I mean I'm sure she would do what a record label said for success again.She released Weak (when the more commercial Burn was sat there) because radio 2 said they would playlist it. Let there be love was only a single because her German label wanted it to be (it is a pretty shit cover and only recorded because they wanted her to record it). I want candy clearly was just her trying to get commercial success.

Rock me was again just something done to coincide with the women's world cup.

 

The whole Stages album was basically her cashing in or trying to on her theatre success and she ignores its existence most of the time now. I'm sure in a couple of years High Heels will be completely forgotten too.

 

She makes loads of decisions or has the decisions made for her because it might garner commercial success. She might as well do the same and benefit from label support like Emma did.

😤

 

Ofcourse she wants success , who doesn’t ?

 

She has always been ambitious and has stated this in many interviews . She once said she would love to do Wembley stadium as a solo artist .

 

Melanie now days seems to know what success will be good for her! She is accepting herself and doing what she wants to do and good for her !!

Who I Am still top 200 on iTunes not sure for long

She is doing another Q&A tomorrow and an acoustic performance of Who I Am, I called it. She will be wheeling out acoustic versions of material that is dance or electronic music, it does the songs no justice.

She sounded amazing

 

These acoustic versions actually had some life in them.

 

1. Who I Am

2. 2 Become 1

3. I Turn To You

Need to find the link to catch up on it :wub:

It's on the Spice Circle group.

 

It was goooood!! She did well indeed. I really enjoyed the acoustic version of Who I Am much better than I thought I would!

Oooh going to go on the hunt... hate searching for things in that group all I ever see is WOMAN WOMAN WOMAN, START A PETITION FOR WOMAN, WHY DIDN'T THEY RELEASE WOMAN, MELANIE C SAYS NO WOMAN :rolleyes:

I missed it too, hopefully she uploads the performances to her youtube channel.

LOL they are going through a phase, don't worry. It will come down once Ms Corona sets us free and people start to have sex again...

 

I though the Q&A was really good this week:

 

1. She was quite brutal towards Virgin and her previous management, Nancy Phillips.

 

2. She believes her music is underrated and that she was listening to her own music recently and thinks she's really good! (im glad about this!)

 

3. Her most personal single is Northern Star

 

4. Her favourite video is Who I Am

 

5. New song to be heard very soon ('not today, not tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but it's not far away'). It's another dancy song, more instant, massive, catchy, with more attitude - about a friendship where you get let down. She even said it's a bit 'agro'.

 

6. She was the one who had the idea to get Lisa Left-Eye Lopez on Never Be The Same Again. Lisa also didn't write the rap alone and had a team. She said Rett Lawrence asked her and she loved the track so jumped on it. She said she is really proud of it and that she and Lisa hang out a bit in LA whilst shooting the video.

 

7. TLC were a big inspiration for teh Spice Girls back in the day (and I think you can tell with their first album)

 

8. She was in Italy when she heard of Lisa's death. She met T-Boz and Chilli at Mighty Hoopla and started crying remembering Lisa.

 

9. First Day of My Life wasnt released in UK and Ireland (and other places) because of music industry politics. Warner Music in Germany presented the song to her but they felt that the song wouldn't work for UK Radio. Personally I think this is interesting and to be honest I agree.

 

10. Northern Star is about herself. She feels it's her signature song, a very empowering song. She was trying to find strength for a new phase in her life.

 

11. You'll Get Yours is one of her favourites.

 

12. She loves Peter Vettesse. He gave her a lot of confidence in the studio to explore. She feels they have a special sound together that works well.

 

13. She's the most proud of Northern Star and she believes that most of them deserved better success.

 

14. Reason was hard to make and promote. Virgin's A&R team changed between albums, as well as the marketing team as they all moved to LA and left her in the shit (her words). There was too big of a gap between albums, she toured Northern Star for two years as well across the world including the Middle East, Asia, etc, and then the record company didnt back it up. She was also ill at the time.

 

15. She got really emotional during 2 Become 1 on the last night of the tour last year and Let Love Lead The Way is always emotional for her

 

16. Version of Me makes her emotional, same as Blame

 

17. She met Brian Adams in the lift at the Four Seasons hotel and asked him if her could say hi to her mum. He did and stayed all night, and kept in touch. He then asked her to jump on the song and she did. Brian and her mum are still good mates today. She recorded the song in London, with Brian on the phone remotely in Canada, and then did the video together in New York. Funny that both Marcus Nispel (Spice Up Your Life) and Elliot Kennedy (Say You'll Be There, Right Back at Ya) had both worked with the Spice Girls too before.

 

18. She was supposed to be in the Canary Islands this month. Unclear if for a holiday or work (probably work).

 

19. She loves rock music and leans on it when she is angry. Electronic music is what she is doing now and she thinks it suits her voice.

