"Vow" is a song by Garbage, released as their debut single in 1995. It first appeared on a Volume magazine compilation in December, 1994, and picked up by BBC Radio 1 DJs Steve Lamacq and John Peel. "Vow" generated significant buzz and word-of-mouth that it was eventually chosen as Garbage's first single release. Released worldwide after a low-key independent record label pressing in the United Kingdom, "Vow" went on to top the alternative charts in Australia and reach the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Garbage hadn't initially planned its release as a single, or its inclusion on their debut album, 1995's Garbage. In 2007, "Vow" was remastered and included on Garbage's greatest hits album Absolute Garbage. "Vow" began in rough demo form in January, 1994, during sessions between band members Butch Vig, Duke Erikson and Steve Marker located in either Marker's basement recording studio or at their own Smart Studios business in Wisconsin university town Madison.After Marker saw Shirley Manson's group Angelfish on 120 Minutes, the band invited Manson to Smart Studios to sing on a couple of tracks. 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" and "Vow" (ad-libbing lyrics). The genesis of "Vow" came from a newspaper article Vig had read about a sado-masochistic couple who couldn't keep away from each other, an intense relationship showing that violence can come from psychological stand point. Garbage had even joked to journalists the song was about John and Lorena Bobbitt.Lyrically, Manson claimed "'Vow' is about having feelings [of vengeance]. You have to face your feelings of revenge and work out why you feel that way. It's about that conundrum when you're really angry but in reality your in a pitiful state. Angry, twisted, but deep down, vulnerable" Halfway through the recording sessions for Garbage, Mushroom's Rob Jefferson secured the band a Volume compilation inclusion.[10] The only song the band had finished in any shape or form was "Vow". When the Volume compilation was released in December, 1994, "Vow" began to receive radio airplay on XFM and from Radio 1 DJs Steve Lamacq, John Peel and Johnnie Walker. Word-of-mouth on "Vow" took the track back to the U.S.By May, 1995, alternative radio in the U.S. had picked up on the track, and it began to receive heavy rotation nationwide. The terms of the licensing deal regarding "Vow"'s inclusion on Volume meant that the single could only be released on a limited basis.Mushroom wanted to issue "Vow" commercially to gauge reaction to the Band's music.Concerned that their label was only known in the U.K. for the Neighbours theme, to move away from the association, Mushroom founded the Discordant label for the sole purpose launching Garbage. Prior to commercial release "Vow" had already topped NME's playlist chart for 5 weeks and received "Single of the Week" status in seven publications,including NME and Melody Maker. On March 20, "Vow" was released in a 7" vinyl format, backed with a remix of the title track and packaged in an aluminium sleeve. 1,000 copies were pressed, of which only 934 were made available to buy,barely enough to reach the U.K. Top 100."Vow" sold out in one day. "Vow" debuted on Hot Modern Rock Tracks at #39, where it climbed over the following weeks peaking at #26 twice."Vow" was released commercially in the U.S. on June 20 on CD maxi and cassette formats. "Vow" bubbled under for two weeksbefore it spent two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 staying at #97 both weeks. "Vow" became notable as setting the record as the lowest-debuting "Hot Shot Debut" in Hot 100 history (which has since been broken). Mushroom and Discordant licensed "Vow" for distribution internationally, releasing the single on June 20, with two brand new b-sides, "Subhuman" and "#1 Crush". For Australia and New Zealand, White, in addition to CD and cassette, issued a limited edition CD format packaged in a rubber wallet.In Australia, after four weeks "Vow" peaked at #32,topping their alternative charts,while in New Zealand, "Vow" reached #41."Vow" was also released by BMG in Europe and South Africa. For its U.K. and North American release, "Vow" was backed with "Vow (Torn Apart)", a remix produced by Garbage themselves. For the international release of the single "Vow" was backed with "Subhuman" and "#1 Crush". "Subhuman" had only ever been intended as a b-side for the "Vow" single, but on August 7, 1995, it was released as "Vow"'s follow-up single in the U.K., as Mushroom considered it a strong song.In October, 1996, a remix of "#1 Crush" by Nellee Hooper was released on the soundtrack to Baz Luhrman movie William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. Airplay of the track resulted in it, on January 4, 1997, reaching #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, staying for four weeks. It also reached #29 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart. Both "Vow" and "#1 Crush" were released on the b-side to "Subhuman". The U.K. release of "Vow" was in a 7" vinyl format packaged in an aluminum metal case, the first of six specially packaged singles Mushroom Records released between 1995 and 1996. Each single cost the label, making a 70p per unit loss on each single, but the investment paid off as each subsequent single became bigger hits. Second single "Subhuman" followed in a rubber sleeve, "Only Happy When It Rains" in a hologram-stickered rain-effect card sleeve, "Queer" in a perspex case, "Stupid Girl" in both red and blue cloth bags and finally "Milk" in a rippled card sleeve with a 16-frame 3-D image mounted on front.Each release became instant collectors items: by the time second single "Subhuman", was released, copies of "Vow" were selling for £100. The idea behind the packaging reconciled with the eighteen-month marketing strategy behind the launch of the band. The packaging was tailored around the artwork designs for the six singles and the label's plan to brand the "G" logo. After each single, the sleeve artwork would go up a stage; the "Vow" and "Subhuman" artwork was two-colour, "Only Happy When It Rains" and "Queer" were three colour with gold embossing on "Queer" and "Stupid Girl" had four colour artwork.After the release of "Milk", CIN banned sales of specially packaged singles from counting towards the U.K. Singles Chart, which meant "Milk" was the last in the run of special edition Garbage 7" singles. Upon its release, "Vow" received an overwhelmingly positive response from music critics. James Delingpole of Sunday Telegraph wrote "'Vow' displays a maturity, inventiveness and originality way beyond the powers of your average pop newcomer",The Times described it as "the missing link between Courtney Love and PJ Harvey"]while Paul Yates of Q magazine said "Garbage's signature lies in songs like 'Vow', good pop tunes dealt a rough treatment and brazen vocals".NME's Emma Morgan wrote "it's the simplicity of the lyrics that strikes the winning goal",while earlier in the year NME had made "Vow" its Single of the Week, writing "["Vow" is] a shape-shifting squalling epic. It shimmers like Siouxsie's 'Christine'. It's a credit to the band's producing skills that such an ambitious thing is lashed together at all".Melody Maker stated "this has classic written all over it";they too had named "Vow" their Single of the Week, writing the song "is surreal pop heaven mixed with industrial nightmares".[Kerrang! magazine's Paul Rees described "Vow" as "edgy dislocated pop with a sparkling chorus"and "the most brilliant pop song of 1995". Select's Ian Harrison liked the song, but felt that it "pilfers from The Smiths "How Soon Is Now?"". "Vow" also appeared in a number of year-end lists: #45 in John Peel's Festive Fifty, #15 in Triple J's "Hottest 100 of 1995",[38] and #66 in KROQ's "Top 106.7 of 1995". "Vow" has been performed on every single major Garbage tour from 1995 - 2005. Live renditions became notable for Shirley's ad libbing of songs past and present. Performanes of "Vow" have featured lines from Patti Smith's 'Revenge', Marianne Faithfull's 'Why D'Ya Do It?', The Beatles 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road', Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain', Cole Porter's 'Let's Do It', Bright Eyes' 'Lover I Don't Have To Love' and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' 'Mystery Girl' and 'Maps'.*
