Emma's first solo album in 12 years 'My Happy Place' is out on 12th April. The first single 'Baby Please Don't Stop' will have it's world exclusive first play on Zoe Ball's breakfast show on BBC Radio 2 this coming Wednesday.
The album includes collaborations with Will Young, Robbie Williams, Josh Kumra and her Damage hubby Jade Jones:
*ground shaking*
I just pre-ordered
Deluxe CD + 2 Cassette +signed photo bundle,
Deluxe CD + Cassette(Pink!) + signed photo bundle,
Standard CD,
and of course iTunes. total 7 copies from me.
take my money EMMMMMAA!!!!
about track list,
2 new original songs ('Baby Please Don't Stop, plus 'Too Many Teardrops',), and rest are covers..?
Deluxe cd has same amount of tracks as standard album, weird. Will definitely pre order in some format not sure which yet though. Shame it's mainly covers but to have anything new at all is great.
Just pre-ordered the bundle (Deluxe CD, Pink Cassette, Blue Cassette & Signed Photo)
I hope the deluxe version does have some more tracks on it.
where is the Rochelle humes duet?
2 Become 1 (feat. Robbie Williams) EW.
It looks like a very ambitious well put together campaign just a pity it's eight covers on a ten track album. That's very disappointing.
The Will Young track will do me.
I'm in two minds over what to order. I'd like the deluxe album. My inner collector is screaming for the cassettes and standard CD too though! I am supposed to be selling off my collection not adding it it
Hmmmmmm.
I just pre-ordered: Deluxe CD, 2 Cassette, signed photo & Standard CD.
I would have preferred to have the signed CD to the signed photo.
I hope she will be signing copies of her new album in HMV stores in april.
I hope a cd single with b-sides (like Melanie C)
I can see why there are so many covers she is taking advantage of the reunion buzz, it is not like she has had time to complete a full new album campaign.
I'm thinking just standard CD for me. The deluxe is just extra packaging and I cant play cassettes. The lack of vinyl release is annoying.
The album is exactly what I expected covers for the Asda mums with Robbie and Will roped in to help convince 50 year old mums to buy it. I get why she has done it and the label probably insisted on it.
The 2 new songs sound like a bone thrown to the spice fans and gays.
I actually expect this to be very successful, we will be very close to the spice tour by then so people will be hyped. I wonder with the right promo and a slow week if she could bag the first solo spice top 3 album.
1 - Baby Please Don't Stop (New song) 3:00
2 - I Wish I Could Have Loved You More (Candie Payne cover) 3:23
3 - Too Many Teardrops (New song) 3:01
4 - I Only Want To Be With You (feat. Will Young) (Dusty Springfield cover) 3:58
5 - Don't Call Me Baby (Voice of the Beehive cover? Geri Halliwell cover? Kreesha Turner cover? Madison Avenue cover?) 4:05
6 - You're All I Need To Get By (feat. Jade Jones) (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell cover) 2:48
7 - Come Away With Me (feat. Josh Kumra) (Norah Jones cover) 2:49
8 – Emotions (Mariah Carey cover? Destiny Child cover? Brenda Lee cover? Twista cover? Jennifer Lopez cover? Helen Reddy cover? Samantha Sang cover?) 3:39
9 - 2 Become 1 (feat. Robbie Williams) (Spice Girls cover) 3:42
10 – Here Comes The Sun (Beatles cover) 3:08
I am not fully happy for a cover album but at the end of the day I am happy for new Emma music.
The record company did a good job with the physical bundle. The cost is ok not expensive.
At the moment the album is #2 on Itunes Uk pre-order.
I think it will do incredibly well, the 25 bundle is the internet gays dream, its camp as Christmas. The regular CD will sit nicely on Sainsburys shelf and the pink will stand out.
Streaming might actually be better than expected too if Robbir and Will fans stream out of interest as well as casual Spice fans.
Provided she has good promo first work, loose women, the one show, heart breakfast, radio 2, This Morning I'm sure this will have a great first week peak.
She and the record label have done a decent job off pleasing everyone in some way.
The cover is simple and cute but I wanted more tracks and less covers Emma but anyway I'm happy that at least she's releasing something
10 tracks is perfect in terms of a quick 35 to 40 minute play on streaming services.
BMG know what they are doing they got Rick Astley a big number 1 album and Gabrielle back in the top 10.
Breaking News on Facebook about you know what!
I borrowed Jodie Whittaker's TARDIS and had a sticky beak (To pry, have an inquisitive look.)
Emma Bunton has announced her first album in over 12 years.
My Happy Place is Emma's first release since signing to BMG and will be available on April 12. Emma last released an album way back in December 2006 with Life in Mono.
Baby Spice's fourth studio album features eight covers of some of Emma's favourite songs, with two new songs on the tracklist titled Too Many Teardrops and Baby Please Don't Stop, the latter which will be released as the album's lead single this Wednesday (February 27).
Emma will team up with Robbie Williams on a new version of Spice Girls classic 2 Become 1, while Will Young joins Emma for a cover of Dusty Spingfield's I Only Want To Be With You. Emma has also duetted with her husband - Damage's Jade Jones - on You're All I Need To Get By, made famous by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
“The reason I called the album ‘My Happy Place’ is because my happy place is with my family, with my friends, listening to music and being in the studio," explained Emma. "All those things came together on this album.
"As you get older you feel more confident because actually your priorities change, and my family have become my focus, but this album is like the icing on the cake. Being able to write, record and perform is definitely that extra sprinkle of magic."
There's no digital format to pre order.
I think I’d have preferred the album cover without the colour splotches, and I’m disappointed that there’s no vinyl!
The track list doesn’t excite me hugely with the 8 covers, but I’ll obviously reserve judgement until hearing them. Hyped to hear the two new songs though!
I’ve preordered the Deluxe CD / 2 cassettes / signed photo
Also I love they haven’t rinsed the fans with the prices - £25 for the deluxe CD, 2 cassettes and a signed picture is amazing and I’ve seen LOADS of posts from people showing screen shots that they’ve bought it. Good promo, album signings, SG hype and a strong lead single could have Emma challenging for the top spot tbh.
I do however think Emma has by far the best chance at the highest charting / biggest selling album out of the 5 girls now!
For someone who has a pretty great songwriting history...I really...really...wish there was more original music here after a 12-year-gap from her last solo album. I already didn't think Life in Mono had enough Emma-penned originals. So. Hm.
Also. Not in love with Robbie getting to record a Spice Girls song. A one-off performance was one thing...buuut...
This is the guy who called Geri a demonic little girl and publicly made fun of what Mel C was like in bed. Isn't Goin Down about him? He also said he was going to shag Victoria...years after she was already married. I get that they may have long forgiven all of this. But. He's kinda had a history of being a douche to members not named Emma Bunton.
Anyway. All I can say is this. Really looking forward to the two Emma originals. Hope she knocks it out of the park. This beats nothing.
It looks like no digital format of her album (MP3) can be pre ordered.
Why sell cassettes though, considering their obselete?
Where would you find a cassette player now?
Compact Discs are now becoming obselete.
Double post by mistake.
I'm not too surprised if I'm being honest - this was probably thrown together to take advantage of the reunion. I very much doubt she was working hard away on it during those two years they claim she's worked on it.
It might do well though, as has been said this'll appeal to the ASDA mums plus you have teh collector gayz buying all those bundles...
^ I agree with you Tommie this is all about taking a chance because of the reunion. She has not had time to make an album of new material .
I guess the advantage of there only being ten tracks might be that it might have a slight better chance at making some Spotify impact, plus I can see them possibly reissuing with extra tracks in the fall if it doesn't completely bomb out of the charts.
I liked Emma’s first two albums but the last one wasn’t great. This doesn’t really interest me though - I’d prefer something with more original material.
On the Friday night project Melanie said she did sleep with him saying that she was the first . He obviously banged Geri , and I believe maybe of had a threesome with Mel B when she was with Max Beesley? Maybe that’s just my fantasy.
The way you wrote your lost was as if he bad mouthed Mel C’s performance .
what I am is that bop
Robbie only slept with Geri maybe he was jealous of Sporty Spice so he said that
I have just read in Mel Bs book that she had a go at him for saying he slept with 4 of the spice girls. She states clearly that she didn’t .
on the site: stuff.co.nz
Robbie Williams apologises to Mel B after repeatedly saying he slept with all members of the Spice Girls.
Spice Girls star Melanie Brown has received a personal apology from Robbie Williams after the pop star boasted about sleeping with all members of the girl group.
The Angels singer has repeatedly made the joke as part of his concert routine over the years, but the tall tale has never sat well with Mel B, who insists she never slept with Williams.
The two old pals were able to catch up on Sunday, when Williams appeared on X Factor Australia, on which Mel B is a judge, and she reveals he used the opportunity to say sorry.
"He actually publicly apologised to me for all that mess... saying he had apparently gotten it on with all five Spice Girls," Mel shared with Australian radio hosts Kyle and Jackie O.
He wishes!" she laughed, adding, "I was the one he never did."
Revealing why she never got intimate with the former Take That star, she said, "He's a friend of mine... Yuck! He had been with my friends - I don't want sloppy seconds."
Robbie's cheeky behaviour during his pop heyday hit headlines again is recent months as his wife Ayda Field appeared to confirm part of his concert comment is actually true, suggesting he had previously slept with three of the five Wannabe hitmakers - Geri Horner, Emma Bunton, and Melanie Chisholm.
Robbie himself has never named his Spice Girls conquests, but during an appearance on Nova FM's Fitzy and Wippa show in October, he admitted his joke had "got out of hand".
"You know Back For Good, the Take That song? I used to sing that on stage," Robbie explained. "I still do. On one particular tour... I introduced it by saying, 'I am very fortunate to have been in Take That and four out of five of the Spice Girls.'
"That was my intro to the song and it was a joke and the joke went too far."
Issuing an apology to the women and their families, he added, "I would like to apologise to all the Spice Girls involved and their husbands and boyfriends. I know a few husbands and boyfriends weren't too happy with the joke."
can i allow to post this Billboard article instead of Robbie's His Happy Penis?
*oops I can't post link because I didn't post 20 or more *
She gets major label support
Robbie and Max - yes please lol .
Shame Max has been quiet for years now .
Emma's interview with EUPHORIA Magazine:
https://www.euphoriazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Emma-Bunton-2-1400x1812.jpg
After years of waiting, Spice Girls fans are finally getting their wish. For the first time in 21 years, the group that preached “girl power” and created an international pop frenzy is going on tour this summer.
For Emma Bunton, known to Spice Girls fans as “Baby Spice,” the reunion has been a long time in the making. There’s been more than a handful of aggregated news stories alluding to the fact that the London pop group would reunite over the years. But it wasn’t until last year when social media posts of Bunton reuniting with band members Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham, Melanie “Sporty Spice“ Chisholm, Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell and Melanie “Scary Spice” Brown, began circulating from their own accounts that a reunion was beginning to look like a reality. “There’s obviously so much going on and we’re business women so the whole behind the scenes Is happening and the creative stuff is starting to happen – [there’s] nothing like it,” says Bunton.
Finally, last November, the band announced it would be reuniting for a series of European tour dates. “[It was the] right timing,” Bunton says. “We’ve all got children now and it’s just one of those things where it’s perfect timing for us all.”
The only caveat with the tour is that Beckham won’t be joining the group, so the show will go on with four of the original members. “We’ve been so close over the years and I think we’ve known for a while now that was something that wasn’t going to happen,” Bunton says of Beckham not joining the tour. “But we’ve known that really back from the 2012 Olympics [performance]. “She’s gonna be there supporting us and watching the show.”
That being said, the band’s relationship has remained sacred. “There’s always rumors and stories, but at the end of the day, there are a group of girls where no one knows what we’ve been through so there’s a very special bond between us,” Bunton says. Bunton is still very close with Halliwell, she’s even the godmother to her two children. “We speak every day, obviously I see her children all the time,” she says.
