Released on July 8, 1996.
Written by Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard.
Produced by Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard.
Lead single from the SG's debut album Spice (Nov. 1996).
Peaked at #1 on the UK Official Chart // #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Quote:
Written by the group members with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session, it was produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996. The song was written and recorded very quickly; the result was considered lacklustre by their label, and was sent to be mixed by Dave Way. The group was not pleased with the result, and the recording was mixed again, this time by Mark "Spike" Stent.
Quote:
"Wannabe" is an uptempo dance-pop and pop rap song that incorporates a mix of hip-hop and rap. "Wannabe" presents a different version of the traditional pop love song performed by females; its energic, self-assertive style expresses a confident independence that is not reliant on the male figure for its continuance. The lyrics, which address the value of female friendship over the heterosexual bond, became an iconic symbol of female empowerment and the most emblematic song of the group's Girl Power philosophy. The song won for Best British-Written Single at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards and for Best Single at the 1997 BRIT Awards.
Quote:
Released as the group's debut single in July 1996, "Wannabe" topped the UK Singles Chart for 7 weeks and received a platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In January 1997 it was released in the US, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks. It was the group's only number-one single in that country. By the end of 1996, "Wannabe" had topped the charts in 22 nations, and by March 1997 this number had climbed to 37. "Wannabe" became the best-selling single by a female group in the world, sold in UK and US 1,320,000 and 2,910,000 copies respectively, and over 7 million copies worldwide by the end of 1997. In 2014 it has been rated as the catchiest pop song of the last 60 years, and was name by Billboard in 2015 as "Pop Culture Smash".
90% of this forum were literally fetuses when the Spice Girls took over the world. There hasn't been a big phenomenon as them since then so you better get into these girls!
An iconic moment in music. This is the song that propelled them to the worldwide phenomenons they were. I don't think any other girl band will reach their heights of success.