Also - I don’t think the pressure of achieving constant #1s or Top 5s (otherwise you’re flopping!) is truly a thing anymore. So I think if the Spice Girls had been able to experience solo careers with how things are like now, then that may have made them less preoccupied with how they charted and had more self belief that they can viably tour.

 

I know Geri in particular was always obsessed with chart positions, but I bet that was because of the culture of the time, growing up seeing Madonna getting numerous #1s or Top 5s. The fact the Spice Girls then achieved many consecutive #1s definitely got it into her head that doing any worse was being a failure.

 

A popular artist can devote so much of their energy towards touring now, because the expectation to visit numerous countries specifically to appear on TV shows isn’t really a thing anymore. Maybe members other than Melanie C would have therefore thrived and embraced touring!

 

Flipping it the other way, but if One Direction had been a 90s/00s act, I struggle to see the likes of Louis Tomlinson viably touring in those days. The worldwide attention would have dried up without social media, and him missing the Top 10 would have been a serious issue. But it just isn’t like that for him now. He’s regularly touring even though his album didn’t produce one major hit.

 

Sorry for rambling. :kink: It’s a very interesting “what if” conversation.

RIP Dame Olivia Newton-John

(1948 to 2022) 🇬🇧🇦🇺

 

The Lady is a Vamp - lyrics:

"Sandy, Danny, Summer love."

Flipping it the other way, but if One Direction had been a 90s/00s act, I struggle to see the likes of Louis Tomlinson viably touring in those days. The worldwide attention would have dried up without social media, and him missing the Top 10 would have been a serious issue. But it just isn’t like that for him now. He’s regularly touring even though his album didn’t produce one major hit.

 

Yeah, but if we take One Direction as an example we have one that seems to feasibly have a long solo career ahead of them (Harry), one that's had sort of middling success (Niall), one that had out-of-the-gate-success thanks to leaving early that faded and two that had a couple of hits, but seemingly no real long-term future as solo artists. People are usually put in groups for a reason and very rarely do solo careers play out differently in the long-term and I don't see how the Spice Girls would've been hugely different. If anything, I feel their desire to go on to focus on other things because of the lack of profitability in releasing music might've been bigger for some of them from the get-go.

I think there's another major factor that could have shaped their careers if they launched in the streaming era...that's not actually linked to streaming. The brutality of their reviews and the tabloid articles in general just wouldn't be as intense. The tides have somewhat changed in that arena. The way write-ups treated them is appalling by today's standards. It's not that reviews aren't still often critical/snarky. But just read NME's unhinged review of Northern Star. It claims the album is so bad that if Mel tries to record again, someone should shoot her to death because no court would convict them (I'm actually putting this more nicely than they did). Few critics were even bothering to listen to Geri and Victoria's albums...and were instead just launching into tirades about their weight and trumped up "controversies" (why they were so bothered by Victoria wearing a lip ring one time...I'll never know). I remember Mel C being branded "The One Who Ate All The Pies Spice". Honestly, I think so much hate crushed their spirits.

 

For Mel C, I think a pursuit of critical acceptance partly led to the bland, compromised Reason. Telstar folding is ultimately what did in Victoria...but she'd previously spoken about actually being happy enough with her chart positions, it was just her critiques that stung so much. I know the common perception today is that she didn't belong making music...but her unreleased pop material showed an honest artistic growth...until she second guessed herself and ruined it all with Damon Dash. Geri, I've always interpreted as an uncommonly sensitive celeb...and it's obvious the articles were a blow to her confidence. A lot of the solo albums weren't *perfect*...but had they been given fair write-ups by...sane reviewers/columnists...I'm curious if their collective solo careers would have soldiered on longer...and evolved differently.

 

Absolutely. The press turning on them in such nasty ways post-Simon being fired really was on a bullying scale across their careers. Hell, this started after Spiceworld was released, and it is incredible that the press was able to print such horrors.

 

Remember Victoria was 'voted' the most hated person in the UK in 2001/2002? That's f***ing wild, for a person who was simply a popstar and wife of a footballer. It's not like she was murdering millions in the middle east (you know, like Tony f***ing Blair was at the time!).

 

The Channel 4 documentary from last year is good because it precisely, for the first time, openly discusses this with that press guy explicitly stating as to why they all turned on them. Of course all of this had effects on their own confidence, let alone the public's. Like, not every group has had all members releasing solo material and go at least Top10. In that case, they were an oddity and it just showed how much power they had. All of them experienced success in some form or other.

 

It is also not lost on me how the press started to warm up to them again since Simon got back in 2007 with the group and worked on Emma and Victoria's careers. Free Me was the first solo album to have a more general acceptance from the press. Granted, it is a masterpiece, but then again, Simon was involved then. Not trying to diminish their work, just that there is a clear move to a more press-friendly position post Simon's return, whcih I think says more about how the press works (it is all about being chums behind the scenes, and obviously it is a man-dominated industry!)

Edited August 9, 20222 yr by Mr.X

Absolutely. The press turning on them in such nasty ways post-Simon being fired really was on a bullying scale across their careers. Hell, this started after Spiceworld was released, and it is incredible that the press was able to print such horrors.

 

Remember Victoria was 'voted' the most hated person in the UK in 2001/2002? That's f***ing wild, for a person who was simply a popstar and wife of a footballer. It's not like she was murdering millions in the middle east (you know, like Tony f***ing Blair was at the time!).

 

The Channel 4 documentary from last year is good because it precisely, for the first time, openly discusses this with that press guy explicitly stating as to why they all turned on them. Of course all of this had effects on their own confidence, let alone the public's. Like, not every group has had all members releasing solo material and go at least Top10. In that case, they were an oddity and it just showed how much power they had. All of them experienced success in some form or other.

