My Spice Girls Top 10 Countdown

The Spice Girls reign in America was short lived but impactful. The Spice Girls set off the teen pop movement that lead to The Backstreet Boys, N’Sync, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and eventually Total Request Live. If Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit killed the 80s and ushered in the era of Grunge and Alternative rock in 1992, then the Spice Girls Wannabe is the song that did the exact opposite, killing Grunge off ushering in pop. Even alternative rock radio would start to get poppier after The Spice Girls with acts like Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray and Fastball dominating the format for the last few years of the 90s. Really there were three 90s. The first 2 years of 80s hang over, the middle 5 years where Grunge and Gangsta Rap ruled and the final 3 years of teen pop and the birth of TRL which bled into the 2000s and was never really killed off in all honesty. The Spice Girls role was important but unlike Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake they disappeared from American airwaves by 1999. Now over in the U.K. it’s a different story where they were superstars for their entire run and all had varying degrees of solo success.

Still for the generation of kids who grew up with the Spice Girls, especially girls and gays, it was a moment we never forgot. I know for me The Spice Girls were my gateway drug into music addiction and while my love for music runs deeper than a lot of people, The Spice Girls did get a lot of kids into music after years of alternative rock not speaking to those under 14. So when it came to putting this list together it honestly wasn’t too hard. The first 2 albums are pretty much where their legacy lies. The 3rd album Forever from 2000 has its moments such as Goodbye, which was released as a single 2 years prior in 98 right after Geri left the group and was their last major U.S. hit. I also have a fondness for If You Wanna Have Some Fun because it sounds like Janet Jackson and that’s not a coincidence since it’s written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Still it’s the first 2 albums that really matter and that’s where my focus will be. Most of the singles are here but they had some deep cuts that I loved at the time and I still love now. While I got into other music many of the CDs I bought in the late 90s were just for the singles. The Spice Girls I loved so much that I listened to their albums front to back over and over again. They were the only group I did that with for a while. It wouldn’t be until I really got into Madonna that I started listening to albums front to back and not just for the “hits.”

So without Further ado here is my top 10 which as always is just my opinion and not a definitive ranking.

10. If U Can’t Dance

The closing track off their debut has a memorable bass line and that’s because that bass line is lifted from Digital Undergrounds’s early ‘90s hit The Humpty Dance. Of course I didn’t know that back in 1997 I just thought it was a great dance track with a very thick bassline that stood out. The horns were a nice touch too. Geri also raps in Spanish and it’s pretty impressive!

9. Too Much

The first 2 Spice Girls album are sequenced almost the exact same with 10 tracks total. They both start with the big gimmicky single that’s then followed by the better dance single as track 2 and then the big ballad single was track 3. This one was also released to coincide with their film Spice World, which is why the music video features clips from the film as well as the girls portraying different female characters from iconic films. This was the biggest single off Spice World in America and like most of their ballads it has a very lush arrangement which is quite pleasing. Sporty Spice, who was the strongest vocalist in the group, has the best and most memorable line in the whole song “I want a man not a boy who thinks he can.”

8. Wannabe

Of course this would be # 1 for most lists and it did go # 1 all around the world. It’s the song most people remember first especially for it’s nonsense lyrics “ziga zig AH!” I do like Wannabe and it does bring me back to 1997, but I also find it a bit gimmicky in places. It’s fun but sometimes I have to be in the right mood for it. Still I love the message, which is that these girls are not only close but they will not give themselves over to a man unless he can accept them and their friendship. I wouldn’t call the Spice Girls feminists per se, but their message of girl power actually was a positive one in my opinion. They liked men but they were not going to change for them and I support that!

7. Spice Up Your Life

I remember catching the music video for this randomly. The VJ said Boyz II Men was next but instead this came on. THANKFULLY my VHS tape that I used to tape music videos off MTV was already in the VCR and ready to go and I clicked that record button so fast once I realized this was not Boyz II Men, but the new Spice Girls video off their upcoming album!!! It’s a good thing I did too because I never saw that video again on MTV, but since I had it taped I was able to watch it over and over and over again. This was the Spice Girls at their peak and the video was a nice commentary on just how huge they had become. It’s a fun song overall that I like a tad better than Wannabe. Every time I put this song on and I am around a group of women from my age demographic they always light up, sing along and want to dance. Spice Up Your Life was the exact moment The Spice Girls were at their fever pitch and it has a huge nostalgic pull as a result. This song is the soundtrack to childhood and early adolescents for a generation of girls and gays, which is why is always gets the party started for those who grew up with it.