When she looks back on her days in the Spice Girls, she does so with no regrets. “You learn by everything and it’s been an incredible journey – more than I could have wished for,” she says. Even when it comes to the crazy rumors that followed the Spice Girls like Bunton having a fling with Justin Timberlake and dating Dennis Rodman. “I think I’ve been really lucky, nothing too outrageous,” she says. “I’ve definitely dated a lot more people than I actually have dated in the press. I think other than that I’ve been pretty lucky.”
Since the Spice Girls went on hiatus Bunton, 43, has been preoccupied. She released three solo albums – A Girl Like Me in 2001, Free Me in 2004 and Life in Mono in 2006 – and even had a recurring role on BBC comedy Absolutely Fabulous from 2003 and 2012. Bunton also judged the celebrity skating show Dancing on Ice and has been a radio presenter on Heart since 2009. She also reunited with the Spice Girls in 2008 and in 2012 for their Olympics performance. And when she’s not doing all that, she’s been raising her two sons, who are 11 and 7.
The Spice Girls reunion tour isn’t the only thing the singer formerly known as “Baby Spice” has to be excited for: For the first time in 13 years, Bunton will release an album. My Happy Place, a combination of eight covers and two original songs, was prompted by one of Bunton’s most important memories. “Twelve years ago I had my first child and he was born to the sound of ‘Here Comes The Sun’ by The Beatles, and it’s just such an emotional song for me and I thought I would love to record that song and go back to the studio where I’m happiest, take the kids with me and let them see what goes on in the studio,” she says. The rest of the album was a natural progression for Bunton, and she began recording and writing again. It’s what’s become My Happy Place.
“It’s called that mainly because I love music, I love being with my family [and] I love being in the studio,” she says. All of those things have come together to help Bunton create her new album. The record, which is due in April, features covers of some of her favorite songs including “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles, “Come Away With Me” by Norah Jones and “Emotions” by The Bee Gees. The record is laced with a blend of retro influences, but pop remains the constant throughout all of the tracks. “I think pop is always the main element of my music, but I think it has a very sixties Motown-y feel,” she says. It makes sense: Bunton was brought up listening to a plethora of Motown.
But she’s still a fan of modern-pop – her kids keep her in the loop. “I’ve always really enjoyed Katy Perry, my kids do, so obviously I listen to whatever they’re listening to, [and] Little Mix, I think they’re really fun. My kids have met Little Mix a few times and they’re adorable. Sam Smith, he’s got an incredible voice. Ariana Grande is another of my kids’ favorites, so I listen to her quite a lot,” she says.
Beside her covers are two original tracks. “‘Baby Please Don’t Stop,’ is about when you have that extreme love for something…the things in your life are so good you don’t want it to stop. The other song [is] called ‘Teardrop,’ which is a little bit sadder but with a strong feel to it,” she says. Fans of Bunton’s work won’t be surprised by her direction, which has a sixties ethos to it. “If you know my voice and how I write and all of that, they actually fit hand-in-hand,” she says. “When you’re an artist, you naturally record however you feel.”
Despite having so much going on, Bunton feels balanced. “ I’m having a wonderful time doing my solo album and going back on tour with the Spice Girls. I like to know where I’m at – I like a bit of routine,” she says. Still, her priority remains her children, who will be at a lot of the Spice Girls’ shows this year. They’re big fans, but she doesn’t think they really understand the magnitude of Spice Girls’ fandom. But she’s trying to prepare them for the fan-craze since they’ll be attending some of the gigs. “I’m hoping we’ll all know the dance routine to ‘Stop’ by the time the shows happen,” Bunton says.
At the moment, Bunton is in the midst of creating the live show with the group, so she remains tight-lipped about what that will look like. “I think the whole creative process is between the four of us, so we’re just enjoying that at the moment,” she says.
While the U.K. tour kicks off in May, the Spice Girls don’t have a plan to tour the U.S. yet. “We’d all love to, but again having the children and being away, it’s tough to make those commitments at the moment, but it’s definitely something we’d love to talk about,” Bunton says.
Words: Ilana Kaplan
Photography: Jack Alexander
Styling: Adele Cany at Stella Creative Artists
Hair/Makeup: Lisa Laudat at Eighteen Management
Assisted by: Ella Carter-Allen
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I love the blue suit look.
I hope there's a section where they are all wearing bright coloured suits. They'd all look amazing.
Great new pics! Nice to know that Emotion is the Bee Gees version, that'll be interesting to hear (I'm far more familiar with Destiny's Child's version).
Not sure how long this will likely remain on YouTube, but this is the full The One Show:
The new photoshoot is perfection
Emma was interviewed by Dan Wootton for his podcast!
You can listen here:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-dan-wootton-interview/id1231619938?mt=2
or
https://open.spotify.com/track/1yTQ39my3MoNROlFw3RDNy?si=YSKpFNPOSyuuYm12tSXKCQ
Too Many Teardrops looks to be released soon and is also 3:00 in length
Emma will be on the Graham Norton Radio Show 10am tomorrow (Saturday 9th) to premiere Too Many Teardrops
The song will also be available to stream and download tomorrow after the premiere
Emma Bunton to sing duet with Jade Jones live on air
They will sing on Dermot O'Leary's Radio 2 show.
Move over fellow Spice Girls – Emma Bunton will sing a duet with her long-term partner Jade Jones live on air.
Bunton, Baby Spice, is releasing a new album, My Happy Place, which features a track with Jones.
And later this month the couple will belt out the song, a cover of You’re All I Need To Get By, on Dermot O’Leary’s Radio 2 show.
t comes after Bunton denied reports that she is set to marry Damage star Jones, the father of her two children.
“It gets speculated on at least twice a year but no! No plans!” she told Metro.
Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Horner and Melanie Brown will be touring in a Spice Girls reunion later this year, although Victoria Beckham is not taking part.
Bunton and Jones will appear on O’Leary’s show on March 23.
https://www.irishnews.com/magazine/entertainment/2019/03/08/news/emma-bunton-to-sing-duet-with-jade-jones-live-on-air-1568439/?fbclid=IwAR2S0zFqqwwVETWMTZIo3OkAIFp8xMYsrmMBoNXZ7jEhklsbepjSYU9tsDU
I honestly forgot she and Jade aren't married.
A new interview in the Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/emma-bunton-spice-girls-bust-ups-reunions-return-girl-power/
She's on the front cover of the paper's magazine supplement Stella:
Thank you for sharing Jay.
A few things on that interview:
"Fuller, with whom Emma had a brief relationship, was sacked by the girls in 1997 for being overly controlling." This is a lie and was debunked many times over by Bunton herself.. a shame it was kept here. The British press really has some issues to sort out when it comes to rumour and lies hey?
"Mel B with the dancers, Mel C with the merchandise… We do make decisions together, which does end up taking a bit longer, but that’s how we do it.’ "
Mel B with the dancers - Great. Mel C with the merchanside - NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO She has terrible taste and you can just tell it's gonna be more shite like the friendship bracelet...
I do LOVE that she says about making decisions as a group even if takes longer.
Of all the Spice Girls, Emma has had one of the longest relationships – and arguably the happiest. She was 22 when she met Jade Jones. ‘He came backstage to see one of our shows. He didn’t say much, but I just saw something in his sweet face that I knew I liked. I said, “We’re going to a party now and you’re coming in my car.” He just smiled at me. That was it. We had one break-up a few years later when we were both travelling non-stop. It was awful, but he was the one who called me to ask me to get back together. I always knew the answer would be yes.’
I love their relationship and how they are still so in love and lust with each other
Lovely interview but it is missing a fundamental part: no talk of her album....
Indeed I wish there would be more focus on her music in interviews, more so than her past & her personal life, but nevertheless it's always nice to read whatever she has to say.
She looks flawless as ever in the photoshoot
Yeah publications like the Telegraph and DailyMail are mainly interested in their personal lives, not their music.
Her chat with other publications was much more interesting, I guess. And her interviews on BBC radios and TV have had a very balanced focus on her music, her album and the Spice Girls. I wish she would do more of those types of interviews...
She just announced there will be a limited pink vinyl release of the album on her own store.
The vinyl and the press pressing are expensive
I really wanted a vinyl but I'm not paying double the price because it is signed when I didn't want signed any way.
£100 for the test pressing!!! How many were available because they are sold out already!! Are they eligible for the charts? I'm so tempted to get a vinyl but £30 is alot of money, not sure I can justify it right now.
50 test pressings I'm sure they will count if purchased from a UK address.
If you have more money than sense Amazon has a signed regular CD for sale now as an exclusive.
So now that is -
Regular cd
Regular cd signed (Amazon)
Deluxe cd
Blue cassette (Online store)
Pink cassette (Online store)
Pink vinyl signed (Online store)
First press vinyl (Online store)
It is a bit of a piss take so many editions, if she doesn't get top 3 then she might as well give up music.
I'm fully expecting a baby blue vinyl once the pink has sold out.
I think top 3 is quite ambitious, I'll be really happy with top 10.
Looking at last weeks chart the top 3 sold:
#1 - 36,679
#2 - 16,684
#3 - 15,015
I really can't see Emma selling over 15,000 copies in one week. I'm expecting something more along the lines of Melanie C's last albums which was 4,084 copies, probably a few thousand more due to her being a bit more high profile and having so many editions available.
Last weeks #10 sold 5,281 copies which should be doable...
If it does chart well I hope Melanie C is watching and releases several different formats on her next album release (whether she would be able to fun it though??)
Last week was a very busy chart, lots of new entries. By April we should be back down to lower numbers.
It depends on new releases I haven't seen who else is out around April release date.
The Chart April 12th 2018 - #10 sold 4005 copies, 11k for #4. The Greatest Showman was a beast this time last year doing 40k+ though week in week out.
Top 5 maybe not top 3 should surely be the aim. You just never know with these releases BMG got a big number 1 album for Rick Astley.
I'd be shocked if she was comfortably top 10.
I would say Emma has a lot more going for her than Mel C, major label backing, multiple formats, much more likable, covers/robbie/will etc, Spice girls reunion hype.
As long as BMG get it stocked in supermarkets I think she will be very successful, the multiple formats are for the collectors but the tracklist is defo aimed at Asda mums.
The vinyl is soooo expensive, but I couldn’t resist it! 🙈 Total charge £35.50; £5.50 of that is the price for Royal Mail 1st class signed for.
I honestly don’t want to sound like I’m complaining, because I realise that no one is being forced to buy these formats - I’ve only bought mine because I want to and I (just about) feel that I can justify the expenditure. Ideally though, I would have been happier with an unsigned black vinyl version that retailed for around £16.99. I’m always a bit “erm...” if a 1 disc vinyl version of an album exceeds £20. Oh well, I’m sure once I receive it I’ll be happy I have it!
As far as chart positions go I’m only hopeful for low Top 10. Anything higher would obviously be incredible, but I don’t really see it happening. Multiple formats being available doesn’t guarantee anything really, particularly when a lot of these orders are going to be from international fans.
The album is doing surprisingly ok on Amazon.co.uk
It currently sits at #3 on Top Sellers CDs & Vinyls and #1 on Hot New Releases
Very pleasing to see it doing so well on Amazon!
Top 3 on Amazon must be a few hundred sales.
That new picture is GORGEOUS!
I think Emma will achieve between 7000 - 8000 sales in the first week.
She has the hardcore SPICE FAN base, and the album will attract middle aged mothers because of the covers and duets.
Its clear that the next single will be the duet between her and Jade.
Hopefully the album can be sold on merchandise stands at the concerts.
In love with this white photoshoot
I prefer these two "white" pictures over the chosen picture for the album cover, haha... but tbh this has been a bit of a recurring theme in her solo career for me, there were plenty of shots I preferred from the A Girl Like Me, Free Me & Life in Mono photoshoots over the front covers!
Emma's been signing copies of My Happy Place CD for Amazon today:
But just think your copy could be bashed by Emma herself 😍
That is a lot of albums to sign, this hopefully is a great sign of lots of pre-orders.
If it could be guaranteed that it was indeed Emma who bashed it rather than Sandra the employee, I'd tolerate it ( )
Imagine that Emma left her fingerprints on the albem and maybe even skin cells
Signed edition of My Happy Place is back up to #5 on Amazon's best sellers list! I think it had dipped to around #13/#14 earlier in the day, so her signing videos actually appear to have helped. Woo!
