overview
Before the Spice Girls became THE Spice Girls, they were just ordinary women looking for ways to make their lives more meaningful. And look at where they are now. The group's Cinderella story is probably the most compelling rise to stardom ever seen in the entertainment industry. Pretty impressive given this was before the world wide web and wireless communication became mainstream. Imagine if during the Spice Girls' heyday the Internet culture and mobile phone medium had been as big as they are right now. Imagine if their songs could have been downloaded to your phone - rather than just being the biggest girl band of all time they would have been totally unstoppable.It was a hard climb but by the time the 90's queens of pop were on top of the world, everything seems to go their way.
1994
January: Chris Herbert distributes advertisements looking for 5 "lively girls" for a musical group ("R. U. 18-23 with the ability to sing/dance? R.U. streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated?"). The adverts were placed in pubs, dance studios as well as in 'The Stage'. March: 400 applicants audition at London's West End dance studio 'Danceworks'. After very strong competition the finalists were selected, and the group 'Touch' was formed. May: The group leave the Herbert's management and sign up with 19 Management, run by the renowned Simon Fuller. July: Michelle Stephenson quits the band for family and personal reasons. September: Emma Bunton takes her place in the line up. Simon Fuller later closes their deal with Virgin Records, reported to be for 2 million UK pounds, this was then followed by a further deal with Windswept Pacific.
1995
The group work from Trinity Studios in Woking Surrey, putting together their infamous 'Girl Power' style and full-on personas. They live in a rented house in Kent. Their name changes from 'Touch' to 'Spice' (the name is normally accredited to Geri H.) and finally to The Spice Girls. During this time they produce some poorly received songs including 'Take Me Away' and 'We're Going To Make It Happen' - which is a very aptly named track.
1996
April: The Spice Girls shoot their debut video for their single 'Wannabe'. June: Promotional machine is in full swing with a very carefully managed publicity campaign. This promotes their ground breaking feminist 'Girl Power' message, which somehow appeals to both women and men. July: 'Wannabe' is released and jumps straight in at number 3 in the UK charts, two places behind Gary Barlow's 'Forever Love'. The following week it takes the top spot and stays there for 7 weeks, and spends 26 weeks in the Top 75. This achievement makes it the fastest and biggest selling single by an all female group in the UK to date. The girls first national newspaper interview appears in the Daily Star. September: 'Wannabe' tops the charts in 22 countries, 31 by Christmas, selling an unstoppable 4 million copies. The video for their next single 'Say You'll Be There' is filmed in the Mojave Desert, after which they fly to Hong-Kong. October: 'Say You'll Be There' enters the charts at number 1, staying there for 2 weeks, and holding a place in the charts for 17 weeks. Many praising reviews are published, although unwarranted backlash against this 'manufactured' band starts appearing. November: Debut album 'Spice' is released and instantly enters the UK charts at number 1 staying there for 9 weeks, and selling in excess of 1.8 million units in the UK by Christmas, making it 6x platinum. By the end of March 1997 it will have worldwide sales approaching 20 million. The Spice Girls are rumoured to be offered £1 million pounds to appear on a late night adult cable channel - they never did appear. The Oxford Street lights are turned on by the band, which must have come to a shock to the older generation. December: The Smash Hits awards honour the girls with the following titles: Best British Group, Best New Act and Best Pop Video (Say You'll Be There). The band are interviewed for 'Spectator' magazine. Geri dubs Lady Thatcher, previously the UK Prime Minister, as 'the first Spice Girl' - presumably due to her Girl Power attitude. '2 Become 1' goes straight to the top of the Christmas chart, holding the number one slot for 3 weeks, and staying in the charts for 19. The special Christmas Day edition of the BBC's TOP of the POPs is presented by the band. They are now endorsing over 35 products and have 8 sponsorship deals - totally over £5.5 million, including Asda, Sony Playstation, Walkers Crisps and Pepsi each signing them for £1 million.
