The Spice Girls

***The Spice Girls*** were an English pop girl group formed in 1994 and consisted of

* Melanie Brown/Mel B ("Scary Spice")
	+ born May 29, 1975
* Melanie Chisholm/Mel C ("Sporty Spice")
	+ born January 12, 1974
* Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice")
	+ born January 21, 1976
* Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice")
	+ born August 6, 1972
* Victoria Beckham, née Adams ("Posh Spice")
	+ born April 17, 1974

Their debut single "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number one in 37 countries and established them as a global phenomenon. Their debut album Spice sold more than 31 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album by a female group in history. Their follow-up album Spiceworld sold over 20 million copies worldwide. The Spice Girls have sold 85 million records worldwide, making them the best-selling female group of all time, one of the best-selling pop groups of all time, and the biggest British pop phenomenon since Beatlemania. Among the highest profile acts in 1990s British popular culture, Time called them "arguably the most recognisable face" of Cool Britannia, the mid-1990s celebration of youth culture in the UK.

### 1994-96

In February 1994, family management team Bob and Chris Herbert of Heart Management, together with financier Chic Murphy, placed an advertisement in the trade magazine The Stage asking for singers to audition for an all-female pop band at Danceworks studios. Approximately 400 women attended the audition, during which they were placed in groups of ten and danced a routine to "Stay" by Eternal, followed by solo auditions in which they were asked to perform songs of their own choosing. After several weeks of deliberation, Victoria Adams, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm and Michelle Stephenson were among twelve women chosen to a second round of auditions in April; Geri Halliwell also attended the second audition, despite missing the first one due to work.

A week after the second audition, the women were asked to attend a recall in Shepherds Bush, performing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" on their own and in a group. During the session, Adams, Brown, Chisholm, Halliwell and Stephenson were selected to the band, initially named Touch. The group moved to a house in Maidenhead, Berkshire, and spent most of 1994 training. During the first two months, they worked on demos and, according to Stephenson, the material the group was given was "very, very young pop"; one of the songs they recorded, "Sugar and Spice", would be the source of their final band name. A few months into the training period, Stephenson was fired from the group and replaced with Emma Bunton. It was also during this time that Halliwell came up with the band name Spice.

In October 1994, armed with a catalogue of demos and dance routines, they began touring management agencies. In March 1995, the group parted from Heart Management due to their frustration with the company's unwillingness to listen to their visions and ideas. To ensure they kept control of their own work, they allegedly stole the master recordings of their discography from the management offices. That same day, the group tracked down Sheffield-based producer Eliot Kennedy and persuaded him to work with them. They were introduced to record producers Absolute, who in turn brought them to the attention of Simon Fuller of 19 Entertainment, who signed them to his company. During the summer of that year, the group toured record labels in London and Los Angeles with Fuller, signing a deal with Virgin Records in September 1995. Their name was changed to Spice Girls. From this point on until the summer of 1996, the group continued to write and record tracks for their debut album while extensively touring the west coast of the United States, where they signed a publishing deal with Windswept Pacific.

### 1996-97

#### July 7, 1996: "Wannabe"

* July 27, 1996: UK #1 (seven weeks); 2x Platinum
* February 22, 1997: US #1; 3x Platinum

In the weeks leading up to the release, the video for ***"Wannabe"*** (directed by Swedish commercials director Johan Camitz and shot in April at the Midland Grand Hotel in London), got a trial airing on music channel The Box. The video was an instant hit, and was aired up to seventy times a week at its peak. "Wannabe" became not only the biggest selling debut single by an all-female group but also the biggest-selling single by an all-female group of all time.

#### September 19, 1996: Spice

* UK #1 (total 15 weeks); 91 weeks on UK albums chart; 10x Platinum
* November 16, 1996: UK #1 (one week)
* December 12, 1996: UK #1 (eight weeks)
* March 8, 1997: UK #1 (one week)
* March 22, 1997: UK #1 (four weeks)
* May 17, 1997: UK #1 (one week)

***Spice*** is the debut studio album by English girl group the Spice Girls. The album is a pop record with an inclusion of styles such as dance, R&B and hip hop. It is considered to be the record that brought teen pop back, opening the doors for a wave of teen pop artists. Conceptually, the album centred on the idea of Girl Power, and during that time was compared to Beatlemania.

Listen to Spice on Deezer.

