Spice Girls: The Spice and Times

It was the summer of ’96. Lazy Louie graced his sofa in true couch potato tradition, flicking channels without batting an eyelid, munching on chips and sipping cola with slurps that could give his neighbours a belch attack. Flick, news, flick, movies, flick, soaps, flick… wait…

Zig a zig aaaah!

Whatever it was that Louie had caught gripped him with a strange desire, a stirring of curious emotion he had buried deep in his mind a little after television had become his raison d’être. Five superhot chicks, jiggling and jiving. And they called themselves the Spice Girls. That day, Louie did not change the channel, hoping to catch them again. He was not alone. The world was hooked already.

When Spice Girls first released their single Wannabe, no one thought it will be a phenomenon that will rule the roost in pop music for the better half of the 90s. The timing could never have been more perfect. The pretty lads of Take That were on their way out, Boyzone were still a set of boys who desperately needed to be men. Loaded with oomph, Spice Girls stormed the charts with great bravado, and not to mention, the incredulously addictive, even if completely nonsensical, zig-a-zig-aah.

To the world, Spice Girls were the dawn of girl power. They brought in a fresh take on feminism, often coquettish, often dismissive, yet a whack-in-your-face answer to the nascent ‘bratz’ culture. Pajama parties were all the rage. Men and boys alike had a reason to cringe in fear of being bashed by the unabashed, all-powerful new age teenage ‘grrl’, out on a rampage, out to have a good time. This was a highly evolved Cyndi Lauper, minus the eccentricity, but with added spunk and derring-do.

Allspice Mix

Spice Girls comprised Geri Halliwell, the ‘sexy Spice’, Melanie Brown, the ‘scary Spice’, Victoria Adams, the ‘posh Spice’, Melanie Chisholm, ‘the sporty Spice’ and Emma Bunton, ‘the baby Spice’. The five girls, who answered a want ad for lively girls to be a part of a musical group, were all active in the fields of modeling, theater, and music. However, they received criticism for being “manufactured”. This only worked in their favour. The five spice mix was an excellent selling point for the band, fuelling fantasies of men who wanted to pick their flavour. Add to that countless gossip and nude pictures of Geri Halliwell, which she had posed for earlier on in her career. Teenage girls all over the world acquired a new attitude. They had a new image to throw in the faces of old timers.

The Conquests

Wannabe was the first debut single by an all-female band to enter the charts at the number one spot in England. Soon after, it was ruling the charts in more than 20 countries all over the world. For the Spice Girls, after their initial troubles to establish themselves as a band, there was no stopping now.

Their second single, Say You’ll be There, enjoyed the same success as Wannabe. By Christmas, Spice, their first album including 2 Become 1, hit the number 1 position on its release. By early 1997, Spice Girls had conquered the US, and were already being compared to the Beatles.

The Spice Crackles

By 1998, and many hits to boot, Spice Girls were heading for a rocky time ahead. Geri Halliwell announced her departure from the band, but never stated the reasons. Rumours were rife about her ongoing clashes with one overbearing member of the band. References to who it was were only relegated to chat room whispers.

Spice Girls sans Ginger still held out on its own; though only for a short period before the members went on to pursue their solo careers. Melanie Brown married the band’s choreographer, Jimmy Gulzar, and soon became a mother. Melanie C released her mildly successful project Northern Star, and then quickly faded away, coming up with minor hits here and there. Geri Halliwell released Schizophonic, which failed to captivate any audiences. Posh Spice Victoria Adams was now Victoria Beckham, perhaps the only member of the band who remained much in news, but not because of her singing.

And so it was. In 2000, Girl Power was finally laid to rest. The girls had grown up. They had moved on, they had married, and they were mothers now. The ex-Spice Girls hinted that they would not be together again in a long time. A phenomenon that started with such fanfare died a rather unsung, quiet death, without even a distant fizzle or the slightest hope of reincarnation.

Get Back, Take That

Cut to the mid-2000s. Band reunions are all a rage. Erstwhile bands, one hit wonders, were all getting together for another innings. In November 2005, Take That, the massively popular boy band of the early 90s who broke up because they could not accommodate Robbie Williams' inflated ego, announced a reunion. Without Robbie Williams of course, who was by now the most successful of the five members. The fans cheered, and the buzz was loud. Everyone was waiting with bated breath. Will the lads be able to work their charm again, what with crow’s feet, and broadened jaw lines?

Take That released their reunion album, Beautiful World, in late 2006, along with the single Patience. The album went five times platinum in the UK, and platinum worldwide. The lads proved to the world they still had staying power, with or without Robbie.

Now the big question on everyone’s mind was, will the girls do it too?

Spice Remix

Oddly enough, the success of the Take That reunion has been closely associated with rumours of a Spice Girls reunion. The girls were quicker to announce these rumours were true. And that all five of them will be back. They have buried the hatchet, got together, and are all set to spice up the world again.

What remains to be seen is will the girls be able to draw the same crowd as before? With their lost girlish charm of yesteryears, will they peg on girl power anymore? Will they be able to outshine the grown up boys again?

The Spice Girls claim this time around, it is not for the money. That is a very clever spice to add. If they do well, it is all good, if they don’t – money wasn’t the motive. Plus, a wonder of wonders, they have software to ‘correct’ their flaws while singing. One wonders how much singing the software will do for the girls. After all, Spice Girls were manufactured. Any manufacturing defects must be corrected. That is honest business policy.

Whatever the Spice Girls do, the world wants the spice back. Yes, and this time, with a little more zing than zig-a-zig-ah!

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