And now it’s #4 on Amazon!
I think the forthcoming BTS album is likely to outdo Emma (even though their previous ones didn’t do spectacularly), but otherwise I don’t think she has much competition?
All Tvvins - Just To Exit
Anderson .Paak - Ventura
Andy Bell – Torsten In Queerteria
Andy Black - The Ghost of Ohio
Band Of Skulls - Love Is All You Love
Bruce Hornsby - Absolute Zero
BTS - Map Of The Soul: Persona
The Chemical Brothers - No Geography
Damien Jurado - In The Shape Of A Storm
Eli “Paperboy” Reed - 99c Dreams
Emma Bunton - My Happy Place
The Flaming Lips - King's Mouth
Fontaines D.C. - Dogrel
Glen Hansard - This Wild Willing
Jessie Buckley – Wild Rose (OST)
The Leisure Society - Arrivals & Departures
LSD - Labrinth, Sia & Diplo Present... LSD
Norah Jones - Begin Again
Sun Kil Moon - I Also Want To Die In New Orleans
Tom Speight – Collide
Walking On Cars - Colours
NOW 2
NOW 102
~~~
Also it seems like we’ll be hearing You’re All I Need to Get By soon, its run time is now showing on iTunes (2:47).
Funny Snorah Jones is releasing on that date considering Emma is covering her hit.
No idea how she'll do though, but it wouldn't surprise me if she charted well.
BTS are quite the force - and rightly so, their songs are great pop band music.
Norah Jones - dont think she has been much competition for a while now, but then again, neither is Emma The Flaming Lips and The Chemical Brothers might prove a bit of a stumbling block for her though.
And those Now cds are so annoying...
I think the Chemical Brothers are probably also competition.
I overlooked them on the list!
Another funny thing re: Norah Jones is that she released her second album ‘Feels Like Home’ in the same week as Emma’s Free Me album.
Emma will be lucky to chart in the top 10, I predict a similar pattern to Claire Richards album released a few months back...
Emma’s gone to town with her formats in a way that Claire didn’t though; I’d be amazed if Emma only scraped 5,000ish sales (that is generally all that is required to make the Top 10).
Gabrielle (also signed to BMG) managed almost 7,000 sales of her album last year:
6,773 (to reach #7)
4,656 physicals
1,829 downloads
288 streaming
...and she only had a CD and vinyl physical formats!
I think Emma will do better on streaming than Gabrielle too, Robbie and Will Young fans will surely give those songs a spin. The album is short so a quick play through should help streams from casuals.
Gabrielle’s album is so good !!!
I hope for a top 5 but i don't think that will reach the top 10.
Sorry this is the wrong topic
If any of you were thinking about getting the album on vinyl but haven't yet, there's currently only 37 left out of the 1000 limited run, so don't miss out!
I am praying for a Top10 but she needs to be better on the streaming side of things fo rthat to be a possibility and/or for her to mantain any level of initial success. That's what matters in the long run...
I don't know how other than by getting good radio play and her profile raised by going on every single f***ing show out there and start gigging, which wont happen unfortunately.
Due to the amount of album physical versions available I can see this being at top 10 entry with a very large fall just like Claire Richards but maybe not as severe.
Her and Jade are performing on Dermot O'Leary's Radio 2 show next Saturday so I'd say it's likely we'll get 'You're All I Need To Get By' next Friday.
There are only 32 of the signed vinyls left, if you were on the fence it will be sold out by tomorrow evening.
Some of the old unreleased tracks would have fit perfectly on ( My Happy Place )
If you add a high number to the quantity, it throws up the message "Unfortunately, the selected quantity is not available at this time. We have updated your cart accordingly" and puts the amount in your basket that is actually in stock!
Now it's showing as 30 left!
Now just 17 remain!
Hhhmmm I HOPE this wont become a new Free Me vinyl situation where it will go on to sell for over £800 on ebay in the future
I hope not too (because I’d regret not getting a second copy )
I wonder how many copies were made of the Free Me promo vinyl?
The Vinyl has sold out! Took just under 6 days to sell 1000 copies. I'm quite impressed considering that £30 is pretty expensive for a vinyl.
I wonder if there'll be any other variants announced or if that'll be it? Also would love to know how many copies were bought from the UK (because it's only these sales that'll count towards the chart position).
Bugger! I'd just made the decision to buy one too!
Oh well at least that saved me some money. Bet they release a limited blue vinyl now too
Maybe a picture disc vinyl limited?
Blue vinyl & picture disc please!!
This looks like its going to be a successful album for Emma, she deserves it!
Tope 5 for Emma is coming , BTW The behind the scenes of the album photoshoot is amazing I hope we get the pics with the blue hair .
Did someone use that photo you have to make an album cover Jay? It's so much nicer
I made my signature! Not sure if anyone has created a fanmade cover though?
I used the logo from her official website but deleted it after I'd used it unfortunately. Her official website hasn't been loading for days, so I can't download it again
Having said that, here's the logo via her store: https://img.tmstor.es/emmabunton/head_bg.png but doesn't include the "My Happy Place" title.
If she wants top 3 she needs a reasonably priced vinyl. I really want a vinyl it is my main format to buy music these days but I like a lot arent paying 35.50 including P&P.
I'll keep hopefully of a non signed vinyl that I can pop into my local HMV to buy.
According to a big fan of Emma's on DenDen 2.0, My Happy Place may be lined up to be Radio 2's Album of the Week in release week! That'll be great exposure.
Sorry but What “Radio 2's Album of the Week“ is?
It’s a playlist or something?
Queen of Collector's Editions
It is funny because I am so tempted to also buy an unsigned vinyl... I guess that this is what happens when she starved us of any decent music for 13 years!!!
I'm tempted too, but I'll try and make do with the signed version Perhaps I'll wait and see if it's included in a sale in a few months from now~
~
I threw this together, because I really like the picture!
https://i.imgur.com/ob5sbRW.png
My gosh £25 for the vinyl I think that's still quite pricey! Was expecting between £15-20
£25 for the vinyl, but then £30+ when adding in postage, so definitely still pricey even unsigned!
Think BMG has missed a trick by not having it as a blue vinyl hmm.
New interview in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/mar/23/emma-bunton-interview-the-spice-girls-victoria-bathroom
I'm really surprised they haven't made it available ass a blue vinyl. Alot of the fans buying a pink vinyl would also have bought a blue one...
Am I the only one who thinks the interviewer was a bit of a tosser? The stupid coke question, him basically ragging on her here and there through the interview too.
I was 👀 at “Made up of eight covers and two 60s-inspired originals, it’s an album that, like Bunton herself, swings constantly between gloriously naff and endearingly sweet.”
There are only 77 signed CDs left on Amazon if anyone was on the fence it will be sold out tomorrow or Friday at this rate.
Now just 68!
I wonder how many were available in the first place lol
No less than 2,000 and probably nearer 3,000 (an estimate based on one of her signing videos)!
Looking like she can expect a decent opening week then with hopefully more than 5,000 copies... only problem is whether alot of those have been shipped abroad. I've never got that, if they are bought from amazon.co.uk or hmv.co.uk or an official site with a co.uk surely it should be a UK sale as it has been sold with a UK company. If someone took a holiday here and went and bought a CD from a store it would be a uk sale...
It has to be bought within the UK to count as a UK sale, but that doesn’t mean that the sales can only count from UK residents. Someone here for a holiday in the UK is still making the sale in the UK and that’s what matters. If you’re living somewhere else in the world & buying it, then you’ve made your sale from abroad and technically the customer is importing it.
Only 12 signed albums left on Amazon now!
...and sold out!
Good for Emma I just hope the majority of them were UK sales to help with her chart placing!
So we can assume 1000 cds have sold , and 1000 vinyls .
That’s without the bundles and other vinyl.....
I'd say it was defo more than 1k signed CDs, if you look at the video of her signing them I'd be shocked if there was only 1k on that table.
I agree there looked like alot more than 1000 copies there!
I think the signed copies will help ensure a Top 10 album which would be an excellent result for her.
I would estimate 2k-3k signed copies too.
How is everyone feeling about this album by the way?
So far, I am really impressed with the two original tracks - one fun, old school Emma and one excellent new take on her sound - but I have to admit that the covers are stopping me from feeling that much excitement, specially after the release of the Jade duet...
I just hope this giver her the opportunity to do more of her own music in the future but my god an album almost full of covers with one being 2 Become 1 with Robbie is not something that I am particularly gagging for
Hopefully, if this album is successful they'll hurry out an album of original material.
Considering the claim she's worked on this for "two years" I wonder if there's more original material but not enough to put an album together so BMG got her to do a bunch of covers + two of the better new tracks she's recorded.
I’m not overtly enthused for it tbh but I am appreciative of a new album so swings and roundabouts. I love the two original songs which in a way makes me less enthused as I can’t help think how fab a new album would sound, hope she gets an album of original material out next.
Yeah I agree. Mostly happy that it is a new album of course, and we get to appreciate Emma's vocals all over again (and she seems to have really pushed herself this time on her vocals which is just excellent news).
In other news, she just released a clip from https://twitter.com/EmmaBunton/status/1113395032109867010?fbclid=IwAR0S8Pv24Mj5W8kZKFRueQEuKI4WYrhgB2t_6ZwYxw2I9Qk1TTEypdmSx9A on social media.
The clip is good and those vocals are just
I worry that this album seems to be doing well on pre-orders and could possibly be top 5 and BMG will be thinking easy money let's rush out another covers album for xmas or an xmas music covers album.
We shall see but I don't think this being a success (which I'm pretty sure it will be to a certain degree) means an album full of original music next. It is what it is though and if you had told me a solo Spice girls album would be pretty much nailed on to be top 10 I'd have taken it.
I’d be up for a Xmas covers album to be fair lol! I can’t see them ever giving her anything to release during the Christmas market unless they want another #65 charting album.
I could easily see them pushing for a reissue with Christmas covers to be fair...
Emma was interviewed by Chris Evans on Virgin Radio, and hers & Robbie’s version of 2 Become 1 was played!
https://virginradio.co.uk/radio/listen-again/1554442200
(Select the 08:00 - 08:30 section and then listen from 15:20)
Not a patch on the original, just goes to show Spice Girls have more distinctive voices and great harmony, far more so than the public give them credit for.
It’s nice enough as an album track though I guess.
I think it's a nice enough version of 2 Become 1, it was always going to pale in comparison to the original though
More clips shared from the album:
They should release Don't Call Me Baby with some Poppers'O'Clock remixes!!! It's honestly the only track that sounds like it could be a "hit" (whatever that means for Emma at least)...
Honestly, Will and Emma don't sound like the blend well at all.
Yeah I agree Don't call me baby should be a proper single with a video, promoted really tongue in cheek with the nod to Baby Spice, perhaps like a jokey paparazzi video with her pretending to be a big obnoxious star etc.
She really should have pushed Baby please don't stop properly with a big promo circuit, visiting radio stations etc like Melanie C did for Anymore to really push it coupled in with daytime shows such as This Morning, Loose Woman, Lorraine, The One Show (Graham Norton / Jonathan Ross performance would be amazing but unlikely)
YAINTGB could be the gratuity promo track with daytime TV show appearances with Jade, both discussing how long they've been together, the secrets to a happy relationship, why they've never got married (or even better they are getting married lol). Loose Woman and This Morning would lap that up.
Don't call me baby the second single with a proper video something in the vein as above with TV circuit talking about being Baby Spice and the tongue in cheek recording of the song etc.
Too many teardrops as third and final single again with a proper video and another big promo circuit of radio stations to push the original song again.
Some appearances with Robbie / Will performing the duet and having a laugh etc.
^ Would love all of the above to happen
I hope some promotion is occurring in the album's release week, but that's when tour rehearsals begin... not very good planning.
Another new clip!
Don't call me baby sounds so good, it has a chilled Ibiza feel to it. It and Baby please don't stop are the best by some distance so far.
I hate they have filmed a video for You are all I need to get by when don't call me baby is sitting there.
