The setting is summer, 1995. London, England. Five overly enthusiastic, naïve, yet tenacious scantily-clad girls would storm through the offices of Virgin Records, Simon Fuller in tow, looking for representation and a record deal. After completely upturning the building and much running/yelling, a summer of impromptu showcases, and a sickeningly schmoozy Geraldine, the five ambitious women, tentatively called "The Spice Girls" were signed to a deal in September and began writing tracks for their debut record.
Fast forward a year later. A packaged album ready for shipment, a rigid battle between the girls and the label for the release of "Wannabe" as the debut single (with the label wanting to release the uninspired and underwhelming "Love Thing" ), and they were set to go. Originally intended for the concept of its video to "spice up" a beautiful setting in Barcelona (a reflection of their antics when looking for a record label), the inability to secure filming locations forced the video to take a drastic turn.
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His original concept for the video was a one-take shoot of the group arriving at an exotic building in Barcelona, taking over the place, and running a riot—the same way they did when they were looking for a manager and a record company. A few days before the shoot on 19 April 1996, Camitz was unable to get permission to use the building, and the shoot was relocated to the Midland Grand Hotel in St Pancras, London.
Because the video needed to be taken in one shot, the group rehearsed the routine several times through the night, while a steadycam operator followed them. About the experience, Halliwell wrote: "The video I remember as being very chaotic and cold. It wasn't very controlled—we didn't want it to be. We wanted the camera to capture the madness of the Spice Girls". Virgin's executives were horrified with the final result: "the girls were freezing cold, which showed itself in various different ways", Ashley Newton recalled.
The video was later banned in some parts of Asia because of Brown's erect nipples. Additionally, the lighting was considered too dark and gloomy; the best takes showed the girls bumping with the furniture and looking behind them. Virgin was concerned that old people appeared on the video, the part when they jump up on the table, and Halliwell's showgirl outfit would be considered too threatening by music channels.
Virgin immediately opened discussions about a re-shoot of the video or creating an alternate one for the US, but the group refused. The video was sent for trial airing in its original form.
The single was received mostly negatively, what with the overly sugary sweet structure of the song; panned for being "too hip-hop", panned for being "cheesy pop", ultimately doomed to be the "Macarena" of its time. Nonetheless, its strong points were how unrestrained it was in the "fun" factor and it didn't seem contrived. Regardless, "Wannabe" topped the charts of more than 30 countries and immediately perpetuated the Spice Girls to a phenomenal status. It is also currently the best-selling single of any girl group ever, with sales of nearly 7 million. As for everything else, I don't really care to post, as this post has already become 4x more longer and 6x more irritating than I had intended.
However, today has indeed been a momentous day in Spiceworld, with the girls making their first appearance as a group in nearly five years to promote their upcoming musical, and inadvertently commemorate their 16th anniversary --- in the very same building they started.
Amazing! I can't believe how long it's been. This was the song that got me into pop music, and it remains one of my favorite songs from my childhood and of the '90s. Happy birthday, "Wannabe"!
I still remember the song, it was rather inescapable. Iconic.
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Originally posted by Rhythm
The single was received mostly negatively, what with the overly sugary sweet structure of the song; panned for being "too hip-hop", panned for being "cheesy pop", ultimately doomed to be the "Macarena" of its time.
I only just realised how sexually suggestive the bridge (???) is:
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Here's a story from A to Z
You wanna get with me, you gotta listen carefully
We got M in the place who likes it in her face
We got G, like MC, who likes it on an
Easy V doesn't come for free, she's a real lady
And as for me... Aha you'll see
Not The Spice Girls of all people talking about *********** like this...
And this song should be appreciated more. It started the Teen-Pop revival of the late 90's. Britney and Christina would never have had a career without it.
I only just realised how sexually suggestive the bridge (???) is:
Not The Spice Girls of all people talking about *********** like this...
And this song should be appreciated more. It started the Teen-Pop revival of the late 90's. Britney and Christina would never have had a career without it.
The sexual suggestion starts from "if you wanna by lover you gotta get with my friends..."
I love that song and "Say You'll Be There until today. Those were two of the best teen pop songs I've ever heard! For me, that was the start of the teen pop phenomenon of the late '90s.