Stupid Girl
Encyclopedia
"Stupid Girl" is a 1995 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock
band Garbage
and was released on their self-titled debut album
. The song was released by Almo Sounds
in North America
and Mushroom Records
worldwide as the band's fourth international single
in 1996, and it became their biggest hit in United States
, Canada
and the United Kingdom
. The song's performance on the charts was driven by an innovative music video
and cutting-edge
remixes
which gained massive airplay across the world. The success of "Stupid Girl" propelled sales of its parent album Garbage into the top twenty of the Billboard 200
and into the top ten of the UK Albums Chart
.
In 1997, "Stupid Girl" was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song
and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group
. The song also received nominations for a Danish Grammy
for Best Rock Song, an MTV Video Music Award
for Best New Artist
and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Rock Song. In 1998, Broadcast Music Incorporated
awarded Garbage a Citation of Achievement for Best Pop Song for "Stupid Girl".
"Stupid Girl" was composed by Garbage members Duke Erikson
, Shirley Manson
, Steve Marker
and Butch Vig
, and arranged upon a drum
sample
from The Clash
's 1980 hit "Train in Vain
", whose writers Joe Strummer
and Mick Jones
were given a co-writing credit for the song. In 2007, "Stupid Girl" was remastered
and included on Garbage's greatest hits
album Absolute Garbage
. The remaining members of The Clash, Paul Simonon
and Topper Headon
, were given a co-writing credit on the remastered version.
around January 1994, recorded during informal studio sessions
between Vig, Erikson and Marker in Marker's home basement recording studio
in Madison
, Wisconsin
on prior to Manson joining the group. The band had been jamming
using an ADAT
eight-track
, AKAI
samplers
and a small drum kit
. Marker created the bassline
, while Erikson wrote a jangly guitar
riff
. The whole song came together when Vig brought both parts together over a drum sample from The Clash's "Train In Vain". After Marker
saw Manson's group Angelfish
on 120 Minutes
, the band invited her to Vig and Marker's Smart Studios
to sing on a couple of songs, but after a "dreadful" first audition
, she returned to Angelfish. Manson eventually returned to Smart for a successful second time, where she began to work on the then-skeletal "Queer
", "Vow
" and "Stupid Girl" Working on the lyrics, "Stupid Girl" became an "anthem for a girl who won't settle for less than what she wants". Later she added, "["Stupid Girl" is] really about squandering potential, [it's] our version of Madonna
's "Express Yourself", but a little more subversive". Manson aimed the song as a rebuke towards a friend's foolish behaviour: "A lot of females still find it difficult to find their own voice in society. It's just that women have a different set of problems from men... make the most of your potential."
Garbage wanted to write a song that incorporated a very thumpy and repetitive bass line; this would act as a hook
. Continuing to develop the demo throughout the recording process for what would eventually become the band's debut album, the group decided to add textures
, guitars
, and keys
to make "Stupid Girl" dynamic
rather than built on complicated chord changes
. Marker and Vig then added in elements of ambient sound effects throughout the audio mix
; including the "glitchy" sound of a broken DAT player
used during the pre-chorus. Marker had been dubbing
between audio tracks
, resulting in scratchy feedback
; he sampled the sound and tuned it to fit the song, unintentionally created by an alternative hook. When Manson recorded her first vocals for "Stupid Girl", the band realised that the key
that the song had been arranged
in was too low, but instead of re-recording the guitars, Vig re-printed
them through a pitch-change
patch on an effects unit
. Additional percussion on "Stupid Girl" was performed by Madison musician Pauli Ryan, while the bass guitar
line was played on record by Milwaukee session bassist Mike Kashou, both of whom performed on a number of tracks on the band's debut album.
Reflecting on the success of the song in 2002, Vig admitted: "People still ask us who the 'Stupid Girl' is, and that's impossible to answer. The song is sort of meant to be a wake up call. It could be about an ex-girlfriend. It could be about a rock diva that we all know, it could be about your sister. It could also be called 'Stupid Boy'." Looking back, he also stated, "It's impossible to predict what will be a hit. But subconsciously, I knew the song was good when I kept playing the same rough mix over and over again on my car stereo for months."
in the key
of F♯ major. It is built on a I-IV change
in F#, with both chords
, F#7 and B7, turned into dominant 7s. The dominant 7s are in blues
, and are used in this way to give "Stupid Girl" a sulk edge. This chord change is used for the intro
, verse, chorus
and the instrumental
sections. "Stupid Girl" is mainly carried by this arrangement
, along with drum beats, sampled from "Train In Vain".
On the intro, four bars set the rhythm
, adorned by only a guitar pick
-slide
and audio effects. The verse adds Manson's vocals and a bass
riff
which uses flattened blues notes to give "Stupid Girl" an R'n'B feel. The eight-bar
prechorus
abruptly cuts in with minor chords and sampled feedback
replaces the bass which drops out
. This, coupled with Manson singing high in her range
, creates tension
and enables the presence of the bass to be felt when it re-enters on the chorus. The guitar figures
in the bridge include a phrase
played low and rhythmic guitar
stabs
on the opposite side of the audio mix
. On the chorus, Manson's main vocal is answered by an "aah-ah" of voice and guitar
together. The word "girl" lands on a flattened bass note (A
against the F# chord, instead of A#).
and New Zealand
on February 5, 1996, when White
issued a CD single
backed with "Trip My Wire" (previously released on "Queer" in the United Kingdom
) and remix
es of "Queer" by Adrian Sherwood
and Martin Gore
. A week later, White issued a second CD featuring a cover version
of The Jam
's "Butterfly Collector
" and a further two "Queer" mixes produced by Danny Saber
and Rabbit In the Moon
(also previously released in the UK). Both formats were accompanied by cassette single
s repeating the CD tracklists. At the end of the month, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #32 for a single week on the RIANZ Top 40 and re-charted a fortnight later at #37. The band's debut album, Garbage, ascended the album chart to reach #26. At the end of March, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #47 on the ARIA Top 50
for a single week, and re-charted at #49 two weeks later. At the same time, Garbage reclimbed the album chart to spend two weeks at #16. In July, White released a limited edition EP
titled Stupid Girl - The Remixes collecting together the UK b-sides and remixes for the Australian market.
BMG
released "Stupid Girl" across Europe
on February 28. The single was issued as a CD maxi backed with both "Butterfly Collector" and "Trip My Wire". In Iceland
, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #18 at the start of April. On the second week, it shot up to #4 where it remained for three weeks. In Spain
, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #40 on the airplay chart. In Ireland
, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #16. BMG later reissued "Stupid Girl" in France
and Germany
when Garbage returned to tour Europe's rock festival
s in August. "Stupid Girl" peaked at #38 on the French singles chart
, and Garbage re-charted to peak at #16 on the album chart.
Mushroom Records
serviced "Stupid Girl" to radio stations in the United Kingdom a month in advance of the release; it was A-listed
at Radio One
, Virgin
and Capital
. At the start of March, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #48 on the airplay chart and the band's debut album re-charted at #27 on the album chart. Mushroom issued "Stupid Girl" on March 11 as a 2×CD single set and limited edition 7" vinyl packaged in two differing colours of fabric. The song was backed with "Driving Lesson", a new version of "Dog New Tricks" and a remix of "Stupid Girl" produced by Red Snapper
on the first disc; "Alien Sex Fiend" and two versions of "Stupid Girl" remixed by Dreadzone
on the second. The vinyl was backed with the mix of "Dog New Tricks". The single was supported by Garbage's first ever UK tour
, which launched on March 19. At the end of the first week, "Stupid Girl" debuted as the highest new entry on the UK Singles Chart
at #4. During the middle of the live shows, Garbage performed the single on Top of the Pops
and a live showcase performance of "Stupid Girl" and "Only Happy When It Rains
" on TFI Friday
. On its second week, "Stupid Girl" dropped to #10, as Garbage broke into the albums top ten for the first time at #7. On the airplay chart, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #5, and spent the entire following month within the top ten. At the end of April, Garbage peaked for two weeks at #6, and remained in the top ten until May. "Stupid Girl" clocked up seven weeks in the top 75 and sold 120,000 copies.