A few people on Popjustice are cancelling their preorders after hearing the preview clips, that’s a bit disheartening.
Even though Emma clearly played it safe with the majority of her cover version choices, primarily I still love her vocals and I feel I’ll get enjoyment out of this album. It’s been over 12 years since her last album and I’d certainly rather have this new release than nothing at all. I’m happy to support her and I hope if My Happy Place is a decent success, let’s say Top 5 (which would be a great result for what is a relatively low effort covers project). Hopefully a result like that would encourage BMG/Emma to go with an original material album next time.
One Popjustice member commented that he doesn’t want to support the album because he thinks a high peak will indicate to Emma that she could get away with more covers next time, and that he’d want a lower position to show her it’s not what people want. I think that would have the opposite effect, i.e. if My Happy Place falls below expectations then she’d feel discouraged and not bother again.
I hope the majority of people who’ve preordered will keep them... we’re only 5 days from release!
Obviously I would agree that the quality of Baby Please Don’t Stop & Too Many Teardrops fully demonstrates that Emma “still has it” as an original artist, and hopefully she’s seen a lot of great feedback for these songs. Of course as a fan it’s a bit disappointing that she didn’t just go for it and give us 10 originals. However from a business perspective, I do understand the label being cautious. I feel like for Emma herself, after so long away from the music industry, she may have felt that dipping her toe back into the music industry was the best approach, that covering some of her favourite songs was more in her comfort zone? Maybe it was still on her mind that Life in Mono, which was mainly new material, got to #65.
She's obviously not the type to strike out and release material on her own label, so more than likely My Happy Place was a compromise between her and BMG, who wanted something out in time for the reunion. If this flops then BMG won't release any new material from her, period. I don't see Emma going indie or any other label picking her up to release original material. At best we'll get another cheap low-level effort ten years down the line from her if this bombs.
With that said, they're being drama queens as usual.
Well those 'fans' cancelling orders to 'prove a point' are just ridiculous.
I am also of the opinion that some of the clips have not been amazing - that take on 2 Become 1 and You're All I Need sound CHEAP - and I do hope that the overall album sounds better. A shame that she did some many f***ing covers when she was clearly on a good stride with the Baby Please Don't Stop and Too Many Teardrops. Imagine TMT with a video and performances - would have been heaven.
Honestly, there's just no label that would release an album full of Emma originals - if anything, this album needs to do somewhat well so that she has more room to push her own material. I'd get "protesting" if Emma had been releasing material for the past decade and this was an ill-advised detour from that, or if this does do well and they push out another covers album.
I mean, I get not buying something because it sounds poor (I'm not going to get this album until I have enough I want to order from Amazon anyway), but to do it to send her a "message" that they want a full album of original material, especially when Baby Please Don't Stop has done nothing on the charts, is a bit dumb.
I can understand tbh I’m not enthused at all for the album after hearing the previews, however I love the two new original tracks and don’t call me baby sounds interesting so I’ll gove it a go. Worse case scenario I listen to it once or twice and it goes in the cupboard, only spent a tenner no harm done (like Cher’s dancing queen...)
Emotion snippet:
For me it is not that songs are covers it is just some are poor choices and lack quality in the final product. The 2 originals are great, don't call me baby sounds amazing to me, I could hear it on an Ibiza chill out album. I think emotions sounds nice too.
2 become 1 is awful, it doesn't fit sonically withthe rest and robbie sounds bored on it.
I have bo doubt this whole release is what the record label want and done cheaply and to take advantage of the tour hype. I think it will be successful though and the record label were probably right in their approach.
I really really want the full length Don't call me baby, I've played the clip to death. Tbh with that, Baby please don't stop, teardrops and Emotions I have 4 songs I'm happy to take from this project. There are a lot of albums I'd not even take 4 songs from (some solo spice releases included) so I think I will be ultimately happy.
I'm interested to hear the full length 'I Wish I Could Have Loved You More' because I don't know the original!
"I Wish I Could Have Love You More" is definitively one of the more "inspired" covers and they could easily market that as an "original" or at least make it somewhat a part of her solo repertoire since the original is pretty much unknown by most. I guess it makes sense that they put it between Baby Please Don't Stop and Too Many Teardrops.
Sure there are some un-produced sounding vocals (2B1, HCTS) but happy to take them for what they are. If those tracks were on a live album, they'd be great.
It's a hastily put together project, but I always suspected that.
I'm still blown away by the quality of BPDS and TMT. And very excited for 'I Wish I Could Have Loved You More', 'Don't Call Me Baby' and 'Emotion'.
the duet with Will has been premiered:
Listen from 40mins in
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000406j?fbclid=IwAR2iS0JCklvGCyHLh3EVnuzRinY6svtw9FFoXTAjdJYI8um4hrzz2FQrw5o
Thats what I meant sorry
Emma Bunton on the Spice Girls lyric they changed to be more inclusive | Amplify by Gay Times
“You do get to a stage where you go, ‘Can I do that again?’” Emma Bunton admits, perched on a sofa in the back room of a private member’s club in central London.
More than 21 years since Spice Mania first captivated the world, it remains a surreal experience speaking with someone you spent your childhood listening to on the radio, seeing on your television screen every single day, and munching through Walker’s cheese and chive-flavoured crisps with their smiling face emblazoned across the packet. But true to her Baby Spice persona, Emma is immediately welcoming, warm and bursting with positivity.
“That’s why I love this album,” she continues, “because it’s been such a natural progression.” The album we are talking about, of course, is Emma’s first new collection of solo material since 2006’s Life in Mono. As if reuniting with the Spice Girls (minus Posh) for a series of huge shows this summer hasn’t filled up her diary enough, Emma will first release My Happy Place this April – an album of covers in her trademark 60s-pop style, along with a couple of brand new original tracks.
For fans of Baby Spice’s solo material, this new project has been a long time coming. Since 2006, there’s been the first huge reunion tour with the Spice Girls in 2007/08, as well as the iconic London 2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony performance. But with motherhood being her main focus, she resided in London, doing stints on various TV shows and becoming a Heart radio presenter – which ultimately led to an impromptu duet with Lady Gaga on social media. “We were singing a little bit before that and then we sang 2 Become 1,” Emma says. “It was magic. I’m a huge fan of Gaga, so it was really incredible.”
But with this new Spice era coming, she felt it was the right opportunity to put her creative ideas down in the studio. This album, Baby explains, is filled with songs that are incredibly personal to her. Here Comes The Sun, for instance, was playing when she gave birth to one of her sons. For years, both her son and her mother have asked her to record the song for them.
But it was actually a fellow British popstar who first inspired her to get back into music. “About three years ago, Robbie Williams asked me to go do a song at one of his shows and I was like, ‘Oh okay…’ We sang 2 Become 1 and I got so many messages on Twitter and Instagram and the support was lovely,” she says. “Then I thought, ‘I’d quite like to record that with Robbie.’”
Was it hard to get hold of him to get him involved with the project? “Oh I just emailed him!” Emma smiles. “We always have banter and I love his wife, so I was just like, ‘Hey, fancy recording this?’ He said, ‘Absolutely!’ He was wonderful and he’s very professional. I was gutted because he was in LA at the time and so he recorded there and I did my bit here, so we didn’t get to record it together. He would then email me again being like, ‘Is it alright? Do you need me to do anything else?’”
With the first couple of tracks decided on, Emma then started to contemplate writing original material again. It was at this point she turned to her producer Brian Rawling, and her partner Jade Jones. “I’m lyrical and good with melodies, and Jade is very good at listening to the production and working on the music,” says Emma. “We’re both very different. So he was in the studio with me a lot. They were like, ‘Go and see what happens and have fun with it.’ I was like, ‘I’m a bit nervous.’ But I went in and just started doing a few bits and it felt really good. Somehow when I write lyrics and melodies, it’s all very 60s. It has that feel about it. It’s what I love. I co-wrote Baby Please Don’t Stop and Too Many Teardrops, and I’m really pleased with them.”
There’s also her new duet with Will Young on the Dusty Springfield classic I Only Want to Be with You. “He came in the studio and I’m not joking, we got nothing done for probably about five hours because we were chatting away,” she laughs. When they finally got to work, the result, Emma says, gave her “goosebumps”. “I think, personally, his voice is really beautiful,” she says. “That song, I recorded it and did it at the same tempo as it was originally and just thought, ‘I really just want to slow it down and make it a bit more me.’ It felt like it needed to be a duet, so I was thinking about who could do it and immediately Will was perfect.”
Now, when you get to speak with an actual Spice Girl you cannot – and must not – pass the opportunity to clear up a bit of pop lore. It’s no secret that the Spice Girls have an incredibly passionate LGBTQ fan base – one that has loyally stuck with them over the past 21 years. In their 90s heyday they were ferocious advocates of the community, and have been throughout the whole of their career. This very fact has led some to speculate about a lyric change in different versions of 2 Become 1.
The story goes that after originally recording the lyric “Any deal that we endeavour/boys and girls feel good together” on the album version of 2 Become 1, they felt like they needed to adjust that line as to not alienate their LGBTQ fans. A new single version – which they perform in the official music video and on stage – instead goes: “Once again if we endeavour/love will bring us back together.”
When we mention the online debate around the lyric change to Emma, her eyes light up. “We changed the lyrics in a hotel,” she smiles, recalling the memory. “We were travelling and we were like, ‘Absolutely, it needs to be changed.’ We felt like it needed to be more inclusive.”
It will come as little surprise that Emma goes on to credit the LGBTQ community for “100 percent” influencing the Spice Girls’ music in other ways too. “You notice that support – it’s just incredible,” she says. “Thank goodness we’re living at a time where everyone is supporting each other so much more now. I feel so thankful to them – when I write or when I perform, it feels on such a more open, different level. It’s so much more inclusive and special. Whenever you do G-A-Y there’s just this energy from the crowd that is like no other. You can ask any artist that plays there, it’s just so special.”
When the Spice Girls took pop culture by storm in 1996, they brought with them the biggest social statement of that decade: Girl Power. Their fierceness and fearlessness to challenge the patriarchy won them legions of fans and inspired a whole generation of girls and women to speak up and stand up for equality. It’s a sentiment that certainly wasn’t lost on the LGBTQ community either.
The core mission statement to take back power and demand equality resonated with LGBTQ liberation. It was something the Spice Girls recognised and are proud of, and it’s a sentiment that is again needed now more than ever. “We were talking the other day, and of course everything evolves and grows,” Emma says. “It will always be Girl Power for us, but it’s also about people power. People coming together and supporting each other. We feel like we want to evolve with that. We’re coming together now thank goodness, and we want everyone to be inclusive. That’s so important to us.”
That’s why, when tickets for a series of new Spice Girls shows went on sale earlier this year, unsurprisingly the demand was overwhelming. Three sold out shows at Wembley Stadium in London is no minor feat. While nostalgia naturally plays a huge part in the enduring appeal of the Spice Girls and their music, Emma also puts it down in part to the current political climate and a want for people to come together during such a divisive time. “At the moment I find it really frustrating because everything feels like everyone has different opinions and its uncomfortable,” she says. “When the tickets went on sale it was like, this is going to be a gathering of everyone coming back together, watching the show and having a bloody good time.” Girl Power is a timeless message, we suggest. “It is and it feels like that now. It’s not been easy, but slowly and surely it’s moving onwards and forwards. We just want to open those doors and support each other, bring people up, and grow together.”
So how are preparations for the Summer of Spice going? “We haven’t started rehearsing yet,” Emma admits. “There’s loads going on behind the scenes. We’re doing so much stuff business-wise.” She has, however, spent two days in the studio with the dancers for the tour. “I couldn’t get enough of it. It was a dream for me,” she says. “The talent we have is incredible and I’m just so proud that we’re going to have these amazing dancers.”
As you can imagine, details around exactly what we can expect from these new Spice Girls shows are under lock and key. We’re told the setlist has been decided on, but beyond that Emma resists giving anything away. So what about this new animated movie that Spice manager Simon Fuller teased earlier this year? Emma stops. “Yeah, in fact I haven’t told anyone else this…” She looks to her publicist for permission to continue, and is given it. “So for the last three days myself, Geri and Mel C have been literally holed up in a room just chatting about that with a few people,” she continues. “It’s been great actually. It’s weird going over everything that we’ve done right from the beginning. It’s very exciting. I think the animation will be really fun. Again, we’re creating and writing bits…”
The prospect of a new Spice Girls movie is an exciting one for fans – many of who still watch 1997’s Spice World on a rainy weekend to this day. It also continues to open up that world to a new legion of fans who may not have even been born when the first film was released. “There’s a whole new generation,” Emma says. “That’s the reason I want to do it because of my kids. They are so into music – especially my youngest Tate who is constantly performing.”
The Spice Girls’ grip on pop culture has scarcely loosened over the years, continuously reintroducing their legacy to new audiences. One such example recently involved Emma’s appearance on the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, where the queens had to form a girl group each with their own individual persona. “I know it’s edited, but every single one of them said something nice about the Spice Girls,” says Emma. “It was amazing to be there. It was a bit surreal because I’m such a fan of the show. It’s just got that effect.” But little did Emma realise she was in fact about to film one of the programme’s most shocking scenes.
After winning the challenge and then lip syncing for her legacy, BenDeLaCreme made the decision to eliminate herself from the competition, rather than one of the other queens. “I could not believe it. I didn’t know what to do with myself,” Emma exclaims when we bring it up. “I wanted to get up and go, ‘What?!?’ I found that when we were recording it, everyone is very reserved. I wanted to get up and scream and dance. I wanted to be like, ‘Wooo!’ They were very professional is what I mean.”
As is traditionally the case with reality television, most of what you see has been set up in advance, but Emma is adamant no-one had any idea what BenDeLaCreme had planned. “That was the thing, I didn’t have a clue. I could tell that everyone was like, ‘What the?!’ No-one had a clue that it was going to happen.” So with a UK version currently being filmed for the BBC in London, we ask if she’d consider a second stint on the panel. She smiles. “Yes… that’s all I will say.”
As our time quickly comes to an end, chat turns to the future of Emma’s solo career and what she has planned beyond this new album. Of course, she has the Spice Girls show to concentrate on first, but she has thought about her next move after that. “I’d like to do a small solo tour after the Spice Girls dates,” she says. “That would be so nice.” We’re pretty certain there are plenty of fans out there that would agree.
And what about the Spice Girls? Although the shows in the UK will conclude by mid-June, there are obviously more plans for Spice projects beyond the live dates. Does this mean this reunion could end up being a little bit more permanent than previously, with the four-piece figuring out more future plans to expand the beloved Spice World? “It’s something we are talking about,” Emma says. “We’ve all got kids and we all have to plan around them, so if it works and we can make that happen then absolutely, we’d love to do more.”
Emma Bunton’s new album My Happy Place will be available to download and stream from 12 April.
Beautiful pics
First review is out and it is sadly a two-star
I cant find the review online to post here, other than a picture of it on the Denden 2.0 group on Facebook. It reads:
METRO UK (distributed freely on the underground, over 1million people read it)
2 Stars
Emma Bunton, the sweetest member of Britain's most beloved girl group, chose the title of her new LP because 'My happy place is with my family, my friends, listening to music and being in the studio'. Being unkind feels like punching kittens in a basket. It's Baby Spice. In her happy place. How can you?
Alas, there is no choice. The first three tracks give every sign this collection of 1960's style pop might be a winner. Baby Please Don't Stop is catchy and discreetly lascivious, and Too Many Teardrops sultry and dramatic. The third, a cover of Candie Payne's I Wish I Could Have Loved You More lacks the sting of the original but has the virtue of taking an obscure song to a wider audience.
What follows, though, is a series of covers that seem to exist for no benefit other than Bunton's. Give how well it started and how swfitly it palls thereafter, you'll just wish you could love Bunton's Happy Place more.
----
TBH I feel the same. I am so in love with the two originals and couldn't really care much for the covers. This review kind of suggests that Emma could have been a winner with this album had she not diluted it with pointless covers. Original Bunton is the best!
I might be imagining it, but the clip of 'Here Comes The Sun' on Emma's insta seems more polished than the version I heard earlier in the campaign. The words 'Little darling' are cleaner somehow.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwB0HSEn1IU/
Now I'm excited again.
Shame! Really wish she had done an album of more original material with just a few covers perhaps. I wish I could have loved you more is a good idea as it's relatively unknown, Don't call me baby is good because it's very tongue in cheek. The rest feel boring tbh. I'm thinking it will be a 4 tracks saved the rest deleted album.
I completely agree with that review .
With regards to making a critically successful album, I'd agree with the review too. But I don't think that's what she was going for.
It's a personal project and her voice brings warmth and brightness to every song. I think her vocals are on top form. For me, there's plenty to be happy about.
Quite a predictable review & score but I suppose that’s really as generous as critics can be towards a project like this. Hopefully if more reviews commend the two original tracks then it’ll show BMG & Emma that there’s potential in the future?
Did anyone expect anything but two star reviews?
I guess as long as it avoids getting one star ones it's good...
The album is out there now because of its release in countries where it's already Friday! I'm waiting to listen to it when I've received my copies though.
I just have a hard time people being so impatient to listen to this that they just have to illegally download it
I’m also waiting .
I’m waiting for ITunes to download it tomorrow... still haven’t purchased my physical copy yet lol
iTunes:
#1 Brazil
#2 Argentina
#2 Philippines
#3 Mexico
#4 United Kingdom
#5 Denmark
#5 Italy
#5 Sweden
#6 Hong Kong
#6 Indonesia
#6 Spain
#8 Australia
#14 New Zealand
#16 Ireland
#17 Russia
#18 Netherlands
#22 Canada
#26 Germany
#28 Switzerland
#29 France
#33 United States
#40 Thailand
#52 Belgium
#61 South Africa
Did version of me get as high as 4? I guess downloads don’t count for many sales now.
After first listen the two covers I enjoyed the most were :
I want to be with you and 2 become 1 .
I really didn’t like Emotions.
It is all about Don't call me baby with regards to the covers.
That is great too but I wanted that beat to drop. It could be remixed for the clubs I guess, but it is very nice.
She is promoting now on radio 2 with Zoe Ball.
For some reason she is singing WTYSL . She sounds great and this was number 1 18 years ago .
#MyHappyPlace is trending on twitter!
Listening to it now, the first 3 tracks are all fabulous.
Hmmm I'm not overtly impressed with Don't call me baby, she sounds flat and the song needs more oopmh it doesn't really go anywhere. I kept waiting for it to kick in but it kept plodding with the same beat...
Overall for a covers album it's not too bad. Can't stand the talking at the beginning of Here comes the sun it's a bit sickly (same with YAINTGB) but otherwise it's a pleasant listen. Could do with some more upbeat tracks but still pleasant. I think Don't call me baby was the most disappointing for me,but i think I expected too much from that one wheres I wasn't expecting much from any of the other covers and was pleasantly surprised
Had this on a couple of times already this morning. Call me square but I don't get all the bashing this has had online from certain quarters who are acting all shook because this is 80% covers despite the fact this was made abundantly clear when the album was announced?
It's a really gorgeous record, the songs she's chosen really suit Emma's voice. I especially love the reworking of 'Don't Call Me Baby' almost sounds a bit Saint Etienne-esque!
Loved it on first listen . the 2 originals and Don't Call Me Baby stand out for me. With a dance remix DCMB could be really a summer hit.
I only want to be with you - 130 on iTunes
2 become 1 - 170
BPDS - 185
IOWTBWY - 115
2B1 - 157
BPDS - 169
I really like "I Only Want to Be With You".
"Too Many Teardrops" is a grower.
Overall, I think it's an OK album, and thank God it's just a 30-minute long record.
Anything longer than that would have made a terrible release.
Listened to this in my car twice while driving about today and I do like it find it grows more each listen. I think my favourite of the covers is 'I wish I could have loved you more' absolutely love that one The first 3 tracks are all 10/10 for me. Ironically 2 become 1 is the worse one (but only because it sounds karaoke compared to the original).
Don't call me baby is the one for me, that chilled vibe is so me. It just works so well.
Don't Call Me Baby is my favourite cover too
The album is only 33mins long !! I don’t know if I own a shorter album in length.
Here comes the sun may also have to be deleted.
Not understand the hate for 2b1 tho .
The only advantage of a shorter album is hopefully it will get some streams
I saw an advert for the album whilst watching Jamie Oliver on Channel 4 just now and had a bit of a moment like 'This has actually happened'. I'm not even fussed too much how well the album does now it's out there. The fact we've even got a new album from her now when it didn't seem possible a few years ago is a gift in and of itself. (Also I'm so tempted to splurge and get the gatefold vinyl now it's back in stock)
The pics of the vinyl look beautiful, I'm very tempted too.
TV adverts are nice to see.
Two Emma performance on Zoe Ball's Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2:
She also sang What Took You So Long? and Baby Please Don't Stop!
~
In the past week, Radio 2 has played:
7 times - Baby Please Don't Stop
3 times - 2 Become 1 (feat. Robbie Williams)
2 times - Come Away With Me (feat. Josh Kumra)
2 times - Emotion
2 times - I Only Want to Be With You (feat. Will Young)
2 times - Too Many Teardrops
https://www.last.fm/user/bbcradio2/library/music/Emma+Bunton?from=2019-04-06&to=2019-04-12
I'm glad that they seem to recognize Don't Call Me Baby enough to have her perform it. I hope we at least get a remix package out of it.
I'd love it if we did!
Emma acknowledged in her live chat how well Don't Call Me Baby has gone down with fans (about 11 minutes into the video), although a little earlier in the video (10 minute mark~) she didn't think it'd likely be a single.
https://www.facebook.com/EmmaBuntonOfficial/videos/663754120722214/
Listened to the album quite a bit now, decided I really like it! Her voice is delicious Even YAINTGB has grown on me... I do wish there was some way to cut out the talking bits though
Ironically 2 become 1 is my least favourite track on the album, Baby please don't stop is my favourite song and I wish I could have loved you more is my favourite cover. I adore the Will Young duet too, so simple but beautiful
Too Many Teardrops is my favourite still, followed by I Wish I Could Have Loved You More and Baby Please Don't Stop. Don't Call Me Baby is also amazing and could be a really good song with a nice remix.
Unfortunately, Come Away With Me and 2 Become 1 are just pointless.
I really like Too Many Teardrops and Baby Please Don't Stop.
I think Wish I could have loved you more, Don't Call me baby and I only wanna be with you are actually pretty decent covers too. Also don't mind the 2 Become 1 remake for its notstaglia and also I surprisingly don't mind Robbies voice.
Here comes the sun is OK but would be improved without the kids singing, the other 3 Come away with me, you're all I need and particularly Emotion are under average or bad imo and seemed rushed or very cheesy.
Overall about 5 of the songs I'd possibly listen to and 5 I'd very rarely go back to. Still I hope it does well. Debating whether to buy it just to support and I hope she does some more original stuff in the future if she does anything else.
My Trinity so far
Baby Please Don't Stop
Too Many Teardrops
Don't Call Me Baby
About 24 hours until we find out the first midweeks
If it isn't in the top ten...
Yaaay
So we have at least two unreleased songs from this project, assuming that either of these reached a stage of completion before being rejected?
Funny she doesn't mention which Shirley song, but it's easy to assume that she did one of the Bond things?
I think Kiss Me, Honey Honey, Kiss Me might've suited her though.
Interview on This Morning: https://www.facebook.com/SpiceGirlsNet/videos/743768069351879/ Thanks SpiceGirlsNet!
Don't think this was posted the other day, Emma on BBC Breakfast:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uTQrJDxEWlr6JUhFi8M7l9sTvIsbrDGd/view?fbclid=IwAR1jp-DhWNU-KL4LGa-eyP-YpHUdIsEgHPCiD5hKaaU_dve-7hEO5NkTtEs
Thanks to Craig on Spice Girls Downloads Facebook page for the rip!
Samwell Tarley is now my favourite member of Game of Thrones!
