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BuzzJack Music Forum _ Spice Girls _ Spice Girls Solo Singles Rate: RESULTS

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 2 2017, 07:51 PM



Firstly a big thank you to the 27 members who took part and made this a success.

We've had the group singles, now it's time to see who had the best solo career, with 52 singles in the running, who will come out on top, Mel B, Melanie C, Geri, Emma or Victoria.

All will be revealed very soon.. Any thoughts/any predictions

Posted by: liamk97 Nov 2 2017, 08:52 PM

I'm guessing 'Half Of Me' will be first out and Victoria will be the first to have all her songs out of the rate.

No idea which song is going to win but I would assume one of Geri's singles, unless the underdog 'Never Be the Same Again' makes it.

Posted by: Jade Nov 2 2017, 10:06 PM

I am going to predict a 'Maybe' win even though I am of course rooting for 'Never Be The Same Again'!

'Half Of Me' is surely first out indeed laugh.gif

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 2 2017, 11:09 PM

I'd expect Melanie C and Geri to dominate. But I'd love to see Emma get in the top 3 with 'Maybe'!

Surely 'Today' is first out?

Can't wait to find out. Thank you SamJudd!

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 3 2017, 12:14 AM

I gave you the finger you took me to dinner
















#52. Geri Halliwell - Half Of Me [2.846]


Highest Scores: 7: (Liam, THEO), Lowest Scores: -1/0: (Mr X, vibe, JB2o20, Jack, mutucan, engineer, Jade, liamk97}


In the bottom position and the first spice to lose a single, Geri Halliwell's 'Half Of Me', which marked her first release in 8 years to coincide with her appearance as a judge on 'Australia's Got Talent', as well as signing a record deal with Sony Music Australia which would be exclusively released in that country only. So the wheels in motion were set for her big comeback, and well...it didn't work out that way as the single tanked with a piss poor chart peak of #281 selling only 393 copies, leaving any further forthcoming material up in the air indefinitely.

I have always been a fan of the Spice Girls and their solo efforts, especially Geri's as I loved her first 2 studio albums and she released some cracking tunes over her peak years, but standards began to slip with her 3rd album with the awful 'Passion', which also tanked & seemed to mark the end of her once promising singing career.

So imagine my delight at when it was announced that she was to return, then all hopes dashed when this awful tripe was brought out. My thoughts were WTF they were thinking that this would take off, with it's cringeworthy trumpet running throughout it's very basic pop sound which sounded out of date even back in 2013. And don't get me started on that 50p budget music video, which probably ranks as one of the worst videos of all time. However after a few spins the song did warm to me slightly, but still wouldn't rank it anywhere other than last place and doesn't even come close to reaching those highs of her former glory.




#51. Melanie C - I Want Candy [4.277]


Highest Scores: 9.5: (HarryApa), 8: (Liam), Lowest Scores: 0: (engineer, Supercell)


At #51 Melanie C is the next Spice Girl to lose a single with 'I Want Candy' which was released as the 2nd single from her 4th album 'This Time' in February 2007, as well as featuring on the soundtrack to the movie of the same name. As most of you probably know the song is a cover originally by The Strangeloves in 1965 and has been covered many times throughout the years by the likes of Bow Wow Wow & Aaron Carter.

Melanie's version doesn't stray too far away from the original, just given that typical 00's update and did nothing to halt her flagging career in the UK, where the song peaked at a mere #24 before dropping down fast selling a mere 12,000 copies. While other European countries got the far superior 'The Moment You Believe', we got this and even remembering at the time when this was released that there wasn't any hype for it and the fact that she didn't much promo for it due to her promoting the other single elsewhere, this didn't really stand a chance and to put an even further damper on things even the radio stations didn't bother with it.

Like most of her later releases, this did find more success in other countries by reaching top 10 peaks in Denmark & Italy, but as for the UK her career was on life support as even the album and further singles did nothing to reverse fortunes and it would seem that for the time being her solo career was better suited to Europe. By this point even fans of the Spice Girls had moved on & although things would look up later in the year when the reunion of her former bandmates started making waves with a successful Greatest Hits album and even more successful farewell tour.


Posted by: Jade Nov 3 2017, 12:22 AM

An obvious last place if ever I saw one laugh.gif and the perfect wooden spoon as it was of course my -1. Such a long gap since 'Desire' and she comes back with... that mellow.gif 'Half Of Me' houses terrible lyrics and an awful video to go alongside. Flush.

Didn't expect any Melanie C songs to be dropping out this early ohmy.gif I'm not a massive fan of 'I Want Candy' or anything but I don't think it deserves bottom 2.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 3 2017, 03:44 AM

Just to let everybody know of how I will be posting the results, as follows = 50-41 will be in 5's, 40-30 will in 3's & 4's, then 29-26 will be in 2's, and then finally the top 25 will be single posts.

Also what does everybody think of my commentary's, are they okay.

Posted by: vibe Nov 3 2017, 07:44 AM

We all knew Half Of Me would be first out !!

I didn't expect IWC To be sexond out !. Atleast it has a good video.

Top 3 predictions

1. Maybe
2. Never Be The Same Again
3. When You're Gone

Posted by: HarryApa Nov 3 2017, 07:58 AM

Why is I Want Candy so low :/

Posted by: engineer Nov 3 2017, 10:26 AM

QUOTE(SamJudd @ Nov 3 2017, 01:14 AM) *
#52. Geri Halliwell - Half Of Me [3.115]

Totally deserved the last place dance.gif
But how did you count the mean score?
There were 26 votes:
7*(-1) + 1*0 + 2*2 + 3*3 + 1*3.5 + 3*4 + 4*5 + 2*6 + 1*6.5 + 2*7 = 74
74/26 = 2.846 ≠ 3.115

Posted by: schizo_spice Nov 3 2017, 08:38 PM

I get the feeling Half of Me would've been more popular had it been released worldwide and been semi successful.

Not a deserving bottom 2 for me but each to their own.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 4 2017, 01:29 AM

QUOTE(engineer @ Nov 3 2017, 10:26 AM) *
Totally deserved the last place dance.gif
But how did you count the mean score?
There were 26 votes:
7*(-1) + 1*0 + 2*2 + 3*3 + 1*3.5 + 3*4 + 4*5 + 2*6 + 1*6.5 + 2*7 = 74
74/26 = 2.846 ≠ 3.115



Whoops thanks for pointing that out, I accidently counted the -1's as 0's, but I have edited it.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 4 2017, 04:10 AM

Caught in the eye of a storm














In this selection Mel B suffers the worst by losing 3 songs none of which were very successful, while both Melanie C & Geri lose another one each.




#50. Mel B - Today [4.555]


Highest Scores: 7: (Euphorique, THEO, Jonjo, LazySpice88, Schizo Spice), Lowest Scores: -1/0: (Michael Andrew, Supercell)


At #50 is the first of 3 Mel B singles to drop in this bunch 'Today' which was released in June 2005 as the first and only single from her 2nd album 'L.A. State Of Mind'. It marked her first release in 4 years after getting dropped by Virgin Records due to poor sales of her debut album after which she lost interest in recording music for a few years and concentrated on acting and presenting. It wasn't until 2004 when she debuted on the stage in the musical 'Rent', that she became interested in music again and later revealed that she was recording new material, but not signing with any major label because the music would be non commercial and therefore created her own label 'Amber Cafe' just to release the album.

Judging by the awful lead single it's not hard to see why there was no interest in this project, the song managed a peak of just #41 on the UK charts upon release and quickly vanished out of the charts the following week selling a mere 1,000 copies in it's opening week. Again you can see why this didn't take off where Melanie attempts to go down the acoustic pop route and fails miserably due to it's awfully dated production and simplistic childlike melodies, which just doesn't cut it, even back in 2005 this sounded out of place.

While her husky tones worked well when she was with the Spice Girls as their vocals all complimented each other well, however here she sounds like she's in pain and the amateurish nature of this represents the album entirely, which suffered an even worse fate by charting at an humiliating #453 on the UK charts with just 670 copies sold, along with terrible critical reviews who have dubbed this the worst Spice Girl solo album by far, and their probably right. After this she choice wisely to abandon the project and put her music career on hold for several years and focus on TV, which turned out to be the better option for her.




#49. Geri Halliwell - Angels In Chains [4.788]


Highest Scores:8.5/8: (engineer, Schizo Spice), Lowest Scores: 0: (Mr X, Jack)


At #49 is Geri Halliwell's latest release to date 'Angels In Chains' which was released this year as a loving tribute to her close friend George Michael who passed away on Christmas Day 2016. Her first release in 4 years following the disaster that was 'Half Of Me' with all proceeds going to charity. Featuring backing vocals from George Michael's musical family, it's something that echoes familiarity in both it's touching sound and many references to the man himself.

Now she may not be known for her strong vocals this piano ballad really suits her and a much better direction for Geri to go in at this point in her career. While it may be a bit of a risk as she is more known for big brash pop numbers, she really finds her footing here after a somewhat shaky start, but as the song carries on you can really feel her emotion with the plush percussive accompaniment which helps smooth over the rough edges and along with the gospel-influenced backing vocals which really shine here as does the chorus which cleverly represents his George's many ballads, which makes this a really beautiful and well crafted tribute to a global icon.

While this may not be one of her best songs, it's a step in the right direction for her, and it does peak interest of what's to come on her long awaited 4th studio album, if and when that day ever comes.




#48. Mel B - Lullaby [4.944]


Highest Scores: 9: (engineer), 7.5/7: (Lukuzz, mutucan, LazySpice88), Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell)


At #48 is Mel B's 'Lullaby' which was released in June 2001 as the final single from her debut album 'Hot' and peaked at #13 on the UK charts, which sealed her fate with 'Virgin Records' and led to her being dropped by the label, due to poor album sales and the next planned single 'Hotter', which would have been a far better choice than this being scrapped. To add insult to injury she was also blasted by the media for using her child Phoenix Chi in the music video and single artwork, labelling her desperate spice and using her child as a marketing tool.

Now that was a bit harsh, sure the song isn't great but it is a loving tribute to her daughter with it's light acoustic guitar and light percussion, and yeah the lyrics are cheesy as hell, but the chorus does have a really warm feel to it and her vocals are rather nice here, but this should have stayed on the album and not released as a single which was a huge mistake as you can tell by it's chart performance and critical reception. This of course did not help flagging album sales and led to her solo career dead in the water and she would not recover from this at all, as she wouldn't grace the top 40 ever again, despite getting off to a good start with a #1 hit for her first release.

If the next planned single 'Hotter' was released instead then maybe it could have given her another hit and she could have hung on to her recording contract for a bit longer, but there is no way of knowing that now is there, it's just another what could have been.




#47. Mel G - Word Up [5.148]


Highest Scores: 10: (Mr X, Michael Andrew), 8: (Lukuzz, JB2o20, letloverule), Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell)


At #47 is the 3rd song from Mel B or G as it says on this to feature in the bunch. 'Word Up' which was released in June 1999 as her 2nd solo release following the chart topping smash 'I Want You Back' from the previous year. This however was far less successful by only managing a #13 peak. Although there was a slight error on the charts that week where this was wrongly listed at #14, but was corrected and placed it's correct chart position. At the time this was the lowest charting Spice Girl related single of the 90's and another fact this was her only single to be released under her brief name change of Mel G due to her short lived marriage to Jimmy Gulzar which may have been one of the factors that led to it's underperformance, all that would change by the next year where she would revert back to Mel B in a big way with her next single.

This wasn't included on her debut album, probably due to it's relatively low chart peak and stupid decision name change, only ending up on the 'Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me' soundtrack and later on the Japanese version of her album. This was originally sung by the American funk band Cameo back in 1986 and has been covered many times throughout the years, most recently by Little Mix back in 2014.

This probably wasn't the wisest choices of songs to cover for Mel B to release at this early point in her career, firstly the original is just too well known and this just doesn't compare in any way despite decent production by Timbaland to give it a more sassy street-wise edge, and despite her attempts at trying to put her own stamp on it's stomping hook, this just falls flat and her harsh vocal tones just doesn't work on here. I can see why this got scrapped from the album and quickly became forgotten about.




#46. Melanie C - Melt [5.25]


Highest Scores: 10: (Lukuzz), 8: (Jade), Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell)


The last single to drop in this bunch is Melanie C's 'Melt', released in November 2003 alongside 'Yeh, Yeh, Yeh', as the 3rd and final single from her 2nd album 'Reason'. Originally the plan was to just release the latter single on it's own in September of that year, but due to her knee injury on the TV show 'The Games', which limited her movement and could not fully promote an upbeat song, so the original release date was pushed back and the ballad 'Melt' was added to the mix resulting in a double a-side release & to make it easier for her to perform.

This tactic failed to improve things as numerous problems soon followed, firstly the misprint of the CD singles where the latter track was listed as the first track and it wasn't, then there was strong chart competition from that week's releases, as well as lack of promotion which resulted in the song only managing a #27 peak, becoming her first single to miss the top 20 and led to her being the final member of the Spice Girls to get dropped by Virgin Records and further hindering any hopes for future success. Although she did try to get the title track 'Reason' released as the next single in a desperate hope to turn things around, but the decision was final and never got past the planning stages. However things would improve for her the following year where she ended up forming her own label Red Girl Records, to release her further material.

'Melt' is a nice enough if not earnest piano ballad, but for me it just lacks that certain punch and doesn't quite stand out from the crowd, it's instantly forgettable, hell I had trouble even remembering it until I started doing this rate and realized that I didn't miss much. There's a certain hollowness to it despite the nice production and Melanie's great vocals, this is just bland and therefore lacks that certain spark that should have made it great or at least interesting.



Posted by: vibe Nov 4 2017, 09:32 AM

Word Up didn't eneratebany buzz at all even with 2 amazing videos . I appreciate it a lot more now than when released. It's certainly better than the Little Mix version .

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 4 2017, 10:05 AM

Oh Mel B!

I actually loved 'Word Up' at the time. But I think the name change contributed to it's failure, as well as the alternative, weirdly adult CGI video.

Spice fans had to cope with too much change in the run up to their solo projects. I was beginning to feel like I didn't know them anymore.

Then there was Mel B's overly sexy album cover. No-one was going to buy that as a Christmas present for a 10-14 year old.

And I totally agree that 'Lullaby' was a mis-step. Such a bland and personal song. Surely only die-hard fans bought that one. 'Hotter' was the album stand-out, and the better single choice.

NB. Thank you SamJudd! Appreciate this is a massive project. Loving your commentaries.

Posted by: HarryApa Nov 4 2017, 10:40 AM

No real losses in that section imo.

Posted by: Jay ☆ Nov 4 2017, 01:32 PM

No major losses so far!

Re: Word Up - back in 1999 there was an error with compiling, which meant an inaccurate chart aired and Word Up was given a position of #14. Official Charts posted the correct chart in 2015 and it turned out it should have peaked at #13! So that’s the position they’ve belatedly given her.

Lol, harsh write up for Today. ohmy.gif I think it’s a pleasant enough song, it’s just a bit nondescript. Very cheap video though.

Great commentary so far!

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 4 2017, 02:07 PM

Wow Today and LA State Of Mind suffered in your write up laugh.gif ohmy.gif I personally love both, think they have a very simple but earthly sound to them. Each to their own though smile.gif

Posted by: Jade Nov 4 2017, 02:18 PM

Aw it's a shame to see 'Melt' out so early sad.gif I suppose it's not the most memorable song ever but I love the vibes of it and her voice sounds so calming.

'Angels In Chains' and 'Lullaby' are both sweet tributes to George/Mel's daughter but that's about it. I don't have much of an urge to seek out either of them really. 'Today' and 'Word Up' are then pretty bad - particularly the latter. I agree that Mel's voice doesn't really suit the song at all. Little Mix's cover is far superior to me!

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 4 2017, 03:01 PM

Wow you think so? I think Mel's cover is far superior but just think it was too experimental too early for her, it could have gone either way.

Posted by: Jay ☆ Nov 4 2017, 04:00 PM

I enjoy Timbaland's production in Mel's version, it has a dark/eerie sound. The original video disturbed me somewhat at the age of 11! (The CGI one, not the video linked above). Very Scary :') Overall it's an interesting entry in the solo Spice discography!

Artistically speaking (as far as you can be artistic with a cover version) I think it's way superior to Little Mix's version.

Posted by: Lukuzz Nov 4 2017, 10:36 PM

Melt is one of my fave solo spice girl singles, so underrated, it’s stunning

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 5 2017, 12:02 AM

Thank you guys for all your comments so far, they have been very supportive and I would just like to say thank you. Plus I'm you all liked my commentaries, especially coming from Jay whose write ups on the Spice Girl Group rate were excellent and really helped to inspire me on when writing my commentaries for their solo releases.

Also I have edited my previous post, by including the CGI video for Mel B's 'Word Up', instead of that horrible embarrassing Austin Powers one and WTF was up with Mel B's outfit, just looked ridiculous and find that she was trying way too hard to be edgy, but ended up being silly. I have also edited my write up for it slightly, totally forgot about the chart error, so thanks for pointing that out. In all honesty I did actually like her cover version back in 1999 and even bought the CD single, because that's how much of a massive Spice Girls fan back in the day. However by the next month I just kinda went off it and hadn't listened to it in years, up until I started this rate.

I know my write ups for some of Mel B's singles were a bit harsh, but I just found the new direction she went in for the 2nd album was totally wrong for her, she doesn't have the right vocals too pull of that kind of sound, plus 'L.A. State Of Mind' was dreadful and it was definitely the worst Solo Spice album in my humble opinion.


Posted by: SamJudd Nov 5 2017, 04:47 AM

Why I played the game and paid the price













In this batch it's just Melanie C & Geri (and Emma sort of loses 1) that lose a few more songs, 3 & 2 respectively. Bringing Mel's total of 5 lost so far, but still has 14 left in the running so don't think she's in any danger yet. Geri now loses 4 of her 11 solo singles so far. Emma & Victoria sees all of their solo releases make the top 40 here, which is pretty good going especially for Posh who has only 5 songs in this countdown, which is by far the least amount of any Spice Girl solo releases.




#45. Geri Halliwell - Desire [5.314]


Highest Scores: 9: (Maurice, Jade), 8.5/8: (Lukuzz, Jay, Schizo Spice), Lowest Scores: 0: (Jonjo, engineer)


At #45 is Geri Halliwell's final UK top 40 hit to date 'Desire', released in May 2005 as the 2nd and final single from her 3rd album 'Passion' and peaked at #22 becoming her lowest peaking single to date, as well as being her first to miss the top 20 entirely and would therefore halt any chance of success for the then upcoming album and hindered any hopes for further releases.

I think the 6 month gap between releases didn't help matters as the music scene can be a very fickle place and if you turn your back for even a moment, then you're forgotten about and just end up lost in the crowd. However this decision was made due to the label 'Innocent/EMI' not being satisfied with the album in it's original form and therefore many of the tracks got canned and EMI changed the focus of the album by replacing some of the dance songs with ballads, jazz-pop & electro pop tracks, along it's original title 'Disco Sister', (a terrible title, glad it got changed). I can see why they would do this, to help improve the overall quality, but it would be something that would cost her dearly. Already it had been 4 years since her last album and being out of the spotlight for so long wasn't a wise choice for her career as the music scene had long since moved on which would become a struggle for Geri to keep up with the times, which is something she couldn't manage sadly and this sound wasn't the in thing anymore.

'Desire' was one of the new songs recorded for the album with Geri attempting electro-pop for the first and last time in her career. Where she attempts to channell seductive & cooing with tweaked vocals that comes across more as desperate and unconvincing more than sexy and sultry that definitely veering into more of a camp area. In all honesty this simply just doesn't suit her vocal range at all and could have done with a lot more polish and refinement, especially in it's awful production which just drags the whole thing down. No wonder this failed to take off, marking a limp end to her once promising solo career.

The album would end up suffering an even worse fate by limping into the charts at #41, lasting only 1 week before dropping out of existence, along with mediocre reviews and lack of interest, the planned tour would also be scrapped as well as all promotion for the project quickly ending shortly after, along the next planned single the far superior 'Love Never Loved Me' to being a classic that never was. Maybe if this was released 5 years previous then maybe it would have stood a chance, but even by 2005 this was born out it's time.




#44. Melanie C - This Time [5.5]


Highest Scores: 10: (LazySpice88), 7.5/7: (SamJudd, iiiiiii, mutucan, Jade), Lowest Scores: 3: (Hide&Seek, THEO, Supercell)


At #44 is Melanie C with 'This Time', released in October 2007 as the 4th and final international single from her 4th studio album also titled 'This Time'. In the UK it's release was perhaps overshadowed by the Spice Girls reuniting for their world tour in Los Angeles in that same week resulting in a UK peak of #94 becoming the lowest charting single of her career by that point. Despite being re-recorded especially for it's release.

