Spice Girls: Thoughts?

[CookieMueller]

Yeah, I'll believe it when I'm standing there singing along to "Who Do You Think You Are" because these heffers play too much.

 

[Sabre]

Well my inside sources aka google told me its a possible second greatest hits album and a tv documentry.. not a tour as yet.

 

[Fall of Epic]

A lady friend of mine went to their reunion show here in NY 10 years ago and she said she didn't like it but I'm not sure if that was due to the quality of the show or if her seats were bad.

 

[CookieMueller]

Well my inside sources aka google told me its a possible second greatest hits album and a tv documentry.. not a tour as yet.

SECOND greatest hits? But they haven't done anything new since the first one!!!

A lady friend of mine went to their reunion show here in NY 10 years ago and she said she didn't like it but I'm not sure if that was due to the quality of the show or if her seats were bad.

I also saw them in NYC on the reunion and loved it. My seats were ok. They did all the hits and even a few solo songs, it was great. Better than when I saw them back in the day because it was after Ginger left and the chemistry was off.

 

[Sabre]

Probably change up a few of the songs and release.

So they have announced a UK and US tour - there will not be any new content just their existing hits.

 

[CookieMueller]

It's crazy because as the original 5 piece group they released two albums of 10 songs each. So they're still riding on 20 fucking songs. I mean, they did do that one without Geri but be serious, no one wants to hear those cringey, dated Darkchild songs. "Goodbye" is the only classic from that one but I will allow "Holler" and MAYBE "Let Love Lead The Way" in a pinch. Then they also did do one original song on the Greatest Hits but holy shit is it BAAAD. But they have to play it live because, again, they have so little original content they have to play EVERYTHING that ever played on radio even once in Malta.

Yet here I am, setting up a google news alert so I can know how far I will be traveling to see Victoria just literally stand there.

 

[BUTT]

Only from reading Wikipedia today did I learn that they recorded that third Ginger-less album. Maybe I was aware of that fact at some point but if so I forgot about it.

They were in their mid 20s here, why do they look 35


FAKE EDIT: This "Holler" song is bad

 

[Fall of Epic]

Well my inside sources aka google told me its a possible second greatest hits album and a tv documentry.. not a tour as yet.

SECOND greatest hits? But they haven't done anything new since the first one!!!

A lady friend of mine went to their reunion show here in NY 10 years ago and she said she didn't like it but I'm not sure if that was due to the quality of the show or if her seats were bad.

I also saw them in NYC on the reunion and loved it. My seats were ok. They did all the hits and even a few solo songs, it was great. Better than when I saw them back in the day because it was after Ginger left and the chemistry was off.

Did they do Geri's "Look At Me"? That was the only solo hit from any of them so they must have sang it, right? RIGHT?

 

[CookieMueller]

Only from reading Wikipedia today did I learn that they recorded that third Ginger-less album. Maybe I was aware of that fact at some point but if so I forgot about it.

They were in their mid 20s here, why do they look 35


FAKE EDIT: This "Holler" song is bad

I was like "DON'T SEEK ANY OF THESE SONGS OUT!!!" but you didn't let me save you They all sound like a Destiny's Child ripoff's b-side.

Well my inside sources aka google told me its a possible second greatest hits album and a tv documentry.. not a tour as yet.

SECOND greatest hits? But they haven't done anything new since the first one!!!

A lady friend of mine went to their reunion show here in NY 10 years ago and she said she didn't like it but I'm not sure if that was due to the quality of the show or if her seats were bad.

I also saw them in NYC on the reunion and loved it. My seats were ok. They did all the hits and even a few solo songs, it was great. Better than when I saw them back in the day because it was after Ginger left and the chemistry was off.

Did they do Geri's "Look At Me"? That was the only solo hit from any of them so they must have sang it, right? RIGHT?

Nope! She did "It's Raining Men" which is her biggest hit...in Britain. Don't think it was even released as a single here but they were too lazy to change things up from country to country. Mel B had a cool song with Missy Elliott but instead she just did a cover of "Are You Gonna Go My Way" which was annoying. Victoria, and I wish I was kidding, did a catwalk to Rupaul's Supermodel (didn't sing along just that song played) for her solo portion.