Damn I wish I could have loved you more sounds like a bond theme
Emma is currently in Hamburg promoting 'My Happy Place'
Hamburg?? Thought she was rehearsing for the shows?
For those who have received the autographed vinyl, is it numbered between 1 and 1000? I received an email telling me he was going to send me a sticker that will be numbered between 1 and 1000 to stick on the vinyl.
How weird, you don't actually know whether it was the first copy or not you just randomly get given a number to stick on it
I'm hoping they'll do it based on the order numbers!
I guess they're going to lose a bit of money having to send these stickers out all over the world. Their own fault though
Interview in Hamburg
The guy didn't know the name of the new single and then when he mentioned it later on, Emma had 'Don't Call Me Baby' and called her orginal song a cover by Madison Avenue. The interviewer didn't seem to know much about what was going on lol. But Emma still looked great and it's promotion I guess.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2I9P_qvA_A
#88 in Ireland
Emma's first album to chart since 2001's 'A Girl Like Me'
That is a low position in Ireland considering the rumoured very low sales climate there.
A Top 10 placing in the UK today will would make up for that.
CONFIRMED BY THE OCC
#11
An impressive result for a solo Spice project in 2019 but frustrating all the same!
So annoyed it missed the Top 10 by one place considering it was #5 in the midweek
Emma could have been the first SG to have 3 solo albums in the Top 10, am I right in assuming she's the first to have 3 Top 20 albums?
Number 11 is a good result but yet disappointing.
I did not realise this before, but you are correct she is the first solo Spice Girl to have 3 Top 20 albums.
11 might sound disappointing but well done for a Spice Girl in 2019. and only Spice Girl to have 3 top 20 albums sounds good to me too
Emma's My Happy Place enters the UK Charts at No.11 with 6,674 copies sold. 457 copies short of the Top 10.
The icing on the cake to a rather lovely week for Emma fans. I'm just enjoying the fact we've had a new album and hearing her sing again. Gawd bless ya Bunton.
It is nice to see it actually charted in Ireland tbh, it is probably a few hundred sales but it looks better to have charted in a country outside the UK.
Really frustrating she was just one place away from top 10 like Headlines in 2007, but this is the first top 20 Spice Girls related album in 12 years and first solo album to go top 20 in 15 years so well done Emma.
Really annoying they didn't do a couple of signings in Fontaine DC though as that would have been the 400 odd sales surely...
I'll never be able to be a fan of Fontaines D.C. after this x (Lmao I've not heard any songs yet, I hadn't even heard of them before looking at the release schedule )
Reminder of the solo album peaks:
Melanie C
#4 - Northern Star
#5 - Reason
#24 - Beautiful Intentions
#25 - Version of Me
#45 - The Sea
#50 - Stages
#57 - This Time
Emma Bunton
#4 - A Girl Like Me
#7 - Free Me
#11 - My Happy Place
#65 - Life in Mono
Geri Halliwell
#4 - Schizophonic
#5 - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster
#41 - Passion
Mel B
#28 - Hot
#453 - L.A. State of Mind
^ I'll never get over that lol~
Victoria Beckham
#10 - Victoria Beckham
Thank you Jay! Screw Fontaines DC!!
Also, yeah I cant really get over how Mel B got to 453!!! Now THAT is a f***ing flop well done lol
Didn't we get the total sales of LA State of Mind a few years ago and it was like less than 3000 copies?
It was just over 1000 copies
Poor Melanie I actually really like that album, what’s worse do you think being the only Spice Girl not to have a #1 single or the only Spice Girl not to have a top 10 album? Mel was so stupid not to hold off and wait a bit longer to release Hot and also not to start with Feels So Good. Bet Virgin we’re glad to get rid of her as she wouldn’t listen to a word they said.
Can’t believe the 1000 copies for LSOM , I would rank it highly on my list .
Ok I've decided this is a nice little 7 track album. The last 3 tracks range from boring to awful to cringe. The first 7 tracks are actually a decent run of songs.
In case you were wondering the final 3 tracks in a perfect world would be
8. A thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton cover)
9. 2 become 1 ft one of the Appleton sisters
10. I get by with a little help from my friends ft Robbie Williams
A thousand miles is so much more interesting than Come away with me, it could have an interesting arrangement too like Don't call me baby.
2 Become 1 with one of the All saints sisters screams 90s dream and Robbie really didn't suit it.
Help from my friends a Beatles song that Robbie would sound good on, a positive upbeat song to finish the album too.
Stick Here comes the sun ft Tate and Beau on the deluxe with a solo 2 become 1 version and you have more reason to buy it too.
I really like Emotion too, I got confused the 3 tracks I'd lose or change are Come away, 2 become 1 and Here comes the sun, I've got it in my head they are the last 3 tracks as I skip and avoid them at all costs.
Don't Call Me Baby is the one for me, when it comes to the covers! I love her deep vocals actually, they're very sultry. It's one of the more interesting moments on the album imo, and probably the best production work too - far superior to every other cover, and maybe even better than the two original song productions.
I find Come Away With Me underrated - it's a very romantic song, very chill. Also, Josh's vocals compliment Emma's more so than her other duet partners imo.
Come away with me can put people into comas.
Emma was on Lorraine this morning and apparently the single with Jade will be released on the 7th June? Strange that it is so late but I guess with her schedule, it is to be expected...
Video looks well cute though and Jade is so yummy
https://www.itv.com/hub/lorraine/1a9360a2398
I don't think 7th June is that late considering it's just a bit over a month from now.
I hope Radio 2 will playlist it at least. Maybe the album can cross 10 000 copies at least
Clips of the video looks great, incredibly 60s with the hair, fashion & decor! Looks like it’s better than the Baby Please Don’t Stop video.
I wonder if June 7th refers to the video release? Seems odd to hold it back if it’s ready to go. Releasing it during the tour seems like a strange choice.
Her appearance on Lorraine resulted in My Happy Place climbing to #30 on iTunes. This morning it wasn’t Top 700 (that’s all that would load of the Top 1500 iTunes albums for me). I didn’t check where it was on Amazon, but the standard is currently #43 and the deluxe is #126.
I’m wondering if this’ll help her climb back into the Top 200? It’s currently not Top 200 in the mids, so as things stand it’s looking to go 11-121-out but it was midweek #195 on Monday, so maybe it’s not too far away from Top 200 and this Lorraine boost could help? We’ll see!
Fingers crossed she stays in top 200 as we get sales data then don't we! (No matter how pathetic lol)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIlkI5AR-9Q
YouTube video
This might come as a surprise, but My Happy Place has been lurking in the midweeks this week! It was #155 on Tuesday and it's #179 today. It has sold 597 copies so far, 44 copies ahead of mid #200.
I'm not sure what its chances of staying in the Top 200 officially tomorrow are though. The impact of two days worth of streaming being added into the chart won't go in its favour, I guess. I really hope it hangs on, it would be nice for it to re-enter the chart after being absent last week.
Last week (which was its third week on sale), on Mon 29th April, it was mid #195 with 264 sales (260 sales was needed to be #200). Unfortunately it wasn't in the mids Top 200 for the rest of the week, but it wasn't too far outside which is a bit frustrating. On Tues 30th April it had sold 337 copies; #200 sold 377 copies (40 sales behind). On Thurs 2nd May it had sold 542 copies; #200 had sold 587 copies (45 sales behind).
Would be great if it re-charted, I find the release date of the video a bit odd. Why was it not out beginning of this week?
Queen of Almost-Charting
Lol if we could get around 800 people in the UK buying it then we'd finally give LA State of Mind a Top 200 peak :')
My happy place standard edition now £5 on Amazon. I guess they are trying to get a big boost from the Bradley Walsh promo tomorrow.
Currently #1 on the iTunes Chart in the UAE
Did any of you pre-order the signed vinyl? I got a letter today from Townsend Music containing only a small circle sticker numbered 818/1000. This was probably intended to be plastered on the cover to begin with. Have any of you received this or did your copies already have the stickers on them?
All of those signed vinyl were sent without numbers, despite the original order page stating it would be numbered. I assume a lot of people complained, so the store eventually decided to create numbered stickers & send them out!
When I emailed them when my vinyl came, they actually initially went with “the listing was a mistake and they’re not meant to be numbered” but they evidently changed their minds.
Mind you, I’m not putting my sticker on the vinyl. It looks basic & it doesn’t feel very official to stick it on yourself. So I’m just keeping it unpeeled & slotting it in the Vinyl sleeve.
I see! That is strange. I’m not sure what to do with it right now so I guess I’ll just keep it stored somewhere.
Are we gonna get another single or it's over
Just purchased a copy from Amazon for me Mum for a fiver.
She likes most of the album when i played it to her.
In some senses it was bad timing to release the album as Emma had all her Spice Girls commitments.
That said, this may have also gained some extra attention to the album.
A new single may help spike some interest in the album again if Emma can obtain some promotional slots.
Will be interesting to see if she returns to doing anything else for this album or not!
Does anyone its up to date sales?
I think it was good doing it before the tour.
She should now release and remix don’t call me baby . Then do a small solo tour !!
Before the next round of spice 😉
She had mentioned doing a tour later in the year
I think the album's lack of success killed the possibility of her doing a tour of her own tbh. She could go into a small Summer festival tour, but I dont think the lack of critical success as well as public success has helped her case.
If she had a really great album, well received (even with low sales) she would have had the chance to do some small intimate gigs and some mid-scale festivals. But touring solo has never been her forte and it's not this album that will change that.
Personally I would love it if she puts her mind into doing more original songs, do some shows within festival contexts for a bit and then release an album that actually sounds like she put effort and care into it. My Happy Place was bad, for her standards, and did very little to revive her pop singing career...
This was always an album that was either going to connect with the Radio 2 audience it was supposed to connect with or just don't. It did the later and honestly, I don't think there was any missed promotional opportunities during the tour that made the performance suffer in the slightest - if anything, being back in press and the Spice Girls Greatest Hits success probably led to it getting a few extra sales.
With that said, I still want some Don't Call Me Baby remixes.
I'm guessing this will end up selling 20k UK and 20k WW, who knows if 40k overall is a satisfying result for BMG. The era and album are certainly done from a promotion point of view. If they are happy as much as I'd not want it a Christmas album would make sense.
God, she just done a covers album. The last thing I would want from her would be a Christmas album. That would actually be the first release from her that I would probably not buy or support in her career.
I think 40k sales would be ok for an artist of her solo status but I also think that might be a bit inflated? We don't even know if it reached 10k in the UK yet, do we? And that is where the main bulk of her sales will come from...
9,913 for My Happy Place by 17th May, so it’ll definitely have passed 10k by now!
Covers unless something extremely special dampen a release in the mindset of most.
It indicates cheap.
24th May, Sales Chart (Physicals + Downloads):
#63 Chemical Brothers - No Geography
#64 Emma Bunton - My Happy Place
#65 Digga D - Double Tap Diaries
With the info I have, I've managed to work out that Chemical Brothers sold 510 copies and Digga D sold 499 copies (pure sales). So we can deduce from this that Emma sold somewhere between those two figures. Her streaming would have been weak of course, I could imagine less than 25 sales from that. I'm going to just assume that she sold 500 pure & 25 streaming = 525 copies.
This would lift her total to nearly 10,450.
31st May, Sales Chart:
I posted about this here: http://www.buzzjack.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=203971&view=findpost&p=6247714 (Emma #92 in the sales chart / "Emma's album sold somewhere between 365 and 370 physicals this week. It's less clear what its sales are with downloads attached, but it's lower than 398 sales.")
Let's assume 400 sales with streaming, so that takes her previous estimate up to 10,850.
Three more chart weeks have passed since then, and we have no idea how many more copies it might have sold during the remainder of the Spice Girls tour, but it wasn't in the Top 100 sales chart on 7th, 14th or 21st June. I think we can safely assume that My Happy Place has exceeded 11,000 sales, but I doubt it's made it to 12,000 yet.
emma is a HIT artist unlike mel c x
Actually really sad that it’s only on 12k - it just shows what a nostalgia trip for most people seeing the SG tour was rather than being interested in what they are doing now, the album was advertised on the big screens at every show and in the tour programs so lots of exposure direct to people who are interested in the girls.