In North America
, where "Only Happy When It Rains" had been the band's breakthrough single, Almo Sounds
planned either "Stupid Girl" or a re-release of their debut single "Vow
" to follow it up. On May 25, Almo serviced "Stupid Girl" to alternative radio
. The success of "Only Happy..." had driven the band's debut Garbage to peak at #47 in April, but the album had fallen to #73 since. The release of "Stupid Girl" was timed with Garbage joining the Smashing Pumpkins' North American arena tour as the opening act
throughout June and July. After a week on air, "Stupid Girl" debuted on Modern Rock Tracks
at #38. Two weeks later, it broke into the Modern Rock top twenty (with an "Airpower" rating, meaning the song had registered over 900 detections for the first time on alternative radio) and debuted at #66 on the Hot 100 Airplay
chart. At the end of the month "Stupid Girl" reached the top ten at Modern Rock as Garbage ascended into the top forty of the Billboard 200
for the first time. Almo re-serviced "Stupid Girl" with a remix of the song produced by Todd Terry
to Top 40 radio
.
On July 9, Almo released "Stupid Girl" to record stores on CD and cassette single, backed with "Driving Lesson" and the Todd Terry version. Almo serviced remixes of the song to clubs
which were rated Hot Dance Break-outs as "Stupid Girl" debuted at #46 on the Hot 100. On July 11, Garbage performed "Stupid Girl" on The Late Show with David Letterman. The next day the Smashing Pumpkins tour was halted after their keyboardist
Jonathan Melvoin
fatally overdosed (the tour resumed without Garbage a month later). Although the postponement prevented Garbage from touring the single, the following week, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #68 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales
chart, at #47 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart and at #46 on the Hot Dance/Club Play chart. At the end of July, Garbage was certified platinum
by the RIAA for shipping a million units
within the United States
, and a week later peaked at #20 on the album chart. On August 6, Almo released a 12" vinyl format commercially featuring "Driving Lesson" and remixes of "Stupid Girl" produced by Todd Terry, Danny Saber, Rabbit In the Moon and Jason Bentley
. In mid-August, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #2 at Modern Rock and at #26 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. At the end of August, strong 12" single sales of the remixes led to the song peaking at #30 on the Maxi-Singles Sales
chart; "Stupid Girl" also picked up enough mainstream rock
airplay to spend two weeks at #39 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
chart.
At the start of September, "Stupid Girl" became a crossover hit, having built up at both alternate and contemporary hit radio
, where it reached #25 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. Two weeks later, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #24 on the Hot 100 in its ninth week; at the same time the song peaked at #33 on the Single Sales chart and hit #5 on the Club Play chart. Since the release of the single in May, Garbage had doubled its sales to shifting around 40,000 units each week, and remained in the top thirty of the Billboard 200 over the past two months. At the end of September, "Stupid Girl" dropped out of the Modern Rock top ten. As the song was still showing highly at Top 40, Almo serviced "Supervixen
" to appeal to alternative stations. "Stupid Girl" continued to gain a larger crossover audience throughout October, when it debuted at #39 on the Adult Top 40, and peaked at #36 two weeks later after the Garbage performed the song at the VH1 Fashion Awards
(the band hit the tabloids when Shirley Manson suffered a wardrobe malfunction
midway). "Stupid Girl" bowed off of the Modern Rock chart in mid-November after twenty-five weeks and the song remained on the Hot 100 until the start of December (where the song had clocked up twenty weeks on the chart). Almo followed up the success of the song by releasing "Milk" as the sixth single from Garbage; however alternative radio picked up on "#1 Crush
" instead and sent it to #1 at the end of the year.
cover for inclusion on charity album Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation
. Daniel Shulman
plays bass on all four tracks. On October 14, 1998, Garbage, Electronic Arts
, AT&T
and Broadcast.com
linked up to promote a live webcast
from Garbage's headline
show at Dallas Bronco Bowl by offering a free .a2b file format
digital download
of "Driving Lesson". The song registered over 6,000 downloads. "Driving Lesson" was nominated for "Best Internet Only Single" in the Yahoo! Internet Life Online Music Awards
held at Studio 54
in New York City
on July 19, 1999. "Driving Lesson" lost to "The War" by The Artist
.
for "Stupid Girl" was filmed on January 16, 1996 in Los Angeles
by director
Samuel Bayer
. The video for single "Only Happy When It Rains
" was shot at the same time. The video for "Only Happy When It Rains" was given a higher budget
than the video for "Stupid Girl", because Almo Sounds
believed that the former would be a bigger hit than the latter. The video debuted internationally on February 1, 1996, and in North America on May 5. MTV certified "Stupid Girl" a Buzz-clip
, the band's third video in a row to be guaranteed heavy airplay on the network, while VH1
added the video at the start of September and incorporated it into a Pop Up Video episode.
The video for "Stupid Girl" is a performance piece, inspired by the title sequence
from David Fincher
's 1995 movie Se7en
. The clip was shot in just four hours entirely within a warehouse
. Bayer cut the film into pieces, and soaked it in his bath, applying deliberate fingerprints and abrasions to the footage before putting it back together by hand. Bayer later re-edited a second version of the video, with alternative footage from the original shoot for a remix version of "Stupid Girl" by Todd Terry.
The "Stupid Girl" video was nominated in the Best New Artist in a Video
category at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards
, losing to the Stéphane Sednaoui
-directed video for Alanis Morissette
's "Ironic
".
The "Stupid Girl" video was first commercially released on VHS
and Video-CD on 1996's Garbage Video
, along with "making of" out-take footage. A remastered version was later included on Garbage's 2007 greatest hits DVD
Absolute Garbage, and made available as a digital download
via online music services
the same year.
In 1996, Mushroom released a white label
to clubs featuring the Red Snapper and Dreadzone mixes in advance of the UK release of "Stupid Girl". The Red Snapper mix was later released in Europe on the b-side to "Only Happy When it Rains", while White Records released this mix along with the Dreadzone mixes on a Stupid Girl - The Remixes extended play
. Almo Sounds commissioned additional remixes from Danny Saber, Rabbit In the Moon, Jason Bentley and Todd Terry for the North American release of the single. One of Todd Terry's mixes was also serviced to Top 40 radio. Mushroom later released this version, along with the Danny Saber mix in the UK on the b-side of "Milk", while White included the Todd Terry mix on the bonus disc of the Garbage: Australian Tour Edition. In 1997, Mushroom released four Todd Terry mixes on a set of 12" vinyls (Stupid Girl Remixes) in the UK. An instrumental
version of the Red Snapper mix was also included on the compilation album Big Beat Elite. In 2007, Todd Terry's radio mix was remastered and included on the Absolute Garbage bonus disc Garbage Mixes.
Danny Saber's remix brief
for his version of "Stupid Girl" was to create a version of the song for radio airplay on K-Rock
new wave
/alternative rock
stations. Garbage's management
wanted Saber to retain the original's "Train in Vain" loop, as it had cost the band significantly to license
. Saber opted for a Soft Cell
/house music
combination; incorporating the original vocal line, tempo, key and feedback. Saber created a new bassline for the remix, arranging the mix around that. Saber completed the remix in a single day, with one further day required to mix.