 

It is also not lost on me how the press started to warm up to them again since Simon got back in 2007 with the group and worked on Emma and Victoria's careers. Free Me was the first solo album to have a more general acceptance from the press. Granted, it is a masterpiece, but then again, Simon was involved then. Not trying to diminish their work, just that there is a clear move to a more press-friendly position post Simon's return, whcih I think says more about how the press works (it is all about being chums behind the scenes, and obviously it is a man-dominated industry!)

 

The Simon thing never clicked with me until you mentioned it. Strange… and yet still unsurprising.

To give One Direction their dues they put in the work to the group releasing a lot more music than the girls did. I often wonder how solo careers would have fared had the girls released 5 albums consecutively and then gone solo (with Geri leaving on the fourth album or something). Would they have experienced the same levels of initial success or were they very much riding a wave at the time? I suspect a little of both personally.

 

I think there was always going to be solo moments from the girls, the likes of I want you back and When you're gone were always going to be released whether Geri left or not as they would likely have still been invited for those collaborations, same for What I am and Out of your mind further down the line, but it would have been interesting to see whether Schizo and Northern Star the only real successful albums (sales wise) would have fared as well if released further down the line. I suspect not and that the hype of them being the first solo certainly boosted them... although NS didn't start as successfully as it turned out so maybe that one is a bit of an anomaly.

To give One Direction their dues they put in the work to the group releasing a lot more music than the girls did. I often wonder how solo careers would have fared had the girls released 5 albums consecutively and then gone solo (with Geri leaving on the fourth album or something). Would they have experienced the same levels of initial success or were they very much riding a wave at the time? I suspect a little of both personally.

 

I think there was always going to be solo moments from the girls, the likes of I want you back and When you're gone were always going to be released whether Geri left or not as they would likely have still been invited for those collaborations, same for What I am and Out of your mind further down the line, but it would have been interesting to see whether Schizo and Northern Star the only real successful albums (sales wise) would have fared as well if released further down the line. I suspect not and that the hype of them being the first solo certainly boosted them... although NS didn't start as successfully as it turned out so maybe that one is a bit of an anomaly.

 

Definitely, had the girls stayed together for a bit longer, even at least ONE more era and not with solo stuff in the middle, they would have consolidated their fanbase into the solos too. Plus, they would have also grown artistically before going solo. I always thought it was too soon for them to go solo after two albums. You need to learn your craft, and you can see development (like, Emma's second album and Victoria's leaked second album show development in very interesting ways!).

 

That would have been ideal, to be honest. Perhaps in that cenario, Mel C would now be performing in stadiums rather than UK clubs. But we never know. The misogyny in the industry would have meant that they wouldnt be as successful for too long and certainly solo-wise none of them were ever going to reach Robbie Williams/Harry Styles levels of solo fame. This is not just a problem with the girls. Look at the general state of the British music industry. Unless you are Adele, not many female artists mantain a big level of success beyond their first, maybe second, album. f***ing sucks, but thats reality...

 

But yeah. Them sacking Simon turned the industry and the press against them. Then, them treating the group as a hobby and instead doing solo projects turned the public also against them...

A little tease from Melanie C in this caption:

 

View this post on Instagram

10 years ago today we proudly performed at the London 2012 Olympics. Sharing the stage with my @spicegirls @emmaleebunton @therealgerihalliwell @officialmelb @victoriabeckham is always an honour but this was the ultimate! Anyone who knows me knows I’m a wannabe athlete so this blew my mind!

Can’t wait for more exciting adventures with my girls 🇬🇧✌🏼❤️ 😁

Do you think any solo albums will get anniversary editions when they reach their 25th anniversaries?

Do you think any solo albums will get anniversary editions when they reach their 25th anniversaries?

 

 

I can only see Northern Star possibly getting one even then I think it is highly unlikely.

Do you think any solo albums will get anniversary editions when they reach their 25th anniversaries?

 

Geri blocked her 1st album being rereleased a few years ago.

@1559585788634988546

 

Spice Girls arriving at the VMAs

Lol random but cute

This popped up on my recommended page on YouTube... *war flashbacks*!!

 

This popped up on my recommended page on YouTube... *war flashbacks*!!

 

 

This was the most depressing 'era' for me, lol what a f***ing time...

 

Depressing because there was only 3 of them AND the whole announcement was so lame and low budget... like, wtf was that? :cry:

 

I was also quite dissapointed because Mel C clearly didnt want to do the reunion cos she wanted to focus on her album, and that album was pretty much dead on arrival anyway (both in quality and success), so it felt like once again Melanie threw away a group-focused music opportunity for her own solo career sake and then looked beyond lame when everyone flopped lol

 

BUT then the whole thing was made even worse cos Song for Her was leaked and it was absolutely crap and already dated even on demo form.

 

Glad they didnt go ahead with a 3-piece reunion, but the whole thing was very sour to me.

I thought Song For Her had potential. There was a good pop song there. It just needed a punchier polished production and some work on the verses and vocals. The chorus was really spicy. Some Mel C ad libs aswell :wub:

Personally I dont see it.

 

The lyrics were Half of Me-level of cringe and the melodies and sound were straight up like a Neo song from a few years before... I know we are all starved of Spice music, but it was just too crap for the Spice Girls.

The Spice Girls - GEM album would've outsold Forever.

The Spice Girls - GEM album would've outsold Forever.

 

LOL nope it really wount have :teresa: There was little to no interest in the GEM project and that it why it failed right when it was 'announced' with that terrible iphone video

Do you think any solo albums will get anniversary editions when they reach their 25th anniversaries?

There's so much potential for Northern Star 25. It has a ton of B-sides, demos, remixes and unreleased tracks that could make an excellent 2-CD release. An orange vinyl wouldn't go amiss, obviously. :wub: