russia is similar to Scotland.

Shirley Manson

About age

“I won’t lie: watch how your body losing ground, disgusting. There is nothing good about this. But, on the other hand, the very fact that I became older had a great impact on my consciousness. I have become stronger. I feel happier. And I’m glad that there is still a lot of new things ahead that I can and want to learn. It's exciting.

I like the approach of some African tribes and Native Americans who respect and listen to their elders. I think this makes sense. But in the USA and in mine home country, United Kingdom (Shirley is originally from Scotland.-Note ed.), culture is not like that: we seem to have long forgotten the power of wisdom and experience. We have become superficial. We like everything beautiful, everything light. Don't get me wrong: all of this is worth admiring too. But no less than for years!

I adore my age. I love the imprint that time leaves on people. That's life. There is more to an adult than some superficiality. Behind the “shell” there is a certain essence

In general, I'm not afraid of getting old. I embrace the years with joy."

Garbage - the embodiment of the rebellious 90s

About Garbage, the Moscow concert and its 20-year history

“In Moscow we will play all the songs from the Garbage album, which turns 20 this year. And more songs that we wrote in 1995-1996. This is how we celebrate the anniversary of the first record!

You know, these 20 years have changed a lot in me. Today I am completely different. But I feel even more of a rebel than before. It's even funny.

I'm louder, more open, more active than ever before.

I fucking want to turn over tables more than ever! (Laughs.)

In general, yes, I have changed, but my drive, my passion, my principles are still the same.”

Shirley has always been a rebel. And, according to the singer, the rebellious spirit only grew stronger with age!

About style

“The way I dress is my expression. I can look different every day. It all depends on my mood, where I'm going to go and what I'm going to do. I generally have quite a strange taste, to be honest. I wouldn’t call myself stylish.”

About Russia, Scotland and travel

“I think Russia is very similar to Scotland. Well, at some points. This is strange: on the one hand, the countries are completely different, but on the other hand, on the contrary, they are close to each other.

Russians - here I am, of course, making some generalization, but still - they remind me of the Scots. Oh yeah! Loud, passionate, expressive...

And I really like this connection, this similar energy that I feel in Russian culture!

Now I live in the USA, but I really miss my homeland. I come to Scotland every three months. I see friends, family, and soak up the dull Scottish life. (Laughs.) I miss the rain, the clouds, the sky. I need to visit Scotland all the time!

Los Angeles, the city I live in in America, is very different from the city I grew up in in Scotland. But I love LA - it's a great place with large groups of people with their own interests. I like living in the States.

An interesting thing: I have always had the feeling that I belong in every place where I am with the people I love

Everywhere I go - and I travel a lot - I always find something magical. Everywhere!"

About my husband

“It seems to me that every person who comes into your life influences you in some way. Yes, everyone influences - including enemies. They shape you, your character, your self-perception. So I think my husband too (Shirley is married to Billy Bush, Garbage's sound engineer.-Note ed.) changed me too - one way or another.”

About femininity and rock and roll

"Now there is a lot beautiful women who create music. There are many wonderful - even, perhaps, simply magnificent pop singers. For example, Beyonce and - they, in my opinion, are generally the greatest pop artists the world has ever seen!

But I miss the rebels.

I would like to hear real “rebellious in spirit” girls - like they used to be. It's probably hard to fit a rebellious voice into the context of pop music. Or maybe people today are simply not ready for such pop music

And in recent years ten “at the helm”, it seems, is pop who “rules” the world, silencing the underground. It's a pity.

Do I feel like the world is just dominated by “feminine” ideals right now? Well, it must be said that the women's rights movement is indeed regressing. In the 1990s, I and my entire generation felt like we were breaking glass with our foreheads. And we really did. Plus, we were all feminists and talked about it openly. But the pop stars who later became famous for feminism, on the contrary, in every possible way disavowed the ideas of equality. Although, in my opinion, any person - not just an artist - should fight for the rights of others. This matters to people all over the world."

It is sometimes said that Garbage has been around since 1994. All its members are far from amateurs: Butch Vig produced discs of such groups as Nirvana (the Nevermind album, and the group as a whole, Shirley’s voice works not only to compensate for the often absent or non-predominant solo guitar parts, but also enriches and without that, it would seem to be a good sound. And there’s no need to talk about effects at all. Specialists in the field of sound recording and remixing, who have worked with such different genres as Eurotechno Depeche Mode and rock U2, know how to work with samples no worse than The Prodigy. music that suits your mood.

Critics began to call the group's style post-grunge, gothic pop, and even alternative. Although they are not classified as soon as possible. On the Internet, and not only, you can find their songs in sections of a hodgepodge of alternative music, rock of various degrees of freedom, and even thrash. During this period, the musicians themselves define their music as something between Curve, Nine Inch Nails and Eurythmics, with a clear predominance of Roxy Music.

The songs from their first album can seem dark if you don't listen to the words, and if you listen closely, they can seem cruel and too honest. As someone said: “The band’s music absorbs the despair of the 90s and does not need a selection of epithets.”