) which featured a bonus disc of four tracks recorded live at the Roskilde Festival
in Denmark
. Another live version, recorded in December 1998 at the Shrine Auditorium
in Los Angeles, California
, was released the same year on The Best of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas.
, describing it as "mighty doomy pop neatly tailored to enhance one's natural discontentment", Vox
magazine's Craig McLean called it "malignant, dirty, devious, sneering pop", while Metal Hammer
s Pippa Lang compared Manson's "ever-so-sexy, sibilant" vocals to Trent Reznor
's. Kerrang!
described "Stupid Girl" as "a classy piece of predatory pop perfection that wields an iron punch beneath velvet glove".
In 2005, "Stupid Girl" was featured as the theme song to Curtis Hanson
's In Her Shoes while later that year, Alexz Johnson
recorded a cover version
of the track for the soundtrack album Songs from Instant Star
.
In 2011, it was nominated for a place on the final track listing of Scotland's Greatest Album
.
A The 2007 entry of "Stupid Girl" on the UK Singles Chart was due to the number of individual digital downloads of the remastered version included on Absolute Garbage.
Year-End Charts
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Garbage
Garbage (band)
Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production...
and was released on their self-titled debut album
Garbage (album)
Garbage is the debut album by Scottish/American alternative rock group Garbage. It was released in the late summer and autumn of 1995 worldwide, following critical acclaim and promising chart positions for their debut single "Vow", which entered the Billboard Hot 100.Garbage eventually spent over a...
. The song was released by Almo Sounds
Almo Sounds
Almo Sounds is a record label which was started in 1994 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss after they sold A&M Records to PolyGram. The intent of the label was to recreate the initial concept of A&M Records as a small, "boutique" label....
in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Mushroom Records
A&E Records
A&E Records is an United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG....
worldwide as the band's fourth international single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in 1996, and it became their biggest hit in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The song's performance on the charts was driven by an innovative music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
and cutting-edge
State of the art
The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. It also refers to the level of development reached at any particular time as a result of the latest methodologies employed.- Origin :The earliest use of the term...
remixes
RemixeS
RemixeS is a compilation of French singer Mylène Farmer's singles by various famous DJ's, including JXL, Felix Da Housecat and Paul Oakenfold.-Brackground, writing and release:...
which gained massive airplay across the world. The success of "Stupid Girl" propelled sales of its parent album Garbage into the top twenty of the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and into the top ten of the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
.
In 1997, "Stupid Girl" was nominated for Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song
Grammy Award for Best Rock Song
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality songs in the rock music genre...
and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group
Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011.The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories...
. The song also received nominations for a Danish Grammy
Danish Music Awards
The Danish Music Awards is a Danish award show. The show has been arranged by IFPI since 1989, and was originally called IFPI-prisen until 1991, when it changed its name to Dansk Grammy . The current name was given in 2001, after the American Grammy Awards took copyright on the name Grammy....
for Best Rock Song, an MTV Video Music Award
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
for Best New Artist
MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist
The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist is one of the four original general categories that have been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984...
and an MTV Europe Music Award for Best Rock Song. In 1998, Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
awarded Garbage a Citation of Achievement for Best Pop Song for "Stupid Girl".
"Stupid Girl" was composed by Garbage members Duke Erikson
Duke Erikson
Douglas Elwin Erickson , better known as Duke Erikson, is a founding member of the band Garbage. At 16 years old he formed his first band, The British. Erickson studied art history, and financed his studies with numerous jobs such as carpenter or truck driver...
, Shirley Manson
Shirley Manson
Shirley Anne Manson is a Scottish recording artist and actress, best known internationally as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. For much of her international career Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh to the United States to record with Garbage but now lives and...
, Steve Marker
Steve Marker
Steve Marker is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the guitarist of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage.-Early life:...
and Butch Vig
Butch Vig
Butch Vig is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the drummer of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage and the producer of multi-platinum selling album Nevermind by Nirvana....
, and arranged upon a drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
sample
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
from The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
's 1980 hit "Train in Vain
Train in Vain
"Train in Vain" is a song by the British punk rock band The Clash. It was released as the third and final single from their third album, London Calling...
", whose writers Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor , best remembered by his stage name Joe Strummer, was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist of the British punk rock band The Clash. His musical experience included his membership in The 101ers, Latino Rockabilly War, The Mescaleros and The Pogues, in...
and Mick Jones
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Jones is the former lead guitarist, secondary vocalist and co-founder for the British punk rock band The Clash until his dismissal in 1983. He went on to form the band Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts before line-up changes led to the formation of Big Audio Dynamite II and...
were given a co-writing credit for the song. In 2007, "Stupid Girl" was remastered
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
and included on Garbage's greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...
album Absolute Garbage
Absolute Garbage
Absolute Garbage is the 2007 greatest hits album released by alternative rock group Garbage. The album was compiled and released by Geffen imprint Almo Sounds through Universal Music Enterprises backcatalogue division in North America and Warner Music's record label A&E Records throughout the rest...
. The remaining members of The Clash, Paul Simonon
Paul Simonon
Paul Gustave Simonon is an English musician and artist best known as the bass guitarist for punk rock band The Clash. Recent work includes his involvement in the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen with Damon Albarn, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007...
and Topper Headon
Topper Headon
Headon was extensively interviewed for the Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten documentary film about the late Clash frontman. He related his experiences during this period, how he became addicted to heroin and how there were problems before his dismissal...
, were given a co-writing credit on the remastered version.
Composition
"Stupid Girl" began as a rough demoDemo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
around January 1994, recorded during informal studio sessions
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
between Vig, Erikson and Marker in Marker's home basement recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
on prior to Manson joining the group. The band had been jamming
Jam session
Jam sessions are often used by musicians to develop new material, find suitable arrangements, or simply as a social gathering and communal practice session. Jam sessions may be based upon existing songs or forms, may be loosely based on an agreed chord progression or chart suggested by one...
using an ADAT
ADAT
Alesis Digital Audio Tape or ADAT is a magnetic tape format used for the simultaneous digital recording of eight analog audio or digital audio tracks at once, onto a Super VHS tape that is used by consumer VCRs.- History :...
eight-track
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
, AKAI
Akai
Akai is a consumer electronics brand, founded by Saburo Akai as , a Japanese manufacturer in 1929. It is now headquartered in Singapore as a subsidiary of Grande Holdings, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate, which also owns the formerly Japanese brands Nakamichi and Sansui. The Akai brand is now used...
samplers
Sampler (musical instrument)
A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
and a small drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. Marker created the bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
, while Erikson wrote a jangly guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
. The whole song came together when Vig brought both parts together over a drum sample from The Clash's "Train In Vain". After Marker
Steve Marker
Steve Marker is an American musician and record producer, best known internationally as the guitarist of the Madison, Wisconsin-based alternative rock band Garbage.-Early life:...
saw Manson's group Angelfish
Angelfish (band)
Angelfish was a short-lived mid-1990s alternative rock group originating from Edinburgh, Scotland, formed as a side-project to Scottish group Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie, after keyboardist and backing vocalist Shirley Manson was signed as a solo artist to circumvent the Mackenzies' existing record contract...
on 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
, the band invited her to Vig and Marker's Smart Studios
Smart Studios
Smart Studios was a recording studio located at 1254 E Washington Ave in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands....
to sing on a couple of songs, but after a "dreadful" first audition
Audition
An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performing artist.Audition may also refer to:* The sense of hearing* Adobe Audition, audio editing software...