1997
January: The girls take the US by storm with their #1 single Wannabe hitting the Top 40 and debuting at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band gets more press than the Royal Family and start to symbolise a 'Cool Britannia'. They are nominated for 4 Brit Awards - Best British Group, Best British Newcomer, Best British Single (Wannabe) and Best British Video (Say You'll Be There). Absolute (Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins) and Stannard & Rowe are nominated for Best Producer for their work. 20,000 members of the American public vote for the girls winning them Favourite New Pop Band, Favourite Band and Favourite Album at the 25th Annual American Music Awards. February: The Brit Awards ceremony at Earl's Court, London, is opened by the band performing 'Who Do You Think You Are'. They go on to wind Best British Single (Wannabe) and Best British Video (Say You'll Be There). After this success their LP 'Spice' returns to it's #1 chart position. In the US their debut LP 'Spice' is released, spawning two #1 US hit singles - 'Wannabe' and 'Say You'll Be There'; '2 Become 1' also reaches the Top 10. 'Who Do You Think You Are' video is filmed for Comic Relief featuring the hilarious Spice wannabes 'The Sugar Lumps'. The next serious video Mama is filmed. The Spice Girls shared their thoughts about fame with MTV: Melanie B said "You can do what you want in this group, it's great! You can be as mad as you want, as normal as you want or as loud or as proud as you want!" "And be whoever you wanna be!" bandmate Emma added. Victoria added, "Just be happy, have a laugh so if you want you can run up and down with no clothes on, but if you do feel the need to all of a sudden do that... feel free." March: The release of the double A-side single 'Mama' and 'Who Do You Think You Are?' is released, and storms to the top position for 3 weeks. This makes the girls record breakers as the first act in British Pop history to have their first 4 singles all reach #1. The single stays in the charts for 15 weeks. Sales from 'Who Do You Think You Are' go to Comic Relief. 'Wannabe' is certified gold and platinum in the US. The girls launch the new terrestrial UK TV channel 'Channel 5'. The Spice Girls' official book 'Girl Power' is published in the UK; the initial run of 200,000 prints are instantly sold out - it is eventually translated into over 20 languages. April: 'Spice - The Official Video, Volume 1' is released, this video will sell over half a million units in the UK alone. The girls upset Maori Tribal leaders by performing a ritual dance which is culturally only to be performed by men. It is not know how this effected their sales in New Zealand. The LP 'Spice' is certified double platinum (2 Million units) in the US. 'Say You'll Be There' hits the Top 40. May: London's Grosvenor House Hotel hosts the Ivor Novello awards, 'Wannabe' is sited as Best Selling British-Written Single and wins International Hit of The Year. The Spice Girls' are accused over being 'flirtatious' and 'over familiar' at the Prince's Trust Royal Gala Show. Prince Charles confessors to being 'a bit of a fan', something the girls never forget. June: Production beings on the Spice Girls' full length feature film 'Spice World'. 'Spice' is certified 3x platinum! Pepsi give away the single 'Step To Me' in exchange for 20 Pepsi can ring-pulls. July: 'Spice' goes 4x Platinum, and is nominated for the 1997 Mercury Music Prize, which they fail to win. September: At the MTV Video Music Awards in New York the girls win Best Dance Video for 'Wannabe'. They perform 'Say You'll Be There' in honour of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. 'Spice' LP is certified 5x platinum! Poloroid cameras feature the girls in yet another commercial. '2 Become 1' is certified gold. October: The Spice Girls entertain 85000 fans in a live concert just outside Istanbul, Turkey. 11,000 Pepsi prize winners are privileged to attend the extravaganza. The girls have a deodorant named after them, and British TV airs the 'Impulse Spice Body Spray'. The first single from their next album 'Spice World' is delayed to allow Elton John's 'Candle in the Wind' to reign at the charts top spot - in honour of Princess Diana. The group launch the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal, reading exerts from the poem "The Fallen" by Laurence Binvon. November: Their second album, 'Spice World', was released exactly 12 months after their first. By the end of the year it will have achieved the position of fifth best selling album, with 'Spice' coming in third. At the Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party at London Arena they win the 'Best Band' award, and also walk away with the 'Worst Band' award! Geri Halliwell wins worst dressed female. December: The Queen samples the delights of the Spice Girls at the Royal Variety performance in London
solo careers
All of The Spice Girls have launched solo music careers with various levels of success. Many industry pundits wrote Geri Halliwell off when she left the band, yet she above all the others has become the media darling. Posh, the last to enter the solo market, has battled things out very hard and had some success. However, the solo route has not been plain sailing, we are currently compiling the definitive listing of solo events. In the mean time please see the individual sections in the menu above.