The original video shoot for this song was cancelled due to the death of the director and long-time friend Tim Royes, so a new video was filmed by his friend and actor Adrian Moat as a tribute to the late director. You can really tell that Melanie means every word she sings on this song, with her strong and distinctive vocals that really shines along with the beautiful melody that really suits her well and gives you further proof that she was the best vocalist in the Spice Girls. While this may not change your perception of life or even be remembered as one of her all-time greats, it's still a well crafted pop song that's really worth checking out of you're a fan.

By the year 2007 Melanie C was the only member of the group to still be releasing music, and while she hasn't found any real success since the year 2000 and getting dropped by Virgin Records, she kept going, even going as far to form her own record label just to keep releasing new material for the simple fact that she loves doing it , and it is nice to see at least one member of the Spice Girls still bothering with music.




#43. Geri Halliwell - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster [5.648]


Highest Scores: 9: (Schizo Spice), 8.5/8: (HarryApa, Jack), Lowest Scores: 2: (JB2o20, engineer, Supercell)


At #43 is the first top 10 hit to drop here with Geri Halliwell - 'Scream If You Wanna Go Faster', released in July 2001 as the 2nd single from her 2nd album of the same name and sees her for the first time going for a more rock/pop sound which samples Apollo 440's song 'Stop The Rock'. She co-wrote this with Rick Nowels on the day of her first recovery meeting for bulimia and was inspired by her listening to Led Zeppelin the previous as encouraged by close friend Robbie Williams.

It received a positive reception by critics who complimented her new style and peaked at #8 on the UK charts, making this her 6th top 10 hit in a row, but her first single to miss the top 2, despite a lot of promotion with appearances on 'TOTP' & 'Party In The Park' etc, as well as constant media coverage the single couldn't climb any higher and ended up dropping down the charts pretty fast and did very little to help sales of the album which received negative reviews and wasn't as successful as her debut album which I will talk more about later on.

I would definitely say that this is an interesting sound for her and one that she pulls off somewhat quite well and quite fun and camp, however it's the production that really suffers here, which to me feels like it's a tad over produced making the whole thing sound way too all over the place, and therefore lacking that special something her previous songs had up to this point. Geri does try her best on this though with her loud and brash vocals and really tries and let loose, but it just feels like there's something missing and not quite there yet. While this was an interesting experiment for her, it perhaps would have been better suited staying on the album instead.




#42. Melanie C - Yeh Yeh Yeh [5.703]


Highest Scores: 10: (Michael Andrew), 9: (Lukuzz, Schizo Spice), Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell)


At #42 we have the other half of Melanie C's double a-side release 'Yeh, Yeh, Yeh', which like I already said was released alongside 'Melt' for reasons explained in my previous post so go read that because I'm not repeating myself. This was due to be released on it's own in September 2003 but got pushed back due to her injury. Unlike the other song this was given an international release as the album's 3rd and final single, but like it's performance in the UK it didn't fare any better worldwide either.

I don't know if it would have made any difference chart wise if this was released in September as originally planned, but I doubt the 5 month gap between singles helped any matters however and when this first aired I do remember it getting quite a bit of airplay on TV stations, but when it ended up getting pushed back, I didn't really see or hear much of it and became rather quickly forgotten before it even had a chance. What I do remember however is that none of the releases seemed to help with sales of the album as it seemed to have vanished from the charts almost completely by this point and she didn't seem to receive much support from Virgin Records either, which was a shame given how much success she had with her debut and it's singles. With her follow up she couldn't manage that same feat & really struggled overall.

The song itself is definitely far better than 'Melt', it has that fun pop/rock party vibe that's definitely slickly produced as well as being a standout moment on the album where it comes as the final track which definitely ends the album on a somewhat high note, and I could hear a little hint of a disco somewhere in there also, maybe that's just me. While I wouldn't call the song great or anything, it's good and very decent, nothing more nothing less. If this couldn't help flagging album sales, then honestly nothing could.




#41. Melanie C - I Know Him So Well (Ft Emma Bunton) [5.74]


Highest Scores: 9: (missingyou, engineer), 8: (Lukuzz, Maurice, letloverule), Lowest Scores: 0: (Hide&Seek, Supercell)


At #41 is the first collaboration to feature in this count down with Melanie C & former bandmate the ever lovely Emma Bunton with 'I Know Him So Well' which was released as the lead single from Mel's 6th album 'Stages' in November 2012. It was also her first covers album consisting of musical theatre inspired songs, Which also makes this her first not feature any writing credits whatsoever.

As everyone on Buzzjack may or may not know that this was written Tim Rice and Benny & Bjorn from ABBA for the musical Chess and made famous by Elaine Paige & Barbra Dickinson back in 1984 and has been covered many times throughout the years by the likes of Steps, Susan Boyle & Whitney Houston. But it's original that's the most well loved and well known. Melanie and Emma does do a very nice if not somewhat unimaginative version of this, which doesn't really stray too far away from it's original form or break new ground, it just kinda coasts along all breezy and light, which often makes me wonder of what was the point of doing this in the first place and you can say the same thing about the album of covers itself which judging by it's tracklist and what I've heard from it is very paint by numbers.

If this had been released back in the late 90's or even very early 00's, then it would have probably smashed and been much talked about, but by 2013 it seems that both artists days of chart dominance are long behind them and even the small amount of hype that this did manage to generate could only manage a measly low #153 chart peak, a far cry from the days of constant #1's they had both enjoyed in a time when pop music was great and was allowed to be fun.

Although I will say this, it's nice to see Emma Bunton singing again, it's been a hell of a long time since we've heard anything from her wonderful if not short but sweet discography. I'm not saying that I hate this song or anything, to be honest I'm actually surprised it's got this high, especially over some of the more well known songs in their solo back catalogue. Like I said it's nice enough, I just don't really feel anything towards it and forgot it even existed until I started doing this rate, it's always nice to have a look back once in while and re-discover something you forgot even existed.



Posted by: vibe Nov 5 2017, 08:16 AM

Yeh Yeh Yeh is far too low !! It's so good especially live !

I personally wish that Melanie and Emma choose another song to cover for the album . I think they do a descent job but the song has been covered to death !

Posted by: Lukuzz Nov 5 2017, 09:55 AM

Love Yeh Yeh Yeh and Desire, both great songs. Thought Desire might have been too 40. Scream if You Wanna Go Faster never really clicked with me, IMO her 2nd album was her worst

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 5 2017, 11:14 AM

I really feel for Yeh, yeh, yeh it should have been a bigger hit. It has a great video and it's a catchy song. I do wonder how it would have fared had it been released 5 months earlier as intended and Melanie had been able to do a proper promo trail. I kind of think it wouldn't have gone top 10 on the basis that On the horizon only managed #14 and Here it comes again #7 and while I like YYY I think the other two songs are superior or more radio friendly.

The Reason era is quite sad for Melanie really as she did deserve more success singles wise. HICA, OTH and YYY are all strong songs and I do wonder how they would have sold/charted had they been released in 2001/2002 rather than leaving it so long between albums. In hindsight the Reason era wasn't the right follow up to Northen Star and really she should have come back with an album like The Sea, could you imagine how TAI, Stupid Game, Burn, Weak or a remix of Drown would have fared in 2001 as apposed to 2011...

Geri also made a colossal mistake saving the album so long after the released of Ride It. Really she should have released 'Disco Sister Music' on the back of Ride it, which was actually quite a success when compared to other solo Spice singles of the previous couple of years and the ones to come over the next year. She might have managed another top 10/20 album at the time, Emma was at #7 the year before on the back of a #7 hit (and a #5 and #6) and Melanie C at #24 on the back of a #10 the year after so somewhere in between might have been likely when you consider the #4 hit and the free-fall of album/singles from this point onwards. Love never loved me was ready and waiting to be the next single to help push the album and it's sales and that was her best chance of a big hit from that era. Wasn't Feel the fear also lined up as the potential CIN single that year, it's a shame that didn't materialise as they would probably have given that album another top 10 single and boosted it's profile. Desire#s #22 position and the long time since her last top 5 basically killed any chance Passion had of charting higher.

Posted by: schizo_spice Nov 5 2017, 11:32 AM

I don't think it was entirely Geri's choice though EMI/Innocent wanted her to go back and record more songs which she ended up doing with Korpi & Blackcell (Desire and Surrender Your Groove were two if the results)

Geri knows now that not releasing Love Never Loved Me next was a mistake and has said it more than once. I think Mel C, Geri and Mel B all releasing new albums within 2-3 months of each other in mid 2005 was solo overload. Rumours were also flying at the time of the group doing Live 8 so they were all very overexposed.

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 5 2017, 04:45 PM

Oh yeah I wasn't necessarily saying it was Geri's fault I know the record company were very much pressing her for some difference in direction. In some ways I am glad as I love Desire think it is a great song, but it others I just think it's a real shame the opportunity to have a decent charting album was completely missed. Who knows though, the album may have charted even worse due to the high sales of that time of year like Emma's Life In Mono did (despite having quite nice sales).

Posted by: Jade Nov 5 2017, 10:36 PM

[/late] but yes I have the unpopular opinion of quite liking the Little Mix version of 'Word Up!' laugh.gif I think the really fun video for it (starring none other than Melanie C of course *.*) really elevates my enjoyment though.

'Desire' is soooo underrated sad.gif it's my second favourite Geri single only behind 'Mi Chico Latino'. I suppose I am a bit of a sucker for electropop. Shoutout to Maurice for also giving it a 9 *.* 'Scream If You Wanna Go Faster' is another good'un from Geri as well. Not really that fussed about any of these Melanie C dropouts.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 6 2017, 04:06 AM

Sometimes I don't know who to be...













The first selection of the top 40 to drop is Melanie C who loses yet another 3 songs, making her grand total of 8 lost so far, but still manages 11 solo releases left in the running. Victoria Beckham finally loses a song making her the 4th Spice Girl to lose at least a song in this countdown, which means that Emma Bunton is still the only member to have all her songs still left in the game, but for how long...




#40. Melanie C - First Day Of My Life [5.846]


Highest Scores: 8.5/8: (SamJudd, vibe, SpiceBoy, HarryApa, Maurice), 7.5/7: (Lukuzz, missingyou, Jay, jonjo, mutucan, engineer, letloverule), Lowest Scores: 1: (iiiiiii. Hide&Seek)


At #40 is one of the requested Mel C tracks to feature in this rundown 'First Day Of My Life', which was released in September 2005 in a few select countries in Europe as the 3rd and final single from her 3rd album 'Beautiful Intentions', then later got a wider release internationally due to it's massive success and therefore becoming one of her biggest worldwide hits. But strangely enough it never got a UK release, despite it's success.

Written by Guy Chambers & Enrique Iglesias and had originally been recorded by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, with lyrics in Italian for his self titled 2004 album and was even released as a single in that same year. The song wasn't originally included on the original release of Melanie's album, but was included on a re-release in European countries only, but never ended up on the UK version. I think it's safe to say that the song ended up saving her career, because she had failed to manage a big worldwide hit since 2000, since her debut album, and none of the singles from 'Reason' managed to make much of an impact, but this did manage to turn things around for her by topping the charts in Germany, Spain & Swiss and becoming so popular in Germany that it ended up being nominated for ECHO award for single of the year Spain & Switzerland, earning gold & platinum discs in those countries also, as well as hitting #2 in Austria and top 10/20 peaks in Sweden, Denmark & Norway. She even recorded a version of the song in French to promote it and the album there where it managed moderate success by reaching the top 30.

Honestly I don't know why this wasn't given a chance for the UK market, which at one point was where she had the most success. It could have easily became a hit for her back then and could have maybe renewed interest in flagging album sales, hell she managed a top 10 hit with the lead single there, and this could have maybe followed suit if given half the chance. But we will never know if that would have happened would we. It has a decent melody and a great hook and beautiful strings played throughout to give it that extra kick and to top it all off Melanie's vocals sound really fantastic on here where she definitely soars wonderfully over the solid production, making this a definite standout in her career.

This would be the point in her career where she would find greater success in Europe with further releases, as it would seem that her days of chart dominance in the UK had well and truly waned and would retreat to countries like Germany to find more support




#39. Victoria Beckham - A Mind Of It's Own [5.87]


Highest Scores: 10: (Euphorique, LazySpice88), 9.5/9: (Lukuzz, Hide&Seek), Lowest Scores: 0: (Mr.X, Michael Andrew, Supercell)


At #39 we lose the first of Victoria Beckham's singles 'A Mind Of It's Own', released in February 2002 as the 2nd and final single from her self-titled debut album 'Victoria Beckham' and peaked at #6 on the UK charts, which not only matches the peak of the previous single, but also becoming her 3rd top 10 hit. This also came as a surprise to many people at the time who'd expected this to continue the downward trend of singles with this expected to peak a lot lower like say bottom end of the top 20, but to me this peak came as a nice surprise and well earned.

This does mark quite a stark contrast compared with the lead single, as this has a more soft and lighter sound, giving it a more summery feel thanks to some tinkling acoustic guitars, while not being a million miles different it does however have that similar part spoken word intro and Victoria's vocals do sound really good on this, sounding sweet and joyful which matches the tone to the song beautifully. While she may not be known for her vocal strength, she does however add a touch of glamour and poise to her solo efforts with this being one of her prime examples, which makes the end result a very good effort and great 2nd single choice from an otherwise uneven album.

Despite the relative success of the song, there would be no more singles released from this album, although some light promotion did begin for 'I Wish', which never materialized, and very little helped the sales of the album which ended up costing £5 Million to make and only selling a modest 50,000 copies, so that was probably why everything basically stopped after single #2.




#38. Melanie C - If That Were Me [5.944]


Highest Scores: 10: (engineer), 9: (Lukuzz), Lowest Scores: 2: (missingyou)


At #38 we have Melanie C with 'If That Were Me' which was released in November 2000 as the 5th and final single from her debut album 'Northern Star' and peaked at #18 on the UK charts becoming her first to miss the top 5, with all proceeds going to the 'Kandu Arts' charity. The song's lyrics address the issue of homelessness and became heavily criticism from the media and music critics for certain lyrics in the song namely the "I couldn't live without my phone/And you don't have a home" line which was downright panned, with the Guardian dubbing it an ode to a tramp and others selecting it as the worst song lyric ever and was even compared to Phil Collins hit 'Another Day In Paradise' which was also similarly panned.

Okay I do agree that the lyric was rather stupid and personally I think that line should have been scrapped entirely, but other than that the song is a really beautiful ballad, with brilliant gentle acoustic guitars that opens the track which brings a certain sadness to an otherwise quite mellow song. The mixture of soft-rock, acoustic & pop/rock all blend together really beautifully, thanks to it's fantastic production by Rick Nowels, who both together delivered something really wonderful that's tinged with sadness and haunting. And I do commend her for at least trying to tackle a serious issue, even if she doesn't offer much insight on the subject.

While I do like this track, I however always found it a bit of an odd choice for a single release, especially when there's tracks like 'Go', 'Suddenly Monday' & 'Feel The Sun', which were all a lot more commercially appealing and would have probably fared much better chart wise than 'If That Were Me' did, and plus they were all positively received more than said song was, but obviously Mel wanted to release a song that meant something to her as well as being a lot more serious in tone. But following on from 2 #1 smash hits, I don't think that it was the wise choice.




#37. Melanie C - Goin' Down [6.018]


Highest Scores: 10: (LazySpice88), 9: (breezyspice, Jade), Lowest Scores: -1/0: (Hide&Seek, Jonjo)


At #37 is another 'Northern Star' era single for Mel C, 'Goin' Down', which was released in September 1999 as the lead single from her debut album and gained a very mixed reception due to her total change in sound, but nonetheless it still managed to reach #4 on the UK charts, becoming her first solo top 5 hit.

Wow talk about making a statement, she definitely sheds her sporty spice image with this hard introduction to the new Melanie C, chopping her long brown locks for a short blonde spiky rock chick look with a song to match, with it's alternative/grunge sound, laced with messy guitars, and angry delivery of it's sexually suggestive meets defiant lyrics, that definitely has a hint of The Cardigans thrown into the mix. She definitely carves a strong identity from her days as a Spice Girl, and even pulls it off successfully, if perhaps a little too well as when I first heard this on the radio I literally had no idea who it was and was even more shocked and surprised when I later realized who it was, while yes it's very different, but that's not always a good thing, especially when you kick start your solo career with something that's so polarizing and out there.

The song doesn't entirely represent the album as it's only a glimpse of what's to come with such a diverse range of styles of which she actually manages to pull of rather well thanks to her strong vocal delivery and charisma with such an interesting collection of songs, later singles would give you better sense of what kind of sound she was going for by basically throwing everything into the mix, where at the time she was probably testing the waters and see what would stick and for her efforts she brought us something well and truly special and would probably rank it as the greatest Spice Girl solo album to date.

Releasing something like 'Goin' Down' was a very risky move that did somewhat pay-off, yeah it did reach a high chart position but soon dropped down the charts rather quickly which was perhaps due to the hype winding down rather quickly and seeing the song for what it is...a hot mess, not something that people can fully connect to and could run the danger of alienating fans who are not interested in this kind of sound because she started out down the pop route and changing gears too quickly doesn't always work and can't guarantee to win you the kind of fan base that this genre has, as pop is pretty much hated on the grungy rock scene and they would scoff their nose at a former Spice Girl trying too hard to be different.

But luckily that didn't end being the case with Melanie C, as despite a slow start to sales with the album, further releases brought new light to it and that was when it found the audience and respect that it deserved and would be the start off the most successful era of her career.



Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 6 2017, 08:00 PM

'Goin Down' has been knocked out so early! But it was a definitely an odd choice for lead single.

'Never Be The Same Again' would've obviously been a more successful solo debut. But I always thought 'Ga Ga' would've worked too. Melanie could've had her pop-rock reinvention, whilst also debuting a much catchier, radio-friendly sound.

The other three to go are cheese central. I'm so glad 'First Day of My Life' happened for Melanie. It probably saved her career. But I don't think it would've fared quite as well in the UK.

Still yet to lose anything I couldn't live without kink.gif

Posted by: Jade Nov 7 2017, 10:58 PM

Goin' Down seems quite underrated! It is definitely a strange choice for a lead single but it really stands out in a good way in her discography for me.

Posted by: liamk97 Nov 7 2017, 11:17 PM

'Half of Me' rightly last. Just terrible, somehow made even worse with that god-awful video.

There's more deserving songs to place as second worst than Mel C's cover of 'I Want Candy', but it's still incredibly throwaway and pointless so no real loss.

No losses at all so far, although all of Victoria's singles would be out by now if I had my way.

EDIT: Actually, 'Yeh Yeh Yeh' is stuck in my head now after relistening to it. Should have been higher.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 8 2017, 02:25 AM

Girls are on the town tonight
















In this next selection Melanie C loses another single, while Emma Bunton, after remaining safe up until this point loses 3 of her solo singles.




#36. Melanie C - Here It Comes Again [6.111]


Highest Scores: 9.5/9: (Jay, mutucan), 8.5/8: (Lukuzz, Jade), Lowest Scores: 2: (engineer)


At #36 is Melanie C's 'Here It Comes Again' which was released in February 2003 as the lead single from her 2nd album 'Reason', as well as being her first release in 3 years following her battles with depression, bulimia weight issues and mental health problems, and after fighting those demons she was finally ready to come back into the limelight with a new lease on life. The single managed to peak at #7 on the UK charts, despite an initial midweek position of #4, it however slid down to it's said peak position when the official charts was announced.

While I am happy that she managed to fight her demons and come back fighting, the music scene like I already said is a fickle place and too much time spent away can cost any artist dearly and sadly Melanie fell victim to this as to put it simply the world moved on and during her time away there were more than enough fame hungry singers that were more than ready to take her place and the fact that the sales climate was terrible back then didn't help matters either. Most people downloaded their music instead of buying the good old traditional CD singles and they were not yet added to single sales and so no matter what position you'd get to in the charts, the amount would be rather low. As the case with Mel C who only managed to shift 19,000 copies in the first week and end up with overall sales of just 40,000, which isn't terrible, but not that great either especially for an artist who had 2 #1 hits in the past.

The song itself however is rather decent with it's live arrangement and organic sounds that sees her step into a more mature direction, showing that she's in a happier and more positive place in her life. This also marked a change in sound for her, after combining different genres for her last solo effort, this time she knew where she wanted to go and that was into a more pop/rock direction, which is something that really suits her voice. Her label however wanted her to do something that was like 'Northern Star', but Melanie had other ideas and got her way and did this, showing that she still had GIRL POWER.

But in the long run 'Reason' didn't match the commercial performance of her debut and the Spice Girls solo careers were starting to wear thin by this point due to over-saturation in the music market and as a result Melanie C would end up getting dropped by 'Virgin Records' as further releases sold lower and lower and album sales still floundered, which made her the final solo spice to be dropped. Personally another reason for this is that I think there was a definite lack of support as they weren't keen on her new direction and just seemed to couldn't wait and see things fall apart at the seams and well there you have it, the music industry is a ruthless place and while you may think you have the upper hand, really you haven't as the label can tank you project if and when they feel like, marking a bitter end to a promising career.