, she returned to Angelfish. Manson eventually returned to Smart for a successful second time, where she began to work on the then-skeletal "Queer
Queer (Garbage song)
"Queer" is a 1995 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock band Garbage and was the second international single to be taken from the band's multi-platinum debut studio album Garbage and followed up the band's debut hit "Vow"...
", "Vow
Vow (Garbage song)
"Vow" is a 1994 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock band Garbage and was released as their debut single in early 1995. The song, which had its themes of revenge and retaliation inspired by a newspaper article on domestic abuse, began as a demo during sessions between band...
" and "Stupid Girl" Working on the lyrics, "Stupid Girl" became an "anthem for a girl who won't settle for less than what she wants". Later she added, "["Stupid Girl" is] really about squandering potential, [it's] our version of Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
's "Express Yourself", but a little more subversive". Manson aimed the song as a rebuke towards a friend's foolish behaviour: "A lot of females still find it difficult to find their own voice in society. It's just that women have a different set of problems from men... make the most of your potential."
Garbage wanted to write a song that incorporated a very thumpy and repetitive bass line; this would act as a hook
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
. Continuing to develop the demo throughout the recording process for what would eventually become the band's debut album, the group decided to add textures
Texture (music)
In music, texture is the way the melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic materials are combined in a composition , thus determining the overall quality of sound of a piece...
, guitars
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, and keys
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
to make "Stupid Girl" dynamic
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
rather than built on complicated chord changes
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
. Marker and Vig then added in elements of ambient sound effects throughout the audio mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
; including the "glitchy" sound of a broken DAT player
Digital Audio Tape
Digital Audio Tape is a signal recording and playback medium developed by Sony and introduced in 1987. In appearance it is similar to a compact audio cassette, using 4 mm magnetic tape enclosed in a protective shell, but is roughly half the size at 73 mm × 54 mm × 10.5 mm. As...
used during the pre-chorus. Marker had been dubbing
Dubbing (music)
In sound recording, dubbing is the transfer or copying of previously recorded audio material from one medium to another of the same or a different type. It may be done with a machine designed for this purpose, or by connecting two different machines: one to play back and one to record the signal...
between audio tracks
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
, resulting in scratchy feedback
Feedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
; he sampled the sound and tuned it to fit the song, unintentionally created by an alternative hook. When Manson recorded her first vocals for "Stupid Girl", the band realised that the key
Key (music)
In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...
that the song had been arranged
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
in was too low, but instead of re-recording the guitars, Vig re-printed
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
them through a pitch-change
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
patch on an effects unit
Effects unit
Effects units are electronic devices that alter how a musical instrument or other audio source sounds. Some effects subtly "color" a sound, while others transform it dramatically. Effects are used during live performances or in the studio, typically with electric guitar, keyboard and bass...
. Additional percussion on "Stupid Girl" was performed by Madison musician Pauli Ryan, while the bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
line was played on record by Milwaukee session bassist Mike Kashou, both of whom performed on a number of tracks on the band's debut album.
Reflecting on the success of the song in 2002, Vig admitted: "People still ask us who the 'Stupid Girl' is, and that's impossible to answer. The song is sort of meant to be a wake up call. It could be about an ex-girlfriend. It could be about a rock diva that we all know, it could be about your sister. It could also be called 'Stupid Boy'." Looking back, he also stated, "It's impossible to predict what will be a hit. But subconsciously, I knew the song was good when I kept playing the same rough mix over and over again on my car stereo for months."
Music and structure
"Stupid Girl" is a moderately fast song set in common timeCommon Time
"Common Time" is a science fiction short story written by James Blish. It first appeared in the August 1953 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly and has been reprinted several times: in the 1959 short-story collection Galactic Cluster; in The Testament of Andros ; in The Penguin Science Fiction...
in the key
Key signature
In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental...
of F♯ major. It is built on a I-IV change
Diatonic function
In tonal music theory, a diatonic function is the specific, recognized role of each of the 7 notes and their chords in relation to the diatonic key...
in F#, with both chords
Chord (music)
A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...
, F#7 and B7, turned into dominant 7s. The dominant 7s are in blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, and are used in this way to give "Stupid Girl" a sulk edge. This chord change is used for the intro
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
, verse, chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
and the instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
sections. "Stupid Girl" is mainly carried by this arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, along with drum beats, sampled from "Train In Vain".
On the intro, four bars set the rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, adorned by only a guitar pick
Guitar pick
A guitar pick is a plectrum used for guitars. A pick is generally made of one uniform material; examples include plastic, nylon, rubber, felt, tortoiseshell, wood, metal, glass, and stone...
-slide
Slide (guitar technique)
A slide is a legato guitar technique where the player sounds one note, and then moves their finger up or down the fretboard to another fret. If done properly, the other note should also sound....
and audio effects. The verse adds Manson's vocals and a bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
which uses flattened blues notes to give "Stupid Girl" an R'n'B feel. The eight-bar
Bar (music)
In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined by a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by the top number of a...
prechorus
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
abruptly cuts in with minor chords and sampled feedback
Feedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
replaces the bass which drops out
Tacet
Tacet is Latin for "it is silent". It is a musical term to indicate that an instrument or voice does not sound. In vocal polyphony and in orchestral scores, it usually indicates a long period of time, typically an entire movement...
. This, coupled with Manson singing high in her range
Vocal range
Vocal range is the measure of the breadth of pitches that a human voice can phonate. Although the study of vocal range has little practical application in terms of speech, it is a topic of study within linguistics, phonetics, and speech and language pathology, particularly in relation to the study...
, creates tension
Tension (music)
In music, tension is the perceived need for relaxation or release created by a listener's expectations. For example, dissonance may give way to consonance...
and enables the presence of the bass to be felt when it re-enters on the chorus. The guitar figures
Figure (music)
A musical figure is the shortest idea in music, a short succession of notes, often recurring. It may have melodic pitch, harmonic progression and rhythmic . The 1964 Grove's Dictionary defines the figure as "the exact counterpart of the German 'motiv' and the French 'motif'": it produces a "single...
in the bridge include a phrase
Phrase (music)
In music and music theory, phrase and phrasing are concepts and practices related to grouping consecutive melodic notes, both in their composition and performance...
played low and rhythmic guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
stabs
Stab (music)
In music, a stab is a single staccato chord that adds dramatic impact to a composition. Stabs are usually provided by horns , thus the term horn stab, or an orchestral sample, usually occur on a 1-beat, and are frequently used in funk, freestyle, and ska.As well, stabs are used in electronic music,...
on the opposite side of the audio mix
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
. On the chorus, Manson's main vocal is answered by an "aah-ah" of voice and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
together. The word "girl" lands on a flattened bass note (A
A (musical note)
La or A is the sixth note of the solfège. "A" is generally used as a standard for tuning. When the orchestra tunes, the oboe plays an "A" and the rest of the instruments tune to match that pitch. Every string instrument in the orchestra has an A string, from which each player can tune the rest of...
against the F# chord, instead of A#).
Single release
The first single release of "Stupid Girl" occurred in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
on February 5, 1996, when White
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...
issued a CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
backed with "Trip My Wire" (previously released on "Queer" in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) and remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es of "Queer" by Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood is an English record producer best known for his work with dub music as well as for remixing a number of popular acts such as Coldcut, Depeche Mode, The Woodentops, Primal Scream, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sinéad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy...
and Martin Gore
Martin Gore
Martin Lee Gore is an English songwriter, lyricist, singer, guitarist, keyboardist, remixer and DJ. He is a founding member of Depeche Mode and has written the vast majority of their songs...