victoria
Victoria Beckham is the last of the Spice Girls to embark on a solo music career. Her first solo-album "Victoria Beckham" which she worked on for 18 months was released on 10th January 2001. For a long time she stipulated that she had no plans to enter the solo music arena, but fortunately for us she changed her mind. For her first release outside the confines of the Spice Girls, Victoria joined UK underground group True Steppers working on the vocals for a dance song called "Out Of Your Mind". The track was played heavily on radio for three weeks before it was revealed that the vocals on the track were Victoria's! This worked well as industry pundits had already said it was a great track and weren't judging it for being ex-Spice material. On August 14th 2000 "Out Of Your Mind" was released as a UK single. It battled bitterly with Spiller's track "Groovejet(If This Ain't Love)" featuring lyrics by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. "Out of Your Mind" led all week, but was pipped to the post at the last minute by "Groovejet", "Out Of Your Mind" entered the singles chart at #2. The week of the single release Victoria worked exceptional hard promoting it, she carried out radio and television interviews, book signings and performances at 'Party in the Park' and Ibiza! The first single launched from her self-titled album was 'Not Such an Innocent Girl", released on September 17th 2001. This went head to head with Kylie Mingoue's dance track "Can't Get You Out of My Head". Kylie reached number 1, whilst Victoria lanquished at number 6! The 12 track album was released on October 1st 2001 , getting to #10 in the first week. Victoria's 2nd single and probably last from this album released on 11th February 2002 was "A Mind of its Own." The video was much simpler that the previous one and promotion was a lot lighter, with a few live performances, sometimes performed alongside "I.O.U". The song entered the UK charts at number 6, selling 27,000 copies in its first week - surprisingly, the single was more successful than "Not Such An Innocent Girl", having 4 weeks inside the Top 40, compared to "Not Such An Innocent Girl" with 3, and thanks to the "Being Victoria Beckham" documentary, some further sales were gained in its 4th week of sale. The final sales figure for "A Mind of Its Own" are currently unknown, but are probably around 60,000 copies.
geri
"Look At Me" was Geri's first ever solo single, and it was hyped to the limit. Released to radio in April 1999, Geri caused controversy by swearing live on air during the build up to the radio premiere of the song, fuelled by speculation. When released on 10th May 1999, the single went straight to #2 in the UK charts, with 142,000 copies sold in its first week, just 700 copies behind Boyzone at #1. "Look At Me" went onto sell 330,000 copies in the UK, and was the 56th best seller of 1999. In the USA, the single was released to radio and was the basis of the success for "Schizophonic", which peaked at #42. "Schizophonic" was Geri's first album, released on the hype of "Look At Me". It was also the first solo Spice Girls album, released on 7th June 1999 it entered and peaked at #4. The album fell down the chart rather quickly, but when singles like "Mi Chico Latino" and "Bag It Up" were released, the sales increased and the album climbed back into the Top 10. The album peaked at #42 in the US going Gold - this is amazing considering all the promotion was 4 live performances and radio play of "Look At Me". Altogether, the album has sold around 1.5 million copies worldwide. "Mi Chico Latino" was the second single to be released from "Schizophonic". This single was much more successful than "Look At Me", it had a better video and more promotion, the single went to #1 when released on 16th August 1999 - selling 132,000 copies in its first week. Altogether, "Mi Chico Latino" sold 372,000 copies in the UK and was the 42nd best seller of 1999. The single also helped "Schizophonic" climb back up the UK chart which gave the album more sales. "Mi Chico Latino" was the best selling single from "Schizophonic". "Lift Me Up" was the third single to be released from "Schizophonic" on 1st November 1999. Geri's competition in this week was Emma Bunton, the first time two Spice Girls had gone head to head. Geri won this "battle", and went to #1 after intense publicity with her romance with Chris Evans. The single sold 139,000 copies in its first week - 40,000 more than rival Emma Bunton. "Lift Me Up" sold around 337,000 copies altogether in the UK - the 57th best seller of 1999. An interesting fact to note is that the single sold 27,000 copies in 2000 - very good. "Bag It Up" was the fourth and last single to be released from "Schizophonic". This was the most underperforming single from the album, but as the album had sold around 400,000 copies at this point, it isn't surprising. Released on 13th March 2000 after a huge promotional campaign, the single shot straight to #1 selling 106,000 copies in its first week, and 255,000 copies altogether - "Bag It Up" was the 42nd best seller of 2000 in the UK, and the single also helped "Schizophonic" climb back into the Top 10! "It's Raining