From The Beatles to David Bowie: Shirley Manson’s favourite pop songs
More than 30 years since Shirley Manson first promised to “tear your little world apart”, Garbage are still recognised as one of alt-rock’s most alluring propositions.
After chatting with BBC Radio 2’s Ken Bruce on The Tracks of My Years back in 2021, the Scottish singer divulged her favourite tracks of all time, most of which proved to be upbeat, campy pop songs, a far cry from the edgy, fiery-haired Shirley Manson we know and love.
The first track on Manson’s list is Jacky’s ‘White Horses’, the iconic theme song to the TV show of the same name. She said: “The reason why this song is so important to me is because it was the first song where I exercised my own, inverted commas, ‘taste’, in that I fell in love with the TV show White Horses, of which this was the theme tune… with my own pocket money I bought the 7″, which I still have, it’s my most treasured possession.”
Manson added: “I had a really bad flood about a decade ago, and it destroyed my record collection, but miraculously, this 7″ survived, and it is the sound of my youth. It’s the sound of my mum, it’s the sound of my sisters and the ’70s in Scotland, and just falling in love with music. I want this played at my funeral.”
For her next track, Manson selected the iconic 1974 hit ‘Waterloo’ by Swedish pop powerhouse ABBA. She explained: “I was obsessed with the Eurovision Song Contest growing up. Me and my two sisters, we were just so into the competition, and it captured our imagination. And the year, which, I think it was in 1974 when ABBA appeared singing ‘Waterloo’, and me and my sisters just went crazy for them, and I’ve just been obsessed by them ever since, and so have my band. We always reference ABBA’s ability to write – amazing pop writers, and I don’t think they’ve written a bad song.”
An unlikely contender, ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ earned its place at the top of Manson’s list for its emotive storytelling and ability to evoke nostalgia, appreciating The Beatles’ nuanced songcraft spanning genres and generations.
Gradually growing more excited by her choices, Manson mentioned another legendary track, David Bowie’s 1972 anthem ‘Ziggy Stardust’: “Well, around the same time as Siouxsie, I discovered David Bowie. I actually had a friend at school called Lisa Cameron, and her father had an amazing record collection. She introduced me to like Roxy Music and Michael Jackson, but the one that captured my imagination was Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie. For the same reasons that I list about Siouxsie Sioux, I fell in love with David Bowie”.
She continued: “This was a person that I was being told was male, but he was wearing makeup and high heels and just presented himself in an entirely different way to the way I had learnt that men were supposed to present themselves. I found it perplexing, and he seemed like an alien, and I’ve loved him ever since. Of course, Ziggy Stardust is one of my Desert Island Discs, I would take that away with me, it’s sort of the soundtrack to my life in a way. I know that record inside out, every word, every phrase, every riff, everything about it. It’s magic.”
A theme is beginning to emerge, one that has outed Manson’s affection for jangly, infectious pop tunes that embody the carefree, subversive edge of late ’80s indie pop. ‘Crash’ is, if anything, the birthplace of Cocteau Twins’ dream-pop soundscapes and haunting vocals deeply influenced Manson’s approach to singing and song-writing. She has often spoken about the Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser as one of her most significant influences, both for her singing style and ethereal nature.
These selections shine a light not only on Manson’s wide-ranging tastes but also her connection to artists who, like her, pushed boundaries and forged their own paths in music. Each track holds a place in her personal and professional growth, echoing her ongoing impact as a genre-defying musician and cultural icon in the UK and beyond.
Shirley Manson’s favourite pop songs:
- Jacky – ‘White Horses’
- ABBA – ‘Waterloo’
- The Beatles – ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’
- David Bowie – ‘Ziggy Stardust’
- The Primitives – ‘Crash’
- Cocteau Twins – ‘Pearly Dewdrops’ Drops’
