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> Could The Spice Girls Have Continued After Forever?
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Spice: Forever
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Anita Hanjaab
post Feb 3 2018, 10:39 PM
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As we all know, the Spices SPLIT in 2000, with their split announced by The Sun, as they did not dare announce it officially. I think that was actually quite bad on us fans, seeing it on newspapers on the way to school, but anyway.

They had released Forever, which got to no.2, an rnb/ pop album, and had a Double-A-Side No.1 with Hollier/ Let Love Lead The Hollier, and a cancelled single release for Christmas of, If You Want To (Have Some Fun)/Hollier.



The question is: could they have been salvaged? Was there a way for the band to go forward?


I was always really disappointed with their split, and the fact they only left us with two listenable albums, but I've been thinking recently: it was absolutely the right thing to do. Forever is among the WORST pop albums I've ever heard, up there (or down there?) with Witness. It was SMASHED by Westshite. Even though their album was also awful, it had accessible pop hits. Forever is in NO way accessible. Look at the old 2000 reviews left on Amazon - they SLATE it, saying they are 'done', that the album 'has finished them', no way back, etc. I agree. Their double-A-Side was EXCELLENT, but no bigger than the no.1s around it - Black Coffee, Shite Life the week after, all one week no.1s that flew down the charts in 7 weeks. They were lucky not to go against Shitelife, or they would have lost their lead single no.1 run for sure. And this was a Double-A-Side - two songs!! The press was also against them, and people were being divided into Westshite or Spice Girls fans. Their sales had fallen so low that Westshite were now RIVALS to a band that was supposed to be on another level.

Their next single was cancelled, as it was awful. It doesn't bear thinking about where it would have got on the charts. They had NO other single to release. The album was done. They COULD have come back with another album, but with what style of music? If rnb, it would have been inaccessible and clunky, just like Forever, and if pop it would have been seen as a regression. And how long would they wait - 2001, 2002? They all had solo careers at the same time, and their solo songs were ALL MUCH bigger than the last Spice era, with their eras longer, more successful, and with more control over their own music, i.e not collaborative. If they had waited until 2002, they would have been seen even more as 90s relics, as that's kinda what they felt like in 2000. It was super uncool to like them at that point as well. If they had waited until 2002, almost inevitable, given that they would need to change their entire sound AGAIN after Forever's reception and because they were all focused on successful solo careers, they would have been against Westlife, DANIEL BEDINGFIELD, SUGABABES and GIRLS ALOUD, which all feel like they come from a very different era. When Girls Aloud and Sugababes got big, it basically ended any chance of them coming off the hiatus. That's not even to mention Atomic Kitten and Will Young. The hiatus would probably have ended with only THREE of them - minus Mel C, who was past caring. Imagine making a stellar album like Northern Star, alone, at the same time as making a sub-par one like Forever? After making such a bad album as a GROUP, why would she want to try again when she had her own career now?

I also don't think they could have risked it. The press was already all over them, and the music of Forever was SO BAD that it might have led to ANOTHER sales collapse. Then, they might have missed even getting to no.1 with any single. From being a band compared to the Beatles to one beaten by Westlife, they couldn't really risk tarnishing their legacy with really bad sales.

But what do you think? Could they have pulled it off?
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spiceboy
post Feb 3 2018, 11:05 PM
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First of all 'Shitelife' is incredibly offensive and immature. Second they were beaten by one of the biggest British bands of all time not just your average Joe. I'm no Westlife fan but I can admit they sold millions in the UK and had 14 #1 singles and 7 #1 albums.

Second I believe by all means they could have continued after Forever, and actually turned Forever into a fairly successful era had they wanted to. While they were obviously no-where near the level of their peak they still sold 300,000 copies of Forever with just one single release and only one major stage performance. Had they continued with the campaign and released further singles they would easily have been hits and helped to keep the album selling. Forever would never have achieved the same sales as Spice and Spiceworld but could have gone on to be a double platinum album if not more had they just been bothered to keep promoting it. I highly doubt they would have kept their run of top 2 singles though...
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-Jay-
post Feb 4 2018, 12:18 AM
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I find it hard to conclusively answer this, so I've voted "maybe".