 

[Fall of Epic]

http://m.eonline.com/news/913080/victoria-beckham-on-the-spice-girls-reunion-i-will-not-be-going-on-tour

Victoria is now denying a reunion. Whatever Posh, you don't have to come!

PS I am way too invested in this.

 

[CookieMueller]

I knew it wasn't gonna happen. Every other year since the first reunion tour these rumors start. There was even the "3 of them have recorded a bunch of songs for an album" rumor.

I do think a tour will happen one day but not any time soon.

 

[SFH]

My friend's band is playing with a Spice Girls, "tribute band" tomorrow night. I've checked out their stuff and it's pretty spot on with how I remember the original act.


In the same venue, in another hall, Puddle of Mud is playing.

 

[Kageho]

I'll be honest, the only song I remember is Wannabe. I'd honestly say it just got lucky. It was originally created by Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, was then attempted at a remix by Dave Way, before being sent to Mark Stent to be remixed yet again. So this song isn't even actually the original Wannabe song. Yes, I realize that this likely might be a thing with songs, but still needs to be said.

And before you proclaim I'm a fanboy, I wanted to get the name of the songwriter, thinking someone struck it big, but nope says Wiki. So just got remixed and was lucky it worked out.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

I'll be honest, the only song I remember is Wannabe. I'd honestly say it just got lucky. It was originally created by Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, was then attempted at a remix by Dave Way, before being sent to Mark Stent to be remixed yet again. So this song isn't even actually the original Wannabe song. Yes, I realize that this likely might be a thing with songs, but still needs to be said.

And before you proclaim I'm a fanboy, I wanted to get the name of the songwriter, thinking someone struck it big, but nope says Wiki. So just got remixed and was lucky it worked out.

Well, the band requested the remix themselves and it's pretty obvious why (their sound did not fit that urban bass n' drum style of the early 1990s) as they were pure bubblegum pop. Also most of those bands have other people co-writing their songs, even mega artists like Shania Twain have employed writers. Very common tactic, especially for a dance group that doesn't play instruments. Even Michael Jackson did this: "Songwriters included Jackson, Heatwave's Rod Temperton, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney." (That was for his 1979 album Off the Wall and Temperton wrote his song Thriller for the album of the same name).

I don't know if I'd call them lucky either. If you listen to "Wannabe" proper, that chorus hook alone would've made it a smash hit. It screams pop single immediately right from the first notes and never lets up plus it coupled with an entertaining music video at a time when they still mattered a good deal (that window was up until 2004/2005 IMO).

The band hated Way's remix and it's not an uncommon tactic to have multiple remixers try out a song if it isn't working. Hell, Nirvana had Scott Litt remix "Heart-Shaped Box" and "All Apologies" to make them more commercial/poppier sounding and both really worked.

 

[CookieMueller]

Wannabe isn't even one of my top 10 favorite Spice Girls songs. It sounds so disjointed and I guess the whole "remixed several times" things contributes to that. Say You'll Be There is actually clearly their "best" song. If I was making a 90s pop mixtape that would be the Spice Girls representation and would get every girl (and the secure guys) in the room dancing and singing. It's not my personal favorite but it's just of such a high quality, while most of their songs are not. I just wish they hadn't cut the rap out because it makes the song even more fun. For some reason, a popular trope of the 90s was cutting any rap out of a radio edit, see: any TLC song, Mariah Carey's super great "Fantasy" remix featuring peak-era ODB.

My Spice Girls top ten (limiting this to album releases because I actually have a big soft spot for those shitty b-sides that were clearly thrown together in an afternoon to drive singles sales up):

1 - 2 Become 1 (bonus points for making my parents see me sing about applying condoms at age 13)
2 - Spice Up Your Life (the feeling I had in my 14-year-old heart the first time I heard that drumroll at the beginning is akin to what little girls feel when they see One Direction or whatever is hip nowadays. My cold cynical heart can never feel that again :'( )
3 - Viva Forever (saw them live...this song fucking killed me. "Spice Girls forever"...brb gotta go cry)
4 - Say You'll Be There (see above)
5 - Too Much (again, the feeling of hearing this song over the opening credits of Spice World for the first time AT A DRIVE-IN THEATER...just pure happiness)
6 - Who Do You Think You Are (the Comic Relief French & Saunders video alone bumps it up a few spots)
7 - Move Over (um, Pepsi...hell fucking yeah! You were NO ONE in my circle of friends till you could do the whole "recreation imagination CRAZY NATION" rap)
8 - If U Can't Dance (it fucking samples Humpty Dance)
9 - Goodbye (the only good non-Geri song)
10 - Stop (I still naturally go into the full dance for this song any time I listen to it)