#### October 14, 1996: "Say You'll Be There"

* October 26, 1996: UK #1 (two weeks); Platinum

Riding a wave of publicity and hype, the group released ***"Say You'll Be There"***.

#### December 16, 1996: "Two Become One"

* December 28, 1996: UK #1 (three weeks); Platinum

In December "Two Become One" was released, becoming their first Christmas number-one and selling 462,000 copies in its first week, making it the fastest selling single of the year.

#### March 3, 1997: "Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are"

* March 15, 1997: UK #1 (three weeks); Platinum

***"Mama"*** is a pop ballad that features instrumentation from keyboards, a rhythm guitar, a cello, and a violin, and its lyrics deal with the difficulties in relationships between mothers and daughters that appear during adolescence. Its music video featured the group singing to an audience of children and their own mothers.

"Mama" was released as a double A-side with ***"Who Do You Think You Are"***. The song is heavily influenced by early 1990s Europop, and has a nu-disco-style beat that resembles the music of the late 1970s. Its lyrics are about the superstar life, and how someone can get trapped in the world of fame.

"Who Do You Think You Are" became the official single of the 1997 Comic Relief and a video with the Sugar Lumps—a satirical version of the group featuring Dawn French (Posh), Jennifer Saunders (Ginger), Lulu (Baby), Kathy Burke (Sporty), and Llewella Gideon (Scary)—was released to help raise money for charitable causes and donated all the proceedings from the single.

### 1997-98

1997 was the year when the Spice Girls reached the height of their career. In November, the Spice Girls released their second album, Spiceworld. The album was a global best seller. It set a new record for the fastest-selling album when it shipped seven million copies over the course of two weeks. Gaining favourable reviews, the album went on to sell over 10 million copies in Europe, Canada, and the United States combined, and 20 million copies worldwide. Criticised in the US for releasing the album just nine months after their debut there, which gave the group two simultaneous Top 10 albums in the Billboard album charts, and suffering from over-exposure at home, the Spice Girls began to experience a media backlash. The group was criticised for the number of sponsorship deals signed—over twenty in total—and they began to witness diminishing international chart positions. Nevertheless, the Spice Girls remained the biggest-selling pop group of both 1997 and 1998.

After a performance at the 1997 MTV Europe Music Awards, the Spice Girls made the decision to take over the running of the group themselves, and fired their manager Simon Fuller. The firing was front page news around the world. Many commentators speculated that Fuller had been the true mastermind behind the group, and that this was the moment when the band lost their impetus and direction.

#### October 13, 1997: "Spice Up Your Life"

* October 25, 1997: UK #1 (one week); Platinum

"Spice Up Your Life" was written by the Spice Girls, with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World. The song appears on the group's second album Spiceworld.

"Spice Up Your Life" is a dance-pop song with Latin influences. The lyrics are inspired by Bollywood films and reflects the group desire to "write a song for the world". The music video features the Spice Girls in a futuristic setting, inspired by the 1982 film Blade Runner, controlling every aspect of society in a dark futuristic cityscape.

#### November 3, 1997: Spiceworld

* UK #1 (total three weeks); 66 weeks on the UK albums chart; 5x Platinum
* November 15, 1997: UK #1 (two weeks)
* December 13, 1997: UK #1 (one week)

***Spiceworld*** is the second studio album by English girl group the Spice Girls. Its music incorporates dance-pop music and production. The album became a commercial success worldwide, lengthening the so-called "Spicemania" of the time. It debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 190,000 and shipped 1.4 million copies in two weeks. The album also reached number one in 13 countries, while peaking inside the top three in Australia, Canada, France, Switzerland and the United States. Spiceworld has sold over 13 million copies worldwide.

Listen to Spiceworld on Deezer.

#### December 15, 1997: "Too Much"

* December 27, 1997: UK #1 (two weeks); Platinum

***"Too Much"*** is a song written the Spice Girls with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World. The song appears on the group's second album Spiceworld.

Too Much" is a pop ballad with influences of R&B. It features instrumentation from a guitar, brass and string instruments, and is structured using doo-wop records as a template. The music video features each Spice Girl in their own individual scene playing different characters, inspired by their own movie fantasies. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, with many of them criticising the R&B-infused production.