#35. Emma Bunton - We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight [6.222]


Highest Scores: 10: (Lukuzz), 9.5/9: (Hide&Seek, engineer), Lowest Scores: -1/0: (Spiceboy, Supercell)


At #35 we finally lose the first Emma Bunton single, 'We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight', released in December 2001 as the 4th and final single from her debut album 'A Girl Like Me' and peaked at #20 on the UK charts, becoming her first to miss the top 10. Heavily remixed from it's original album form and given a slight Latin-tinged feel, along with a sexy music video that was a far cry from the sweet girl next door image of her previous singles and just reeks of desperation on the label's front in order to try and boost album sales.

This sounded a million times better in it's original album form instead of being turned into a generic piece of dance pop. I think the notion here was that sexiness sells, but here it really doesn't as even judging by it's awful music video Emma looks bored and unconvincing, as if she's being forced down this route. It was as if she knew that this pointless little tactic wasn't going to work and why ruin a perfectly good album track that's all about having a fun night out with the girls and water it down until it becomes soulless. I think at the time people found this sudden change in direction quite jarring and while it did mange to keep the album around for a little longer, it still wasn't enough for the label and she was soon axed by the label.

I never understood that decision personally sure the album wasn't a huge seller in the UK, but it did manage about a million worldwide and scored 3 top 5 singles, so what the hell happened. Maybe it was her decision to not record her follow up album in demo form, which was something she felt that they had lost faith in her and went their separate ways and later she would sign a new deal and score even bigger success with her follow up album which was where she had found her sound.

Of note both 'High On Love' & 'A World Without You' were being lined up as the next single, but were scrapped after the previous single's underperformance and the latter track would just be used as a promo release only along with the title track.




#34. Emma Bunton - Downtown [6.24]


Highest Scores: 10: (SamJudd), 8.5/8: (engineer, Maurice, LazySpice88), Lowest Scores: 3: (Hide&Seek, Supercell)


At #34 we have Emma Bunton's version of 'Downtown' which was released in November 2006 as the lead single from her 3rd studio album 'Life In Mono', as well as being chosen as the official 'Children In Need' single for that year. Originally sung by Petula Clark back in 1964 and remixed in 1988 and hit the top 10 twice hitting #2 and #10 respectively. Emma Bunton's version reached #3 on the UK charts becoming her second highest charting single and final top 10 hit of her career. Emma have always liked the song and was keen to put her own stamp on it and her admiration for Petula Clark was evident on her last album 'Free Me' two years before.

However the single would come with some controversy, firstly by the original artist Petula Clark herself who said that she had no prior knowledge of Bunton's remake of the song and panned her version saying that it was an outright copy and pointless. The video also drew a negative reception for evidently skewing the phrase "go downtown" into a sexual term, which Emma herself would deny. Now I actually really like her spin on this song, okay it doesn't really stray away from the original but it is for a good cause and she does do a bang up job on it, further showing why this style of music really suits her and while it may not be her best single, but the songs uplifting nature and just a really good fun pop song that Emma does do justice.

Of note sadly this would be the last time any of the Spice Girls would trouble the top 10 as this was the last hurrah for any of their solo careers which by this point only Melanie C and Emma would be still going, but for Emma this would be her last album to date as she would lose interest in the music scene the following year and focus more on family life. Dannii Minogue was supposed to do the official Children In Need song for this year with her version of 'He's The Greatest Dancer' to coincide with her appearance on Strictly Come Dancing, but she would turn that down for a judging position on X Factor, and so the single would end up being scrapped and not released in the UK.




#33. Emma Bunton - Crickets Sing For Anamaria [6.277]


Highest Scores: 10: (Mr.X, Hide&Seek), 9: (Michael Andrew, Liam), Lowest Scores: 1: (SpiceBoy, Supercell)


At #33 is the third Emma Bunton song in a row to drop with her interesting take on 'Crickets Sing For Anamaria', which was released in May 2004 as the 4th and final single from her 2nd album 'Free Me' and peaked at #15 on the UK charts. The song was originally sung by Brazilian singer Marcos Valle, and sung in his language as 'Os Grilos', then later translated into English.

Definitely an inspired choice of a cover and an even odder choice to release it as a single, yeah sure it's fun track about crickets of all things and it has a great summery feel to it and Emma does do it justice with musical nods to it's origins as does it's video where Emma looks freaking beautiful in the green dress. But pushing it as a single is well a little too out there for the general public to get on board with and while it's bossa nova styles works wonders on the album it comes from, but for the mainstream audience it may be a little too much for them to handle, especially coming off the back off 3 successful top 10 hits. Maybe in my opinion something else should have maybe been released first like 'Tomorrow' or 'Breathing', either one of these could have maintained it's top 10 streak, then maybe release this in the late summer like August or something, a time of month that will really get you in the mood for this.

This would be her 2nd single to miss the top 10, with it's top 15 peak and like I said maybe it was a little too bold to make this work as a single, but nonetheless it's still a catchy, frothy piece of stylish pop that really stands out amongst the crowd and really it deserved better than it did, but being released in a very low sales climate of 2004, it was probably way ahead of it's time and maybe people weren't ready for this kind of sound.



Posted by: Lukuzz Nov 8 2017, 06:00 AM

How on earth did Downtown and Crickets get higher than We’re Not Gonna Sleep tonight. I love that song, my fave Emma single, so underrated!

Posted by: vibe Nov 8 2017, 01:25 PM

HICA IS better then all of the singles out in the batch.

Crickets is by far the worst Bunton track , very surprised its not her first out.

Melanie C has never suffered with Bulimia.

Dannii Minogue's 'Hes the greatest dancer' was never a planned CIN single. It was supposed to feature in an advert with a famous comedian to promote a new phone (it was somthing along those lines anyways).

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 8 2017, 02:23 PM

Imagine if Emma had released 'Breathing' instead of 'Crickets'! It would surely have had a gorgeous video.

I seem to remember 'Tomorrow' being a b-side on the 'Free Me' single, which was a waste. But I was grateful because I didn't enjoy the uncharacteristically raspy vocal in the 'Free Me' chorus.

All of that said, 'Crickets' is good campy fun. Perfect for most fans, if not the general public.

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 8 2017, 11:27 PM

A Girl Like Me no way sold 2 million copies worldwide. Schizophonic sold about 2 million copies and charted higher and sold more than A Girl Like Me everywhere...

Never knew High on love was planned as a single, it's probably my third favourite song on the album after WTYSL and WIA.

So sad how Melanie C had such a fall from grace with this era.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 9 2017, 12:22 AM

QUOTE(Spiceboy @ Nov 8 2017, 11:27 PM) *
A Girl Like Me no way sold 2 million copies worldwide. Schizophonic sold about 2 million copies and charted higher and sold more than A Girl Like Me everywhere...

Never knew High on love was planned as a single, it's probably my third favourite song on the album after WTYSL and WIA.

So sad how Melanie C had such a fall from grace with this era.




You were right about Emma 'AGLM' WW sales, I got the wrong info so I've edited my post and I think that it was closer to 1 Million worldwide.



Also a quick reminder of how many singles each of the girls got left in the running =


Mel B = 4/7
Melanie C = 10/19
Geri Halliwell = 7/11
Emma Bunton = 7/10
Victoria Beckham = 4/5



There will be 3 dropping in the next batch, 1 from Mel B, 1 Mel C & 1 Geri, any guesses as to what they will be.

Posted by: Jay ☆ Nov 9 2017, 12:46 AM

If it's Think About It, I'm locking the thread. x

Posted by: Jade Nov 9 2017, 12:55 AM

'Crickets Sing For Anamaria' is so idiosyncratic for a chart hit *.* easily the most interesting solo record that Emma put her name to.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 9 2017, 09:19 AM

I reckon 'For Once In My Life' must be in the next batch. As much as I was delighted by its unexpected release, I sense I may be alone.

Posted by: Mr.X Nov 9 2017, 08:09 PM

QUOTE(Jade @ Nov 9 2017, 01:55 AM) *
'Crickets Sing For Anamaria' is so idiosyncratic for a chart hit *.* easily the most interesting solo record that Emma put her name to.


Absolutely agree! Crickets was one of the most interesting mainstream pop releases of the mid-00s, for sure. I think people weren't ready for it though. Overall probably her most adventurous single, with a cute and creative video that was just fun.

Bloody UK never really appreciates the good things! cry.gif

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 9 2017, 09:18 PM

QUOTE(Mr.X @ Nov 9 2017, 08:09 PM) *
Absolutely agree! Crickets was one of the most interesting mainstream pop releases of the mid-00s, for sure. I think people weren't ready for it though. Overall probably her most adventurous single, with a cute and creative video that was just fun.

Bloody UK never really appreciates the good things! cry.gif



Nor the rest of the world as it did nothing anywhere teresa.gif laugh.gif

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 9 2017, 09:18 PM

Although to be fair top 20 is not a poor achievement at all I count anything going top 20 a hit (regardless of whether it sells well or not). Technically top 40 is what is called as a hit single.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 10 2017, 05:32 PM

Chasing shadows through the years















Three more solo singles drop in this bunch with 1 each from Mel B, Mel C & Geri.




#32. Mel B - For Once In My Life [6.351]


Highest Scores: 10: (JB2o20, missingyou, Jay), 9: (Lukuzz, Maurice) Lowest Scores: 1 (Mr.X)


At #32 is Mel B's most recent single 'For Once In My Life', which was released in September 2013 as a stand alone single and marked her first release in 8 years. So did this mean that we'd be getting a new album release with a new dancier sound for miss Mel B or was it something to test the waters so to speak, nobody at the time knew as this just came as a total surprise to many and we were looking forward to see what would come next.

Unfortunately nothing came next as this was just a one-off single that was co-written by herself and produced by Danish production team DEEKAY. Despite positive reviews the song failed to make any sort of impact by failing to chart at all on the UK charts, only denting the Indie chart at #30 as well as hitting #2 on the US Billboard Dance Songs chart. After filling the last decade with hosting duties on shows such as 'X-Factor', 'Dancing With The Stars', & 'America's Got Talent', as well as a couple of reunion slots with her fellow Spice Girls first in 2007 farewell tour then at the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony. I'd say that she's kept herself rather busy over those past couple of years and it's been a very long time since there had been any sort of news regarding her new material.

But then in 2013 it looked like the wait was over and stepping away from the R&B infused sound of her older material and heading towards a more dance sound, which is certainly very different from her. It may take a few spins to get into this and when you do it's rather fun and yeah okay this did sound kinda stale back then and would have probably worked better in say '07 or '08, but it's definitely better than anything on her 'L.A. State Of Mind' album. Seriously though this is a bold and fun pop song to show that Melanie B was back and loving every minute of it (even if it was for a short time).

Let's not forget about that music video where she has hijacked the 'Desperate Housewives' set and kisses herself, but she looks fantastic doing it, juts breaking away and letting loose and overall just having a good time.




#31. Geri Halliwell - Calling [6.37]


Highest Scores: 10: (Lukuzz, mutucan), 9: (SamJudd, Jade), Lowest Scores: 1: (Mr.X)


At #31 is Geri Halliwell's 'Calling', released in November 2001 as the 3rd and final single from her 2nd album 'Scream If You Wanna Go Faster' and just like the previous single success was limited despite a decent #7 peak in the UK it did little to help sales of the album as it was poorly promoted, and was reported to have upset Halliwell as it was her favourite song on the album and thought that it would have been a sure fire #1 hit. Due to this no further singles were released from the album despite 'Circles Round The Moon' being rumoured.

Geri would move to L.A. shortly after this and would take a break from the music industry and wouldn't release anything for 3 years. After she recorded a demo for this she would rush over to her friend and singer George Michael's house in London and would play it for him and he would only praise it if it was deserved and Geri was so confident of this she was willing to risk it and luckily for her he liked it and she believed that she really had a winner with this.

This was an instant firm fave of mine upon purchasing the album and guessed that either this or 'Love Is The Only Light' would have been her X-Mas ballad, and I would have been happy with either. The song is a very beautiful easy on the ear ballad that Geri really sells well with her lyrical skills at their peak, while at the same time being quite different to her past offerings up to this point and there is something definitely quite soulful to this, very romantic as Geri searches for that special soulmate. So yeah I would call this a very nice song, maybe not quite as interesting as her bold and brassy numbers, but at least it's something a little different from her and can show that she has another side to her.

I think maybe it has a bit hard to take for fans and the record buying public at the time and maybe they weren't ready for Miss Halliwell to take this kind of direction just yet, and plus with the previous single only managing to enter at the lower half of the top 10, then there was no-way this would have put her back to #1, she was lucky that this did manage to chart 1 place higher than that previous single or even top 10 at all, so it's chart peak wasn't bad result at all and this did give her 7th top 10 hit in a row.




#30. Melanie C - Carolyna [6.388]


Highest Scores: 10: (Spiceboy, Jonjo), 9: (SamJudd, Jack, Schizo Spice), Lowest Scores: 1: (engineer)


At #30 is Melanie C with 'Carolyna', released in June 2007 as the 2nd single from her 4th album 'This Time' and although she worked hard on promotion for the single, it didn't have the impact that she'd hoped and it ended up peaking at #49 on the UK charts, becoming her first to miss the top 40 and it did fare a little better in Europe by topping the charts in Portugal and reaching top 40 peaks in Germany, Italy & Switzerland.

This was released the same week as the announcement of the Spice Girls reforming and therefore didn't receive much attention here in the UK and after the lead single 'I Want Candy' underperformed, well it kinda sealed it's fate and radio stations just weren't really interested in any solo Spice Girls material anymore. Which is a shame really, as this definitely deserved so much better as it is a very decent song with a catchy enough chorus that's a million times better than the awful throwaway lead single. But by this point nobody was interested anymore and Mel C was the only one left as all the others had well and truly waned by this point.

Maybe if this was the lead single then it could have stood a better chance, but I doubt it as nothing would have helped by this point. The song itself is really good and opens with a supple guitar chords, then reaches fever pitch over a fantastic razor sharp chorus and a fantastic melody that just soars over the alternative rock production. This was definitely a much better representation of the album and gives you a much better taste of what kind of sound she was going for.

So in all this is just a very underrated glorious piece of music that Melanie C has well and truly nailed by this point and even though her chart hit days were behind her, she was still capable of making great music.



Posted by: vibe Nov 10 2017, 07:46 PM

Goes and play Carolyna !!!

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 11 2017, 12:00 AM

Here's a quick re-cap of the results so far 30-52


30. Melanie C - Carolyna = 6.388
31. Geri Halliwell - Calling = 6.37
32. Mel B - For Once In My Life = 6.351
33. Emma Bunton - Crickets Sing For Anamaria = 6.277
34. Emma Bunton - Downtown = 6.24
35. Emma Bunton - We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight = 6.222
36. Melanie C - Here It Comes Again = 6.111
37. Melanie C - Goin' Down = 6.018
38. Melanie C - If That Were Me = 5.944
39. Victoria Beckham - A Mind Of It's Own = 5.87
40. Melanie C - First Day Of My Life = 5.846
41. Melanie C (Ft Emma Bunton) - I Know Him So Well = 5.74
42. Melanie C - Yeh, Yeh, Yeh = 5.703
43. Geri Halliwell - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster = 5.648
44. Melanie C - This Time = 5.5
45. Geri Halliwell - Desire = 5.314
46. Melanie C - Melt = 5.25
47. Mel B - Word Up = 5.148
48. Mel B - Lullaby = 4.944
49. Geri Halliwell - Angels In Chains = 4.788
50. Mel B - Today = 4.555
51. Melanie C - I Want Candy = 4.277
52. Geri Halliwell - Half Of Me = 2.846

Posted by: vibe Nov 11 2017, 06:18 AM

Yeh Yeh Yeh and FDOML should be higher . Otherwise quite fair.

Goin Down should be in the top 20 !!

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 11 2017, 03:44 PM

'Calling' is a beautifully written and composed song. I loved it as a teenager. But now, I don't think it's perfectly suited to Geri's voice. She should have sold it to Emma! wink.gif

To me, 'Carolyna' is derivative of Red Hot Chilli Peppers' sound, but with less inspired lyrics. But it was still one of the more single-worthy tracks on the album. Thankfully Melanie changed direction with 'The Sea'!

Posted by: Lukuzz Nov 11 2017, 04:35 PM

Calling is beautiful. Definitely one of Geris best.

Posted by: Jade Nov 12 2017, 01:53 AM

Yeah I agree that 'Calling' is a Geri highlight for sure! A really stunning tender moment from her that worked a lot better for me than 'Lift Me Up' for instance.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 12 2017, 07:35 PM

And all you loved was Mel B's money
















Just 2 to drop in this section, 1 each from both the Mel's. Mel B just has 2 songs left in the running, while Melanie C who yet again loses another song, still has 8 left in the running.




#29. Melanie C - Next Best Superstar [6.425]


Highest Scores: 10: (Spiceboy, Jonjo), 9.5/9: (Lukuzz, Jay), Lowest Scores: 2: (engineer)


At #29 is Melanie C's 'Next Best Superstar', released in April 2005 as the lead single from her 3rd album 'Beautiful Intentions' and talks about the fickleness of fame resulting from manufactured genre shows such as 'Pop Idol' (basically the same as 'X-Factor). This was also her first release on her own record label 'Red Girl Records', and upon release it managed to peak at #10 on the UK charts, becoming her 7th and final top 10 hit to date.

After getting dropped by Virgin Records, Melanie C was down but not out as she came back fighting with this angry somewhat controversial little number, okay it's not something that hasn't been done before, but this new wave guitar driven song is well and truly captivating and it's a good way to get all of her frustration out after being snubbed by the industry. Her vocals sound fantastic here and especially shines throughout the angry verses and infectious chorus that warns all the pop wannabes out there about the music industry and she sings it with such angst and conviction. So yeah this is just a great song with excellent verses that really makes you think and deserved more than the minor success it had at the time and maybe all the reality show wannabes should really listen to this before they head out onto that stage in hopes of stardom that's not all it seems.

While this may have been the last hurrah for her chart wise in the UK, it does show that she can make it on her own and it's great to see her still making music even by this point where a lot of artists (including her bandmates) gave up and even without the big record label backing Melanie could still manage a small hit which may not be on the level of her 'Northern Star' days, it however still packs a punch and with a tight band behind her, she can always still deliver great music. 'Better Alone' was planned to follow this, but would only be released to iTunes and her website which sold a limited amount of copies, deeming it ineligible to chart due to the rules at the time, and the song would only be released later in Europe as the 3rd single following the massive success of 'First Day Of My Live where this achieved minor success with top 40 placings in Switzerland & Italy.




#28. Mel B - Tell Me [6.444]


Highest Scores: 10: (Michael Andrew, Lukuzz, engineer), 9: (Euphorique, mutucan), Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell)


At #28 is Mel B's 'Tell Me' which was released in September 2000 as the 2nd and lead single from her debut album 'Hot' and peaked at #4 on the UK charts, giving her 2nd top 5 hit and lyrically it's a no-hold barred attack on her ex-husband Jimmy Gulzar and definitely unleashing her Scary Spice persona.

A definite nod to the garage and R&B sounds of the time where she airs out all her dirty laundry for the public to see and she doesn't care and that's what I've always liked about Mel B 's feisty and fiery attitude and here she is a woman scorned and wanted the whole world to know about it, which certainly suits her personality. But despite at how hard she tries Mel B doesn't quite have the vocal strength to pull this off successfully as I find this song could have definitely used a bit more polish and fine tuning as it feels somewhat unfinished compared to some of the other tracks that are on said album. You can see that she's trying to go for that American R&B sound with this and despite getting some top notch producers on board she doesn't quite manage to pull it off despite how hard she tries, even resorting to shouting her way through the second verse.

Despite all the ingredients being there, something is definitely lacking that prevents me from fully enjoying this song. Even given the songs success the album which would be the first Spice Girl solo album flopped on the charts, despite being released 2 weeks after a top 5 hit, peaking at a mere #28 on the UK charts and failing to make much impact anywhere else. It was cited that the main lack of interest for this project was that this was released less than a month before the then upcoming Spice Girls album 'Forever', where fans were more interested in that than this and the not so great reviews probably didn't help either and to date this would be her only studio album released on a major record label and despite further singles being released, nothing helped interest as this floundered without a trace.




Posted by: vibe Nov 12 2017, 08:36 PM

NBS Is amazing !!!

The Adlibs at the end 👍🏻😊😁👌🔥

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 12 2017, 08:41 PM

What!!! How can Next Best Superstar be so low!!!!! It's easily top 20 for me wub.gif wub.gif wub.gif

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 13 2017, 08:51 AM

I love 'Tell Me'. Definitely of it's time, but it's packed with sass and great to dance to. I even love Mel's vocals throughout (even the shouty bits are right for the song, imo). I think the production is slick, and it has some nice original touches musically.

