Milk (Garbage song)

"Milk"
Single by Garbage featuring Tricky
from the album Garbage
ReleasedOctober 7, 1996 (1996-10-07)
RecordedApril 1994 – May 1995
StudioSmart (Madison, Wisconsin)
GenreAlternative rock[1]
Length3:56
LabelMushroom, Almo Sounds
Songwriter(s)Garbage
Producer(s)Garbage
Garbage singles chronology
"Stupid Girl"
(1996) 		"Milk"
(1996) 		"#1 Crush"
(1997)
Tricky singles chronology
"Grassroots"
(1996) 		"Milk"
(1996) 		"Christiansands"
(1996)

"Milk" is a song written and produced by American alternative rock band Garbage from their self-titled debut studio album (1995). The song was released internationally the following year as the album's fifth and final single. Garbage collaborated with trip hop musician Tricky on a new version of "Milk" for single release. Much media comment was made regarding a rumoured fall-out over the sessions, when it became known that Garbage produced a further mix of "Milk" that only incorporated Tricky's vocals from that session.[2]

After an acclaimed live performance of the new recording of "Milk" at the 1996 MTV Europe Music Awards, as well as winning the Best Breakthrough Act, "Milk (The Wicked Mix feat. Tricky)" debuted at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart,[3] outselling the previous single "Stupid Girl".[4] A mix that deleted Tricky's vocal, "Milk (The Siren mix)", charted in Germany, Australia and New Zealand.[5]

In North America, "Milk" was released alongside album cut "Supervixen" as part of a dual-single strategy to build upon the momentum built from the success of previous single "Stupid Girl". The single release was supported by Garbage's support slot for the Smashing Pumpkins Infinite Sadness arena tour[6] and pre-empted the release of a home video compilation of all the band's music videos. Both "Milk" and "Supervixen" failed to chart when alternative radio chose to heavily support their soundtrack feature "#1 Crush" instead.[7]

  1. ^ McLean, Craig (April 29, 2012). "Shirley Manson interview: Breaking up the garbage girl". The Observer. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference MAY96NEWS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference UK was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Jones, Stephen (March 28, 1998). A+R; Garbage. Music Week.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference recordcollector was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Abbot, Ian. "Garbage – August 1996 News". Cafemomo.com. Archived from the original on October 4, 1999. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  7. ^ Garbage; Jason Cohen (2017). This Is the Noise That Keeps Me Awake. Akashic Books. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-61775-550-7.