On the plus side I’m pleased we got a new album and it went Top 15 but would have loved to see it do more - ultimately Emma and BMG have got to be disappointed with that result especially considering the amount of formats/bundles they pushed of this.
Vinyl, CD and Cassette all half price at the moment - https://townsendmusic.store/?filters%5Bsale%5D=1&filters%5Bartist-id%5D=56197&sort=position&perpage=20&page=products
That will help attract a few more casual sales.
My Happy Place is in HMV's '2 CDs for £10' which is quite good cos it will attract some random sales from casual fans. ON my local HMV, it was very prominently displayed.
GET THEM COINS EMMA LETS GET IT TO PLATINUUMMMMMMM
Silver might be a more realistic goal.
Could easily see this going 2xPlatinum by Christmas, don't undersell her like that Mr.X
I guess when all is said and done she will have done 20k in the UK. I guess it depends on her WW sales if BMG are happy, if it did 30k rest of the world (its vinyl sales were 60/40 spilt WW/UK so assuming that sort of ratio is right for the albums overall sales) then 50k might be a suitable result.
Hhmmm I think we are overestimating her success here.
Even with these promos, I seriously doubt she is selling steadily to warant even getting anywhere near Silver in the UK at this stage.
Worlwide, she would be lucky to have more thank 10k. Yes the vinyl sold well but that was a limited edition. She did no promo outside of UK at all, so hardly anyone would know it's available or heard about it, cos she doesnt have the profile as a solo artist to sell on her own name.
So I would think she is, at best, on 30k worldwide (inc UK sales) by now.
Yes these HMV promotion will help the UK sales, but I would be surprised if it is selling a lot at the moment. It will just be a little bump over time.
You have to remember that her foreign fans could order through her website too. So why wouldn't they have ordered the bundles with cassettes etc in the same ratio as they did they vinyl?
I'm fairly certain she sold more WW than in the UK. She charted in a few places WW and they would have been based on sales in stores, iTunes and streaming, as BMG is a UK label so wouldn't have counted their over seas sales to each country bar the UK.
LOL, the album probably hasn't even sold 15k in the UK yet... 50k worldwide without any more promotion? Riiiight.
It'll be lucky to reach 20k in the UK.
With time for this album I've taken 4 songs I love out of it:
1. Baby please don't stop
2. I wish I could have loved you more
3. Teardrops
4. I only want to be with you (with Will Young)
The rest are ok (Emotion is a nice cover) or naff (2 become 1 I actually hate, such a contrast to the original).
Some My Happy Place info:
Monday 15th April midweeks:
2,439 CDs (Amazon sales missing from Sunday)
610 Downloads
704 Cassettes
402 Vinyl
72 Streaming (Amazon/Apple/Spotify missing from Sunday)
Thursday 18th April midweeks:
3,958 CDs (Amazon sales missing from Wednesday)
742 Downloads
736 Cassettes
425 Vinyl
156 Streaming (Amazon missing from Tuesday & Wednesday | Apple/Spotify missing from Wednesday)
In 3 days, the album added:
+1,519 CDs
+132 Downloads
+32 Cassettes
+23 Vinyl
+84 Streaming
Unfortunately I never found out the final sales on Friday for it.
What we do know is the signed version of the vinyl was supposedly a 1,000 copy run. Then an unsigned version of an unknown quantity was up for preorder. So we know there were over 1,000 copies. I assume that she ended up selling 430-ish vinyl in the UK that week, and that’s a mixed of signed and unsigned, although I assume most of the copies would have been signed purchased. It potentially could mean that over 600 copies of the vinyl were sent to fans outside of the UK.
I assume 750-ish cassettes were sold in the UK in week 1. We don’t know how many cassettes were printed overall, although the blue version did sell out. It might be safe to assume that a lot of the cassette purchases were bought within the vinyl/cd/cassette bundle. There’s potential for 1,100+ cassettes to have been sold abroad, if we got with the 40% UK / 60% outside of the UK divide that the vinyl seemingly had.
Both vinyl and cassette were official store exclusive, whereas the CD was more widely available... so it’s hard to predict how many fans outside of the UK would have ordered a copy. I doubt the 40/60 split will be the case of the CDs, I reckon the UK would have had a higher percentage of CD sales due to supermarket & HMV availability.
I do feel that 30,000 outside of the UK is an overestimate. I could feasibly imagine somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 copies shipping abroad though. I would imagine that overall worldwide sales could stand at 25,000 to 30,000.
But any CDs sold through her website, like vinyls (which we know an absolute minimum of 600 copies were sold first week WW) and cassettes were essentially lost sales. As in the were sold but BMG doesn't report sales to each individual country bar the UK.
When all is said and done 50k WW sold/shipped is not unreasonable. It was stocked in record stores WW. Has evidently plenty of stock still in UK HMVs being in the 2 for £10 offer.
From following denden through the release, all the international fans ordersd through her website as the vinyls and cassettes were exclusive to her store. BMG dont care if a bundle of 2 cassettes and a CD counts towards icelands chart, or Canadas chart it is just another 3 sales.
I just can't see the worldwide numbers adding up to be that much!
Sales in most worldwide charts are pitifully low and Emma either charted very low or didn't chart at all!
Indeed there will have been some effectively "lost sales" (which I touched upon in my previous post re: vinyl / cassette / CD sales that were bought via her official store from fans outside of the UK), but I don't think these sales are likely to be more than a few thousand. Maybe over 5,000 but probably not close to 10,000.
The last UK sales figure we had was 9,913 on 17th May and I estimated by 21st June that it would have grown to between 11,000 to 12,000 sales.
The album has had no presence in the physicals chart in the past 10 weeks, and it's currently taking less than than 250 physicals sold to be Top 100 in the physical chart, and less than 300 pure sales to be Top 100 in the sales chart. I think the most generous we could be about the past 10 weeks is that it's maybe sold between 1,000 to 2,000 copies (in the UK) at a push.
I would currently predict total sales in the 13,000 to 14,000 region for My Happy Place currently (in the UK), I would be pleasantly surprised if it's more. Hopefully we'll find out soon with AJ's sales update.
I don't really see it feasibly being possible that an additional 36,000+ copies were either sold or shipped outside of the UK. We'll never find out either way to be able to say for sure, but personally I don't see this being realistic! If anything I think my 25,000 to 30,000 WW estimate is probably highly generous, now that I've thought more deeply about it. Maybe 20,000+!
20k worldwide shipping is the maximum number .
30k - 50k ! You are insane !!!
There is now way
Not Emma doing a gig for xmas to prove my predictions right. I said 50k shipped WW when all is said and done.
I don't see the correlation between her announcing this one-off gig and what it's supposedly sold worldwide?
Same! At best, some of the publicity around the show might get her some extra sales from HMV or Amazon (both have promotions going on, could work!) but 50k WW is quiiiiite the reach
Bunton will flog the album more over the next few months, it will be on sale at the show (like it was at the Wembley gigs that were again essentially lost sales as they wont have been recorded for the OCC). Her record label would be dumb to not try and take advantage in some way too, roll on limited edition Christmas cassette.
It's not going to make it sell ~30k more copies though...
WW guys, WW.
Still sammy, that's such a stretch. It would be surprisingly amazing, but naaa...
I heard she sold 50k in Soviet x
You haters and doubters will see. The power of the Bunton.
Poor Mel C though, bet she secretly hates the Bunton, Royal Albert Hall is like a proper venue that actual artists play.
I heard China bought 300k of My Happy Place to grind up and use as road filler x
Royal Albert hall is a nice venue but I don’t want a sit down concert !
I got intel that Japan has now bought 500k copies of My Happy Place to sprinkle on ramen noodles and sell it as "Emma Bunton Presents: Put Baby In Me"x
But that isn't what you said, you have gone from the Spice Girls never having touched the Royal Albert Hall to now never having performed a concert there.
I completely understand, you just moved the goal posts when I showed you what you said was incorrect.
What covers are on this album?
I love how sammy is always bitterly realistic when it comes to the other girls to the point people are begging to ban him, but when it comes to Emma...
Omg no way did she cover Don't Call Me Baby ... and managed to make it THAT lifeless?! And 2 Become 1 sounds dire omg, except for the insttumental.
I don’t really get the lifeless accusation (from others too)! The original obviously has a dancier instrumental, but the original vocal was pretty laidback too. Back when the My Happy Place album came out, I worked out that Emma’s verse only lasted 1 second longer than the original song’s verse, so it’s not exactly radically slowed down!
I personally enjoy the vibe of Emma’s cover, it’s really classy but sensual! To me it’s the most interesting and daring cover on there, other than I Wish I Could Have Loved You More.
A one off gig , her first solo gig ever and your taking the piss out of Mel C !
With a major and the spice hype she sadly flopped .
Such a fool .
Yes Spice Boy .
I don't think it was about the lenght of the song or the verse. The way she sings it, more whisper-y than the original, together with the laid back production, just gives it a different groove.
Personally I quite liked it in the beginning but got bored of it pretty quickly, and now find myself skipping it altogether unless im distracted and it just comes in the background. It's ok as a cover, nothing to run home about.
Personally I dont think it is lifeless, just a bit meh now... However, I do think it could have been a good single IF it had a good remix and video, but I would rather she release something like Too Many Teardrops to be honest. Now THAT is a song!!
I'm so here for I Wish I Could Have Loved You More
Bashing the girls will get you nowhere.
Don’t reply to that ignorant twat.
The sales so far for RAH are abysmal! She is going to have to reduce and promote or this could get cancelled !!
it is half sold out and she has done zero promo. She will be on the one show, loose women etc.
As for the poster calling me a twat, grow up or shut up.
it is half sold out and she has done zero promo. She will be on the one show, loose women etc.
As for the poster calling me a twat, grow up or shut up.
Simon’ll comp it out if he needs to. It will be full on the performance.
It is not even half sold out
Not even close .
Omg at this fan war :popcorn:
Emma is recording Christmas songs to go with her Christmas show, hopefully it is for a My happy place rerelease so you can all eat crow when it sells more than I predicted.
I can't see a re release happening as the interest isnt there, she would be looking at drawing another 5000 sales max in the uk.
Can't say I'm particularly excited by what's no doubt more covers.
Christmas albums/ add ons never really excited me.
I swear to god that this Christmas album/special edition thing might do wonders for Emma's profile as a Christmas loving popstar, but I seriously doubt it will do anything to her career overall...
It's the least excited Ive been since learning about the tracklist for My Happy Place and even that had me excited about *some* of its parts lol
What Christmas classics would we like to see her cover/perform?
I could imagine her doing these nicely for the album / to perform. Some of these aren't necessarily big favourites of mine, but I'm trying to imagine what would suit her vocals:
Baby, It's Cold Outside (with Jade Jones)
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
I'm Gonna Be Warm This Winter
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Santa Baby
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
Winter Wonderland
Would be great to see her perform Christmas Wrapping with Melanie C!
I wish she would do a Spice Christmas medley at Royal Albert Hall.
For the album, I honestly couldn't really care less lol I will buy it, obviously, and listen to it at least once but I cant even bring myself to pick which songs she should record for it ah...
Last Christmas is surely a shoe in, her voice would suit it so well.
Interesting that she is promoting My happy place on social media today. Like I said I think the album will have done better and sold more than people think. BMG obviously feel she has done well enough to record and release these Christmas songs in some way and the gig at the Royal Albert Hall is a big one.
Stop inventing sales ! Lmao
Just come to my notice that Emma is on The One Show tomorrow evening on BBC One. Could potentially be an announcement of a Christmas re-release but I'd say more than likely for promo for the RAH gig.
About time there is some promo!
I'm sure there will be a raft of promo next few weeks leading up to the Royal Albert Hall gig. At this point whatever Christmas music she recorded looks unlikely it will be a whole new album, looking like a single, EP or My Happy Place rerelease.
I dont think the album done enough to get a repackage so I'd say it will be an ep.
The one show just confirmed Emma is releasing a single. Stating she is 'vying for a Christmas number 1'.