 

[Fall of Epic]

If I had to objectively choose the "best" Spice Girls song, I'd go with either "Wannabe" or "Spice Up Your Life". Non-offensive bubblegum pop for pre-teens.

"Goodbye" sounds too much like "2 Become 1" to me.

Anyone remember the Spice Girls video game for PS1? It was a dancing game akin to Bust a Groove or DDR. Never owned it but I do remember playing it at a friend's house because his sister owned it. I sucked at it.

 

[CookieMueller]

I owned that ps1 game. It didn't work with the DDR mat for some reason which really pissed me off. It wasn't so much a DDR style dancing game. You "remixed" the songs and then "directed" the music videos which you also "choreographed." You could do everything there was to do in that game in a single afternoon.

I had so much Spice Girls merchandise, it was obscene. There was a booth at the shittiest flea market in town that had a lot of British import merch so I would go buckwild every weekend there. My prized possessions were the complete set of every set of dolls and the polaroid (!) camera.

If I named everything I owned it would be like this:

https://youtu.be/fgRFQJCHcPw?t=1m5s
"Spice Girls, the flamethrower!"

 

[Fall of Epic]

http://www.nme.com/news/music/spice-girls-considering-possibilities-reunion-2249270

We have a turn of events!

Also, I noticed a lot of Spice Girls cover band shows popping up all over the city lately. COINCIDENCE?

 

[CookieMueller]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/02/27/mel-b-says-shes-going-royal-wedding-hints-spice-girls-may-perform/378343002/

Now this is the sort of rumor I believe. They have sort of taken on the "official band of Great Britain" moniker in the past with that cool performance at the Olympics in 2012, so this would be right up their alley. Reforming for another reunion tour, with no new music, seems like something they'll do maybe one more time before they're "too old", especially since one member in particular is wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. But one-off performances at big events, especially ones like this that are uniquely British, I think they'll always take those opportunities.

 

[Fall of Epic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPy4pELwMck

A tour WITHOUT Victoria is a very strong possibility!

 

[Fall of Epic]

An actual reunion tour was just announced (without Victoria). HQ, this is your last chance!

 

[BUTT]

I looked at the Wikipedia entry for their 2007-08 tour and was shocked at the level of venues they were playing. Multiple nights at the Staples Center, Air Canada Centre, Nassau Coliseum. They did two nights at the Prudential Center and then immediately followed it with a show at the Izod Center, then did MSG a week later which is a very impressive level of demand. I'm not at all surprised that they did so well in the U.K. but I just wasn't aware that there was so much Spice Girls nostalgia in North America in 2008. Usually it takes longer for an act like that to come back to such prominence.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I'm amazed that this entire thread happened and I didn't mention that my middle aged father bought Spice Girl dolls in 1997 and took the whole family to see Spice World in theaters opening weekend

It's amazing that my parents are still together after all these years.

Great thread IMO.

 

[Fall of Epic]

I'm genuinely shocked their reunion tour hasn't hit the states yet. They did that small run of shows in Europe last summer and that was it. I understand they were trying to gauge interest with Victoria being gone but I think the shows proved successful enough that they could do a small stadium tour in the US.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I feel like the only non classic rock nostalgia tours that are big enough for stadiums are package shows so unless they want to schlep around TLC and New Kids on the Block, I think Spice Girls would probably be in arenas.

 

[MFer]

1. Say You'll Be There/Spice Up Your Life>>>>>>>>Wannabe

2. It's close, but Baby was my Spice Girl of choice, who's yours?

 

[Fall of Epic]

Mel C, obvs.

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I love love loved Sporty (and she's still my favorite). She started my lifelong attraction to butch looking girls. :-* :-\

 

[Fall of Epic]

She was a Knicks fan so obviously that drew me in: