Ever heard of a band called ‘Touch’? No?
What if I told you they sold over 53 million records worldwide, that their debut single earned them the record for biggest-selling single by an all female band, that they have a total of nine UK number one hits, including three consecutive Christmas number ones or that they were the one and only female band to ever have their first six single releases all reach number one, would you know them then?
Still no? OK, how about if I said that with a total of $49 million they achieved the highest-ever annual earnings for an all female band and that their debut album is still to this day the 13th highest selling album in the UK, with over three million copies sold?
Their second album holds the record for the highest-ever number of records shipped in the space of two weeks (seven million), one of their singles still to this day holds the record for the highest-ever international debut (#5) on the Billboard hot 100 and their awards include four BRIT awards, three MTV Europe Music Awards, one MTV Video Music Award and three World Music Awards.
The list of achievements continues but I’m guessing I could go on for pages and the name still wouldn’t be familiar. Nor should it be because the band changed their name before they exploded onto the scene as the Spice Girls – and a world-wide phenomenon was born.
Bursting onto the scene in 1996 with their debut single Wannabe, the Spice Girls were widely credited with playing a large party in reshaping popular culture in the late 90s.
Gone were the days of soppy boy bands dominating the charts and ushered in was an era of unbridled girl-power.
Despite working behind the scenes for a couple of years to get their careers on track, it seemed as if they became over-night sensations and their cultural impact was phenomenal with their ‘girl-power’ outlook hitting a winning note with millions of old and young women alike and even making it into the Oxford English Dictionary.
The truth is the Spice Girls were one of the biggest music sensations ever. They were young, fun and full of attitude. Their music was catchy and addictive and everything they touched turned to gold but that was then and this is now.
They were all about the exuberance of youth and although in this day and age being in your mid-30 is still considered relatively young, the girls have all come a long way from the youthful personas they once portrayed.
Marriage, divorce, babies, failed solo careers and new roads taken have pretty much guaranteed that the youthful and bubbly personalities they once represented will not have the same impact. And how could it? They’re all very different people now.
As a wife and mother-of-three Victoria ‘Posh Spice’ Beckham has responsibilities and a good wholesome family image to uphold.
She is now a successful businesswoman and fashion icon and where once she was the one that hardly sang a note and just stood there looking cold and aloof, she is now the most famous of all the girls although not in the same league as her footballer husband, David.
It’s hard to believe she would want to reprise her old back-seat role.
Emma ‘Baby Spice’ Bunton isn’t nearly as youthful acting as she once was and is about to pop out a baby of her own. While she’s had relative solo success since their split, she is now much more famous for tripping the light fantastic in TV’s Strictly Come Dancing than her trademark lollipop sucking of old.
Geri ‘Ginger Spice’ Halliwell has spent the last few year fighting an eating disorder and has become a tranquil single mother, much more at home strolling though the countryside than strutting her stuff in loud costumes on stage.
With the most successful solo music career of all the girls, Melanie ‘Sporty Spice’ Chisholm is possibly the only one of the five that even remotely resembles the old persona she used to portray but with rumours of her sexual preferences often taking up more column inches than her actual singing and her transformation from tom-boy to wannabe glamour puss even she falls far foul of her old Spice Girl image.
As for Melanie ‘Scary Spice’ Brown, the least said about her the better. A total flop for a solo career and a baby-making fling with actor Eddie Murphy are pretty much all she’s done of note in the last few years or so.
It seems that the recent news of a one-off comeback tour and greatest hits album has met with a hung jury with many not sure as to whether or not it’s such good news. Certainly from a business point of view it seems to make sense, as it follows on the heals of other successful reunions from the likes of Take That and The Who and with Simon Fuller back in control of the girls, their chances of a triumph are much higher, but will their past popularity be enough to ensure the girls have a triumphant return to the stage?
Emma Crenshaw says: “I was as big a Spice Girl fan as anyone back in the day. They came onto the scene just when one new boy band was popping up after another, all with the same old mushy love songs, so their music was really refreshing.
“The whole ‘girl power’ thing came along at just the right time and just exploded in a way no one expected.
“I used to sing along to all their songs and followed everything they did but if a Spice Girl song were to come on the radio now I’d switch channels straight away.
“They were all about bubblegum pop and great during their hay-day but now their music just seems really weak and with so many great artists out there it’s hard to take them seriously as talent.
“A best hits album is just going to rehash their former hits and if I wanted to listen to those songs I could easily listen to their old albums. Why do they need to come back and sing them all over again?”
Still at least they can be assured of a warm welcome from the men of our species.
After all, what red-blooded male isn’t going to jump through hoops at his girlfriend or wife’s singing along to lyrics likes: “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends”.
The Spice Girls are set to kick off their 11-date world tour in Los Angeles, followed by shows in Las Vegas, New York City, Buenos Aires, London, Cologne, Madrid, Beijing and Sydney.