 

20. Never Be The Same Again, I Turn To You and First Day of My Life hitting #1 was her most special moments as solo artist. Her career had a bit of a hit after NS, so it was nice to have a higher profile with FDOML. She felt appreciated and respected.

 

21. Writing can give her anxiety, but when you come out with an amazing song, it's the best feeling ever

 

22. Labels have bigger budgets and all the various departments at their disposal. But they dont want to work with projects that don't do as well, and you're droped. She felt really thrown by Virgin and hinted that the A&R didnt connect with her, so it was hard. So she self-finances and only works with people that are really invested in the project. She does wonder what life would have been like if she had gone to another major and maybe change her management sooner, as she was stuck in a rut with Nancy. Present and forward, feeling good things about the future.

 

OK im off to bed now. That was a lot to write lol

Thanks for all that Mr X I always struggle to follow the Q&A sessions due to being deaf was good to have a read through account there!

 

Really interesting information, I can see why she avoided another major label, I still wonder why she never went for a Germany Warner type deal alongside her label in the UK though?

Probably not much interest?

 

I get the impression that she was really burnt by Virgin and then she came out swinging with 'Im gonna set up my own lable'. I think it might be tough for her to get a deal now, they probably wont approach her. Maybe with this new level of press she might get some interest but I think she would have to approach them herself, I think.

 

It would definitely do her wonders to have that. But she hasnt had a hit in the UK for a long long time whilst continental Europe has been kinder to her and when First Day of My Life came out, she was relatively still successful around Europe anyway... The same cant be said for the UK unfortunately, so confidence might be low.

 

Hopefully the new songs and album are well received. She seems to have a lot riding on it.

Also, it was so clear now how much this pandemic messed things up for her. It's wild. She had so much promo booked, from New York, she also has mentioned she was going to LA too and Canada, and now Canary Islands. She was going to be doing the rounds for a bit and it's a bit sad all of that got scrapped. Plus, she probably lost a lot of money...

Thank you for summarising the video! :wub: A lot of interesting insights there, particularly regarding her relationship with her management/label during the Reason era. Tbh that era (with the benefit of hindsight) does come across like no one involved was feeling passionate about the project. It has an air of 'this will do' about it. The era lacked excitement and intent.

Yeah it really did. The album itself feels somewhat unfinished/uncared for to be honest.

Probably not much interest?

 

I get the impression that she was really burnt by Virgin and then she came out swinging with 'Im gonna set up my own lable'. I think it might be tough for her to get a deal now, they probably wont approach her. Maybe with this new level of press she might get some interest but I think she would have to approach them herself, I think.

 

It would definitely do her wonders to have that. But she hasnt had a hit in the UK for a long long time whilst continental Europe has been kinder to her and when First Day of My Life came out, she was relatively still successful around Europe anyway... The same cant be said for the UK unfortunately, so confidence might be low.

 

Hopefully the new songs and album are well received. She seems to have a lot riding on it.

 

 

I struggle to see how she wouldn't have got another major label though I mean she came off the back of a triple Platinum and a Gold album in the UK. If Emma and Victoria got them off the back of a Gold album that literally sold 20k more than Reason and one that didn't even have sales for a silver certification, then surely Melanie C would have had much more going for her in a label eyes :huh: Again I really can't see Emma being able to get a deal with BMG and yet Melanie who has sold more wouldn't be able to?

 

Maybe it's that she didn't want to go looking for one while the other two girls would not release an album without label support... but then Melanie C clearly did the hunting for Europe with Warner and then wasn't it Sony she released Version of me with after her contract ended with Warner after The Sea?

She answered my question regarding Youll Get Yours and Blame. She has lost Peter’s version of Blame! I hope she finds it!!

I struggle to see how she wouldn't have got another major label though I mean she came off the back of a triple Platinum and a Gold album in the UK. If Emma and Victoria got them off the back of a Gold album that literally sold 20k more than Reason and one that didn't even have sales for a silver certification, then surely Melanie C would have had much more going for her in a label eyes :huh: Again I really can't see Emma being able to get a deal with BMG and yet Melanie who has sold more wouldn't be able to?

 

Maybe it's that she didn't want to go looking for one while the other two girls would not release an album without label support... but then Melanie C clearly did the hunting for Europe with Warner and then wasn't it Sony she released Version of me with after her contract ended with Warner after The Sea?

 

I think she could have gotten one back in the day, but she chose to go independent. Today it would be much harder, I think..

I'd also assume that it depends on what kind of deal she could get - if she went with a record label they'd likely want input on direction etc. and maybe a cut of her other earnings to make up for the losses on music (ie a 360 deal).

Who I Am has reached 2 million views !!