I think if all the girls had been happy in themselves / were still getting on well with each other / felt passionate about the album and were accepting of the fact that they wouldn't replicate the huge success of their two previous albums - then yes, they could have continued. I think they could have easily released another two singles, though perhaps they'd have become their first singles to miss the Top 2 in the UK (who knows). The group never allowed themselves to go far enough to experience lower charting singles and remove the pressure of the constant expectation of #1. I'm sure there'd have still been a demand to see them on tour if they'd announced one, probably with a main focus on the UK & the odd few dates in other European countries.

The thing is, all was not well with them... Melanie C was clearly over it before the single/album were even released. There was a definite friction between the girls (mostly based on hearsay i.e. the Forever album launch party), and obviously all of them had caught "the solo bug" and wanted to focus on that. It really seems that once the album was released, they felt they'd done what they were obligated to do, and wanted to move on. As a group, they evidently weren't motivated to see this album era through. I really think their demise was purely their own doing, and little to do with the quality of the music or the commercial potential of that music.
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Anita Hanjaab
post Feb 4 2018, 12:27 AM
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What was that hearsay?

All I saw was what was reported in the papers, about how Mel C had a 'foul-mouthed meltdown' about that awful band and how they only sang covers? I think that shows they were frustrated that they no longer had huge success, and more than that were at #2. Their album FLEW down the chart the weeks after, with most of the sales coming from first-week buys. I think that shows, especially with the best two songs already released, with two songs already out there to judge the album (3 with 'Goodbye'), that the public wasn't here for the material. It was weak. I guess they didn't believe in it, and saw that they had released three songs fro the album already, and so left it for their solo projects.

NME reported that they thought it was an unfair fight, as Westlife were promoting a lot and the Spice Girls weren't, and had taken a risk for their sound anyway,

http://www.nme.com/news/music/westlife-56-1396974
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schizo_spice
post Feb 4 2018, 02:45 AM
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I'm glad Tell Me Why was never a single.
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Anita Hanjaab
post Feb 4 2018, 06:53 AM
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It would have EASILY been their worst single ever, B sides included.

There was a rumour they were going to release ANOTHER double A-side, as the material was weak, with Right Back At Ya, with it available in both pop and rnb versions for extra sales, with If You Wanna (Have Some Fun).
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-Jay-
post Feb 4 2018, 07:33 AM
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^ A rumour that only started 40 minutes ago? angel.gif

Tell Me Why was planned to be the next single; a radio edit & club remixes were commissioned (released via promos in December 2000). Ultimately the Spice Girls decided to part ways before it went as far as being an officially confirmed single.

Virgin may have had If You Wanna Have Some Fun in mind to be a single too; a radio edit & promotional video were created.

Right Back At Ya wasn't in the running to be a single. The original pop version is a scrapped demo, there were never plans for that to be released as part of a single.

By the way, The Sun ran an article in the middle of January 2001 about the girls having abandoned the Forever album, which included a quote from Emma about the album promotion having come to "a natural end" and that there'd be no more singles ( http://tmuchspces.tripod.com - lol at this old fan page and the angry opening message!). I assume Virgin wouldn't have gone to the trouble of creating remixes and promos if they'd known that the Spice Girls were going to cease all activity. So I'm guessing that the Spice Girls' decision to part company happened sometime between Virgin beginning to get the ball rolling with Tell Me Why, and Christmas.
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sammy01
post Feb 4 2018, 07:57 AM
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I'd have been happy with Tell me why and If you wanna have some fun being released. An xmas in Spice World 10 date UK tour and that be the end of the girls till 2007.

2 more singles and a tour to go out on with Forever tracks being sung live would have been great.
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vibe
post Feb 4 2018, 11:22 AM
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No they couldn’t

Melanie C - didn’t want to be a spice girl anymore !!
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Lukuzz
post Feb 4 2018, 11:42 AM
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Forever is nowhere near as bad as you are making it out to be. Personally I LOVE the album and there are songs on there that grow on me every year. Tell Me Why and IFWHSF could have been hits imo. There are other really good ones on there too such as Get Down With Me, Wasting My Time. And I’ve grew to really love Time Goes By (which imo is there best ever song vocals wise).

It didn’t do as well as Geri left and she was really a driving force in the band, also taking a slightly different direction away from the pop music and being more mature sounding didn’t help. I think it could have been a lot bigger if they weren’t all concentrating on their solo careers. Mel C wasn’t invested in it anymore and they just didn’t have the passion they had with the first two albums.