. A week later, White issued a second CD featuring a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of The Jam
The Jam
The Jam were an English punk rock/New Wave/mod revival band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were formed in Woking, Surrey. While they shared the "angry young men" outlook and fast tempos of their punk rock contemporaries, The Jam wore smartly tailored suits rather than ripped...
's "Butterfly Collector
Strange Town
The song "Strange Town" was released on 17 March 1979 by The Jam and reached #15 in the UK singles chart.Backed by the Paul Weller-penned "The Butterfly Collector", the single was one of many The Jam singles that did not appear on any of the band's studio albums. "Strange Town" appears on the...
" and a further two "Queer" mixes produced by Danny Saber
Danny Saber
Danny Saber is a Los Angeles, California musician, audio engineer, record producer, and remixer. A former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur, Saber plays guitar, bass, organ, and keyboards, and is also a prominent Los Angeles DJ....
and Rabbit In the Moon
Rabbit In the Moon
Rabbit in the Moon was an American electronic music group. Their style draws from psychedelic trance, house music and breakbeat, along with other diverse influences.-History:...
(also previously released in the UK). Both formats were accompanied by cassette single
Cassette single
A cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette.- History :...
s repeating the CD tracklists. At the end of the month, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #32 for a single week on the RIANZ Top 40 and re-charted a fortnight later at #37. The band's debut album, Garbage, ascended the album chart to reach #26. At the end of March, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #47 on the ARIA Top 50
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
for a single week, and re-charted at #49 two weeks later. At the same time, Garbage reclimbed the album chart to spend two weeks at #16. In July, White released a limited edition EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
titled Stupid Girl - The Remixes collecting together the UK b-sides and remixes for the Australian market.
BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
released "Stupid Girl" across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on February 28. The single was issued as a CD maxi backed with both "Butterfly Collector" and "Trip My Wire". In Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #18 at the start of April. On the second week, it shot up to #4 where it remained for three weeks. In Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #40 on the airplay chart. In Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #16. BMG later reissued "Stupid Girl" in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
when Garbage returned to tour Europe's rock festival
Rock festival
A rock festival, or a rock fest, is a large-scale rock music concert, featuring multiple acts.The first rock festivals were put on in the late 1960s and were important socio-cultural milestones. In the 1980s a minor resurgence of festivals occurred with charity as the goal.Today, they are often...
s in August. "Stupid Girl" peaked at #38 on the French singles chart
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...
, and Garbage re-charted to peak at #16 on the album chart.
Mushroom Records
A&E Records
A&E Records is an United Kingdom-based record label imprint, owned by Warner Music Group, and operates under the WEA International group of labels at WMG....
serviced "Stupid Girl" to radio stations in the United Kingdom a month in advance of the release; it was A-listed
Playlist
In its most general form, a playlist is simply a list of songs. They can be played in sequential or shuffled order. The term has several specialized meanings in the realms of radio broadcasting and personal computers.-In radio:...
at Radio One
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, Virgin
Virgin Radio
Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
and Capital
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...
. At the start of March, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #48 on the airplay chart and the band's debut album re-charted at #27 on the album chart. Mushroom issued "Stupid Girl" on March 11 as a 2×CD single set and limited edition 7" vinyl packaged in two differing colours of fabric. The song was backed with "Driving Lesson", a new version of "Dog New Tricks" and a remix of "Stupid Girl" produced by Red Snapper
Red Snapper (band)
Red Snapper are a British instrumental band founded in London in 1993 by Ali Friend , Richard Thair , and David Ayers . The three core members are also joined by various guest musicians and vocalists on different records...
on the first disc; "Alien Sex Fiend" and two versions of "Stupid Girl" remixed by Dreadzone
Dreadzone
Dreadzone are a British band whose music is an eclectic fusion of dub, reggae, techno, folk and rock. They have so far produced six studio albums and two live albums.-Career:...
on the second. The vinyl was backed with the mix of "Dog New Tricks". The single was supported by Garbage's first ever UK tour
Garbage tour
The Garbage tour was the first world concert tour cycle completed by American/Scottish alternative rock group Garbage, which took the band throughout North America, Europe, Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand in support of its self-titled debut album Garbage...
, which launched on March 19. At the end of the first week, "Stupid Girl" debuted as the highest new entry on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at #4. During the middle of the live shows, Garbage performed the single on Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
and a live showcase performance of "Stupid Girl" and "Only Happy When It Rains
Only Happy When It Rains
"Only Happy When It Rains" was a single written, recorded and produced by alternative rock group Garbage at their own recording studio, Smart Studios, in Madison, Wisconsin...
" on TFI Friday
TFI Friday
TFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...
. On its second week, "Stupid Girl" dropped to #10, as Garbage broke into the albums top ten for the first time at #7. On the airplay chart, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #5, and spent the entire following month within the top ten. At the end of April, Garbage peaked for two weeks at #6, and remained in the top ten until May. "Stupid Girl" clocked up seven weeks in the top 75 and sold 120,000 copies.
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, where "Only Happy When It Rains" had been the band's breakthrough single, Almo Sounds
Almo Sounds
Almo Sounds is a record label which was started in 1994 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss after they sold A&M Records to PolyGram. The intent of the label was to recreate the initial concept of A&M Records as a small, "boutique" label....
planned either "Stupid Girl" or a re-release of their debut single "Vow
Vow (Garbage song)
"Vow" is a 1994 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock band Garbage and was released as their debut single in early 1995. The song, which had its themes of revenge and retaliation inspired by a newspaper article on domestic abuse, began as a demo during sessions between band...
" to follow it up. On May 25, Almo serviced "Stupid Girl" to alternative radio
Alternative Radio
Alternative Radio is an internationally syndicated, one-hour, weekly radio program, featuring serious interviews with humanitarian and progressive thinkers. Begun in 1986, it evolved from a program that journalist David Barsamian hosted on community radio station KGNU-FM, in Boulder, Colorado. AR...
. The success of "Only Happy..." had driven the band's debut Garbage to peak at #47 in April, but the album had fallen to #73 since. The release of "Stupid Girl" was timed with Garbage joining the Smashing Pumpkins' North American arena tour as the opening act
Opening act
An opening act or warm-up act is an entertainer or entertainment act that performs at a concert before the featured entertainer...
throughout June and July. After a week on air, "Stupid Girl" debuted on Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
at #38. Two weeks later, it broke into the Modern Rock top twenty (with an "Airpower" rating, meaning the song had registered over 900 detections for the first time on alternative radio) and debuted at #66 on the Hot 100 Airplay
Hot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...
chart. At the end of the month "Stupid Girl" reached the top ten at Modern Rock as Garbage ascended into the top forty of the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
for the first time. Almo re-serviced "Stupid Girl" with a remix of the song produced by Todd Terry
Todd Terry
Todd N. Terry is an American DJ, producer, and remixer.-Career:Terry's productions extensively used samples blending the sounds of classic disco, the Chicago sound, and elements of hip-hop....
to Top 40 radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
.