6. Do It

I’ve always really liked this deep cut. I think the piano is a nice touch, Sporty sounds great as always but so does Baby Spice. Baby Spice is the group’s secret weapon in my opinion. Yes Sporty has the strongest voice, which is why she usually sings the bridge or the big finale on many of their songs, but Baby Spice’s voice is the sweetest and most melodic. Her voice is the one that harmonizes best, which is why when you hear them all singing together it’s Baby’s vocals that you are hearing the most. It’s why when I was playing solo music from Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) years later and my Dad heard it he knew immediately that this was a Spice Girl, because it’s her voice holding the group’s harmonies together especially on a song like Do It. It’s Baby Spice’s vocals that really sweeten the chorus and main hook of this song. This one is all about Baby and Sporty who were the 2 best singers in the group, which is probably why I like it so much.

5. Never Give Up On the Good Times

As a young kid I wasn’t to drawn to older music yet, but I was drawn to disco. I liked the sound, the feel and presentation and would say so to adults who would scoff at me that Disco was lame. Again looking back more evidence that I was gay and that those around me were definitely not. So when the Spice Girls did a straight up disco song with Never Give Up On the Good Times I was ALL OVER IT! I got Spice World for Christmas and besides Spice Up Your Life I had not heard anything else yet because this is when only 1 song was released before the album proper. As soon as I heard Never Give Up On the Good Times I knew I had a new favorite bop! That Christmas I also got my first CD Player/Tape Deck boombox and I started making mix tapes. Never Give Up on the Good Times ended up on a lot of mix tapes. If I were to hear this song come on randomly at a bar or club with no forewarning I would go ape shit! That flute solo btw RULES!

4. Who Do You Think You Are

Speaking of disco this song had a disco influence as well, just not as strong as Never Give Up On the Times. It was a # 1 hit in the U.K. but never released as a single here in America, but you would never know that if you were to play it for anyone in my generation because we all know it from playing Spice over and over again. Again Sporty Spice is all over this one and the production is pitch perfect. They way this song builds and layers different harmonies and production is hard to resist. This is the Spice Girls doing what they did best, which was giving you pure unfiltered dance pop who’s sole purpose was to get you singing and dancing along which in 1997 was such a breathe of fresh air coming off the Grunge and Gangsta Rap years. The Spice Girls made music that was unapologetically pop and that’s still my favorite kind of pop music. If you are gonna do pop music then go all the way, which is what the Spice Girls did.

3. 2 Become 1

The Spice Girls ballad about safe sex! Of course I didn’t realize that at the time. It would take a few years before I put 2 and 2 together. What I remember is that by the time this came out I had the album on tape, I had played it to death and I was now watching MTV and listening to radio on a regular basis. So I remember clearly hearing this song all the time and seeing the music video on MTV throughout the whole summer of 1997. As mentioned in Too Much the group’s ballads were really quite lush and alluring due to their production. Spice Girls had some of the best pop production of the decade and in all honestly I still think their first 2 albums are the best teen pop albums of 97-01.

2. Stop

I liked Stop at the time but I didn’t love it. I came to love it more and more as I got older. If Never Give Up On the Good Times it their late 70s disco homage then Stop is the homage to mid ’60s Motown and like all the great Motown songs it feels timeless. This song would sound just as good now as it did in 1997. Like a fine wine this one gets better with age.

1. Say You’ll Be There

As I mentioned in my previous post this is the song that hooked me on the Spice Girls and there was no doubt that this was going to be # 1. This is hands down their best song, always has been and always will be. I remember listening to this on tape, the middle school parties with this song, the college dance parties I threw in my apartment dancing to this song, to my own wedding where there is video out there of me dramatically singing this song to the camera. Maybe someday that video will resurface on this blog. There’s not much to say other than I think it’s a perfect pop song with some banging harmonica. This is pop music done right!