Video clips were shot for several songs from the first album, later combined into a single video released on VHS and, naturally, called “Garbage”. By the way, this half-hour film featured not only original versions of songs, but also interruptions from remixes. Getting this masterpiece is currently quite difficult.

In early 1997, Garbage entered the studio to record their second album. "We'll just hang out in the studio and tape whatever comes to mind," Steve Marker said. Coming out every day new album Garbage, named "Version 2.0". Marker described the upcoming LP as "more black and danceable than the first. "It'll be like 'As Heaven Is Wide.' We dedicated one of the songs to our idol, singer Chrissie Hynde from The Pretenders,” he said.

As it turned out later, a couple of years spent recording is not the longest period of waiting for numerous fans. During the recording of their second studio album, the group came up with a non-standard, as they say now, marketing ploy. Shirley Manson began keeping her online diary, or, as they say now, a blog. From this diary, fans of the group learned news about the tracks being recorded, what is called “first-hand.” Numerous music publications reprinted parts of Shirley's diary, which fueled the already high interest in the group. This continued until careless criticism of Radiohead's new album caused widespread displeasure and almost led to lawsuits. After which the group changed the rules and prohibited reproducing and quoting the diaries without written permission.

In principle, “Version 2.0” repeats the recipe of the first album: a rock band writes excellent pop songs, makes them sound more modern with the help of samples and all kinds of electronics. Shirley noted: “Everything on the album is about me, about my life. It's more personal than the first one." The album appealed to lovers of high-quality sound and rose to first place in the national and indie charts in Britain (and to 13 in its homeland in the USA). Butch Vig described the band's music at that stage as: "Heavier than Nine Inch Nails, groover than hip-hop, more guitars than My Bloody Valentine." Particularly popular are the songs “Push It” (the first single from the album), “When I Grow Up”, “I think I’m paranoid” and “You Look So Fine”.

Quite a long time passed before the group announced the start of work on their third album. Even after this, the work did not go very well. “The boys were hanging out at the bar,” recalls Shirley Manson, “and I was sitting comfortably in some corner, wrapped in an old blanket, staring blankly at the TV.” The confusion and confusion of the musicians can be explained: despite the abundance of ideas and a clear desire to work, they did not yet fully understand in which direction they should develop. The musicians decided to work with pop music. “We have always been fans of this particular movement,” says Shirley. - This partly manifested itself in “Version 2.0”, but then we were still under pressure from guitar fashion. Just don’t rush to conclusions - we put our own meaning into the concept of “pop!”

Unlike its rather conceptual predecessors, “Beautiful Garbage” is a provocative mixture of caustic R&B (“Androgyny”), stylized folk (“So Like A Rose”), more or less familiar rock drive (“Silence Is Golden”) ", "Shut Your Mouth"), outright parody ("Can't Cry These Tears") and a brilliant tango ("Untouchable"). “We have come to the conclusion,” says Butch Vig, smiling sarcastically, “that not being afraid to try and move away from the usual sound is not only a necessary thing, but also an interesting thing. Everyone except Shirley is a producer to one degree or another, so the process of learning new things was quite harmonious.” The musicians really had a lot of time to afford everything, because work on “Beautiful Garbage” lasted 14 months.

The album was followed by an exhausting world tour, during which Shirley began to have problems with her voice, followed by a diagnosis of nervous and physical exhaustion. After the end of the tour, troubles fell on the group - Butch Vig began to have health problems, family troubles haunted Shirley, who suffered major surgery on ligaments. Duke Erickson's father died, and Steve Marker lost his mother... When they met, they could talk about anything, but not about work or the studio. “I remember we sat across from each other and were silent,” recalls Shirley Manson. - Because they didn’t know at all whether we would continue to work together. If yes, then working on new songs will be very hard. If not... I don't know. It seems like I didn’t feel anything at all then.”

After the first, not very successful attempt to go into the studio, the members of Garbage took a long time out. The next time they found themselves in the studio was by chance - one fine morning a ten-ton truck drove into the building of their Smart Studios. After the renovation, the guys gradually joined the process of recording the album.

In Russia, the album was released on April 11, 2005. According to the musicians, “On the new album, for the first time, we tried to get away from the thoughts: “Let's see how far our ideas will take us.” We didn’t experiment, we didn’t try to surprise anyone on purpose, we just wrote songs. Therefore, the music on the album will be closer to the “Version 2.0” disc, and the nature of the songs will be sexually aggressive.” Garbage, famous for always recording their albums themselves, invited outside musicians into the studio. The first recruit was John King from the Dust Brothers. Shirley admits that it was with the appearance of this man that she finally “calmed down and realized that the album would be completed.” Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters then joined them and contributed drums to the new album's opening song, "Bad Boyfriend."

The band's new album, Garbage, is performing well on the charts. Not only did it become the band's fastest-selling album, but it also performed the best on the charts compared to previous releases.

It debuted in the top 100 of Billboard magazine in fourth place, and it is also in fourth place on the American chart - musicians have never managed to climb so high on the first attempt.

In 2010, the group entered the top rotation on the radio of the alternative community freakoff.net and received high ratings from users.

www.garbage.com - official website