On July 9, Almo released "Stupid Girl" to record stores on CD and cassette single, backed with "Driving Lesson" and the Todd Terry version. Almo serviced remixes of the song to clubs
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
which were rated Hot Dance Break-outs as "Stupid Girl" debuted at #46 on the Hot 100. On July 11, Garbage performed "Stupid Girl" on The Late Show with David Letterman. The next day the Smashing Pumpkins tour was halted after their keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Jonathan Melvoin
Jonathan Melvoin
Jonathan Melvoin was an American musician active in the 1980s and 1990s.He was the brother of Susannah and Wendy Melvoin of Prince and the Revolution. He first learned to play drums, and was cited by friends and relatives as one of those people who could play anything...
fatally overdosed (the tour resumed without Garbage a month later). Although the postponement prevented Garbage from touring the single, the following week, "Stupid Girl" debuted at #68 on the Hot 100 Singles Sales
Hot 100 Singles Sales
The Hot Singles Sales chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures sales of commercial singles and is one of three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Airplay and the Hot Digital Songs, that determine the chart positions of singles on the...
chart, at #47 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart and at #46 on the Hot Dance/Club Play chart. At the end of July, Garbage was certified platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the RIAA for shipping a million units
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
within the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and a week later peaked at #20 on the album chart. On August 6, Almo released a 12" vinyl format commercially featuring "Driving Lesson" and remixes of "Stupid Girl" produced by Todd Terry, Danny Saber, Rabbit In the Moon and Jason Bentley
Jason Bentley
Jason Bentley is a radio disc jockey of electronic music in Los Angeles, California. On December 1, 2008, Bentley replaced Nic Harcourt as the host of Morning Becomes Eclectic and as Music Director for KCRW...
. In mid-August, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #2 at Modern Rock and at #26 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. At the end of August, strong 12" single sales of the remixes led to the song peaking at #30 on the Maxi-Singles Sales
Hot Dance Singles Sales
Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes...
chart; "Stupid Girl" also picked up enough mainstream rock
Mainstream rock
Mainstream rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada.-Format background:...
airplay to spend two weeks at #39 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart.
At the start of September, "Stupid Girl" became a crossover hit, having built up at both alternate and contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
, where it reached #25 on the Top 40 Mainstream chart. Two weeks later, "Stupid Girl" peaked at #24 on the Hot 100 in its ninth week; at the same time the song peaked at #33 on the Single Sales chart and hit #5 on the Club Play chart. Since the release of the single in May, Garbage had doubled its sales to shifting around 40,000 units each week, and remained in the top thirty of the Billboard 200 over the past two months. At the end of September, "Stupid Girl" dropped out of the Modern Rock top ten. As the song was still showing highly at Top 40, Almo serviced "Supervixen
Supervixen
"Supervixen" is a 1995 song written, recorded and produced by alternative rock group Garbage, and was the opening track of the band's self-titled debut album. "Supervixen" was titled after Russ Meyer's 1975 violent love-triangle movie Supervixens....
" to appeal to alternative stations. "Stupid Girl" continued to gain a larger crossover audience throughout October, when it debuted at #39 on the Adult Top 40, and peaked at #36 two weeks later after the Garbage performed the song at the VH1 Fashion Awards
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
(the band hit the tabloids when Shirley Manson suffered a wardrobe malfunction
Wardrobe malfunction
A wardrobe malfunction is a euphemism for accidental exposure of intimate parts. It is different from flashing, as the latter implies a deliberate exposure...
midway). "Stupid Girl" bowed off of the Modern Rock chart in mid-November after twenty-five weeks and the song remained on the Hot 100 until the start of December (where the song had clocked up twenty weeks on the chart). Almo followed up the success of the song by releasing "Milk" as the sixth single from Garbage; however alternative radio picked up on "#1 Crush
Number One Crush
"#1 Crush" is a song by Garbage, released internationally on the b-side to their debut release "Vow", and in the United Kingdom on the b-side to second single "Subhuman"....
" instead and sent it to #1 at the end of the year.
B-sides
Garbage recorded a number of tracks for the b-side of "Stupid Girl" in January 1996 during rehearsals for their first full-length concert tour. During the rehearsals, Garbage remixed their album track "Dog New Tricks", wrote and recorded "Driving Lesson" and "Alien Sex Fiend" and finally, recorded their own take "Kick My Ass", a Vic ChesnuttVic Chesnutt
James Victor "Vic" Chesnutt was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990, but his breakthrough to commercial success didn't come until 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a tribute album of mainstream artists...
cover for inclusion on charity album Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation
Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation
Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation is a 1996 tribute album that featured a variety of alternative rock bands covering songs written by quadriplegic musician Vic Chesnutt...
. Daniel Shulman
Daniel Shulman
Daniel Shulman is an American performer of bass guitar. Although he has made a significant contribution as a session musician, working with Run-DMC and Meredith Brooks, he is best known for his work with the Scottish-American band Garbage from 1995 until 2002....
plays bass on all four tracks. On October 14, 1998, Garbage, Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
and Broadcast.com
Broadcast.com
Broadcast.com was a web radio company founded as "AudioNet" in September 1995 by Chris Jaeb. Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban later led the organization to hugely capitalize on the Dot-com bubble and be sold to Yahoo.com.-History:...
linked up to promote a live webcast
Webcast
A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
from Garbage's headline
Headline
The headline is the text at the top of a newspaper article, indicating the nature of the article below it.It is sometimes termed a news hed, a deliberate misspelling that dates from production flow during hot type days, to notify the composing room that a written note from an editor concerned a...
show at Dallas Bronco Bowl by offering a free .a2b file format
Audio file format
An audio file format is a file format for storing digital audio data on a computer system. This data can be stored uncompressed, or compressed to reduce the file size. It can be a raw bitstream, but it is usually a container format or an audio data format with defined storage layer.-Types of...
digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
of "Driving Lesson". The song registered over 6,000 downloads. "Driving Lesson" was nominated for "Best Internet Only Single" in the Yahoo! Internet Life Online Music Awards
Yahoo! Internet Life
Yahoo! Internet Life was a monthly magazine published by Ziff-Davis, which licensed the name from Yahoo!, the well-known web portal and search engine website. It was created and launched by G. Barry Golson, the former executive editor of Playboy and TV Guide.It dealt with the emerging Internet and...
held at Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on July 19, 1999. "Driving Lesson" lost to "The War" by The Artist
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
.
Commercial tracklistings
- Europe CD single BMG 74321 35200 2
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Butterfly Collector" - 3:41
- "Trip My Wire" - 4:29
- Australia CD1/cassette 01 White D1271-1/C1271-1
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Trip My Wire" - 4:29
- "Queer (The Very Queer Dub Bin)" - 5:12
- "Queer (The Most Beautiful Woman in Town Mix)" -5:36
- Australia CD2/cassette 02 White D1271-2/C1271-2
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Butterfly Collector" - 3:41
- "Queer (F.T.F.O.I. Mix)" - 7:17
- "Queer (Danny Saber Mix)" - 5:39
- UK CD1 Mushroom D1271
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Driving Lesson" - 3:48
- "Dog New Tricks (The Pal mix)" - 4:02
- "Stupid Girl (Red Snapper mix)" - 7:37
- UK CD2 Mushroom DX1271
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Alien Sex Fiend" - 4:37
- "Stupid Girl (Dreadzone dub version)" - 6:08
- "Stupid Girl (Dreadzone vocal mix)" - 6:34
- UK 7" single Mushroom SX1271
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Dog New Tricks (The Pal mix)" - 4:02
- USA CD single/cassette Almo Sounds AMSDS-88004/AMSCS-89004
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Stupid Girl (Tee's radio edit)" - 3:49
- "Driving Lesson" - 3:48
- USA 12" single Almo Sounds AMS12-88004
- "Stupid Girl (Todd Terry Freeze Club)" - 5:53
- "Stupid Girl (Todd Terry In House Dub)" - 6:11
- "Stupid Girl (Future Retro Mix)" - 5:20
- "Stupid Girl (Danny Saber Mix)" - 4:23
- "Stupid Girl (Shoegazer Mix)" - 5:53
- "Driving Lesson" - 3:48
- France CD single BMG France 74321 40247 2
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Stupid Girl (Dreadzone dub version)" - 6:08
- "Dog New Tricks (The Pal mix)" - 4:02
- Germany CD single BMG Ariola 74321 41593 2
- "Stupid Girl (Radio edit)" - 3:44
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- Australia "The Remixes" CD singleWhite D1369
- "Stupid Girl (Dreadzone vocal mix)" - 6:34
- "Stupid Girl (Dreadzone dub version)" - 6:08
- "Stupid Girl (Red Snapper mix)" - 7:37
- "Stupid Girl" - 4:19
- "Alien Sex Fiend" - 4:37
- UK 12" (Stupid Girl Remixes) Mushroom TRASH13
- "Stupid Girl (Todd Terry Freeze Club)" - 5:53
- "Stupid Girl (Todd Terry Bonus Beats)" - 3:11
- "Stupid Girl (Todd Terry In House Dub)" - 6:11
- "Stupid Girl (Todd Terry Capella)" - 3:34
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Stupid Girl" was filmed on January 16, 1996 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
by director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Samuel Bayer
Samuel Bayer
Samuel David Bayer is an American commercial, music video and film director, and cinematographer.-Early life:Bayer was born in Syracuse, New York...