Men" was the long anticipated new single from Geri, released on 30th April 2001. It was the first single from the upcoming album "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" and it was also on the soundtrack to the film "Bridget Jones's Diary". When released, the single shot straight to #1 for 2 weeks, selling 155,000 copies in its first week and around 80,000 in the second week. Altogether, "It's Raining Men" sold 415,000 copies in the UK and was the 13th best seller of 2001. "It's Raining Men" was the biggest hit from "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster", and some would say, the only hit, as the further two (and last two) singles failed to make an impact. "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" was the second single from the album of the same name. This single had a good video, but was poorly promoted. There was only 3 performances of the single shown on UK TV, therefore not getting the song to a wide market, plus the week it was released in had tough competition. Released on 30th July 2001, it entered the charts at #8, this was highly disappointing, and it was Geri's lowest chart position ever - this #8 was achieved by just 27,000 copies sold in its first week. Altogether, the single sold around 80,000 copies in the UK - the 154th best seller of 2001. "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" was Geri's second album, released in May 2001, it was hyped on the huge success of "It's Raining Men", which had stayed at #1 for two weeks, but sadly the album didn't fare well. After entering at #5 the album fell down the charts very quickly, and only made a couple of re-entries back in the Top 50 when new singles were released. To date, the album has only sold around 100,000 copies in the UK - this is compared to "Schizophonic" which sold 650,000 - despite the album being (in many people's opinions) much better than her debut. "Calling" was the third and seemingly last single to be released from the album "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". Like the previous single, "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster", success was limited. "Calling" went to #7 when released on 26th November 2001 with 25,000 sales in its first week - altogether, the single sold 60,000 copies - the 192nd best seller of 2001. This single did nothing to help the sales of the album, as it was quite poorly promoted. Therefore, no further singles from "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" were released, and Geri took a break from music while living in Los Angeles for several months.
mel c
emma
"We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight" was the fourth and seemingly last single to be released from "A Girl Like Me". Released on 10th December 2001, the week before the race for Christmas No. 1, the single was ignored by the public. Even though the single was relatively well promoted, the single flopped - going to #20 in the charts, selling just 13,000 copies in its first week, and only about 35,000 copies altogether - the song only spent 5 weeks in the Top 75, but had a good Top 40 chart run, spending three weeks hovering around the thirties. "Take My Breath Away" was the third single to be released from "A Girl Like Me", success was expected after a month of intense promotion and trips around the country going on every TV show imaginable - but competition was heavy, Emma was going to be going against Blue in the race for #1. It turned out that when released on 27th August 2001, the single limped into #5, falling out of the Top 40 chart within 4 weeks. The single sold around 80,000 copies in the UK - and was the 151st best seller of 2001. "A Girl Like Me" was Emma Bunton's highly anticipated debut album, released on 16th April 2001. It initally went to #4 and fell down the chart quickly, never to really be seen again - "A Girl Like Me" sold around 100,000 copies in the UK, much like Geri's "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster". Future singles from the album did nothing to increase sales, and resulted in Virgin dropping Emma from their record label. Only the release of "Take My Breath Away" brought the album back into the Top 75 for a few weeks. "What Took You So Long" was the second single from the then forthcoming album "A Girl Like Me". The song was heavily promoted and had a good video, thus increasing the chances of a good chart position. But nobody expected that the song would stay at #1 for two weeks, beating off competition from big artists such as Janet Jackson. "What Took You So Long" sold around 240,000 copies altogether - gaining the song a Silver award, and the song was the 41st best seller of 2001. "What I Am" was Emma's first solo project, this single was done with Tin Tin Out and was released on 1st November 1999. Months before its release, speculation started rising about her competition - the competition being Geri, Geri and Emma releasing singles in the same week. Geri managed to achieve the #1, outselling Emma by an impressive 40,000 copies. "What I Am" sold 100,000 copies to get to #2 in its first week and around 200,000 copies altogether, "What I Am" was the 88th best seller of 1999.
mel b
