I always felt June 28th was when the Spice era truly began.

 

Appearance and performance of "Wannabe" on GMTV 25 years ago today

 

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This is iconic, this is where it all started for them

I would have easily guessed that at the time, to be fair.

 

 

I wouldn't to be fair! I know that their success was dwindling and they weren't exactly the huge sellers they had been in the earlier solo days however only a handful of their releases hadn't achieved top 10 by and all of the solo albums except Mel B's had gone top 10 so I kind of assumed that the girls would always be in the can easily get a top 10 category.

 

Up to Ride it the chart runs had been:

 

Never be the same again [#1]

I turn to you [#1]

Mi chico latino [#1]

Lift me up [#1]

Bag it up [#1]

It's raining men [#1]

What took you so long [#1]

I want you back [#1]

Look at me [#2]

What I am [#2]

Out of your mind [#2]

When you're gone [#3]

This groove / Let your head go [#3]

Going down [#4]

Northern star [#4]

Ride it [#4]

Tell me [#4]

Proper Chrimbo [#4]

Take my breath away [#5]

Feels so good [#5]

Maybe [#6]

Not such an innocent girl [#6]

A mind of it's own [#6]

Here it comes again [#7]

Calling [#7]

I'll be there [#7]

Scream if you wanna go faster [#8]

 

NORTHERN STAR (1999) [#4]

SCHIZOPHONIC (1999) [#4]

A GIRL LIKE ME (2001) [#4]

REASON (2003) [#5]

SCREAM IF YOU WANNA GO FASTER (2001) [#5]

FREE ME (2004) [#7]

VB (2001) [#10]

 

 

None top 10

 

Lullaby [#13]

On the horizon [#14]

Word up [#14]

Crickets sing for Anamaria [#15]

If that were me [#18]

We're not gonna sleep tonight [#20]

Melt / Yeh, yeh, yeh [#27]

 

HOT (2000) [#28]

 

So Geri had no none top 10s at this point and there were actually only two releases that didn't go top 20... madness to see how it all suddenly crashed down it was really quite sad to see!

The GMTV appearance :wub:

Based on what?

 

When Ride It reached #4 there was really no suggestion that things were destined to go wrong for her. Given that she’d been away for 3 years, it was a solid return. That was a better chart position than any single from the albums Free Me (Emma) and Reason (Melanie C). Emma had three Top 10s in a row from that album. On paper, in that moment, there was no reason why Geri wouldn’t manage similarly.

 

What couldn’t be foreseen is that 6 months afterwards (quite a significant gap between singles - due to the album’s direction changing / management changes) Desire became her first release to not receive major airplay support. It was then that it became apparent that things weren’t going to be smooth sailing for her.

 

At the time it felt to me like 'Ride It' got top 5 due to the hype/interest in her coming back after 3 years and how heavily she promoted it, the fact Radio 1 weren't playlisting her and it dropped down the chart as spectacularly as it did indicated to me she'd have an uphill struggle with whatever came next (although I didn't expect 'Desire' to do *quite* as badly as #22, and I still maintain it deserved better :( )

 

I dunno, maybe she could have pulled it off had she gone with 'Love Never Loved Me' and pushed that as hard, although I still have my doubts.

Edited June 29, 20214 yr by Tawdry Hepburn

At the time it felt to me like 'Ride It' got top 5 due to the hype/interest in her coming back after 3 years and how heavily she promoted it, the fact Radio 1 weren't playlisting her and it dropped down the chart as spectacularly as it did indicated to me she'd have an uphill struggle with whatever came next (although I didn't expect 'Desire' to do *quite* as badly as #22, and I still maintain it deserved better :( )

 

I dunno, maybe she could have pulled it off had she gone with 'Love Never Loved Me' and pushed that as hard, although I still have my doubts.

 

Yeah I remember at the time Ride It going #4 was dissapointing but what showed that her solo career wasnt going nowhere anymore was the fact that it fell really quickly down the charts, didnt sell that well at all and her tour which was announced around that time was cancelled due to extremely low ticket sales...

 

Plus, the huge gap and the lack of support - and the awful Desire - killed it.

Yeah I remember at the time Ride It going #4 was dissapointing but what showed that her solo career wasnt going nowhere anymore was the fact that it fell really quickly down the charts, didnt sell that well at all and her tour which was announced around that time was cancelled due to extremely low ticket sales...

 

Plus, the huge gap and the lack of support - and the awful Desire - killed it.

 

Again I don’t understand this argument of sales… it sold the same amount as Free Me did and peaked a position higher… did everyone suddenly think Free Me was going to flop out of the top 40 and there would be no more top 10 singles?