. The video for single "Only Happy When It Rains
Only Happy When It Rains
"Only Happy When It Rains" was a single written, recorded and produced by alternative rock group Garbage at their own recording studio, Smart Studios, in Madison, Wisconsin...
" was shot at the same time. The video for "Only Happy When It Rains" was given a higher budget
Budget
A budget is a financial plan and a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving, borrowing and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...
than the video for "Stupid Girl", because Almo Sounds
Almo Sounds
Almo Sounds is a record label which was started in 1994 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss after they sold A&M Records to PolyGram. The intent of the label was to recreate the initial concept of A&M Records as a small, "boutique" label....
believed that the former would be a bigger hit than the latter. The video debuted internationally on February 1, 1996, and in North America on May 5. MTV certified "Stupid Girl" a Buzz-clip
Buzz Bin
MTV's Buzz Bin was a select group of music videos by up and coming artists and bands that the network deemed "buzz worthy", "cutting edge", or "the next big thing"...
, the band's third video in a row to be guaranteed heavy airplay on the network, while VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
added the video at the start of September and incorporated it into a Pop Up Video episode.
The video for "Stupid Girl" is a performance piece, inspired by the title sequence
Title sequence
A Title Sequence is the method by which cinematic films or television programs present their title, key production and cast members, or both, utilizing conceptual visuals and sound...
from David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
's 1995 movie Se7en
Se7en
Seven is a 1995 American thriller film, which also contains horror and neo-noir elements, directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It was distributed by New Line Cinema and stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R...
. The clip was shot in just four hours entirely within a warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
. Bayer cut the film into pieces, and soaked it in his bath, applying deliberate fingerprints and abrasions to the footage before putting it back together by hand. Bayer later re-edited a second version of the video, with alternative footage from the original shoot for a remix version of "Stupid Girl" by Todd Terry.
The "Stupid Girl" video was nominated in the Best New Artist in a Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist
The MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist is one of the four original general categories that have been given out since the first annual MTV Video Music Awards in 1984...
category at the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards
1996 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1996 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1996, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1995, to June 14, 1996. The show was hosted by Dennis Miller at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
, losing to the Stéphane Sednaoui
Stéphane Sednaoui
Stéphane Sednaoui is a French-American photographer, director and producer whose work includes music videos, art projects, photographic essays, portrait photography, fashion photography and photojournalism....
-directed video for Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
's "Ironic
Ironic (song)
"Ironic" is a song recorded by Canadian-American singer Alanis Morissette for her third studio album Jagged Little Pill . It was written by Morissette and Glen Ballard, and was produced by him. Maverick and Warner Bros. Records released it as the album's fourth single on February 27, 1996 in CD,...
".
The "Stupid Girl" video was first commercially released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Video-CD on 1996's Garbage Video
Garbage Video
Garbage Video, also known as Home Video, was a 1996 short-form VHS and Video CD release that included all of Garbage's promotional music videos filmed up until that point...
, along with "making of" out-take footage. A remastered version was later included on Garbage's 2007 greatest hits DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
Absolute Garbage, and made available as a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
via online music services
Online music store
An online music store is an online business which sells audio files, usually music, on a per-song and/or subscription basis. It may be differentiated from music streaming services in that the music store offers the actual music file, while streaming services offer partial or full listening without...
the same year.
Alternate versions
| Track title | Length | Remixer/Producer |
|---|---|---|
| "Stupid Girl" (Danny Saber mix) | 4:26 | Danny Saber Danny Saber Danny Saber is a Los Angeles, California musician, audio engineer, record producer, and remixer. A former member of Black Grape and Agent Provocateur, Saber plays guitar, bass, organ, and keyboards, and is also a prominent Los Angeles DJ.... |
| "Stupid Girl" (Dreadzone Vocal mix) | 6:24 | Dreadzone Dreadzone Dreadzone are a British band whose music is an eclectic fusion of dub, reggae, techno, folk and rock. They have so far produced six studio albums and two live albums.-Career:... |
| "Stupid Girl" (Dreadzone Dub version) | 6:09 | |
| "Stupid Girl" (Future Retro mix) | 5:20 | Rabbit in the Moon Rabbit In the Moon Rabbit in the Moon was an American electronic music group. Their style draws from psychedelic trance, house music and breakbeat, along with other diverse influences.-History:... |
| "Stupid Girl" (Red Snapper mix) | 7:38 | Red Snapper Red Snapper (band) Red Snapper are a British instrumental band founded in London in 1993 by Ali Friend , Richard Thair , and David Ayers . The three core members are also joined by various guest musicians and vocalists on different records... |
| "Stupid Girl" (Red Snapper instrumental) | 7:38 | |
| "Stupid Girl" (Shoegazer mix) | 5:53 | Jason Bentley Jason Bentley Jason Bentley is a radio disc jockey of electronic music in Los Angeles, California. On December 1, 2008, Bentley replaced Nic Harcourt as the host of Morning Becomes Eclectic and as Music Director for KCRW... |
| "Stupid Girl" (Tee's Radio mix) | 3:50 | Todd Terry Todd Terry Todd N. Terry is an American DJ, producer, and remixer.-Career:Terry's productions extensively used samples blending the sounds of classic disco, the Chicago sound, and elements of hip-hop.... |
| "Stupid Girl" (Tee's Freeze club) | 5:53 | |
| "Stupid Girl" (Tee's Bonus Beats) | 3:11 | |
| "Stupid Girl" (Tee's In House dub) | 6:11 | |
| "Stupid Girl" Capella) | 3:34 |
In 1996, Mushroom released a white label
White label
White label records are vinyl records with adhesive plain white labels affixed. Test pressings, usually with Test Pressing written on the label, with catalogue number, artist and recording time or date, are produced in small quantities to evaluate the quality of the disc production...
to clubs featuring the Red Snapper and Dreadzone mixes in advance of the UK release of "Stupid Girl". The Red Snapper mix was later released in Europe on the b-side to "Only Happy When it Rains", while White Records released this mix along with the Dreadzone mixes on a Stupid Girl - The Remixes extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
. Almo Sounds commissioned additional remixes from Danny Saber, Rabbit In the Moon, Jason Bentley and Todd Terry for the North American release of the single. One of Todd Terry's mixes was also serviced to Top 40 radio. Mushroom later released this version, along with the Danny Saber mix in the UK on the b-side of "Milk", while White included the Todd Terry mix on the bonus disc of the Garbage: Australian Tour Edition. In 1997, Mushroom released four Todd Terry mixes on a set of 12" vinyls (Stupid Girl Remixes) in the UK. An instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
version of the Red Snapper mix was also included on the compilation album Big Beat Elite. In 2007, Todd Terry's radio mix was remastered and included on the Absolute Garbage bonus disc Garbage Mixes.