A little optimistic perhaps. But I can't wait to find out what she's got up her sleeve.
If only there was even the slightest chance of going top 100 let alone number 1.
IMAGINE!
I doubt she will even be Top20 but who knows lol Glad she is releasing a new single though. Interesting on what she will do with it in terms of promo, if it goes with a new My Happy Place re-release or simply just a single lol
'Going for Christmas #1' is just a nice headline, talking, selling point. I'm sure the expectations for a Christmas single is to flog the remaining tour tickets.
Though a Christmas single is not a bad idea success wise, if it is half decent and gets put on a few Christmas playlists, it can accumulate great streaming and sales without ever really bothering the charts.
Kylie's Santa baby is one of her best selling songs for a long time now and it was originally a b-side I think but has become a Christmas playlist staple now.
Let's hope it's not a cover
Maybe she should team up with Louise to ensure that number #1 smash hit
Hopefully it is an original song, I think she would do much better with an original Christmas song than a cover because she isn't really a big enough name to bump the original off playlists, downloads or to get airplay over the original version.
Maybe Louise, Emma and Heidi Range can start a girl group and do a completely harmless and pleasantly bland Christmas original.
I might actually go and pitch it to a label right now x
hope the single is NOT "2 become 1 feat Robbie williams".
could be new song or new cover. but I just terrified.
I Predict : Do You Want to Build a Snowman as the next single. Xsmas/winter mood
The album is £5 on Amazon, they have the deluxe and signed copies too. Should be able to squeeze some more sales out of it this next 5 weeks.
No news yet?
The One show starts in just under an hour and a half.
Christmas single, looks like it’s called coming home for Christmas. Also will Young and Jade confirmed as ‘friends’ performing.
The album is 1 year old today My goodness, that year went fast! A little video from Emma to mark the anniversary:
The good news is Emma is still very much acknowledging the album and giving it social media promo whenever she can. Which is a good sign she is still into her solo career and intends to keep it going.
After LIM she pretty much ignored her solo music until My happy place, since My happy place she has been celebrating anniversaries and pushing her old material too. I like that it makes her feel more like an artist less like My happy place and her soli music career was a side project.
I'm confident we will get album number 5.
I truly hope so, I'd love a fifth album from her - and hopefully more original songs and less covers next time.
Agree. It is nice that she is a solo artist again. Hope she gets to work on a new album as soon as this crisis is over! We need some more solo Emma and please, some gigs would be nice
Is she still with BMG?
I'm pretty sure she is, the xmas songs were with BMG.
She is still on BMG website (though not on the main artists' page ).
From what we know, BMG came in on board very late or even after My Happy Place was recorded, so she might be in a sort of special deal that we don't know about. Hope they really back her up on a new album.
This brings some hope:
https://twitter.com/Metrophonic/status/1249618275006386176
(although I really hope she works with better producers on new music...........)
I think BMG was the reason My Happy Place happened. She signed with them in 2018 and they recorded My happy place in Sept 2018 (in a pretty quick time). I'm sure at this point Emma/BMG and her team knew Nov announcement, end of May SW19 so My happy place was rushed together to take advantage.
So Emma may want to tell you it took 2 years etc but I'm pretty sure everything got rushed to release before the tour. The original plan was probably to record more original songs and take more time but covers was quick and easy to get sorted.
I love the album and the fact we got new Emma music was a huge bonus but do we really think BMG will support another album? Commercially whilst it was a good result for Emma for the record company it would have been a bit of a disaster no?
Why was it a disaster for the label? Those covers cost minimal to make, they were flogging £30 vinyls and £10 cd singles of her xmas songs.
The album had sold 28k WW by Aug 2019.
Jay has a friend who works at BMG that was the WW figure in Aug 2019. If Jay asked nicely we could maybe get an update on that.
I'd assume she/her management is funding the recording sessions (which probably aren't expensive tbh) and then they take them to BMG. I'd assume she owns the masters and that there really aren't any tracks left on the studio floor though.
The buyers paid for the shipping cost it's not like the old day that they shipped to every store worldwide. No one buys physical anymore and they had done zero marketing for her outside the UK I found out during the spiceworld tour that she released the album.
28k
Is this enough for a label to be happy ?
Exactly Tommie and Jane, the physical market is actually a huge money spinner now. A massive chunk of that 28k (which I'm sure is about 35k now) are sold direct from her webstore and label. Back in the day that 9 quid cd was sold to Asda for £5 and then Asda sold it on for £9 and the label had to pay to ship to Asda too.
1k signed vinyls that sold out on her webstore where postage was paid too came to £35,500.
If you can flog a lot of vinyls, cds and cassettes directly from a label these days you will be doing fine.
Also I'm sure as Tommie says she probably pays the studio time herself and just turns over the album to BMG with some guidance from them as to a time frame and content. I'm sure BMG aren't getting involved in recording or producing costs.
I suppose all we can do is wait and see, hopefully they were happy enough with it to justify another album.
Emma's music is going for super cheap on Amazon:
CD is on £3.45
Delux is on £6.49
Life in Mono is on £4.99
GET ITTTTTTTTTT
thats cheap for the regular edition.
My happy place got a Brazilian release last month. It was released by BMG and they are new printed copies for the release with Brazilian copyright info.
My Happy Place was released 2 years ago this week!
I don’t go back to this album much The two original songs are great though, I really should play them more than I do.
I’m still a bit gutted about the #11 peak after the tease of it being midweek Top 10 all week!
this was always a real shame of an album... I think I expected it to be something else, especially with the great original songs but it just felt like a cheap, cash in for Mothers Day in the end which is a shame...
It was gutting she missed out on the top 10
It would have been amazing for it to have reached Top10. I think it is safe to say that it would have had it not been released in such a competitive week in the middle of Record Store day right?
Also, promo wasnt amazing, lets be honest. One TV performance once of the lead single which it had been released over a month before and then the next single was launched weeks AFTER the album... Crazy! Releasing so close to the Spice reunion probably hindered it as well. She should have released a bit earlier and then spend more time promoting it before going into rehearsals for the Spice tour!
A huge missed opportunity was her not performing on the Jonathan Ross show, for instance. She totally should have and it probably would have given her that Top10!
Yes, a bit of a missed opportunity and an underwhelming idea behind it. I loved the 2 new songs, and I'm happy with a couple of (inspired, not too obvious) covers as she's always included some in every record, but making it the whole point of the album was a bit uninspiring. Claire Richard had a similar opportunity off the back of some solo exposure and still managed to pull together an album of unreleased songs. Ideally, I would have kept I Wish I Could Love You More and Don't Call Me Baby as the odd cover songs peppered around an album made up of new tracks along the lines of the 4 songs I enjoyed
I wish I could have loved you more was an excellent choice it’s not a very well known song so it isn’t necessarily recognised as a cover and her version of it was brilliant, a highlight of the album. I would also have kept the Will Young duet which is beautiful and then had all new tracks for the rest. That’s not to say the other covers were bad I think emotion is particularly nice, it was just boring and uninspired by that point. The first three tracks are all killer, track 4 works and then it’s just a bit meh. I felt the same about Stages I loved the first three tracks and then it was just a bit meh boring (Emma’s first three tracks far surpassed Stages first three tracks btw by miles. 🤣)
Happy 3rd anniversary to what is, objectively, Emma's least interesting album to date!
I loved Baby Please Dont Stop instantly. A decade or so earlier and it would've been Top ten for sure, definitely has that noughties feel to it.
The rest of the album is meh/OK I guess. My fave cover is probably the Madison Avenue one.
More tracks like Baby please don't stop would've been great instead of the covers
Lazy project sadly. Even Louise and Natalie Imbruglia under the same label put out two nice pop album of new music.
It's not her best album by any means but it's a shame it missed out on going top 10 as I was sure she would have made it.
Given that it was Emma’s first album in just over 12 years(!), I gave My Happy Place a lot of attention when it came out. It was just so good to hear her singing again. However, a few years on… I can’t really say this is a good album. It’s one that frustratingly teases what could have been a great album, with its two original tracks. Why stop there, Emma?
I get that the album had a theme of songs that meant a lot to her and her family, hence why she covered them. And also in another sense it was an act of dipping her toe back into music. Ultimately though, most of those covers come across as being lazy and cheap, unfortunately, a bit of a “this will do!” album.
For the amount of effort she put in, and in terms of its quality, I don’t think it really deserved to be up there with the highest peaking solo albums. So in a sense, the #11 peak is probably befitting. I wish that it had been a wake up call to Emma that it isn’t quite what fans had been dreaming of.
Who knows if a full length album of originals would have fared much better - the chart performances of Louise’s and Natalie Imbruglia’s albums suggests probably not… but at least it would have been a more worthwhile project. I certainly felt far more fulfilled and rewarded by Louise’s album.
I believe that Emma is a much better artist than one who releases an album that is 80% cover versions. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed that she’ll have another attempt, but 3 years have passed already… I won’t hold my breath.
Last I heard BMG were happy to release another album but she would need to bring them it. I'm not sure I see Emma booking her own studio time and sorting an album herself though sigh.
I think the best anyone can hope she is she books a recording studio for 2 weeks and we get an xmas covers album that BMG would be all over I'm sure.
i hope the buzz for the two original songs (and her cover of 'don't call me baby') would have inspired more music.
it's a shame that she's not passionate about making music - like Mel C.
Its good that BMG take a chance on these older artists. Martine McCutcheon and Natalie Imbruglia both put out pretty solid records with them in recent years.
It really is such a waste the two original tracks and I wish I could have loved you more are just fantastic and really tease what could have been an excellent album up there with free me if she had kept on those lines. I’m not sure it would have made much if any difference to her sales though, she has her fan base which is basically a small fraction of the spice girls one like the other girls, I think all of them would have very similar success album wise now with a top 20 chart placement, first week peaking then dropping like a stone and selling between 10-15k in the U.K.
Emma does have a quite small US audience also...
Emma does have a quite small US audience also...
Already 4 years old
I was disappointed when I found out it was mostly made by covers. I like the two new songs on it but generally I think it's a cheap album and a bland return for her.
Yes it as a bittersweet dissapointment. Bitter because it was yet again a coverfest with most of them being the general, bland covers that she often falls for (and is most criticised in her career for, damn!!). Did she learn nothing from the bad critical response to her covers in Life in Mono era? At the very least, her covers in the Free Me era had some spark to them and made it her own.
Bittersweet because the lead single, while interesting, didn't bring anything new from her either. It felt like she was just starting to warm up by re-living old music glories, rather than moving forward with her sound she established in Free Me and Life in Mono. 12 years too late, clearly... She also released the album too far out from the lead single with the next single being another cover and released AFTER the album was out...
In my opinion, she should have done:
Single 1: Too Many Teardrops
Single 2: I Wish I Could Have Loved You More
Instant grat track (with pre-order of the album): Don't Call Me Baby
Album Out
Single 3: You're All I Need To Get By
But honestly the main problem with the album, bar the covers, is that it sounds cheap, no depth to the production. My Happy Place and ensuing Christmas-focused tour were so cheaply made, it is quite sad to be honest. It didn't particularly set any faith in her recording future or touring capacit. I'd much rather it was just a show with her in front of a mic and a glittery curtain and two dancers + two back up singers rather than the snooze fest with playback + 6 dancers with lame choreo + two fake Christmas trees stolen from an IKEA display window we got...
NONETHELESS, the era did provide some gems such as this:
Too Many Teardrops (shoudl have been THE lead single)
I Wish I Could Have Loved You More
You're All I Need To Get By
Baby Please Don't Stop (live only cos the studio version and the video f***ing suck!)
Also, the live version of her non-Christmas songs in her Albert Hall show SLAPPED:
Baby Please Don't Stop + Too Many Teardrops
Maybe
Take My Breath Awaty & Free Me
Viva Forever
Say You'll Be There
Really wished she would have kept some of these versions for her Christmas tour last year instead of the lame ass karaoke-level versions we got...
Now this production is cheap, i am fond of the album even though it sounds like it was recorded in her garden shed!
People who are saying that it was bland... what on earth do you expect from an Emma Bunton solo album?
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