Huge post alert *.*

 

 

Ride It's second week fall wasn't great, true. At #15, it had 6 new entries above it, as well as the previous week's #1/2/3/5/6/7/8/9.

 

If we consider It's Raining Men as the last truly major solo hit (May 2001), here's a chart run comparison of every solo Spice single released from June 2001 to the end of 2004. Ride it actually held up well in the Top 40 overall:

 

7 weeks: 04-15-20-29-33-25-36 [Geri - Ride It] (2004)

6 weeks: 03-07-14-20-33-39 [Victoria Beckham - This Groove/Let Your Head Go] (2004)

6 weeks: 05-11-18-26-31-39 [Emma - Free Me] (2003)

6 weeks: 06-10-15-18-25-30 [Emma - Maybe] (2003)

5 weeks: 07-18-30-35-35 [Geri - Calling] (2001)

4 weeks: 05-14-25-38 [Emma - Take My Breath Away] (2001)

4 weeks: 06-17-27-31 [Victoria Beckham - A Mind of Its Own] (2002)

4 weeks: 07-10-20-33 [Emma - I'll Be There] (2004)

4 weeks: 08-18-26-31 [Geri - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster] (2001)

4 weeks: 20-34-32-35 [Emma - We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight] (2001)

3 weeks: 06-18-33 [Victoria Beckham - Not Such an Innocent Girl] (2001)

3 weeks: 07-16-27 [Melanie C - Here It Comes Again] (2003)

3 weeks: 15-28-39 [Emma - Crickets Sing for Anamaria] (2004)

2 weeks: 13-27 [Mel B - Lullaby] (2001)

2 weeks: 14-29 [Melanie C - On the Horizon] (2003)

1 week: 27 [Melanie C - Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh] (2003)

 

 

Sales as of June 2009, which were largely made up of physical sales and a smattering of downloads:

 

81,015 [Emma - Take My Breath Away] (2001)

80,263 [Victoria Beckham - Not Such an Innocent Girl] (2001)

80,192 [Geri - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster] (2001)

77,247 [Emma - Maybe] (2003)

70,515 [Geri - Calling] (2001)

68,656 [Victoria Beckham - This Groove/Let Your Head Go] (2004)

56,570 [Victoria Beckham - A Mind of Its Own] (2002)

55,563 [Emma - Free Me] (2003)

53,142 [Geri - Ride It] (2004)

39,890 [Melanie C - Here It Comes Again] (2003)

39,496 [Emma - I'll Be There] (2004)

38,898 [Mel B - Lullaby] (2001)

35,802 [Emma - We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight] (2001)

22,030 [Melanie C - On the Horizon] (2003)

18,723 [Emma - Crickets Sing for Anamaria] (2004)

8,313 [Melanie C - Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh] (2003)

 

 

Sales gradually became weaker as the 2000s progressed. Ride It may have sold less in total than her previous singles Scream and Calling, but that was a sign of how badly the market had declined from 2001 to 2004 - Ride It was still a bigger hit than them, relatively speaking.

 

End of Year chart positions give a good indication of how impactful a single was, in relation to the market of their release years. I've also included the number of weeks that the singles were on sale for within their release years (which is to show that some singles obviously had longer than others to build up their sales totals).

 

2004: 88th - [Victoria Beckham - This Groove/Let Your Head Go] (53 weeks)

2003: 96th - [Emma - Maybe] (11 weeks)

2003: 134th - [Emma - Free Me] (31 weeks)

2004: 143rd - [Geri - Ride It] (6 weeks)

2001: 151st - [Emma - Take My Breath Away] (18 weeks)

2004: 153rd - [Emma - I'll Be There] (49 weeks)

2001: 154th - [Geri - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster] (22 weeks)

2001: 163rd - [Victoria Beckham - Not Such an Innocent Girl] (15 weeks)

2002: 173rd - [Victoria Beckham - A Mind of Its Own] (46 weeks)

2003: 191st - [Melanie C - Here It Comes Again] (44 weeks)

2001: 192nd - [Geri - Calling] (5 weeks)

2001: Not Top 200 - [Mel B - Lullaby] (30 weeks)

2001: Not Top 200 - [Emma - We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight] (3 weeks)

2003: Not Top 200 - [Melanie C - On the Horizon] (30 weeks)

2003: Not Top 200 - [Melanie C - Melt/Yeh Yeh Yeh] (7 weeks)

2004: Not Top 200 - [Emma - Crickets Sing for Anamaria] (31 weeks)

 

 

Again I don’t understand this argument of sales… it sold the same amount as Free Me did and peaked a position higher… did everyone suddenly think Free Me was going to flop out of the top 40 and there would be no more top 10 singles?