#### December 26, 1997: Spice World

> *"You say you want a revolution?"*
>
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* US release January 23, 1998

***Spice World*** is a British musical comedy film directed by Bob Spiers and written by Kim Fuller and Jamie Curtis. The film stars pop girl group the Spice Girls who all play themselves. The lighthearted comedy — made in a similar vein to The Beatles' A Hard Day's Night (1964) — depicts a series of fictional events leading up to a major concert at London's Royal Albert Hall, liberally interspersed with dream sequences and flashbacks as well as surreal moments and humorous asides.

The Spice Girls have become superstars and a global phenomenon. As they prepare for what may be their most prestigious concert to date at Royal Albert Hall in London, everyone in the world wants their two pounds of flesh from the girls at their expense. Their manager Clifford (Richard E Grant) and his behind the scenes boss "The Chief" (Roger Moore) want to control all aspects of the girls' lives with the sole goal of getting them to the concert in the best shape possible. A documentary film crew wants 24/7 access amidst the girls' busy schedule. A Hollywood pitch team wants them to star in a movie, they pitching one outlandish idea after another. The London tabloids want to print whatever salacious story they can get their hands on, even if it ruins the girls' careers. And even some out of this world visitors want what all their adoring fans want. Through it all, the girls, who want to have some fun along the way, evaluate their lives and wonder if they've lost sight of what is really important in life, those priorities, like being with their pregnant best friend Nicola (Naoko Mori), which may be incompatible with being pop superstars.

The film also features Elvis Costello, Bob Geldof, Bob Hoskins, Elton John, and Jonathan Ross as themselves plus Michael Barrymore, Richard Briers, Alan Cumming, Jason Flemyng, Stephen Fry, Barry Humphries, Hugh Laurie, Meat Loaf, Richard O'Brien, and Bill Paterson in supporting roles.

### March 9, 1998: "Stop"

* UK #2; Gold

***"Stop"*** is a song written by the Spice Girls with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World. The song appears on the group's second album Spiceworld.

"Stop" is an dance-pop song with influences of Motown's blue-eyed soul, and features instrumentation from a guitar and a brass. The music video was filmed in Ireland and features the group in a traditional 1950s working class street and showed them playing with young girls in various children's games. The song received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with many of them complimenting the Motown influences and production.

It was the group's last single that was released before Geri Halliwell's departure in May 1998 though it was not the last single to include her vocals.

#### May 31, 1998

Halliwell announced her departure from the Spice Girls. Through her solicitor she stated: "Sadly I would like to confirm that I have left the Spice Girls. This is because of differences between us. I'm sure the group will continue to be successful and I wish them all the best." Halliwell claimed that she was suffering from exhaustion and wanted to take a break. Rumours of a power struggle with Brown as the reason for her departure were circulated by the press. Halliwell's departure from the group shocked fans and became one of the biggest entertainment news stories of the year, making news headlines the world over. Halliwell went on to launch an initially successful solo career.

#### July 20, 1998: "Viva Forever"

* August 1, 1998: UK #1 (two weeks); Platinum

***"Viva Forever"*** is a song by the Spice Girls from their second album, Spiceworld. The single was a commercial success despite the poor promotion.

The accompanying music video, commissioned months before Geri's departure, featured the five band members as animated fairies that interact with two friends in a forest. "Viva Forever" is widely considered as the best work of the Spice Girls in their career. In the book The Spice Girls Revisited by David Sinclair, it was confirmed by the co-writers/producers of the song Matthew Rowe & Richard Stannard that Halliwell was the main songwriter of "Viva Forever".

#### December 14, 1998: "Goodbye"

* December 26, 1998: UK #1 (one week); Platinum

***"Goodbye"*** is a song written by the Spice Girls, Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe and intended to be on Spiceworld. However, due to time constraints it was not recorded by the Spice Girls in time. It was later included as the eleventh and final track on their third studio album Forever. The song became the group's first song without the vocals of Geri Halliwell. It was released as a Christmas single, along with the B-side, "Christmas Wrapping", which was only recorded by Mel C and Emma due to the pregnancies of Mel B And Victoria.

"Goodbye" was a commercial success, and made the Spice Girls the first act to have three consecutive Christmas number-one singles since The Beatles in 1965.

In July 1998, during the American leg of the Spiceworld Tour, after the departure of Halliwell, Stannard And Rowe Flew To Nashville, Tennessee to meet the group and rewrite the song. The group put input on the song and recorded it. In the Spice Girls' autobiography, "Forever Spice", group member Melanie C said "Goodbye" was originally about a relationship ending, but now it's about Geri and it's really sad.