Anyway I still love and play the album, very underrated imo.
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Blond 2.0
post Feb 4 2018, 02:15 PM
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After holler they were already bored from it all LOL
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McAndrew
post Feb 4 2018, 03:23 PM
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QUOTE(Lukuzz @ Feb 4 2018, 11:42 AM) *
There are other really good ones on there too such as Get Down With Me, Wasting My Time. And I’ve grew to really love Time Goes By (which imo is there best ever song vocals wise).


I agree with this so much!!! Except that 'Get Down With Me' and 'Wasting My Time' are basically the same song (but I blame Darkchild).

'Get Down With Me' and 'Time Goes By' would've been amazing singles, imo.

All that said, Melanie C was not into it. So...


This post has been edited by Michael Andrew: Feb 4 2018, 05:19 PM
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Lukuzz
post Feb 4 2018, 03:25 PM
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QUOTE(Michael Andrew @ Feb 4 2018, 03:23 PM) *
I agree with this so much!!! Except that 'Get Down With Me' and 'Wasting My Time' are basically the same song (but I blame Darkchild).

'Get Down With Me' and 'Time Goes By' would've been amazing singles, imo.


Yeah they are pretty similar and agreed Get Down With Me is the superior one.
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Anita Hanjaab
post Feb 4 2018, 05:04 PM
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QUOTE(Blond 2.0 @ Feb 4 2018, 02:15 PM) *
After holler they were already bored from it all LOL


They were all complaining about spending two days making the video, and preferring the budget LLLTW video, as it was quicker laugh.gif

Actually, relistening IYWTHSF has aged pretty well, pretty funky, but that type of song was not popular back then.
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spiceboy
post Feb 4 2018, 05:24 PM
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So here for the Get down with me love wub.gif wub.gif wub.gif After the singles it’s easily my fave track on there could have seen that being abother top 2 hit for them. I’m kinda glad tell me why didn’t happen as I’m not the biggest fan of that one. IYWHSF could have worked with a bit of a remix to the chorus so it was a bit more dynamic.
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Anita Hanjaab
post Feb 4 2018, 06:12 PM
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QUOTE(Jay ☆ @ Feb 4 2018, 07:33 AM) *
^ A rumour that only started 40 minutes ago? angel.gif

Tell Me Why was planned to be the next single; a radio edit & club remixes were commissioned (released via promos in December 2000). Ultimately the Spice Girls decided to part ways before it went as far as being an officially confirmed single.

Virgin may have had If You Wanna Have Some Fun in mind to be a single too; a radio edit & promotional video were created.

Right Back At Ya wasn't in the running to be a single. The original pop version is a scrapped demo, there were never plans for that to be released as part of a single.

By the way, The Sun ran an article in the middle of January 2001 about the girls having abandoned the Forever album, which included a quote from Emma about the album promotion having come to "a natural end" and that there'd be no more singles ( http://tmuchspces.tripod.com - lol at this old fan page and the angry opening message!). I assume Virgin wouldn't have gone to the trouble of creating remixes and promos if they'd known that the Spice Girls were going to cease all activity. So I'm guessing that the Spice Girls' decision to part company happened sometime between Virgin beginning to get the ball rolling with Tell Me Why, and Christmas.


Bitch, don't come for me like an ant to a crumb!!

Nno, the rumour is aross the Forever videos on Youtube
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-Jay-
post Feb 4 2018, 07:26 PM
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If so, they are false! angel.gif


Wasting My Time was my favourite non-single when the album was new, a bit of an “out there” choice seeing as a lot of fans dislike it! Get Down With Me really grew on me over the years. I liked IYWHSF more back in the day than I do now (it drags on a bit), but the radio edit of it is good!
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Anita Hanjaab
post Feb 4 2018, 07:32 PM
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Oh, I would NEVER listen to the 5 minute version!! laugh.gif
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-Jay-
post Feb 4 2018, 07:36 PM
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Are you having funnnnnnn, are you having funnnnnnnnn? x infinity

kink.gif
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McAndrew
post Feb 4 2018, 07:39 PM
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QUOTE(Spiceboy @ Feb 4 2018, 05:24 PM) *
IYWHSF could have worked with a bit of a remix to the chorus so it was a bit more dynamic.


Definitely agree with the need of a remix of IYWHSF. I'm glad the album version didn't get used as a single.

I have no musical knowledge or ability whatsoever, but I sped it up a tiny bit on Audacity and it's a much better listen. laugh.gif

'Get Down With Me' however was single material as it was.


This post has been edited by Michael Andrew: Feb 4 2018, 08:07 PM
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