'Beautiful Intentions' was a point at which I moved away from Melanie C's music. The album was just too much of a downer for me and 'Next Best Superstar' is somewhat indicative of that. Revisiting it years later, there are a few album tracks I really like but I can't listen to the whole thing in one go. Melanie had a lot to get off her chest!

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 15 2017, 01:01 AM

Take this dream and make it true












Another 2 solo spices drop, Melanie C loses the last of the 'Reason' era singles, while Emma Bunton also says goodbye to the 'Life In Mono' era and finishes with the same average as Mel B's - Tell Me, this is higher due to it getting more 10's.




#27. Emma Bunton - All I Need To Know [6.444] (More 10's)


Highest Scores: 10: (Mr.X, Lukuzz, Jay, Maurice), 8.5/8: (Michael Andrew, Euphorique, missingyou, Liam, LazySpice88), Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell)


At #27 is Emma Bunton's 'All I Need To Know', released in February 2007 as the 2nd and final single from her 3rd album 'Life In Mono'. The song was co-written by Jamie Hartman who is notable for previously writing the hit 'All Time Love' by Will Young. The single peaked at #60 on the UK charts and lasted just one week on the charts before falling out, making this not only her lowest peaking single, but her final solo single to date and first to miss the top 20 entirely.

It was such a shame that this would be the last ever solo release by the fabulous Emma Bunton as I thought that she'd found her little niche, a sound that really suited her beautiful delicate vocals. This song is a breathtakingly beautiful ballad and very tender that vocally she really pulls off well, with such rich and warm vocals and there's a definite sadness when listening to this and that comes down to it's classy strings and arrangement as well as the music video which really suits the tone of the song where she's an angel watching over various lonely people, none of whom can see her, leaving floating feathers as the only trace of her presence,

Maybe it wasn't interesting enough to be a success on the charts and considering her album didn't exactly set the charts alight, there wasn't much of a chance for this, kinda doomed from the start if you ask me, it just got lost amongst the shuffle despite being perfectly suited for it's Valentine's day release. Yes I did say the song is very nice, but may have not been the most interesting choice for Emma to release at this stage in her career, yeah it's sweet but maybe a little too sweet with little substance and not a strong enough or memorable hook and that's why it failed. Maybe one of the more upbeat tracks on the album may have worked better instead, but doubt it though as it seemed that her time in the spotlight was up unfortunately.

Despite the lack of success for this single there was another single rumoured with tracks 'I Wasn't Looking (When I Found Love)', 'Perfect Strangers' & 'Take Me To Another Town' all in the running to be picked, but due to her pregnancy all forms of promotion were cancelled after a few months of release and this idea go scrapped indefinitely as she decided to quit the music industry and focus on her family, which for her was probably the best choice considering how the music scene was changing and Spice Girl solo records were no longer making big impacts on the charts anymore.




#26. Melanie C - On The Horizon [6.574]


Highest Scores: 10: (SamJudd, Jonjo, engineer), 9: (Jay), Lowest Scores: 2: (missingyou, Supercell)


At #26 is Melanie C with 'On The Horizon' which was released in June 2003 as the 2nd single from her 2nd album 'Reason' and peaked at #14 on the UK charts becoming her 8th top 20 hit and selling 8,000 copies in it's first week, despite being dubbed the standout and potential big hit on the album.

I would definitely agree that this was a standout pick from the album, as it was the one that I instantly fell in love with upon the album's release with it's energetic summery vibe and positive uplifting lyrics, along with a catchy chorus and fantastic pop rock beat that Mel C really soars beautifully. In other words yes it's the perfect song for the summer and the guitar sound throughout is fantastic that really lifts the whole thing. I remember at the time many people compared this to one of Ronan Keating's songs and yeah I can see that, but this is a million times better than anything he's ever done, as this is much smarter and sharper piece of music.

Okay this may not compare to some of the singles from her debut album, but did deserve much better than it's chart performance and should at least made the top 10, as it's a cracking piece of pop music that probably would have worked better in the late 90's or the year 2000 like most tracks on the 'Reason', but nonetheless it's still a great underrated number that should be more remembered.




Posted by: SamJudd Nov 15 2017, 01:08 AM

There's 25 songs left and here's what's left in the running from each member =


Mel B
I Want You Back (Ft Missy Elliot)
Feels So Good

Melanie C
When You're Gone (Ft Bryan Adams)
Northern Star
Never Be The Same Again (Ft Lisa "Left Eye" Lobes)
I Turn To You
Think About It
Loving You (Ft Matt Cardle)
Anymore

Geri Halliwell
Look At Me
Mi Chico Latino
Lift Me Up
Bag It Up
It's Raining Men
Ride It

Emma Bunton
What I Am (Ft Tin, Tin Out)
What Took You So Long
Take My Breath Away
Free Me
Maybe
I'll Be There

Victoria Beckham
Out Of Your Mind (Ft Truesteppers & Dane Bowers)
Not Such An Innocent Girl
Let Your Head Go
This Groove

Posted by: vibe Nov 15 2017, 07:21 AM

I hate the video for OTH

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 15 2017, 07:40 AM

I can’t believe not such an innocent girl in still in the running sick2.gif sick2.gif

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 15 2017, 10:56 AM

'On The Horizon' is a great song. Very memorable. But similarities with co-writer Gregg Alexander's other work (New Radicals 'You Get What You Give', Santana 'The Game of Love'), show that it was too much of an out-of-date sound for a chart smash.

The styling of Melanie in the video was a bit lazy too. Shame the 'Yeh, Yeh, Yeh' stylist wasn't around for the whole album campaign. She looked so cool in that one.

Posted by: Jade Nov 15 2017, 03:06 PM

'All I Need To Know' is lovely! The 'Life In Mono' project (minus 'Downtown') is so underrated in general really.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 16 2017, 10:27 PM

I can dance like no one's watching











#25. Geri Halliwell - Ride It [6.685]


Highest Scores: 10: (Hide&Seek, mutucan, liamk97), 9: (SamJudd, Lukuzz, Jay, Schizo Spice), Lowest Scores: -1: (Jonjo)


At #25 we have Geri Halliwell's 'Ride It', released in November 2004 as the first single from her 3rd album 'Passion' and peaked at #4 on the UK charts, despite a midweek position of #2 and strong competition that week from the likes of Girls Aloud, Destiny's Child & Lemar. The song received a mixed critical reception with most of the negatively directed towards it's music video which was deemed too sexual to air on 'Top Of The Pops' and had to be edited and Simon Cowell famously panned it himself stating "If I was her record label and that video arrived on my desk I would throw it in the bin" and in response Geri demanded an explanation and apology which she never got. Despite all this the song still managed to become her 8th top 10 hit in a row, however it would be the last time that she'd ever have a top 10 hit.

Despite a considerable amount of success with her debut album and it's 3 chart toppers back in 99/00, she had lost momentum by the time her 3rd album came around and the blame for this falls largely on Geri herself, firstly the 3 years away didn't help matters as like I've said several times before the music scene simply moved on and while her wacky persona worked wonders at first, it kinda worn very thin by the time her 2nd album came around, allowing it to detract from the music, resulting in terrible reviews and not so great sales that saw her stock drop considerably and she needed something strong to comeback with.

She chooses now to comeback with something to prove by firstly dropping her last name Halliwell and going for a diva-esque 'Geri' as well as jumping on the disco pop bandwagon and what she delivers here is a fine piece of campy music that did re-establish her presence in the charts to some extent and it is a kind of sound that Geri sounds comfortable with, along with it's glossy futuristic production and fluffy lyrics, it's a decent effort, even if she is trying way too hard to be a gay icon. The song is no masterpiece whatsoever it just gets the job done and it's at least fun and while it may not be for the ages, it's still a fun time capsule in pop and does rank as one of Geri Halliwell's most memorable moments.

However as for the music video, I completely agree with Simon Cowell, it is dreadful even by 2004's standards and this is what I mean by her desperately trying to reach out for that gay audience, this just reeks of trying way too hard and falls flat with it's terrible cheap production and too much going on which makes the whole thing tacky and tasteless, and what this song could have done with was a better music video that highlights it's fun factor better than this.

Posted by: schizo_spice Nov 16 2017, 11:19 PM

Ride It was such an exciting time after almost 3 years of nothing musically from her. Sadly it would her final time in the UK Top ten singles and that isn't likely to change.

Great pop song and I've never had a problem with the video really it's funny. I guess she could've shot a more generic video but then that wouldn't have been very Geri.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 17 2017, 07:15 AM

'Ride It' was not my favourite. For me, it was a bit too generic euro-pop. I don't hear Geri's personality at all.

Posted by: vibe Nov 17 2017, 11:16 AM

Ride it has one of the worst music videos ever !!!

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 17 2017, 11:02 PM

Religion is the smile on the dog
















#24. Emma Bunton (Ft Tin, Tin Out) - What I Am [6.833]


Highest Scores: 10: (SamJudd, Liam), 9.5/9: (Michael Andrew, Lukuzz, HappyApa, Maurice, LazySpice88), Lowest Scores: 2: (Hide&Seek)


[At #24 is Emma Bunton's first step into solo stardom with her debut hit 'What I Am' and also features British band Tin, Tin Out and originally featured on their 2nd album 'Eleven To Fly' in November 1999 and would later feature on Emma's first album 'A Girl Like Me', as the first single from that album also. The song was originally written and recorded by 'Edie Brickell & The Bohemians' back in 1988, and became a top 10 success in the USA, but only managed #31 on the UK charts. Emma Bunton had much better luck with her version by debuting at #2, 29 places higher than the original. This came during an immense chart battle against Geri Halliwell's 'Lift Me Up' throughout the week, but Geri would end up winning with 140,000 copies sold during it's first week, while Emma ended up with 106,000 copies, which isn't a bad result and she would get her shot at the #1 spot later on with her next release.

Emma became the 4th Spice Girl to go solo and like most of the others it would feature another artist or band (only Geri's debut single was by herself), it's quite funny that I've never really took notice before but there you go. Now I actually do like this song, it's a decent pop song with catchy vocals and something very much of it's time with it's 90's trip hop sound and I know most of you on Buzzjack are probably not familiar with the band 'Tin, Tin Out' as this sounds pretty much like all their other songs and this would end up being their final chart hit as their follow up single failed to chart, and wouldn't release anything else, apart from remixing songs for other artists including Emma Bunton again on her debut album.

The song's intro does sound a lot like 'What Can I Do' by The Corrs who were very big at the time and given the fact that it was produced by the same people, isn't that surprising. But what I do really like about this song is that Emma just lets loose and has fun with it, you can see her trying to shed her Baby Spice image with it's slightly risqué lyrics, which comes across more as Emma being a bit cheeky and doesn't quite manage to shed her good girl image, but that doesn't really matter as her bubbly personality really shines through on this and I have seen this slated by fans of the original, and while yes this doesn't really stray too far away, who cares I still really like this song and don't really know the original version well enough to have any sort of connection to it.

Like I said this is very much a product of it's time and not that well remembered anymore, but who cares it's still a pleasant song that you can go back to now and again and feel that wave of nostalgia that takes you back to the 90's, which in my opinion was a much better time for music than what the music scene has become now.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 18 2017, 07:13 AM

Would it shatter your illusion if this angel had a past?
















#23. Victoria Beckham - Not Such An Innocent Girl [6.944]


Highest Scores: 11: (Lukuzz), 9: (Michael Andrew, Jack), Lowest Scores: 2: (Mr.X)


At #23 we finally have another Victoria Beckham single to drop, 'Not Such An Innocent Girl', released in September 2001 as the lead single from her debut self-titled album 'Victoria Beckham'. Facing competition in a hugely hyped chart battle with Kylie Minouge and her classic hit 'Can't Get You Out Of My Head', in the end it didn't turn out to be much of a battle as Kylie trounced her to the #1 spot with 306,000, while Victoria had to settle for a #6 peak position with 36,000 copies sold, and of course the media had a field day with this result and panned her solo outing before it even had a chance to really take off.

It's a shame really that Victoria didn't stand a chance in hell of succeeding on her own, what with the media mocking every move she made, it's just unfair really but that's the price you pay for living your entire life in the spotlight and creating headlines and drama everywhere she goes. As for the song itself, sure it's no masterpiece and doesn't compare in anyway to Kylie's ultimate classic, on it's own it's decent enough, it's her post-Spice statement to shake off her band image, which she does rather well actually and you can see that she's gradually starting to develop her own signature sound, combining slick R&B with pop that just oozes with her usual glamour and charm.

Even the music video which has to be one of the most complex solo Spice videos out there with it's futuristic theme with good and bad Victoria's battling out, then finally merging together at the end, it was a hell of a lot of fun and highly camp, delightfully camp (I just loved it). While she may not have the strongest voice compared to the other girls, she does have a rather nice soulful tone to her and songs like this perfectly suit her. On the whole this is just a catchy fun pop song that's harmless and nice enough.

As for the album her self titled effort would be her only official release as her 2nd album which I will talk about later would end up scrapped. This managed to peak at #10 on the UK charts before falling out 3 weeks later selling around 52,000 copies, a far cry from the £3 Million spent to record it, as well as receiving mixed to negative reviews and would be her only album on the Virgin label. It seems that hiring all the top producers and writers doesn't always help and can't mask the lack of creativity and above average material.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 18 2017, 10:49 AM

Gosh, the comparison to 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' is a tough one to swallow. But that song is a one-in-a-million, era-defining pop gold.

Sure, as a solo singer, Victoria is nowhere near Kylie - or even Emma Bunton. But, to my ear at least, Victoria has a stronger voice than Geri. But then ginger writes catchier songs...

I'm just failing to excuse my '9' and throwing Geri under the bus in the process tongue.gif

Posted by: vibe Nov 18 2017, 12:36 PM

I don't believe that virgin would spend 3 million pounds on the recording of any album.

As if .

Posted by: schizo_spice Nov 18 2017, 01:12 PM

QUOTE(vibe @ Nov 18 2017, 12:36 PM) *
I don't believe that virgin would spend 3 million pounds on the recording of any album.

As if .


I'm pretty sure that is true they obviously thought she was going to smash it as a solo artist given the expensive video for Not Such an Innocent Girl and the expensive looking new website she launched at the time alongside the expensive producers used and the thought that she could easily take on Kylie in a chart battle.

There was a big hoo ha around her at that time and I'm sure an era like Cheryl Coles first was expected.


Posted by: SamJudd Nov 18 2017, 10:35 PM

Who knows what we will become
















#22. Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up [7.037]


Highest Scores: 11: (Hide&Seek), 10: (SamJudd, Lukuzz, Jack, Jonjo, engineer, LazySpice88), Lowest Scores: 1: (Mr.X, THEO)


At #22 is Geri Halliwell's 'Lift Me Up', which was released in November 1999 as the 3rd single from her debut album 'Schizophonic' and debuted and peaked at #1 becoming not only her 2nd chart topper but winning the chart battle in which I've already talked about against fellow Spice Girl member Emma Bunton and her first solo single. Geri had criticised the record company for allegedly exploiting fans by encouraging the head to head race, even though she had won by end and even had the highest total sales with 346,000 copies sold overall.

Another pretty decent Solo Spice Girl effort which sees a change of pace for Geri Halliwell at the time, with her first 2 releases being up-tempo numbers and then slow things down slightly with a feel good pop ballad (sort of), and while this may lack the creative edge lyrically it still packs a punch and shows that she still has plenty of fight in her. However it's within the slower numbers where she shows the weaker aspects of her vocals, she simply struggles to hit those high notes and lacks the sentiment that this song needs. It also doesn't help that the production pretty much drowns her out, but she does try and pull it off with such hearty conviction and allowing her charisma to shine through. Well anyway the song does what it says on the tin, it's an uplifting (sorry for the pun) feel good pop number with it's soft beats, church organ and gospel choir that now may have aged pretty badly, but still a okay effort.

I absolutely adored this song at the time and was a huge Geri Halliwell fan, in fact I'd bought both these singles that week and was actually glad that Geri got to the #1 spot, it was well earned and well deserved and this was a time when she was at the very top of her game and still had plenty of life in her for the time being anyway. Another reason as to why I think that Geri won this battle is that simply she wanted it more, her drive and determination got her there and the public were willing to let her have it and damn it she'd worked hard enough to get it anyway.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 19 2017, 11:11 AM

Geri's TV performances of this song definitely had the edge on Emma. The signing, the midriff, the exposed bra, the wind machine, the hunks, and the actual lift! Geri loves a gimmick and she clearly wanted to win this battle.

Funny anecdote: My spice-hating raver dad (listening to Vibe FM sick2.gif) accidentally praised the Metro remix of 'Lift Me Up', not knowing it was Geri. When I gave him the news, his dis-belief was hilarious.

It is a great remix.

Posted by: vibe Nov 19 2017, 11:11 AM

I prefer LMU to WIA

Posted by: Lukuzz Nov 19 2017, 01:42 PM

Some amazing songs there. Love all of them last 4. Not Such An Innocent Girl should have been top 20!

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 19 2017, 06:10 PM

Your love has made a deep impact
















#21. Mel B (Ft Missy Elliot) - I Want You Back [7.074]


Highest Scores: 11: (JB2o2o), 10: (Mr.X, Michael Andrew), Lowest Scores: 1: (Hide&Seek)


Just outside the top 20 is Mel B's debut solo single 'I Want You Back', which was released in September 1998 as the lead single from her debut album 'Hot'and features American R&B diva Missy Elliot and shot straight to the #1 spot, becoming not only the first Spice Girl to go solo, but also first to have a chart topping smash outside the group. This was the first time Mel B had considered doing something on her own, she was on tour with her bandmates when Missy Elliot called her up and said that she had a song for her and asked if she could record it with her, of course Mel said yes and checked with the other girls and was given the okay and the rest was history.

Despite this being very different to what she'd done with the other girls up to this point, this song was a fantastic start to her solo career with the impressive support and stellar production by the fabulous Missy Elliot, they had both delivered something really great here with some really cool bass and addictive beats and vocal rhythms which gets better as the song progresses, and all of which definitely makes this the most dynamic solo offering out of all the other girls. Another aspect that I like about it is that it shows just how versatile Mel B can be with her style of singing, like for instant she can show her softer side and then kick into a more intimidating persona.

Let's not forget Missy's fantastic contribution here where her appearance really makes the whole thing work like a charm and shows just how impressive a producer she can be, she really knows what makes another artist's flow and together they made something pretty damn great, an empowerment song of sorts where they're chemistry really bounces off each other, and the dark eerie violin sounds are quite brilliant and really sets the mood and atmosphere of the whole thing. Okay I do have some minor quips about this, like the lyrics do get quite repetitive after a while and can get quite annoying at times, but on the whole the song is pretty great and deserved a much higher place on here than this.

This means that Mel B only has one song left in the running, but at least she's managed to have 1 song left in the top 20, like all the other Spice Girls do. Plus while she gets top marks for having a kick ass debut solo single, it's really a shame that some of her other solo releases couldn't quite live up to this, which is a shame because like I already said that this was a very good start for her.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 19 2017, 06:14 PM

Here's how many songs each of the Spice Girls has left in the top 20 =

Mel B = 1/7
Melanie C = 7/19
Geri Halliwell = 4/11
Emma Bunton = 5/10
Victoria Beckham = 3/5

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 19 2017, 07:28 PM

I Want You Back is easily Mel's best solo effort. It's such a cool song really funky RnB rather than the more generic RnB she went for on the album. I don't get why Mel didn't work further with Missy on the album since the formula worked so well for her in the first place. Would have been really interested to see what further work with Missy would have brought.

Posted by: vibe Nov 19 2017, 07:32 PM

Missy was right the song really suits Mels vocal style .

Cool video too.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 19 2017, 11:08 PM

I was blown away by Mel's debut with 'I Want You Back'.

I never thought she'd be first off the blocks to a solo career. But on hearing this track, I really believed Mel could be a megastar in her own right.

The TV performances were great too - choreography and look both on point.

She had so much potential! What happened?

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 21 2017, 12:25 AM

When everything you seem to do just drives me crazy














#20. Emma Bunton - Take My Breath Away [7.092]


Highest Scores: 10: (Jonjo, LazySpice'88), 9.5/9: (Euphorique, Jay, Maurice)
Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell), 4: (liamk97)


Starting off the top 20 is Emma Bunton's 'Take My Breath Away', which was released in August 2001 as the 3rd single to be taken from her debut album 'A Girl Like Me' and peaked at #5 on the UK charts, becoming her 3rd top 5 hit in a row. A firm fan favourite upon the album's release and probably the most obvious follow up to her chart topping smash hit 'What Took You So Long'.

This is a really nice song that's breezy and has that perfect summery vibe and okay it may not be as breath-taking as the title suggests, but it's still a solid enough pop ballad with it's very sweet and mellow vibe and yeah I do agree that it is a perfect follow up single. There is a really nice romantic vibe going on with this as well which mainly lies in the song's lyrics and the dream like production really gives the song a laid-back vibe, perfect for relaxing on that hot summer's day. Another interesting fact about this is that 'Tin, Tin Out' did a single mix of this song for it's release, as well as producing 2 other tracks on her album which are both covers. But they're work on this really gives the song that extra bit of lift that it needed and ended up giving her a well deserved top 5 hit.

