Spice Girls: Good, Actually?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Girls Aloud were shit for cunts.

[Custard]

Were they balls. Loads of brilliant singles

[thecuriousorange]

Girls Aloud had a good Christmas song, which should have been a single, even if it's not on par with those big majestic Spice Girls yuletide ballads.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zLOQM1tW6Ww

[Captain Z]

In the case against their musical nous, they unanimously wanted 'Say You'll Be There' to be the debut single. Management had to step in and force them go with Wannabe, which clearly was the correct choice.

[pigamus]

I thought they were shit at the time. I've recently come to realise that I was dead right.

I'd like to challenge this lazy received opinion but it is in fact correct.

[BJBMK2]

In the case against their musical nous, they unanimously wanted 'Say You'll Be There' to be the debut single. Management had to step in and force them go with Wannabe, which clearly was the correct choice.

Tis' the other way around, wasen't it?

After signing the group, Virgin Records launched a major campaign for their debut song to promote them as the new high-profile act.[25] There was a period of indecision about what song would be released as the first single; the label wanted to get everything right for the campaign, because the all-girl group format was untested.[26] The group, led by Brown and Halliwell, was adamant that the debut song should be "Wannabe", they felt it served as an introduction to their personalities and the Girl Power statement. Virgin's executives believed that the first single should either be "Say You'll Be There", which they considered a much "cooler" track,[26] or "Love Thing".[18] At the beginning of 1996 the impasse between the group and their record label about the release of the single was temporarily solved.[26][27] In March, Fuller announced that he agreed with Virgin in that "Wannabe" should not be the first single. The label wanted a song that appealed to the mainstream market, and nothing considered too radical. Halliwell was shocked and furious; she told Fuller, "It's not negotiable as far as we're concerned. 'Wannabe' is our first single." Fuller and the executives at Virgin relented, and the song was chosen as their first single.[37]

[Captain Z]

Oh, so it was. Not sure where I'd got my version from. Sorry, girls.

[Sebastian Cobb]

What the fuck were they on about when they said the 'all-girl group format was untested'?

[popcorn]

They were fucking hell on earth and all the poptimists can fuck off. All the awful keyboard settings, christ. The music equivalent of half a bottle of warm flat Tango left in a car.

It was only after I grew up and looked at the Spice Girls within the bigger context of pop music that I was amazed at how unimpressive their singing and dancing was. I mean it wasn't like Michael Jackson hadn't been invented yet.

The received wisdom is that Mel C was "the one who could sing" but she's so shrill she's the one I find the most objectionable.

[chveik]

nah thanks, I'd rather stick to the girl groups of the sixties

poptimism & rockism are the two sides of the same stupid coin

[Pearly-Dewdrops Drops]

Even as a fan of manufactured girl group pop, I don't think they hold up all that well. I like a couple of the hits but possibly only due to the intense late 90s nostalgia.

Little Mix is actually the best girl group of the last few decades.

[Brundle-Fly]

It was only after I grew up and looked at the Spice Girls within the bigger context of pop music that I was amazed at how unimpressive their singing and dancing was. I mean it wasn't like Michael Jackson hadn't been invented yet.

Don't ever check out Bananarama then, miserychops. That's half the charm of certain pop acts.

[lankyguy95]

Little Mix is actually the best girl group of the last few decades.

I don't know much about Little Mix but Shout Out To My Ex is a banger.

[Catalogue Trousers]

I'm very partial to the song she did with Bryan Adams.

"Even food don't taste so good
Drink ain't doin' what it should"???...

GEDOUDDAHERE

[lankyguy95]

Tune though.

[Gulftastic]

Little Mix is actually the best girl group of the last few decades.

Especially for an act put together on The X Factor,. The winners, them aside, have no record of longevity

[sutin]

Could anyone name a song by Girl Aloud? I don't even really know who they are. Spice Girls are shit but they had some impact on the culture.

[sutin]

Little Mix i've never even heard of.

[the science eel]

They were fucking hell on earth and all the poptimists can fuck off. All the awful keyboard settings, christ. The music equivalent of half a bottle of warm flat Tango left in a car.

It was only after I grew up and looked at the Spice Girls within the bigger context of pop music that I was amazed at how unimpressive their singing and dancing was. I mean it wasn't like Michael Jackson hadn't been invented yet.

The received wisdom is that Mel C was "the one who could sing" but she's so shrill she's the one I find the most objectionable.

See - I read something like that and I'm nodding and thinking 'right on', but then I hear 'Wannabe' and I think 'fucking hell this is great!'

Sooo...both things, really. They weren't very good but now and again they were very good. And I don't see a contradiction there.

[the science eel]

Could anyone name a song by Girl Aloud? I don't even really know who they are.

Sound of the Underground, something like that. It sampled Gang of Four* so some middle-aged 'rock fellas' went wild over it


*_probably

[idunnosomename]

remember B*Witched though? so much denim.

[Gulftastic]

remember B*Witched though? so much denim.

I fancied the blond, who was clearly a little bit older than the other three.

The description of them as being an Irish kit pub in girlband form was bang on.

Saying that, I do like 'Blame It On The Weatherman'

[Utter Shit]

It was only after I grew up and looked at the Spice Girls within the bigger context of pop music that I was amazed at how unimpressive their singing and dancing was.

That sort of misses the point though, doesn't it? I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone claim that they were talented singers (at least none of them other than Mel C) or dancers. They brought their personalities to the group and did so really well, and the producers made excellent pop songs for them to sell.

[popcorn]

That sort of misses the point though, doesn't it? I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone claim that they were talented singers (at least none of them other than Mel C) or dancers. They brought their personalities to the group and did so really well, and the producers made excellent pop songs for them to sell.

No I don't think it does miss the point. They were a song-and-dance group that were utterly shite at singing and dancing and I feel happy assessing them on those terms. Clearly they became popular for other reasons but god help me they are not reasons I can appreciate.

(note: I realise other people have different opinions and the Spice Girls are Not For Me. They're for twats)

[popcorn]

Also, I never fancied any of them!! until years later I saw a terrific babe on X Factor (I think?) and I was like "hellooo, who the fuck is that?" and it was Mel B. So, Mel, if you're out there, I hope my words haven't stung too much, otherwise.

[popcorn]

All right just went for a long nighttime walk and gave the girls an audit.

Better than I remembered. I still think the singing is distractingly weak, sometimes embarrassingly so, but the compositions of the songs themselves are effective and impressively varied. They do have more energy and personality than I gave them credit for, and they make good use of the five different voices.

It's interesting to compare them to J-pop, where it's common to have dozens girls dressed in uniforms singing in unison, a sort of wall of kawaii sound. Whereas they pushed the Spice Girls' different personalities so hard both in the marketing and the songs themselves.

[idunnosomename]

Distinctly remember having a wank over Geri Halliwell after seeing the Union Jack dress on Newsround.

28

[Jockice]

Distinctly remember having a wank over Geri Halliwell after seeing the Union Jack dress on Newsround.

28

i think she was a lot older than that.

[purlieu]

Could anyone name a song by Girl Aloud? I don't even really know who they are. Spice Girls are shit but they had some impact on the culture.

Sound of the Underground, Jump, The Promise, No Good Advice, Love Machine, Something Kinda Ooooh, all massive singles.

[kalowski]

Could anyone name a song by Girl Aloud? I don't even really know who they are. Spice Girls are shit but they had some impact on the culture.

Biology. Bloody marvelous plus mega sexy video.