Danny Saber's remix brief
Creative brief
A creative brief is a document used by creative professionals and agencies to develop creative deliverables: visual design, copy, advertising, web sites, etc. The document is usually developed by the requestor and approved by the creative team of designers, writers, and project managers...
for his version of "Stupid Girl" was to create a version of the song for radio airplay on K-Rock
K-Rock
K-Rock is a common radio brand, generally carried by radio stations airing a modern rock format. CBS Radio has owned the K-Rock brand in the United States since 1986. Then known as Infinity Broadcasting, CBS acquired the K-Rock brand after purchasing noted Los Angeles rock station KROQ-FM , its...
new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
/alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
stations. Garbage's management
Talent manager
A talent manager, also known as an artist manager or band manager, is an individual or company who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry...
wanted Saber to retain the original's "Train in Vain" loop, as it had cost the band significantly to license
Music licensing
Music licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the creators of musical works get paid for their work. A purchaser of recorded music owns the media on which the music is stored, not the music itself...
. Saber opted for a Soft Cell
Soft Cell
Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They consist of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The duo is most widely known for their 1981 worldwide hit version of "Tainted Love" and platinum debut Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret...
/house music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
combination; incorporating the original vocal line, tempo, key and feedback. Saber created a new bassline for the remix, arranging the mix around that. Saber completed the remix in a single day, with one further day required to mix.
Live releases
In 1999, a recording of "Stupid Girl" was included on a limited edition repackage of the band's second album (Version 2.0 Special Live EditionVersion 2.0
Version 2.0 is the second album by alternative rock group Garbage. It was released worldwide in May 1998 by Mushroom Records UK and in North America by Almo Sounds. Version 2.0 was the follow-up to the band's multi-platinum debut album Garbage. Despite a slow start, Version 2.0 went on to equal its...
) which featured a bonus disc of four tracks recorded live at the Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival
Roskilde Festival is a festival held south of Roskilde in Denmark and is one of the six biggest annual music festivals in Europe . It was created in 1971 by two high school students, Mogens Sandfær and Jesper Switzer Møller, and promoter Carl Fischer...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. Another live version, recorded in December 1998 at the Shrine Auditorium
Shrine Auditorium
The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue, in Los Angeles, California, USA. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners.-History:...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, was released the same year on The Best of KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas.
Critical reception and legacy
"Stupid Girl" received an overwhelmingly positive response from music critics both upon the release of Garbage and on its eventual single release. Selects Ian Harrison called the song "Duran-likeDuran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
, describing it as "mighty doomy pop neatly tailored to enhance one's natural discontentment", Vox
Vox (magazine)
Vox was a British music magazine, first issued in October 1990. It was published by IPC Media, and was later billed as a monthly sister-magazine to IPC's music weekly, the NME....
magazine's Craig McLean called it "malignant, dirty, devious, sneering pop", while Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
s Pippa Lang compared Manson's "ever-so-sexy, sibilant" vocals to Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
's. Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
described "Stupid Girl" as "a classy piece of predatory pop perfection that wields an iron punch beneath velvet glove".
In 2005, "Stupid Girl" was featured as the theme song to Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson
Curtis Lee Hanson is an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , L.A...
's In Her Shoes while later that year, Alexz Johnson
Alexz Johnson
Alexzandra Spencer "Alexz" Johnson is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Her debut album Voodoo was independently released on March 30, 2010....
recorded a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the track for the soundtrack album Songs from Instant Star
Songs from Instant Star
Songs from Instant Star is the soundtrack for the first season of the television series Instant Star. The entire album is sung by Alexz Johnson, who portrays the show's protagonist Jude Harrison....
.
In 2011, it was nominated for a place on the final track listing of Scotland's Greatest Album
Scotland's Greatest Album
Scotland's Greatest Album is a 2011 Scottish album which was released in November 2011, with producers including Jim Gellatly, John McLaughlin, Steve McKenna, John McLaughlin, Real Radio listeners, STV viewers as well as David Currie and Kristopher Nimbley helped put twelve songs together for an...
.
Release history
| Release Date | Territory | Record Label | Format(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 5, 1996 | Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
White Records Mushroom Records Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros... |
2×CD single set, cassette single Cassette single A cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette.- History :... |
| Feb 28, 1996 | Europe Europe Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting... |
BMG BMG Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann... |
CD maxi |
| Mar 11, 1996 | United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
Mushroom Records UK | 7" single, 2×CD single set |
| May 25, 1996 | United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Almo Sounds Almo Sounds Almo Sounds is a record label which was started in 1994 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss after they sold A&M Records to PolyGram. The intent of the label was to recreate the initial concept of A&M Records as a small, "boutique" label.... |
Airplay: Modern Rock Modern rock Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre... |
| July 9, 1996 | Airplay: CHR/Top 40 Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts... (Todd Terry remix) |
||
| CD maxi, cassette single | |||
| Aug 6, 1996 | 12" vinyl | ||
| Aug 12, 1996 | Australia | White Records | CD single (as Stupid Girl: The Remixes) |
| Sept 2, 1996 | France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
BMG France | CD single |
| Germany | BMG Ariola Ariola Records Ariola Records is a German record label. As of the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of BMG which in turn has since become a part of the international media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment... |
CD single (as Stupid Girl: Radio Edit) | |
| May 5, 1997 | United Kingdom | Mushroom Records UK | 12" vinyl (as Stupid Girl Remixes) |
Comprehensive charts
| Chart (1996) | PeakPosition |
|---|---|
| Australia Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... (ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... ) |
47 |
| Canada Top 100 Singles (RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... ) |
30 |
| Canada Alternative 30 RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... (RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... ) |
2 |
| France Singles Chart (SNEP Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... ) |
38 |
| Iceland (Íslenski Listinn) (IFPI IFPI The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a not-for-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland... ) |
4 |
| Ireland Singles Chart (IRMA Irish Recorded Music Association Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:... ) |
16 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... (RIANZ) |
32 |
| United Kingdom Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... (CIN) |
4 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
24 |
| U.S. Adult Top 40 (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
36 |
| U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
5 |
| U.S. Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
39 |
| U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
2 |
| U.S. Top 40 Mainstream (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
25 |
| Chart (2007) | PeakPosition |
|---|---|
| UK Singles UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... (The Official UK Charts Company The Official UK Charts Company The Official Charts Company , previously called the Chart Information Network and then The Official UK Charts Company, compiles various "official" UK record charts, including the UK Singles Chart, the UK Albums Chart, and the UK Official Download Chart, as well as genre-specific and music video... ) |
197 |
A The 2007 entry of "Stupid Girl" on the UK Singles Chart was due to the number of individual digital downloads of the remastered version included on Absolute Garbage.
Year-End Charts
| Chart (1996) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... (CIN) |
113 |
| UK Airplay (CIN) | 36 |
| US Modern Rock Tracks Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs... |
10 |