While the song may not be to everyone's taste, maybe it's a bit too-sickly sweet and to be honest it's not the most interesting of solo offerings from the Spice Girls, but I don't mind it and actually like it, even if it is a bit too soft, but Emma makes it work with her delicate vocal range which suits the song perfectly. Another fact is that this only just scraped the top 20 by 0.5 points and has remained pretty popular throughout, so this is a decent result for this song, which I'd probably rank a little bit lower, but Buzzjack voters have spoken.





Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 21 2017, 09:29 AM

Very surprised to see 'Take My Breath Away' in the top twenty. But then, Baby Bunton's vocals are sweet and flawless.

But, imo, she should have released 'High on Love' instead.

Thanks again SamJudd. You must be relieved to have finally reached the top 20. I'm really enjoying your work!

Posted by: HarryApa Nov 21 2017, 09:35 AM

What I am should have been top 20 great song wub.gif

Posted by: missingyou Nov 21 2017, 02:01 PM

For Once In My Life
What Took You So Long
Maybe
Northern Star
Feels So Good

^ that would be my preferred top five wub.gif

Posted by: vibe Nov 21 2017, 02:19 PM

TMBA did well to reach the top 5 . It really is not a strong single. It beat superior songs in this poll.

Posted by: JB2o2o Nov 21 2017, 05:06 PM

The whole GLM album singles deserved to be out already....MAYBE WTYSL could be in’s till but honestly. No. Much better singles have already been gone

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 22 2017, 12:02 AM

WHAT!?!? WTYSL is one the the strongest solo spice tracks!!!

I always thought high on love was the most obvious second single. Also thought a girl like me should have been third.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 22 2017, 10:23 AM

'What Took You So Long' is perfect. It makes me want to dance but it also makes me strangely melancholic at the same time. All the emotions. Love it.

I really hope it comes higher than 'It's Raining Men'.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 22 2017, 01:40 PM

I should be moving but I'm stuck















#19. Melanie C - Anymore [7.1]


Highest Scores: 10: (vibe, engineer), 9.5/9: (SanJudd, Lukuzz, Jay)
Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell), 4: (iiiiii, missingyou)


At #19 is the other wildcard single from Melanie C, where many of you requested this and lands a respectable placing within the top 20. 'Anymore', released in September 2016 as the lead single from her 7th album 'Version Of Me' and marks a departure from her pop rock sound on her previous albums and move more towards an uptempo electropop sound. It failed to make a dent on the official UK singles chart, but did manage to top the UK Physical singles chart, as well as #26 on Radio Airplay chart.

To be honest I wasn't all that familiar with this up until I started doing this rate, and I'd originally left this one out to keep down the numbers, which turned out to be a not so wise choice on my behalf as listening to this song in preparation, I was missing out on something special. This is definitely the best thing she's done in years and first slice of original material since 2011. A fantastic piece of contemporary pop with very modern production that sounds fresh without trying too hard and the chorus just soars thanks to the funky bass in the background and need I say anything about Mel C's vocals which are on par as usual.

It's nice to see Melanie C reinventing her sound and image once again at this stage in her career, only this time showcasing a darker synth-pop break-up anthem, with larger than life production that's all the more clear that she's found a new liberation in life, she's moving past the heartbreak, to find the light at the end of the tunnel and she definitely commands attention with her powerful vocals. It's just a shame that this didn't take off in the way that it deserved, maybe 5 years ago it might have stood a chance when she had a chance of denting the charts, but now with all this streaming so many pop gems just falls through the cracks, but as long as there's good music like this out there, we still live in hope that things might change.

This is the only single from her 7th album to feature here and while this didn't quite make an impact on the charts, the album did manage a moderate #25 peak on the UK Albums chart, becoming her highest peak in 11 years, as well as managing top 40 peaks in 4 other countries. Since this release 3 more singles have been released, 'Dear Life', 'Hold On' (Ft Alex Francis)' (which only featured on the German release of the album), then finally her most recent single 'Room For Love'. All of which are fantastic and deserves to be hits as well in their own rights.




Posted by: vibe Nov 22 2017, 01:49 PM

Anymore deserved to be huge .

If the spice girls did comeback with a song of this quality it would work well.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 22 2017, 03:50 PM

I love 'Anymore'. I don't mind that most people don't know about it. It makes it all the more special for the real fans.

Obviously, I'd like it to have made Melanie rich beyond her wildest dreams, of course.

I love the whole of 'Version of Me'. I've not felt that way about any of Melanie's preceding albums. I think that might be because VOM has a very consistent sound and a more confident, single-minded approach.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 22 2017, 07:06 PM

You only regret what you don't do















#18. Melanie C - Think About It [7.25]


Highest Scores: 10: (Michael Andrews, vibe, Spiceboy, Jay, LazySpice88), 9: (liamk97)
Lowest Scores: 2: (Supercell), 3: (Hide&Seek)


At #18 is another Melanie C song to drop, 'Think About It', released in September 2011 as the 2nd overall single from her 5th studio album 'The Sea', another track 'Rock Me' was released as the lead single in Germany only as this served as the lead single worldwide. This marked yet another departure for Mel C from her usual pop rock sound to a more dance pop sound and garnered critical acclaim, but could only manage a #95 peak on the UK charts, but did find more success elsewhere by reaching top 40 peaks in Switzerland & Austria, while hitting top 50 in Germany becoming her final single to chart there to date.

This marked her first release in 4 years, during which she performed a stint performing in the West End, in the musical 'Blood Brothers' and also became mother and it was after this time that she started work on her 5th album with all these experiences it left her confident and strengthened as a vocalist as well as becoming more confident as a songwriter. After releasing 'Rock Me' for the official theme song for German TV channel ZDF's coverage of the *2011 FIFA Women's World Cup', and soon after she announced the release of her new album and new single.

Another underrated single by the fabulous Melanie C and the time away left her refreshed and ready to go and you can definitely tell she's grown as an artist and she really knows what style suits her vocally which shows in this as she blends her usual pop/rock sounds with Electronic and Electropop, all of which blend beautifully together on a strong upbeat anthem that's all about doing something that you know you shouldn't with some fantastic production by Cutfather that makes the whole thing sound very slick without being overly ambitious, even if it doesn't quite stand out from the crowd, but it's still a hell of a tune.

I honestly think that if this was the follow up to her 'Northern Star' album, then she could have definitely sustained her solo success as there are some fantastic songs to be had here such as 'Stupid Game' and the Buzzjack fan favourite 'Burn' which has to be one of the best songs she's ever done (why wasn't this a single). Two more singles were released from this project 'Weak' & 'Let There Be Love', neither of which made any impact on the charts unfortunately. But as 'Think About It' stands it's a very decent enough pop song which reveied a lot of love on Buzzjack with a whopping five 10's, a single score of 9 & seven 8's, resulting in a respectable top 20 placing on here.






Posted by: vibe Nov 22 2017, 07:44 PM

Anymore and Think About it deserve to be way higher !! If release in her prime they would have been huge!!!

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 22 2017, 09:44 PM

Oh no! 'Think About It' is out way too soon.

This song makes me feel motivated, optimistic and brave. It's Melanie C at her exuberant best.

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 22 2017, 10:37 PM

I always think it's such a shame that Melanie didn't have think about it and anymore just after her Northern Star era! Although I love most of her records from the Reason to This Time era Think about it and Anymore are both on another level!

Posted by: Buttered Muffin Nov 23 2017, 12:17 AM

I FORGOT TO VOTE!!

GIVE MY 11 TO NOT SUCH AN INNOCENT GIRL AND 10 TO OUT OF YOUR MIND!!!

Posted by: Jay ☆ Nov 23 2017, 01:32 AM

Glad that both 'Anymore' and 'Think About It' made the Top 20 here. The latter is definitely within my Top 10 favourite solo singles, it was my favourite release of hers since I Turn to You! heart.gif Was gutted when it only made it to #95. sad.gif

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 23 2017, 05:38 AM

Cos Men are from Venus and Women are from Mars














#17. Geri Halliwell - Bag It Up [7.296]


Highest Scores: 11: (engineer), 10: (SamJudd, Hide&Seek, Michael Andrew, Maurice, LazySpice88, liamk97)
Lowest Scores: -1: (HarryApa), 1: (Jonjo)


At #17 is Geri Halliwell's 'Bag It Up' which was released in March 2000 as the 4th and final single from her debut album 'Schizophonic' and became her third consecutive solo chart topper and sold over 260,000 copies and earning a Silver disc. Geri promoted the single on several TV shows including the '2000 Brit Awards' which caused some controversy where she emerges from a pair of giant inflatable legs, along with male dancers with pink hotpants and Geri herself unbuttons her shirt during the song, all of which made this the talk of the evening as well as making headlines, which is nothing new for her, but hey it did get her to the top of charts though.

Wow talk about ending a very successful era with a bang with this Disco pop number that has all the ingredients that a song like this should have such as big band trumpets, a huge chorus and a great dance routine, along with a colourful music video which improves the song even further with her 'Girl Powder' gimmick all of which is very tongue in cheek of course. The song also commands your attention as soon as you hear it where she delivers her least subtle vocal at this point in her career and she's obviously enjoying every moment of it as she just roars throughout the mammoth chorus and honestly upon purchasing the album I had this as one of my top picks for a potential single and gladly I was correct.

What this song also does well in is that it showcases her personality as this larger than life pop culture icon, and yes this song is camp dialled up to a 1000, and full of her witty charm along with lyrics that are utter nonsense, but who cares this is just a fun if somewhat tacky pop song that has a clear message with no hidden meaning and goddamit she makes it work and at this stage in her career she could do no wrong (for the time being anyway).




Posted by: vibe Nov 23 2017, 06:46 AM

Bag it up !! Great fun track .

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 23 2017, 10:42 AM

'Bag It Up' - what does that mean though?

Nonsense lyrics aside, it's brilliant! I would have expected Top 10 for this one.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 23 2017, 08:43 PM

Each passing day, we grow stronger still















#16. Mel B - Feels So Good [7.37]

[

Highest Scores: 10: (SamJudd, Jay, Jonjo, LazySpice88), 9: (Hide&Seek, JB2o2o, missingyou, Schizo Spice)
Lowest Scores: 1: (Supercell), 5: (Jack, Liam, breezyspice)


At #16 Mel B becomes the first solo Spice to lose all her singles in this countdown, which is a shame as this deserved to be a lot higher. 'Feels So Good', released in February 2001 as the 3rd single from her debut album 'Hot' and peaked at #5 on the UK charts, making this her 3rd top 5 hit and her 2nd biggest selling hit after her debut of course with sales of over 140,000 copies making this the 80th best selling single of that year.

This is definitely one of her best solo releases as well as being a good way to open her album which is a really catchy, smooth bassy song, with some wonderful beats and great backing vocals, and this sits perfectly against her deeper purring vocals and some slick R&B production which gave her a well deserved top 5 hit. This was probably the best choice she could have chosen from an otherwise quite underwhelming album as this is one of the best and strongest moments from it with pardon the pun the song's feel good factor. Like I've already mentioned her vocals really suits this style of song as well and the vocal overlays really enhance the main vocals of the song.

So yeah I don't have a bad word to say about this at all, the tones are light and catchy that makes for a perfect summery anthem or even at the start of a new year, in other words a perfect type of song to sing-along with while playing in a car with the windows down on a hot summer's day, and to top it all of off I find that this track has aged incredibly well in my opinion and should be more remembered and lastly I just love the carefree nature of the whole thing.

The success of this song did help album sales a little bit, with the album re-entering the charts at the bottom half of the top 100 for 2 weeks before dropping back out. But this wasn't enough to guarantee the project a success and only one more single would be released (which didn't help sales at all) before she got dropped from her label and this song would be her last time in the top 10 as further release didn't make much impact, but we'll always have this great piece of R&B pop as a reminder of the best of what she had to offer, it's a shame that nothing else she brought out after this came close to the greatness of this.





Posted by: SamJudd Nov 24 2017, 01:27 AM

God bless Mother Nature














#15. Geri Halliwell - It's Raining Men [7.388]


Highest Scores: 11: (liamk97), 10: (Hide&Seek, THEO)
Lowest Scores: 1: (engineer), 2.5: (Jonjo)


At #15 is Geri Halliwell's cover of 'It's Raining Men', released in April 2001 as the first single from her 2nd album 'Scream If You Wanna Go Faster' and would also feature on the soundtrack of the film 'Bridget Jone's Diary'. The song became her 4th consecutive #1 hit on the UK singles chart and it became her most successful solo single of her career with over 449,000 copies sold and earning a Gold disc, this would also be her final chart topper. Originally 'Feels Like Sex' was slated to be released as the album's lead single, but after Geri was offered this it got added to the album.

I think everybody knows that this was originally sung by 'The Weather Girls' back in 1982 where it also became a smash hit for them and they're version is probably the most well known. As for Geri's version I'd say it's very marmite you'll either love it or hate it and in my opinion no cover of a classic song could ever compare to the original, but Geri does leave her mark on this version replacing the disco sound with a more energetic dance/pop beat and she has enough spirt to pull it off and okay it is over-produced to give it a more modern sound and she does shout through the high notes, but she has enough charm and energy to pull it off somewhat and not the total disaster it could have been.

The song is just a fun cover and nothing more and veered Geri even further into camp, by of course covering an all-time camp classic. She does all she can with this song and while she doesn't have the strong enough vocals this song needed, she gets through it okay enough and it did get her to the top of the charts, so it can't have been that bad, people at the time seemed to like it enough as it was everywhere at the time and being featured on a soundtrack to a huge movie probably helped a tad. Even worldwide it became a smash by topping the charts in 5 other countries and top 10 peaks in 12 other countries, easily making this her biggest global hit of her career also.

Despite what you may think of this, it was probably a wise choice for her to comeback with after a year away as I doubt anything else on the album would have been half as huge, as it was released a few weeks after this and despite a respectable #5 peak it wouldn't sell half as much as her debut did by selling just a 100,000 copies which is a far cry from the double platinum status her last album received and the negative reviews probably didn't help and even with the release of 2 further top 10 hits, neither of which helped sales all that much. It's a shame that she let her desire to be a celebrity outweigh her talent, and that aspect wear very thin after this from which she would never recover from.




Posted by: vibe Nov 24 2017, 11:26 AM

Considering the original was sung by two divas when i heard Geri was covering the song i was perplexed. But i do think she pulled it off. The video was great too.

Feel So Good is a good song too but i think its placing is fair.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 24 2017, 07:27 PM

They meet you high then leave you low














#14. Emma Bunton - I'll Be There [7.5]


Highest Scores: 10: (Mr.X, Michael Andrew, Spiceboy, Maurice), 9: (Schizo Spice)
Lowest Scores: 3: (Supercell), 5.5/5: (Euphorique, THEO)


At #14 is Emma Bunton's 'I'll Be There', which was released in January 2004 as the 3rd single from her 2nd solo album 'Free Me' and peaked at #7 on the UK singles chart, making this the album's 3rd top 10 single and her 6th overall with sales of over 40,000 copies and was the 153rd best selling single of the year. The black and white music video was shot by Giuseppe Capotondi in Paris and another fact he had also previously directed Melanie C's single 'Goin' Down' back in 1999.

This is a far more mellow effort than the album's previous singles and it allows her softer and gentle vocals carry the tune through the verses, whilst at the same time it has that really nice Motown feel during the chorus. Of course it follows the same 60's style the album does, but gone for something a little bit different by starting out as a soft ballad then soon explodes into an extremely catchy chorus with Emma's voice sounding fantastic as always and along with a rather beautiful string orchestration and proving once again she can deliver a high quality pop song that's both elegant and classy.

While I do really like this song, it's not quite as strong as her previous 2 singles it just doesn't quite have that spark or magic that the others had and it would be hard for any artist to match songs like those, but it's still a really good effort and what was truly great about this era was that Emma Bunton proved the critics wrong who'd had remarked that her career was over after getting dropped by her previous label, however she took her time fine tuning her magnificent follow up album and came back full force with some fantastic material that I think we all agree on here was far better than her first solo album and she had found a sound that perfectly suits her voice to a tee and would do something that none of the other Spice Girls could do, her 2nd album outsold the first and gained rave reviews which is pretty fantastic if ask me and well earned.

So yeah I would say that this was a great single choice from an album that's packed with so many gems and almost anyone of them would have made great singles, my personal faves apart from the singles are 'Tomorrow', 'Breathing', 'No Sign Of Life', 'Lay Your Love On Me' & 'You Are'.... I just love this album and it's been a long time since I've listened to it and when doing this countdown and gave it another spin and still love it to this day and would rank it as the 2nd best solo Spice album after Melanie C's 'Northern Star' of course and urge you fans on Buzzjack to check this out as it's something really special.





Posted by: SamJudd Nov 24 2017, 07:53 PM

Here's a re-cap of the results of 30-21 (52-29 are on Page 3)

21. Mel B (Ft Missy Elliot) - Word Up = 7.074
22. Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up = 7.037
23. Victoria Beckham - Not Such An Innocent Girl = 6.944
24. Emma Bunton (Ft Tin, Tin Out) - What I Am = 6.833
25. Geri Halliwell - Ride It = 6.685
26. Melanie C - On The Horizon = 6.574
27. Emma Bunton - All I Need To Know = 6.444 (more 10's)
28. Mel B - Tell Me = 6.444
29. Melanie C - Next Best Superstar = 6.425
30. Melanie C - Carolyna = 6.388



Another reminder of how many solo singles each of the Spice Girls has left in the running =

Melanie C = 5
Geri Halliwell = 2
Emma Bunton = 3
Victoria Beckham = 3

Mel B was the first to lose all of her singles so far with her 7 releases at #50 (Today), #48 (Lullaby), #47 (Word Up), #32 (For Once In My Life), #28 (Tell Me), #21 (I Want You Back) & '#16 (Feels So Good). Who'll be next to lose all theirs, stay tuned to find out....

Posted by: Mr.X Nov 25 2017, 02:01 AM

I'll Be There ❤️

Posted by: »ïïïïïïïïïïïïï. Nov 25 2017, 11:23 AM

Too much to comment on tongue.gif Let's say I'm happy with the results this far..but most important, my compliments Sam! Thanks for your hard work. You and Jay make great topics wub.gif

Posted by: schizo_spice Nov 25 2017, 11:41 AM

It's Raining Men has really held its popularity from 2001 and seems like a very beloved cover version which is nice. I don't like it being the song that defines Geri's solo career though as she's written some wonderful songs herself.

I'll Be There is such a beauty Emma's voice is flawless.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 25 2017, 02:51 PM

I think Mel B fans might be under-represented here. She's been trounced. Victoria, on the other hand, is faring surprisingly well!

I agree it's unfortunate that 'It's Raining Men' is Geri's best-known single. But still, it was a well-played release.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 25 2017, 06:39 PM

I could try and run away from the truth















#13. Melanie C (Ft Matt Cardle) - Loving You [7.518]


Highest Scores: 10: (Michael Andrew, Spiceboy, HarryApa), 9.5/9: (SamJudd, vibe, Liam, Jonjo, Jade)
Lowest Scores: 4.5: (breezyspice), 5: (Mr.X, Hide&Seek)


At #13 is a duet between Melanie C & Matt Cardle titled 'Loving You' which was released in August 2013 as the lead single from his 3rd studio album 'Porcelain'. Despite only BBC Radio 2 playlisting the song, which meant lack of airplay on radio overall, it managed to perform very well on the charts by reaching #14 on the UK charts, giving both artists their biggest hit in several years, for Mel C this was her first top 20 hit in 8 years. Another fact about this is that not only did Matt co-write the song alongside Mel C and others, but he did the drums and acoustic guitar also.

Rumours of a duet between them began in May of that year after she attended his concert at Union Chapel, and then it would later confirmed on website a month later and of the song he said that he already started writing it and thought that with a few changes it could work perfectly as a duet and he was right as the song was very well received critically and both artists a much needed hit and going to show that you don't always need massive support to succeed and therefore both artists scored that rare feat of scoring a hit on their own merits, and that music video which received media attention due to their sizzling chemistry probably helped as well.

Both artists delivered something truly great here as the track begins with a thumping underlying beat, and Matt's restrained vocals starts the song off with a bang with some very sensual lyrics without being over sexualized which would be a hard feat by someone with a lesser voice, but here the sentiments expressed sound more genuine, and when Melanie's vocal steps in they blend perfectly with his and gives the song that extra kick and like I already said that they have great chemistry together on a cleverly written song that has some spine tingling harmonies and wonderful production.

Lastly it was nice to see both artists in the charts again especially Melanie C who had been absent for a long before this and plus this made her the only solo Spice to score a hit in this decade, which is great and seeing songs like these breaking through towards the mainstream is always a welcome surprise, shame it doesn't happen often anymore.




Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 25 2017, 10:05 PM

Adore loving you wub.gif Wish they would collaborate again. Imagine an album by the two of them wub.gif wub.gif wub.gif

Posted by: HarryApa Nov 26 2017, 02:33 AM

I adore Loving You such a fab little ballad wub.gif

Posted by: vibe Nov 26 2017, 09:25 AM

So sad they didn’t release a physical cd

Posted by: Jay ☆ Nov 26 2017, 02:38 PM

Loving You was an unexpected surprise, it was lovely for her to achieve another UK Top 40 hit!

QUOTE(vibe @ Nov 26 2017, 09:25 AM) *
So sad they didn’t release a physical cd

I wish they had too, to perhaps help its chances of getting into the Top 10. It did get released on CD single in Australia the following year at least!

Posted by: Jonjo Nov 26 2017, 03:15 PM

Loving You was such a cute surprise. The fact Mel managed to get another top 40 hit and that the song is actually fantastic! wub.gif

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 26 2017, 07:18 PM

Keep your eyes on me














#12. Victoria Beckham - This Groove [7.759]


Highest Scores: 10: (Lukuzz, breezyspice, mutucan, engineer, Maurice), 9: (SamJudd, Mr.X, JB2o2o, Euphorique, missingyou, Jay)
Lowest Scores: 4: (HarryApa, liamk97), 5: (letloverrule)


At #12 we finally have another Victoria Beckham single to drop, 'This Groove' which was released as a double a-side alongside 'Let Your Head Go' in December 2003 and peaked at #3 on the UK singles chart in yet another chart battle alongside singer Sophie Ellis Bextor who last time won, but Victoria won the battle this time and scored the highest new entry that week while Miss Bextor had to settle for a #9 peak. The song was intended to be included on her then upcoming 2nd solo album, but her record company 'Telstar Records' went bankrupt before it surfaced. Another fact that the song contains a sample of The System's 'Don't Disturb This Groove' from 1987.

After signing a new record deal in 2002 with Telstar Records and 19 Management worth £1.5 Million, she began recording a pop influenced album titled 'Open Your Eyes' which yielded the other song which I will talk about later, but she allegedly chose to scrap it after being disappointed with the results and instead Victoria wanted to move into a more R&B and influenced sound with another album she recorded titled 'Come Together' which would have featured this song and even worked with producer Damon Dash, and even did promo single with him titled ;It's That Simple' featuring M.O.P, which generated a mixed response and the label had issues with her for working with him and choosing this direction as they wanted her to stick with a more dance/pop sound, and so eventually a compromise was made to release 2 different styled tracks as a double a-side release to test the waters somewhat and see which would have the better response, and to their surprise in a vote on TOTP where both videos premiered, fans were asked to choose which one was better, and they chose the R&B based 'This Groove', and despite the song becoming a success after the label folded she chose not to pursue a music career even further and instead turned her attentions on the fashion world where she would find even bigger success.

Now this was a shame that this would be her final release and the album wouldn't even get chance to make it's mark, as both these songs showed so much promise, especially in this laid back R&B pop jam where despite not having one of the best singing voices out there, she can still demonstrate a unique, sexy and breathy tone to her voice and honestly she gives an excellent performance on this as the smooth production really sells it, along with her layered vocals that make her sound confident and stunning. I think that she should be proud of what she's created here, an underrated banging early 00's piece of pop/R&B tune which still sounds great to this day.

It would have been interesting to see how the album that featured this would have fared and even though several songs from these sessions have leaked, we still don't know what would have made the final cut in the end as many fans online have made their own versions of these albums which by listening to some of these tunes it does sound very interesting, but we'll never truly know what could have been. While I don't think a double album would have worked at all, maybe combining the 2 that still includes both songs would have been the better choice in my opinion. Another interesting fact that one of the songs from these sessions 'Resentment' which was first heard on a documentary of herself and husband David titled 'The Real Beckhams', would later end up on market for sale after her album was scrapped and singer Jazmine Sullivan got it and recorded it for her debut album in 2005 but that album would get shelved and eventually Beyoncé got the song and recorded it for her 2nd solo album 'B-Day' in 2006 and would become well received despite not being released as a single.

I'll mention more about this project when 'Let Your Head Go' drops out.

Posted by: schizo_spice Nov 26 2017, 08:45 PM

This Groove is ok but far too high on this in my opinion.

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 26 2017, 10:55 PM

I love This Groove! Let your head go is fantastic too but TG was my favourite of the two. Such a shame she didn't get the #1 she wanted with this, she really deserved to have a #1 with this or OOYM.

Posted by: JerdNoseReindeer Nov 26 2017, 10:59 PM

I didn't really get 'This Groove' for years but then it suddenly clicked with me! The production is cool in particular. I'm glad that 'Let Your Head Go' has finished highest of the two however as that is Victoria's best song by miles *.* 'Loving You' is great also by the way, Melanie and Matt both compliment each other really well.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 27 2017, 01:07 PM

I'm relieved 'This Groove' didn't get into the top 10. Victoria's vocals are a little too tentative for the minimal production, imo.

Of course, Victoria is absolutely stunning in the video. And, thanks to the backing singers, it's an alright song.

'Loving You' is gold. That kind of music just doesn't get made anymore. The harmonies are mind-blowing. It's edgy, sexy and raw. I want more of this from Melanie!

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 27 2017, 06:48 PM

Hoping to get a reaction














#11. Emma Bunton - Free Me [7.814]


Highest Scores: 10: (SamJudd, Mr.X, Jay, Maurice), 9.5/9: (Lukuzz, Spiceboy. missingyou, Jack, mutucan, engineer)
Lowest Scores: 5: (Euphorique, THEO), 6: (vibe, HarryApa, Jonjo, Jade)


Just outside the top 10 at #11 is Emma Bunton's 'Free Me' which was released in May 2003 as the lead single from her 2nd album which was also titled 'Free Me' which would come 10 months after this and first on a new label 'Polydor'. The song peaked at #5 on the UK singles chart making this her 4th top 10 hit and went on to sell over 65,000 copies, becoming the 134th biggest selling single of that year.

Coming 17 months after her last release and getting dropped from her previous label, she had a lot to prove in order to comeback into the limelight and thankfully she strikes back with this which is a really good song and great start to a brand new era for her. The song opens with that little hint of jazzy strings, then suddenly switches it up to a wonderfully 60's feeling track and can see why everybody makes compares this to a James Bond theme, I could easily picture this as an opening to anyone of those movies as this would blend beautifully together. This definitely stands as one of her best solo offerings with it's sweet and catchy chorus, complemented by some beautiful strings throughout it's strong production values.

What makes the whole thing more interesting is that you can tell that Emma's voice has improved, it's definitely more soulful through the verses and she hits those high notes throughout the chorus really well. She has definitely shook off her Baby Spice image as noted in the music video where she looks elegant and stunning as hell with some beautiful tropical imagery that definitely gives her a more grown up look. There is also a clear sense of broken-heartedness in the song's lyrics and a confusing paradox of a will to be freed, and this wouldn't be just a one-off thing it would be a theme throughout the album also.

So yes like I said this is a good start to a new chapter in her life and if there was any doubt about her going in this 60's styled direction, then songs like this and the far better follow up single which will come later, will quickly put those feelings to rest as this is a charming yet understated little track that showed that she still had fight left in her and the fact that she managed to land a new deal within weeks of losing her last label is something pretty impressive. Also this only just missed out on the top 10 by 0.5 points.









Posted by: vibe Nov 27 2017, 06:56 PM

^ slightly too high for my liking

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 27 2017, 07:11 PM

Here's what's to feature in the top 10 =


Melanie C (Ft Bryan Adams) - When You're Gone
Melanie C - Northern Star
Melanie C (Ft Lisa "Left Eye" Lobes) - Never Be The Same Again
Melanie C - I Turn To You
Geri Halliwell - Look At Me
Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino
Emma Bunton - What Took You So Long
Emma Bunton - Maybe
Victoria Beckham (Ft Truesteppers & Dane Bowers) - Out Of Your Mind
Victoria Beckham - Let Your Head Go




Here's a re-cap of the results 20-11

11. Emma Bunton - Free Me = 7.814
12. Victoria Beckham - This Groove = 7.759
13. Melanie C (Ft Matt Cardle) - Loving You = 7.518
14. Emma Bunton - I'll Be There = 7.5
15. Geri Halliwell - It's Raining Men = 7.388
16. Mel B - Feels So Good = 7.37
17. Geri Halliwell - Bag It Up = 7.296
18. Melanie C - Think About It = 7.25
19. Melanie C - Anymore = 7.1
20. Emma Bunton - Take My Breath Away = 7.092



Any thoughts any predictions...

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 27 2017, 09:18 PM

My predictions:

1. Maybe (Emma Bunton)
2. Never be the same again (Melanie C)
3. I turn to you (Melanie C)
4. Mi chico latino (Geri)
5. What took you so long (Emma)
6. Look at me (Geri)
7. Out of your mind (Victoria)
8. Northern star (Melanie C)
9. Let your head go (Victoria)
10. When you're gone (Melanie C)

Ps Melanie C has double what everyone else has left... true Queen of the Spice Girls wub.gif wub.gif wub.gif wub.gif wub.gif

Posted by: schizo_spice Nov 27 2017, 10:55 PM

I think a deserving top 3 would be (in any order)

I Turn to You
Maybe
Mi Chico Latino

Posted by: JerdNoseReindeer Nov 27 2017, 10:58 PM

I also think 'Maybe' is going to take the crown as I said earlier in the thread, but my ideal top 3 would be:

01. Never Be The Same Again
02. Mi Chico Latino
03. Let Your Head Go

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 27 2017, 11:12 PM

It'll never happen, but my ideal top 3 would be:

1. Northern Star
2. Mi Chico Latino
3. Maybe

Posted by: Tawdry Hepburn Nov 27 2017, 11:24 PM

These results are pretty much all an absolute mess. sad.gif

Worst of all is Geri's version of 'It's Raining Men' that high, it's just so dire.

I wish I'd voted.

Posted by: Jay ☆ Nov 27 2017, 11:43 PM

A decent remaining Top 10 songs!

I probably wouldn't have Out of Your Mind or When You're Gone in my personal Top 10 (I'm sure they'd place somewhere within my Top 20). I can certainly understand both placing this high up in the results though.

The other 8 listed + Free Me and Think About It would be my Top 10!

Maybe for the win! *.* (I don't think it will though)

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 27 2017, 11:51 PM

My preference for top 5 from the ones left are:
1. Never be the same again
2. I turn to you
3. When you're gone
4. What took you so long
5. Mi chico latino

My top 10 of all their singles would be:

1. Never be the same again
2. I turn to you
3. When you're gone (with Bryan Adams)
4. What took you so long
5. Mi chico latino
6. Think about it
7. Loving you (with Matt Cardle)
8. Out of your mind
9. I'll be there
10. Next best superstar

(I want you back, Anymore, Maybe, Look at me and Carolyna would all be in my top 20.)

Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 27 2017, 11:52 PM

I'm a total Melanie C fanboy lol, so pleased she is the one continuing music she is by far my favourite with her output. wub.gif

Posted by: vibe Nov 28 2017, 10:31 PM

My preference

1. Never be the same again
2. I Turn To You
3. Northern Star

My prediction

1. Maybe
2. Never be the same again
3. What took you so long

Posted by: liamk97 Nov 28 2017, 11:39 PM

'Ride It', 'Think About It', 'Bag It Up' and 'It's Raining Men' are fantastic! wub.gif All would place in my personal Top 10 so it's saddening to see them not even come close, especially when there's two songs by Victoria Beckham placed in the Top 10.

'Anymore' and 'Free Me' are great too, probably ranking #11-20 for me so I'm happy with their positions.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 28 2017, 11:42 PM

I can almost lose my mind















#10. Victoria Beckham - Let Your Head Go [7.833]


Highest Scores: 11: (Liam, breezyspice), 10: (Michael Andrew, Lukuzz, Jay, Maurice, Jade)
Lowest Scores: 4: (HarryApa, liamk97), 6: (missingyou, engineer, LazySpice88, letloverrule)


At #10 is the other song on Victoria Beckham's double a-side release, 'Let Your Head Go' which was released in December 2003 as what was supposed to be the joint lead single from her 2nd album 'Open Your Eyes', which was the more pop influenced album, but she was disappointed with the results and opted for a more urban R&B sounding album which would also end up being scrapped and to date this would be her 4th and final single release when this peaked at #3 on the UK charts becoming her 2nd highest charting single and plus making her the only Spice Girl to have all her singles go top 10.

This is definitely my personal fave between the 2 songs, as I've always preferred her more pop oriented songs and they don't come better than this fantastic piece. A simple yet effective pop/dance tune with a killer bassline, making this the total opposite to 'This Groove' which is also great but I've already talked about that. I also love the attitude that she injects into this which is very feisty and no-nonsense, displaying a different side to the one she's known for in the press and all this comes across in the fantastic music video which shows that she can poke fun at herself and do it with such style and glamour.

Coming to a compromise by releasing a double a-side was a definitely a smart move for her as both songs got to display different ranges to her sound which is evident in this fantastic piece of pop with it's pulsating beats and stellar production that kinda made this ahead of it's time as back in 2003 this definitely stood out amongst the shuffle. Like I already said it would have been interesting to see what would her follow up being like, I know songs have leaked from the sessions but a lot of them are unfinished and we don't really know what was gonna be on the album. But due to the record company folding and the press not willing to give her a chance, she had felt discouraged to carry on and given the fact that the odds were against her, you couldn't really blame for throwing in the towel and pursue her fashion career where she became even more iconic than ever and seeing her profile rise through the roof literally.

There was another single planned for the following year titled 'My Love Is For Real' which have leaked online and to be honest it's another fantastic piece of pop music from her and would have been interesting to see how this would have fared as it could have easily given her a 5th top 10 hit, but it wasn't even given a chance as it got scrapped along with the other recording sessions. At least we got this great reminder though.




Posted by: liamk97 Nov 28 2017, 11:49 PM

So far, so good.

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 29 2017, 03:33 PM

They buy your dreams so they can sell your soul














#09. Melanie C - Northern Star [7.98]


Highest Scores: 11: (LazySpice88), 10: (Michael Andrew, vibe, Jay)
Lowest Scores: 4: (THEO), 5: (Hide&Seek, liamk97)


At #9 we have Melanie C with 'Northern Star', released in November 1999 as the 2nd single from her debut album of the same name and peaked at #4 on the UK singles chart, becoming her 3rd top 5 hit in a row and sold over 200,000 copies and earning a Silver disc. It received a positive reception from music critics citing it far better than the lead single and was co-written by Mel C herself and produced by Marius De Vries who also did the same for 4 other tracks on the album, including the remixed version of one of the later singles.

This was probably a smart move for her at the time, considering the mixed response to the lead single and slow album sales which would thankfully increase with later singles, but going for a wintery ballad for the X-Mas season definitely got more people interested by giving a more familiar sound and what better way to do that, than with this where she gets to show off her warm vocal skills and having award winning writer Rick Nowells (most famous for his work with Belinda Carlise, Madonna & Lana Del Ray) probably helped as the two of them work really well together and set against a beautiful string arrangement, it's a recipe for greatness.

It's been a long time since I'd heard this and going back to it now really gives me that nice warm feeling nostalgia factor. This shows why she's renowned for having the strongest voice in the Spice Girls and she really pushes it with a song that gave her a well earned hit and suits the time of year perfectly, a haunting seasonal ballad that's also inspirational without being false. This also showcases at just how talented a performer she is with great songwriting skills as shown on this with such emotional depth as well as showing how much she's matured and grown from her days as a Spice Girl. To put it simply this song is just simply beautiful and touching.

You can also say that this was a safe single choice compared to 'Goin' Down', but who cares it's still a really good song and definitely stands as one of the album's finest moments, and it's a shame that this got quickly overshadowed by the 2 #1 smashes, but as it stands it's definitely one of her greatest moments and something she should be well and truly proud of, as well as being a fantastic and great choice for a release.





Posted by: vibe Nov 30 2017, 07:12 AM

NS is so beautiful especially live .

I love it .

Posted by: Michael Andrew Nov 30 2017, 10:27 AM

'Northern Star' is underrated. It's a truly beautiful ballad. Lovely sentiment, vocals and orchestration.

I connect with it more than I do Melanie's chart toppers.

I'm starting to think I should have given it my '11' - whoops!

Posted by: SamJudd Nov 30 2017, 07:21 PM

This tune's gonna punish you...















#08. Victoria Beckham (Ft Truesteppers & Dane Bowers) - Out Of Your Mind [8.296]


Highest Scores: 10: (SamJudd, Michael Andrew, Lukuzz, vibe, Spiceboy, Jack, Supercell), 9.5/9: (iiiiiiiii. Euphorique, missingyou, Jay, engineer, Maurice, Schizo Spice)
Lowest Scores: 1: (Hide&Seek), 5: (Mr.X, liamk97)


At #8 we say goodbye to the 2nd Spice Girl to lose all their singles with Victoria Beckham whose held up really well considering she only had 5 singles, the least amount of any of the others and managing to have 2 of them in the top 10 is a really good result. This now leaves Melanie C, Geri & Emma the only ones with songs still in the running.

'Out Of Your Mind' was Victoria's first solo release in August 2000 and features English garage duo Truesteppers and Dane Bowers, which made this his 2nd collaboration with them. The song didn't feature on her debut album but did feature on Truesteppers debut album 'True Stepping' as the 2nd single. Upon release the song was heavily tipped to be #1 after extensive promotional campaigns and record signings and during the mid-week chart it was, however by the end of the week Dance act Spiller featuring Sophie Ellis Bextor - 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)' beat them by 20,000 copies and had to settle for a #2 peak, making Victoria the only Spice Girl not to score a solo #1, but did manage the biggest first week sales of any of the other girls with 180,584 copies sold and overall sold over 395,000 and earning a Gold disc, becoming the 21st biggest selling single of that year. To date this remains Victoria's biggest selling hit.

First of all this song is a really good effort, especially for a first solo outing that plays well to her vocal range and she sounds great on this and yeah okay I have said before that she doesn't have a strong voice, but on here the song plays to her strengths thanks to the production by Truesteppers. The 2-step garage sound is very of it's time and doesn't quite have the fresh and funky sound it once did, at the time however this was the in-thing and this was one of the better songs to come out of that era. Even Dane Bowers addition adds a decent presence to the groove showcasing some great vocals to the mix giving it that extra kick to the up-tempo beat. But first and foremost this is a Victoria Beckham show and she's the one who truly shines on this in true diva fashion, and honestly if this was just her and Truesteppers it would have been just as great.

It's such a shame that this didn't end up on her debut album as this definitely would have been a welcome addiction considering that some of the tracks has that similar garage sound which it was quite dependant on and has therefore dated it. At the very least this could have been a bonus track or something and could have created a bit more hype for it's release. As it is the song's a fun throwback feel and that's all the more displayed in the music video with it's Matrix theme (another very in-thing at the time) which gives the whole thing a delicious playful feel and a relic of the early 00's. So on the whole this is a very good start to her solo career and while other releases didn't quite live up to this potential, she did produce some cracking tunes and it would have been interesting to see what would happen if she'd been given the chance.




Posted by: Spiceboy Nov 30 2017, 08:16 PM

Yeh I think Victoria made a huge mistake not going with more garage sounding tracks, it was clearly a good formula for her and might have got her that elusive #1. Obviously she was never going to get it agains CGYOOMH by kylie but she could have done with further singles.

Posted by: vibe Nov 30 2017, 09:58 PM

She was stupid not to include it on her album .

I live OOYM , her songs prog got more high scores because she only had 5 to choose from.



Posted by: Euphorique Dec 1 2017, 01:27 PM

She was unlucky, most other weeks and it would've topped the charts since it had massive first week sales. Too bad really

Posted by: Michael Andrew Dec 1 2017, 02:21 PM

I reckon 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)' only sold so massively as a negative response to Victoria's over exposure.

If she'd just been a little less showy (fewer glossy covers, fewer gold thrones), the public may have been more receptive.

To me, 'Out Of Your Mind' was an excellent fit for her. I will forever imitate that choreography.


Posted by: SamJudd Dec 1 2017, 06:18 PM

My little white lies tell a story















#07. Geri Halliwell - Look At Me [8.425]


Highest Scores: 10: (SamJudd, Hide&Seek, vibe, Jay, engineer, LazySpice88, Schizo Spice, liamk97), 9.5/9: (Michael Andrew, Lukuzz, Spiceboy, HarryApa, Supercell, letloverrule)
Lowest Scores: 4: (Mr.X), 6.5/6: (missingyou, breezyspice, Jonjo)


At #7 is the last but one Geri Halliwell single to feature here, 'Look At Me' which was released in May 1999 as the lead single from her debut album 'Schizophonic' and marked her first solo venture since leaving the Spice Girls and Geri had chosen this as she felt that it was the one to return her to the mainstream market and in it's week of release it was up against Boyzone's 'You Needed Me' and despite a close battle Geri lost out by 700 copies and settled for the runner up spot, which disappointed her as she felt that her career would be over in 6 months, but that wasn't the case as she would top the charts with her next few releases.