Agreed! After all, as you say, Free Me was about as successful as Ride It, but I don't think there were fears or predictions that Free Me could be Emma's final Top 10.

 

I know this is a highly inconsequential subject (but I'm enjoying the trip down memory lane lol, their solo careers and success levels always fascinates me). I do appreciate your views on the matter Tawdry/Mr.X!

 

~~~~~

 

Geri's plan to tour was extremely misguided though!

 

That was announced in December 2004... off the back of just one comeback single, but no album. Prior to that, she'd been absent from the music charts for 3 years - longer than her first two solo eras had lasted (May 1999-November 2001 = 2 and a half years). Her biggest hits were around 5 years old. She had no prior reputation as a live solo artist. Very flimsy grounds for a tour to be considered viable. A disaster waiting to happen. It was cancelled in March 2005, three months before she even released the album. Extremely bad management and overconfidence from Geri and all those involved.

Spot on Jay! ❤️

Spice Girls first performance of Wannabe at the TOTP studios 25 years ago today :wub:

 

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Again I don’t understand this argument of sales… it sold the same amount as Free Me did and peaked a position higher… did everyone suddenly think Free Me was going to flop out of the top 40 and there would be no more top 10 singles?

 

Yeah but Ride It was launched as a big comeback and a tour afterwards. Plus, Geri and her record label clearly werent happy with the outcome of the single and also consequently the tour being a flop.

 

It's a very different set of circumstances from Free Me (single) which was launched as a 'testing the waters' type of affair, and on a semi-independent deal with a record company - so less expectations/demands from the label itself.

 

 

Yeah but Ride It was launched as a big comeback and a tour afterwards. Plus, Geri and her record label clearly werent happy with the outcome of the single and also consequently the tour being a flop.

 

It's a very different set of circumstances from Free Me (single) which was launched as a 'testing the waters' type of affair, and on a semi-independent deal with a record company - so less expectations/demands from the label itself.

 

 

Just because it was released on a big label / independent label doesn’t really matter. Free Me got big promotion Emma was on every show going during that era, just as much as Ride It did. The fact that ride it performed similar to free me would suggest Geri was going to have a similar era to Emma potentially aka top 10 gold album and a couple of small top 10 hits.

Just because it was released on a big label / independent label doesn’t really matter. Free Me got big promotion Emma was on every show going during that era, just as much as Ride It did. The fact that ride it performed similar to free me would suggest Geri was going to have a similar era to Emma potentially aka top 10 gold album and a couple of small top 10 hits.

 

Yes but you are missing the point. It doesnt matter *to you* as a fan. To the industry, it does. It's not just about chart positions and equivalences with the other solo Spices. Again, Emma's deal was a partnership with herself, 19 Management and Universal.mGeri's deal was a straight up hire from EMI (or whatever lable she was in at the time...). The expectation is much different from the various partners to each of the girls.

 

Plus, you just know that Geri was hurt about the lack of success, it really hurt her. Similar with Emma when Life in Mono flopped.

It would have been interesting to see how Passion would have done had it been released in the beginning of November 2004.

 

Ride It - July 04

Love Never Loved Me - Oct 04

Passion - Nov 04

 

Geri definitely needed to release the album after two singles. Especially since she was gone from the pop scene for 3 years.

^ That would have been perfect! Love Never Loved Me was her biggest missed opportunity :cry:

 

~

 

Recent anniversaries:

 

20 years ago: 30/07/01 - Geri Halliwell - Scream If You Wanna Go Faster

16 years ago: 01/08/05 - Melanie C - Better Alone [uK]

13 years ago: 25/07/08 - Melanie C - Understand [Canada]

5 years ago: 29/07/16 - Melanie C - Numb (with Sons of Sonix)

Did you have something Spice Girls related with one of these images on it?

 

So iconic :heart: 25 years ago today in Brighton :wub:

 

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The picture of them on the fairground horse was used sooo much back in the day, I remember seeing it a lot in magazines! Also reminded me that I had a keyring with that image used on it. Such a classic :wub:

I had nearly every image on something 🤣 love them!

Wembley Stadium 23 years ago today :wub:

 

I haven’t watched Wembley in full for soooo many years! Wow at it being 23 years ago 🤯 Remember getting the VHS for Christmas 🥰

^ i was there

 

😍