This is a really good debut single and Geri was right to release this as the lead single as she claims 'Ginger isn't dead' and that's pretty spot on. It's everything you expect her to come back with: catchy, extravagant and different, while at the same time it's nothing that you'd expect if that makes any sense and in true Geri style it provides a funny look at life through her eyes and since her controversial exit from the UK's biggest girl group, she needed to come back with something strong to make a statement and what better way than to do it with this a pop song with some jazzy influences, as well as showing off some much improved vocals that's telling you that she's here to stay making this a triumphant return to the charts where she belongs.

She definitely succeeded in getting the attention that she wanted, as the song keeps the focus solely on herself with a tale of feeling empowered and not caring what the critics think, which I must say is a very risky but a bold move that could have backfired badly, but thankfully she had the goods to back it up and while this didn't top the charts like she hoped a #2 hit for a first single is a very good start and a 140,000 copies sold in it's first week wasn't too shabby at all. Another controversial note was in the music video where she had a funeral for her Ginger alter-ego which garnered a vast amount of attention, but that's Geri for you always one to cause a fuss and stir things up in some truly fashionable style. Another good aspect of this is that it's not a carbon copy of any of the Spice Girls singles and she could have easily played it safe and released something generic, thankfully she didn't and instead made a bold and brash pop song that stands as one the best solo releases.

The album would be released shortly after this and would also go on to be a commercial success by peaking at #4 on the charts and would go on to sell over 600,000 copies, earning a 2x Platinum certification along with 3 of the 4 singles topping the charts, this would go on to be the 2nd biggest selling solo Spice album after Melanie C's debut of course. So on the whole 'Look At Me' was definitely a perfect way to kick off this era with it's self reflective narrative and some fantastic production that makes this a well deserved success and would be the start of a very interesting career.




Posted by: SamJudd Dec 2 2017, 12:32 AM

Anyone want to take a guess at what #6 will be, here's what's left in chronological order of course =

Melanie C (Ft Bryan Adams) - When You're Gone
Melanie C (Ft Lisa "Left Eye" Lobes - Never Be The Same Again
Melanie C - I Turn To You
Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino
Emma Bunton - What Took You So Long
Emma Bunton - Maybe


So as it stands there's just 3 members of the Spice Girls with singles remaining, Melanie C = 3, Geri Halliwell = 1 & Emma Bunton = 2. Victoria Beckham became the 2nd member following Mel B to lose all her singles. Despite only having 5 songs in this countdown, she held up really well with firstly all of them making the top 40, then having 2 in the top 10 and another one in the top 20, making that 3 in the top 20 while Mel B only managed to have 1 song in the top 20. So that's a fantastic result for her.

Here's a reminder of where all 5 of Victoria Beckham's singles have ended up in this countdown = (39th. A Mind Of It's Own, 23rd. Not Such An Innocent Girl, 12th. This Groove, 10th. Let Your Head Go & 8th. Out Of Your Mind).

Thanks to everybody who took part in the rate and another thank you for your patience as I know I'm only doing 1 of these a day, but it takes a lot out of me and I'd like to do a decent write up for every song in this rundown and don't wanna rush it and rather give my best effort. This will definitely be completed by the end of the next week and there's only 6 singles to go now, so everything will be revealed soon and another thanks to all your supportive comments in this thread and even me myself will be relieved with this is finally completed, BTW #6 will be posted Saturday mid-afternoon.

Just noticed I'm 8 pages in WOW, again thanks guys.

Posted by: Spiceboy Dec 2 2017, 12:32 AM

QUOTE(Michael Andrew @ Dec 1 2017, 02:21 PM) *
I reckon 'Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)' only sold so massively as a negative response to Victoria's over exposure.

If she'd just been a little less showy (fewer glossy covers, fewer gold thrones), the public may have been more receptive.

To me, 'Out Of Your Mind' was an excellent fit for her. I will forever imitate that choreography.



Being showy and over the top certainly didn't hurt Geri in the earlier days.

Posted by: Spiceboy Dec 2 2017, 12:37 AM

QUOTE(SamJudd @ Dec 2 2017, 12:32 AM) *
Anyone want to take a guess at what #6 will be, here's what's left in chronological order of course =

Melanie C (Ft Bryan Adams) - When You're Gone
Melanie C (Ft Lisa "Left Eye" Lobes - Never Be The Same Again
Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino
Emma Bunton - What Took You So Long
Emma Bunton - Maybe
So as it stands there's just 3 members of the Spice Girls with singles remaining, Melanie C = 3, Geri Halliwell = 1 & Emma Bunton = 2. Victoria Beckham became the 2nd member following Mel B to lose all her singles. Despite only having 5 songs in this countdown, she held up really well with firstly all of them making the top 40, then having 2 in the top 10 and another one in the top 20, making that 3 in the top 20 while Mel B only managed to have 1 song in the top 20. So that's a fantastic result for her.

Here's a reminder of where all 5 of Victoria Beckham's singles have ended up in this countdown = (39th. A Mind Of It's Own, 23rd. Not Such An Innocent Girl, 12th. This Groove, 10th. Let Your Head Go & 8th. Out Of Your Mind).

Thanks to everybody who took part in the rate and another thank you for your patience as I know I'm only doing 1 of these a day, but it takes a lot out of me and I'd like to do a decent write up for every song in this rundown and don't wanna rush it and rather give my best effort. This will definitely be completed by the end of the next week and there's only 6 singles to go now, so everything will be revealed soon and another thanks to all your supportive comments in this thread and even me myself will be relieved with this is finally completed, BTW #6 will be posted Saturday mid-afternoon.

Just noticed I'm 8 pages in WOW, again thanks guys.



I think you missed out I turn to you.

I think When you're gone or What took you so long will leave next, but they wouldn't be my personal choice. I'm delighted WYG has come this far it is well a truly one of my ultimate faves didn't realise it was so popular amongst solo Spice fans. Out of the remaining ones I would want Maybe to leave next but can't see that happening.

Posted by: SamJudd Dec 2 2017, 01:40 AM

QUOTE(Spiceboy @ Dec 2 2017, 12:37 AM) *
I think you missed out I turn to you.

I think When you're gone or What took you so long will leave next, but they wouldn't be my personal choice. I'm delighted WYG has come this far it is well a truly one of my ultimate faves didn't realise it was so popular amongst solo Spice fans. Out of the remaining ones I would want Maybe to leave next but can't see that happening.


Just edited my post, thanks for pointing it out, of course 'I Turn To You' is also still in the running.

Posted by: MerryFlynnmas Dec 2 2017, 01:59 AM

Look At Me is fab! For sure my second favourite Geri song!

Hmm next out I predict; What Took You So Long!

Posted by: Michael Andrew Dec 2 2017, 05:34 PM

QUOTE(Spiceboy @ Dec 2 2017, 12:32 AM) *
Being showy and over the top certainly didn't hurt Geri in the earlier days.


My recollection was that Geri practically disappeared from the public eye prior to her debut album campaign. While Victoria was constantly courting the media.

I don't begrudge that. As a fan, I ate it up. But in my opinion she may have been over-exposed, which may have cost her the number one spot. Just a thought really.

Posted by: vibe Dec 2 2017, 06:56 PM

Look at me is easily Geris best song . I love the video too.

How naive was it to not release on 2 cds . Would have beat boyzone if it was .

Posted by: schizo_spice Dec 2 2017, 07:35 PM

If she'd released two versions of the single and it had gone to number 1 then everything after had happened as it did it would've been so amazing to be the first and only female artist to have her first 5 singles all reach number 1.


Posted by: SamJudd Dec 3 2017, 01:12 AM

I'm tired of being all alone













#06. Melanie C (Ft Bryan Adams) - When You're Gone [8.481]


Highest Scores: 11: (Jonjo), 10: (SamJudd, Michael Andrew, vibe, Spiceboy, HarryApa, breezyspice, LazySpice88, Jade)
Lowest Scores: 5: (JB2o20, Euphorique, missingyou), 6: (Jack)


At #6 is Melanie C's first venture into solo stardom 'When You're Gone', which is a single by Canadian singer Bryan Adams with Mel featuring on backing vocals and was released in November 1998 as the 2nd single from his 9th studio album 'On A Day Like Today' and quickly became a smash hit by peaking at #3 on the UK charts with 15 weeks in the top 40, with 9 of these spent in the top 10 and to date has sold over 747,000 copies, earning a Platinum disc as well as becoming the biggest selling Spice Girl solo single.

This easily reignited Bryan Adam's career at the time in the UK firstly with the lead single the title track only managing a #13 peak, as well as giving him his highest charting single in 5 years and it's not hard to see why, first of all while I've never been a fan of Bryan Adams songs (find that too many of them sound the same), this one definitely stands as one of his better songs with it's fun energetic vibe and uplifting nature, along with a catchy chorus that makes the whole thing pop. This also shows a definite maturity in his song writing adding a bit more depth than some of his previous outings, but this one does have a good sense of rhythm to it and let's not forget to mention that kick ass guitar solo which really lifts the whole thing to another level.

My only criticism with this song is that you don't get to hear Melanie's fantastic vocals that much, she can only be heard during the high notes as Bryan dominates the whole thing, but other than that it's still a great song and her presence on it really makes the whole thing shine. Of note Melanie regularly features this song in her live concert performances, with guitarist Greg Hatwell signing his parts and both artists have been performed it together a couple of times in concert, even Bryan himself performs it on his tours usually picking a female from the audience member to sing with him, as well as performing it on his own as a solo song.

Despite the massive success of the song in the UK and Europe, it never received a USA release, due to poor sales of the album there and the fact that his success over there had completely waned over there, however in the UK it helped keep his career afloat for a few more years and even managed to score another UK #1 in 2000. In 2005 he re-recorded the song with Pamela Anderson for the US release of his 'Anthology' Greatest Hits album, where this was released as a radio single. This also proved to be quite the dark horse during this competition as it started off in the top 15, then climbed to the bottom end of the top 10 and then came close to making the top 5, eventually settling for a respectable #6 position.






Posted by: SamJudd Dec 3 2017, 01:20 AM

Right then Buzzjack we are now down to our final 5 and they consist of =

Melanie C (Ft Lisa "Left Eye" Lobes") - Never Be The Same Again
Melanie C - I Turn To You
Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino
Emma Bunton - What Took You So Long
Emma Bunton - Maybe

Any thoughts, any predictions....





Here's a reminder of what else featured in the top 10 with numbers 10-06 =

06. Melanie C (Ft Bryan Adams) - When You're Gone = 8.481
07. Geri Halliwell - Look At Me = 8.425
08. Victoria Beckham (Ft Truesteppers & Dane Bowers) - Out Of Your Mind = 8.296
09. Melanie C - Northern Star = 7.98
10. Victoria Beckham - Let Your Head Go = 7.833



Posted by: MerryFlynnmas Dec 3 2017, 01:22 AM

When You're Gone is so so good wub.gif I remember the video so well too always on music channels!

Posted by: LazySpice88 Dec 3 2017, 05:03 PM

I predict this top 5:
1. Maybe
2. I turn to you
3. Mi chico latino
4. Never be the same again
5. What took you so long

I hope for this top 5:
1. Never be the same again
2. Mi chico latino
3. What took you so long
4. I turn to you
5. Maybe

I'm not a fan ok "maybe" and "i turn to you"...
I'm sorry infact for "northern star", my favourite solo single, and for "look at me".
SamJudd i love your ratings, i hope for others (like spice girls b-side, spice girls videos, spice girls albums and singles cover, spice girls non-single tracks, spice girls and solo albums...) smile.gif

Posted by: SamJudd Dec 3 2017, 09:51 PM

What took you forever to see I'm right?















#05. Emma Bunton - What Took You So Long [8.518]


Highest Scores: 11: (THEO, letloverrule), 10: (SamJudd, Mr.X, Michael Andrew, Spiceboy, missingyou, Jay, Maurice, LazySpice88, Jade)
Lowest Scores: 0: (Supercell), 6: (JB2o2o)


LazySpice88's prediction was correct and BTW thank you for the comment. At #5 we have Emma Bunton's 'What Took You So Long' which was released in April 2001 as the lead and 2nd overall single from her debut album 'A Girl Like Me' and went straight to the #1 slot in the UK charts with 76,000 copies sold in the first week, making this her first and only #1 hit with overall sales of about 269,000 copies and was the 41st biggest selling single of that year as well as this becoming highest selling single to date. Also a fun fact the b-side '(Hey You) Free Your Mind' was previously featured on the soundtrack to 'Pokenon: The First Movie' from 1999.

Coming 17 months after her first solo outing which was a collaboration with 'Tin, Tin Out' was quite a long time to wait and could have been very risky, but luckily she manages to pull it off and instead of rushing out another release quickly after her previous smash hit, she decided to bide her time and made sure that her new material was ready for the public to see and the end result was pretty impressive, while many expected her to go down the bubblegum pop route, Emma decided to go for a more grown up guitar influenced sound that's quite similar to her last song, but here it's developed a lot more with a more up-tempo string-laden track, that shows a different and more interesting side to her and while it's not totally removed from her pop roots, it's still a very credible sound and sets in motion a very promising solo career.

Emma Bunton could have easily played it safe and went for something more Spice Girls sounding, but honestly I'm glad she didn't as this proved that she could make it on her own and venturing out into a more alternative sound really suited her sweet vocals and some fantastic production with the twangy opening guitar line and some great instrumental work going on, especially on the toe-tapping chorus that has that slight hint of country music thrown in there for some good measure that just makes this a sweet yet simple and pleasant song that's not over the top or overblown in any way which makes this the perfect lead off single to her then upcoming album, giving you a perfect indication of what to expect.

While the album is decent, there's nothing on there that quite matches the greatness of this. Don't get me wrong there are some good songs on there, but they just don't quite compare to the quality of this and even the 2 singles that followed couldn't live up to this in terms of success or greatness. Well that just goes to show how great this is, it's a pretty hard act to follow and thankfully her follow up album would be a million times better in terms of success and quality. There is just one song from her left in this countdown which doesn't need no introduction and where will that end up, stay tuned to find out.




Posted by: Supercell Dec 4 2017, 04:54 PM

Just catching up with this thread.

Shame Look At Me wasn't higher, could have sworn I put a 10 on the vote but never mind. It's one of her best easily, I remember being gobsmacked that it failed to reach no.1 and was probably just as irritated as Geri was that it wasn't laugh.gif . Do think it was a very underrated bit of pop back at the time, Geri really suited the jazzy pop sound I wish she'd stuck with it more for the debut album.

Glad to see my favourite singles from Victoria ending up in the top 10. Out Of Your Mind is an absolute banger, again a travesty that it wasn't no.1. If she had run with that sound and followed it up fairly swiftly with subsequent singles and album she may well have carved out a more successful debut era. I do think looking back at it now she (along with Geri) could have forged very successful careers had they come out with the right sound.

Also love Emma's Free Me, I think again this was one of her strongest songs and very underrated. Would have served as a much better James Bond song than the one Madonna churned out the same year. Really not keen on WTYSL though, still rather surprised at how popular that is and how it topped the charts for a fortnight.

Posted by: ChRiMbO LeG PiPe Dec 4 2017, 05:15 PM

QUOTE(Michael Andrew @ Nov 19 2017, 11:08 PM) *
I was blown away by Mel's debut with 'I Want You Back'.

I never thought she'd be first off the blocks to a solo career. But on hearing this track, I really believed Mel could be a megastar in her own right.

The TV performances were great too - choreography and look both on point.

She had so much potential! What happened?


This!!

And Feel So Good!! wub.gif

Posted by: SamJudd Dec 4 2017, 08:49 PM

QUOTE(Supercell @ Dec 4 2017, 04:54 PM) *
Just catching up with this thread.

Shame Look At Me wasn't higher, could have sworn I put a 10 on the vote but never mind. It's one of her best easily, I remember being gobsmacked that it failed to reach no.1 and was probably just as irritated as Geri was that it wasn't laugh.gif . Do think it was a very underrated bit of pop back at the time, Geri really suited the jazzy pop sound I wish she'd stuck with it more for the debut album.

Glad to see my favourite singles from Victoria ending up in the top 10. Out Of Your Mind is an absolute banger, again a travesty that it wasn't no.1. If she had run with that sound and followed it up fairly swiftly with subsequent singles and album she may well have carved out a more successful debut era. I do think looking back at it now she (along with Geri) could have forged very successful careers had they come out with the right sound.

Also love Emma's Free Me, I think again this was one of her strongest songs and very underrated. Would have served as a much better James Bond song than the one Madonna churned out the same year. Really not keen on WTYSL though, still rather surprised at how popular that is and how it topped the charts for a fortnight.


I just double checked your scores and you did rate a 9 for Geri Halliwell's - Look At Me

Posted by: Michael Andrew Dec 4 2017, 09:53 PM

'When You're Gone' is so great. Melanie's voice and energy really brought the song to life.

I bet even non-fans would agree that 'When You're Gone' encapsulates a sense of the time. It was very widely-played and seemed universally popular.

Posted by: SamJudd Dec 4 2017, 10:04 PM

When nothing turns out the way I planned















#04. Melanie C - I Turn To You [8.981]


Highest Scores: 11: (iiiiiiii, MerryFlynnmas), 10: (SamJudd, vibe, Spiceboy, Euphorique, missingyou, Jay, Liam, Jonjo, MauriahChristmaz, letloverrule, Schizo Spice, Slade, liamk97)
Lowest Scores: 3: (engineer), 5: (breezyspice)


At #4 is Melanie C with 'I Turn To You', which was released in August 2000 as the 4th single from her debut album 'Northern Star' and became her 2nd and final UK #1 hit, selling 120,000 copies in it's first week and to date has sold over 380,000 copies which now gives this a Gold disc and became the 27th best selling single of that year. The song was remixed for it's single release as the 'Hex Hector Radio Mix' for which he'd win the 2001 Grammy award for 'Remixer Of The Year'.

The success of this, Melanie C achieved her 10th UK chart topper as a songwriter, equalling the record set by her former band mate Geri Halliwell and in addition it made her the first female artist to top the charts as part of a quintet, quartet, duo and as a solo artist and would end up in the Guinness World Records book for this achievement, becoming the first female songwriter to write at least 11 #1's and would hold this record until 2005 when Madonna managed her 11th #1 and then lost it when Madonna again scored her 12th #1 in 2006.

Having song-writing credits on 11 UK chart toppers is quite an achievement and I think that a lot people forgets about that when Melanie C gets a mention, as it's something that a lot of songwriters in the business can only dream off and she did all this before the big downloading & streaming era, so that's something I bet she's very proud off and very much well deserved. This track's success and critical acclaim was well earned as it's an absolute belter and even in it's original album form it's very good but the remix gives it that something extra special by giving it a more euphoric thumping dance beat that not only suits the style of the song, but makes the whole thing a million times better. Though remix aside this is still a very beautiful song with fantastic lyrics and a deeper meaning. I have heard that this was written for her mother and also her friends, but whatever the case, having a song like this written for them must be a wonderful feeling.

This marks another interesting direction for the ever amazing Melanie C, going for rock on single #1, pop/ballad for single #2, R&B for single #3 and dance for single #4, creating an interesting selection of styles and sounds, even more so on this sleek club anthem that has a lot more to it than the usual dance and nightclub remixes that came by the dozen at the time and there is more of a sense of depth that even in it's newer form the meaning doesn't get stripped away and you can still hear and feel the message of the song without it becoming just another soulless dance song. It's such a shame we don't get songs like this anymore that still keeps it's soul intact, as this does stand out strongly and firmly from the crowd without being generic. This was a well deserved and earned chart topper for Melanie C, even if it was her last.




Posted by: SamJudd Dec 4 2017, 10:08 PM

So now we are down to our final 3, one a piece from Melanie C, Geri Halliwell & Emma Bunton, and they are =

Melanie C - Never Be The Same Again
Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino
Emma Bunton - Maybe

So it's a 3 way battle for the #1 spot, who will win, stay tuned to find out.

Posted by: MerryFlynnmas Dec 4 2017, 10:14 PM

I Turn To You is the ultimate Spice Girls song for me wub.gif Mi Chico Latino is second now. It's so addictive and that trance-like production. Incredible.

Posted by: Martyn Dec 5 2017, 09:43 AM

I didn’t realise Mi Chico Latino was so popular.

Maybe to win.

Posted by: Michael Andrew Dec 5 2017, 12:35 PM

Whatever the order, that's a solid top 3.

'Never Be The Same Again' isn't my personal fave by Melanie C. But if it wins, I'll totally understand why.

'Mi Chico Latino' suits Geri's vocals really well. It celebrates her heritage and it's so uniquely her.

'Maybe' is pop perfection, imo. Emma's voice is from heaven.

Posted by: vibe Dec 5 2017, 01:40 PM

Decent top 3.

Shame ITTY didnt make it.

Posted by: jakewild Dec 5 2017, 02:35 PM

1. maybe
2. mi chico latino
3. never be the same again

Posted by: Jay ☆ Dec 5 2017, 03:35 PM

Love all three, but I'm rooting for Maybe to win!

Posted by: schizo_spice Dec 5 2017, 06:48 PM

Almost the top 3 I predicted.

I am glad it's one each from the three with the best solo music (imo)

Posted by: Spiceboy Dec 5 2017, 09:40 PM

A worthy top 3 just wish WTYSL was in there over Maybe. Geri or Melanie for the win! (Rooting for NBTSA it was my 11)

Posted by: SamJudd Dec 6 2017, 05:33 PM

Take my chances and run with destiny















#03. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino [9.055]


Highest Scores: 11: (Schizo Spice), 10: (SamJudd, Hide&Seek, Michael Andrew, Lukuzz, Spiceboy, Euphorique, Merry Flynnmas, Jay, mutucan, engineer, Supercell, LazySpice88, Slade, liamk97)
Lowest Scores: 3: (Mr.X), 6: (breezyspice)


At #3 we say goodbye to the last of Geri Halliwell's singles here, 'Mi Chico Latino', which was released in August 1999 as the 2nd single from her debut album 'Schizophonic'. It is a Latin pop song which is centred on a lost love theme and was written by Geri herself in order to pay homage to her mother who has a Spanish background. The song became a big success in the UK by debuting at #1, becoming her first solo chart topper and went on to sell 383,000 copies and was certified Gold, this would also be the first of 4 consecutive #1 hits for her.

The song was written in 1998 and she wanted to make a song with Spanish influences in order to pay homage to her roots and while she and Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson (known as Absolute) came up with the melody, but didn't have any words, then she called her mother for help and even consulted her library of Spanish language romances and eventually the rest was history, and even used some of language itself into the song, most notably the beginning. After her debut single only managed a #2 peak, her record label wanted her to release 'Lift Me Up', while the Absolute team wanted 'Bag It Up' as the 2nd single, but Geri stuck to her guns and released this at it received a good reception from children and the fact that the Latin boom was ruling the charts that summer probably helped with this decision as it turned out to be the right one.

I would definitely agree that this was probably a bit left field for Geri Halliwell at the time, as this kind of formula was untested for her at the time. But thankfully that wasn't the case here as this totally works, it's a great summery pop song where vocally she sounds sexy and on top form and was really glad when this got chosen as a single, it's a definite standout on her debut album and love the way it goes from flamenco to a softer sound in a split second pushing everything else to the side, along with some fantastic guitar licks that makes this on a whole a fantastic pop song and probably ranks as her best. It's a shame that she never went down this kind of route again or at least kept some of the Spanish influences into her later music, as this really suited her, she tends to go for a different sound for each single, exploring one sound then discarding it for another without ever really building on any of them, which is probably why she succeeded so quickly then waned so fast.

But as it stands this is Geri at her upmost peak of her career and she grabs onto it with such gusto, and while maybe some of the pronounces may be questionable,, this is still Geri at her best when she's not trying too hard and being more playful and natural. It's a great pop song nothing more and coming from a more simpler time in the pop music world (where everything was much better), and this came out at the right time during that Latin craze which died down pretty quickly the following year, but as it is it's just great that's all.




Posted by: SamJudd Dec 6 2017, 05:42 PM

So now then we are now down to our final 2, it's Melanie C VS Emma Bunton, who will win stay tuned as all will be revealed very soon....


Geri Halliwell becomes the 3rd member following Mel B & Victoria to lose all their singles in this countdown, but having her highest in the top 3 is a pretty amazing result and another in the top 10, as well as two more in the top 20. She's had 11 singles to feature here and have ranged from the bottom end of the charts to the top end as follows = #52. 'Half Of Me', #49. 'Angels In Chains', #45 'Desire', #43 'Scream If You Wanna Go Faster', #31 'Calling', #25 'Ride It', #22 'Lift Me Up', #17 'Bag It Up', #15 'It's Raining Men', #7 'Look At Me' & #3 'Mi Chico Latino'.

Posted by: vibe Dec 6 2017, 06:19 PM

I didn’t know this wasn’t the planned second single .

I have to say this is a good song with an amazing video. She looked stunning but healthy .

Can we do a solo video survivor sometime soon ?
Don’t think there would be too many Mel C videos near the top .

Posted by: SamJudd Dec 7 2017, 08:45 PM

It's just the beginning it's not the end











#02. Melanie C (Ft Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes) - Never Be The Same Again [9.259]


Highest Scores: 11: (vibe, Spiceboy, Jack, mutucan, Slade), 10: (SamJudd, Mr.X, iiiiiii, Michael Andrew, Lukuzz, Jay, engineer, Supercell, LazySpice88. letloverrule)
Lowest Scores: 6: (JB2o2o, missingyou), 7: (Hide&Seek, Euphorique, breezyspice)


So then Buzzjack, we are almost at the end of this countdown and finishing in the runner up spot is Melanie C, which means we all know who the winner is, but for now let's talk about Sporty Spice whose done very well here, she's had by far the most entries here with a whopping 19 singles with 7 of them ending up in the top 20, 4 of which ended up in the final 10, more than any of the other girls and ending up in the #2 spot is a brilliant result, after such a close battle where at one point this was almost the winner, but lost out by 1.5 points.

'Never Be The Same Again' was released in March 2000 as the 3rd single from her debut album 'Northern Star' and became her first solo #1 hit, knocking off fellow Spice Girl member Geri Halliwell of the top spot with her hit 'Bag It Up' with 144,000 copies sold in it's first week and with eventual sales of 431,400 copies making this the 18th best selling single of that year. The song also features the late rapper Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes of American girl group TLC, which also makes this her first #1 as well.

This was re-recorded for it's single release, giving it a more R&B feel to it, which in no doubt is down to Left Eye's involvement on it and has a different feel to everything she's done before, especially in contrast to the first two singles, and while that could have easily backfired, thankfully it didn't as this is fantastic with Melanie's vocals being more laid back and subtle is where she is at her upmost best, whist Left Eye's rap fits the song perfectly without being out of place, this is a good example of a guest artist done right, without being just tacked on and Lisa definitely gives a more skilful and elegant rap that really makes the song shine and maintains a polite distance from the rest of the song. Their voices blends together beautifully on this, making this a refreshing and welcome change and addition to her discography.

I also like the relaxed vibe that this song has song has going on and Melanie just sounds so beautiful on it and the fact that the single version brings out more of the R&B flavour of the song to the forefront was a smart move, and gives it a more solid and polished sound and while in it's original form it was a standout, the remixed version sounds so much better with a more twisty acoustic guitar that gives the song a more sultry and slinky vibe and brought more attention to the amazing album, giving it a new lease of life that it deserves. So on the whole I would call this song a masterpiece with it's cool atmosphere that makes this one of the best and most compelling Spice Girls solo records ever and shows further proof of why she's not only the best vocalist in the group but the most versatile.










It's just a game that you play










#01. Emma Bunton - Maybe [9.314]


Highest Scores: 11: (SamJudd, Mr.X, iiiiiii, Michael Andrew, Jay, MauriahChristmaz), 10: (Hide&Seek, JB2o2o, MerryFlynnmas, missingyou, Jack, Schizo Spice, liamk97)
Lowest Scores: 6.5: (Euphorique, Jonjo), 7.5/7: (mutucan, LazySpice88)


So here we are finally at the very end of this countdown and our winner of the solo Spice Girls rate is Emma Bunton with her little masterpiece of modern pop and after such a close battle, she manages to edge out on top, making this a fantastic and well deserved result and I would like to thank everybody on Buzzjack whose voted on this and have shown support over this last month.

'Maybe' was released in October 2003 as the 2nd single from her 2nd album 'Free Me' and shows her further continuing the 60's sound of her previous single, by going for a more lounge/bossa nova sound. The song enjoyed success on the UK charts by peaking at #6 and despite peaking one placer lower than the title track, this would go on to outsell it by selling around 80,000 copies to date, becoming the album's biggest selling single as well as enjoying moderate success worldwide by reaching top 40 positions in several countries and was even remixed for a USA release where it managed a #6 peak on the 'Billboard Hot Dance Club Play charts.

The song had an unusual inspiration behind it, where it was inspired by a soundtrack to a 70's German porn music and she and her collaborators found some ideas out of that and described the process as mad and hilarious, while noting the style of the finished song is reminiscent of its origins. I'm actually really glad that this won and would have been happy with either this or the runner up song at the top spot here. But honestly this is a fantastic result and became a firm instant fave with me upon its' release and really renewed my interest in Emma Bunton's solo career again and yes I would say that this is her best with it's phenomenally catchy sound with a fantastic fast pace, which in thanks to it's bossa nova styled production, along with some wonderful instrumentation here and some rich and warm vocals by Emma Bunton herself.

I think that before this, Emma's solo career kinda got forgotten about, despite being the most consistent and then out of nowhere she releases this modern masterpiece that saw her deliver the best solo Spice song ever, now that's quite a feat and despite releasing a decent enough lead single, this trounces on that by miles with it's bouncy jazz meets motown feel that also has something of a broad-way style to it and furthers the 60's sound of her last single, but here she nails it while still maintaining that sound, but giving it a more of a modern poppy feel to it, resulting in something that's not only refreshing but stands out amongst the crowd. It builds up around sexy verses, along with a sweet chorus and an addictive sing-along hook that's all held together by a fantastic orchestration. This was a well deserved hit, but should have been bigger. should at least been top 3 and sold about 4 times the amount that it did, but this came during the low sales era of the early 00's, but at least she managed to find continued success with her 2nd album, which is something that not all of the girls managed unfortunately and plus her fantastic 2nd album did manage to outsell her first, but again even that should have been multi platinum status at least.

So as it stands, this is definitely a prime example of throwback pop done right, and stands as one of the best and most underrated songs of the 00's, but as it seems on the Buzzjack forum it has found the love and adoration it's so longingly deserved by scoring so many high marks, even managing more 11's than any other song in this rate and this marked quite a turning point in Emma's career where she had finally found her sound.

Posted by: SamJudd Dec 7 2017, 09:11 PM

Here are the full results 52-01...



01. Emma Bunton - Maybe = 9.314
02. Melanie C (Ft Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes) - Never Be The Same Again = 9.259
03. Geri Halliwell - Mi Chico Latino = 9.055
04. Melanie C - I Turn To You = 8.981
05. Emma Bunton - What Took You So Long = 8.518
06. Melanie C (Ft Bryan Adams) - When You're Gone = 8.481
07. Geri Halliwell - Look At Me = 8.425
08. Victoria Beckham (Ft Truesteppers & Dane Bowers) - Out Of Your Mind = 8.296
09. Melanie C - Northern Star = 7.98
10. Victoria Beckham - Let Your Head Go = 7.833
11. Emma Bunton - Free Me = 7.814
12. Victoria Beckham - This Groove = 7.759
13. Melanie C (Ft Matt Cardle) = 7.518
14. Emma Bunton - I'll Be There = 7.5
15. Geri Halliwell - It's Raining Men = 7.388
16. Mel B - Feels So Good = 7.37
17. Geri Halliwell - Bag It Up = 7.296
18. Melanie C - Think About It = 7.25
19. Melanie C - Anymore = 7.1
20. Emma Bunton - Take My Breath Away = 7.092
21. Mel B (Ft Missy Elliot) - I Want You Back = 7.074
22. Geri Halliwell - Lift Me Up = 7.037
23. Victoria Beckham - Not Such An Innocent Girl = 6.944
24. Emma Bunton (Ft Tin, Tin Out) - What I Am = 6.833
25. Geri Halliwell - Ride It = 6.685
26. Melanie C - On The Horizon = 6.574
27. Emma Bunton - All I Need To Know = 6.444 (More 10's)
28. Mel B - Tell Me = 6.444
29. Melanie C - Next Best Superstar = 6.425
30. Melanie C - Carolyna = 6.388
31. Geri Halliwell - Calling = 6.37
32. Mel B - For Once In My Life = 6.351
33. Emma Bunton - Crickets Sing For Anamaria = 6.277
34. Emma Bunton - Downtown = 6.24
35. Emma Bunton - We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight = 6.222
36. Melanie C - Here It Comes Again = 6.111
37. Melanie C - Goin' Down = 6.018
38. Melanie C - If That Were Me = 5.944
39. Victoria Beckham - A Mind Of It's Own = 5.87
40. Melanie C - First Day Of My Life = 5.846
41. Melanie C (Ft Emma Bunton) - I Know Him So Well = 5.74
42. Melanie C - Yeh, Yeh, Yeh = 5.703
43. Geri Halliwell - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster = 5.648
44. Melanie C - This Time = 5.5
45. Geri Halliwell - Desire = 5.314
46. Melanie C - Melt = 5.25
47. Mel G - Word Up = 5.148
48. Mel B - Lullaby = 4.944
49. Geri Halliwell - Angels In Chains = 4.788
50. Mel B - Today = 4.555
51. Melanie C - I Want Candy = 4.277
52. Geri Halliwell - Half Of Me = 2.846



Phew that's it now guys, I'll be taking a break for a while to recharge my batteries before I start any other venture on this forum, and again I'd like to thank everybody who took part and made this a big success, and plus thanks for all your fantastic and supportive comments, I do try to make every commentary decent for every song and there was a lot of them and doing this took a lot out of me, but it was worth it and again thanks....

Posted by: missingyou Dec 7 2017, 09:17 PM

Thank you so much for doing this.


And a much deserved win for the Baby Spice smile.gif Maybe is a f***ing jam.

Posted by: vibe Dec 7 2017, 09:38 PM

NBTSA deserves the win .

Am I in the minoroty if people that prefer the album version over the single mix ?

I do love Maybe . Shame this wasn’t a bigger hit !!! Didn’t even make the top 5 .

Posted by: Blond 2.0 Dec 7 2017, 11:52 PM

Maybe for number 1 tongue.gif


Posted by: Michael Andrew Dec 8 2017, 08:57 AM

Well done SamJudd. You've done a fantastic job.

I can't believe 'Maybe' won. Woohoo!

I'd expected Melanie C and Geri to be most popular, because of all their chart success. But as an Emma fan, I'm very happy that she's so well-loved here on Buzzjack.

Posted by: MerryFlynnmas Dec 8 2017, 12:29 PM

Amazing number one cheer.gif

Well done SamJudd great results!

Posted by: »ïïïïïïïïïïïïï. Dec 8 2017, 07:16 PM

Great winner wub.gif

Thanks for this rate Sam, enjoyed it a lot heart.gif

Posted by: Spiceboy Dec 8 2017, 07:53 PM

Nooooooooooooooooooo!! Was so rooting for NBTSA

Posted by: ChRiMbO LeG PiPe Dec 8 2017, 08:02 PM

NBTSA or ITTY shoulda won, not Maybe!!!

Shoulda voted sad.gif

Posted by: Mistletheo Dec 8 2017, 11:57 PM

Completely random song to win but a pretty decent top five overall.

Thanks Sam for hosting, it's been great to read through your in depth commentaries for each song.

Posted by: Jay ☆ Dec 9 2017, 12:25 PM

Maybe has been a longstanding huge favourite for many Spice Girls fans, so this outcome wouldn't seem random for us! On DenDen in the "Spice Rate 2014" thread which included all group and solo singles, Maybe smanaged to come 2nd - only prevented from winning by Viva Forever. That's how loved it is within the fan base, beating out all but one group single.

Really pleased it's won this rate! It's such a huge pop moment and imo it deserved more success and credit at the time of release. Most of her peers were doing rather straight forward pop, but Emma went against the grain with that album era and its clear 60s influences (musically and stylistically)!

I will always believe that the decision for it to only be released on one CD (and cassette) rather than two CDs was a mistake that cost it a Top 5 peak! It sold over 21,500 copies to enter at #6 (apparently 21,700), so it was around 600-800 sales behind 50 Cent at #5. Her previous single Free Me was released on 2 CDs and cassette, reached #5 and sold less to achieve the Top 5 peak - under 20,000. So Maybe was more popular than Free Me, and that was also shown by the eventual totals - as of 2009, 55k for Free Me & 77k for Maybe (lol, these figures sound pitiful compared to what we're used to nowadays, but they were fairly decent sales in 2003! Maybe was the 96th best seller of the year with 68k... equivalently the 96th best seller of 2016 sold 355k).

~~~

A great Top 10 overall, so many of my favourites in there! I'd have had Northern Star a bit higher, and I marginally prefer What Took You So Long? over the two Melanie songs and Mi Chico Latino. My personal Top 5 would be: 1. Maybe / 2. What Took You So Long? / 3. I Turn to You / 4. Mi Chico Latino / 5. Never Be The Same Again.

~~~

Thanks very much for doing this thread SamJudd and for the huge amount of work and effort you've put in! I've really enjoyed reading your commentaries. heart.gif (Have to point this out though, Lisa's name is Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, not Lobes! heehee.gif )

Posted by: SamJudd Dec 10 2017, 04:42 PM

QUOTE(Jay ☆ @ Dec 9 2017, 12:25 PM) *
Maybe has been a longstanding huge favourite for many Spice Girls fans, so this outcome wouldn't seem random for us! On DenDen in the "Spice Rate 2014" thread which included all group and solo singles, Maybe smanaged to come 2nd - only prevented from winning by Viva Forever. That's how loved it is within the fan base, beating out all but one group single.

Really pleased it's won this rate! It's such a huge pop moment and imo it deserved more success and credit at the time of release. Most of her peers were doing rather straight forward pop, but Emma went against the grain with that album era and its clear 60s influences (musically and stylistically)!

I will always believe that the decision for it to only be released on one CD (and cassette) rather than two CDs was a mistake that cost it a Top 5 peak! It sold over 21,500 copies to enter at #6 (apparently 21,700), so it was around 600-800 sales behind 50 Cent at #5. Her previous single Free Me was released on 2 CDs and cassette, reached #5 and sold less to achieve the Top 5 peak - under 20,000. So Maybe was more popular than Free Me, and that was also shown by the eventual totals - as of 2009, 55k for Free Me & 77k for Maybe (lol, these figures sound pitiful compared to what we're used to nowadays, but they were fairly decent sales in 2003! Maybe was the 96th best seller of the year with 68k... equivalently the 96th best seller of 2016 sold 355k).

~~~

A great Top 10 overall, so many of my favourites in there! I'd have had Northern Star a bit higher, and I marginally prefer What Took You So Long? over the two Melanie songs and Mi Chico Latino. My personal Top 5 would be: 1. Maybe / 2. What Took You So Long? / 3. I Turn to You / 4. Mi Chico Latino / 5. Never Be The Same Again.

~~~

Thanks very much for doing this thread SamJudd and for the huge amount of work and effort you've put in! I've really enjoyed reading your commentaries. heart.gif (Have to point this out though, Lisa's name is Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, not Lobes! heehee.gif )


Just edited that post, thanks for pointing that out how silly of me. Well anyway here are the averages of all 27 of you who voted. It seems that we have a tie for the top position, but Jay edges out in front due to giving out 1 more 10, so well done to him and Lukuzz of course, seems that they are the biggest fans of the Spice Girls solo careers. =

01. Jay = 8.317 (more 10’s)
02. Lukuzz = 8.317
03. MauriahChristmaz = 7.75
04. SamJudd = 7.663
05. LazySpice88 = 7.576
06. Michael Andrew = 7.365
07. Schizo Spice = 7.298
08. Letloverrule = 7.134
09. Slade = 6.98 (more 10’s)
10. Merry Flynnmas = 6.98
11. Spiceboy = 6.961
12. iiiiiiiiiii = 6.735
13. Vibe = 6.721
14. Jack = 6.615
15. Jonjo = 6.401
16. Mutucan = 6.384 (more 10’s)
17. Breezyspice = 6.384
18. Engineer = 6.375
19. Liamk97 = 6.000
20. Mistletheo = 5.836
21. Liam = 6.509
22. JB2o2o = 6.298
23. Missingyou = 6.153
24. Hide&Seek = 5.596
25. Euphorique = 5.526
26. Mr.X = 5.24
27. Supercell = 3.769

Posted by: MARIAH. Dec 10 2017, 05:34 PM

laugh.gif Glad to see I'm confirmed to be a bit of a Spice loon, yesss at that equal level of stanning Lukuzz *.*

Posted by: Spiceboy Dec 10 2017, 06:20 PM

Damn you Merry Flynnmas edging me out of the top 10!! I feel like the Mel B of the forum laugh.gif

Posted by: SamJudd Mar 14 2020, 06:05 PM

I've edited some of the results, 52-26, all the posts that have multiple entries, by having the bottom position at the top of the page, so the results are easier to read. Plus I just wanted to show all the hard work I did on this thread back in 2017.

Posted by: Jay ☆ Mar 14 2020, 07:49 PM

Thanks SamJudd heart.gif Wow at this having happened over 2 years ago already.

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