I honestly love it! I even think the video is pretty iconic! I used to listen to it on my ipod years later oops.

Timbaland was known in 99 , he might not have been at his peak but he was still regarded as a great producer.

Timbaland was known in 99 , he might not have been at his peak but he was still regarded as a great producer.

 

Yup, he might not have had name recognition with the general public at the time, but as a R&B/Hip-Hop producer he was well-known for producing Ginuwine's hit Pony and working with Missy Elliot, Aaliyah etc. It wasn't like Mel B had dug him up from obscurity.

I don’t think anybody was trying to imply that Mel B plucked Timbaland out of obscurity, but despite some of his production credits and a couple of minor featured hits with US artists by 1999, he still wasn’t a very famous name in his own right. He was a fairly left field choice for Mel to work with, from a UK perspective. The fact he produced Word Up wasn’t really a talking point for its promo.

Still love her cover of this and the video. Mel B had such a good singles run up to Lullaby.

Still love her cover of this and the video. Mel B had such a good singles run up to Lullaby.

 

Personally, her inital run of singles is better than any other Spices. I Want You Back, Word Up, Tell Me and Feels So Good were all BOPs that stood the test of time, whilst the other girls cant all say the same... Just a shame about how the last 3 of those songs were handled by the record companies and promo plans... But whatever...

 

This, together with how Mel B ALWAYS shines on tour with the Spice Girls, often stealing the show, just really shows how much of a great pop star she is. The (british) public really did her wrong lol

Hotter instead of Lullaby would have been another great single, I think it would have saved her solo career too.

It's a shame that her solo career went awry. She certainly had the talent and the personality to make it, but a few too many mistakes were made along the way.

I think the first mistake was Hot album cover, imagine your demographic being kids and that is your solo album cover.

Absolutely right there.

It's a shame that her solo career went awry. She certainly had the talent and the personality to make it, but a few too many mistakes were made along the way.

 

Yes, I agree. Many mistakes were made. Amongst them:

 

- Word Up promo was dreadful

- Releasing HOT in the middle of Forever promo, which in turn also impacted on her ability to work with the group at the time

- Releasing HOT right after Tell Me when it should have come out after another single like Feels So Good

- Releasing Lullaby as *the* single that was supposed to make or break the album's and Mel's future with Virgin

- Half of the album being crap (sorry Mel but what the f*** is ABC 123? Hell No? I Believe?....) thus killing any momentum gained with Tell Me

 

Shame she also worked with some people who were kind of against her chances. Virgin didn't believe in her, and some of the album's own producers gaver her shit material to work with and even blasted her singing abilities.

 

I think there was also the fact that the UK press was absolutely against her (and the Spice Girls) at the time. The UK press has always been incredibly racist towards Mel B and I think it really shows on her solo career... Didnt a TV Host at the time called her a dog? There was some press about that that I remember too... And she has admited that at the time having black people on primetime TV was seen as bad for ratings or something like that too...

 

No wonder she quit music as a solo artist tbh...

I love I believe.

Mel made way too many mistakes with her solo career.

1. Word up promo was terrible the performances were totally dire.

2. Tell me should not have been released even if it is one of the stronger songs on the album it was too personal but not in a tasteful way, if it was to be released it should have been after a more neutral Feels So Good being released first.

3. Album cover was so not appropriate for her audience I mean how many parents would have been like nope and how many girls would have thought no thanks... even if I do think it’s fierce

4. Releasing the album at the same time and Forever despite being told to hold off until after... I personally think a May release before Forever would have worked well enough time to promote a couple of singles then start the Forever campaign otherwise hold off until after.

5. Releasing lullaby before Hotter... I actually like lullaby think it’s a gorgeous song but Hotter was screaming out to be released!

6. Being too difficult to work with, she herself admits in her book that her way of dealing with the intense fame was to be a bit of a bitch, she refused to listen to advice from her record label etc no wonder they were quick to get rid of her.

 

I do think Virgin was harsh on the girls overall though I mean dropping Melanie C and Emma after they both achieved Gold albums is a bit unfair... especially Emma who also had a silver selling single in WTYSL during that era...

Edited April 13, 20205 yr by Spiceboy

Well Virgin had every right to be pissed at the girls, they gave up on Forever a week after release and no doubt cost the label huge amounts of money in doing so.

 

I'd be a bit like f*** you when they then turned round and wanted big budgets and lots of efforts putting into their solo careers post 2000.

Well Virgin had every right to be pissed at the girls, they gave up on Forever a week after release and no doubt cost the label huge amounts of money in doing so.

 

I'd be a bit like f*** you when they then turned round and wanted big budgets and lots of efforts putting into their solo careers post 2000.

 

This is true. I bet Virgin were pissed off after they didnt release anything as a group in 1999 and filled 2000 with solo projects whilst their attention should have been with the group, which was priority for the lable (and everyone else lol)

I don’t think the label would be too pushed off they still made them millions !!

Well Virgin had every right to be pissed at the girls, they gave up on Forever a week after release and no doubt cost the label huge amounts of money in doing so.

 

I'd be a bit like f*** you when they then turned round and wanted big budgets and lots of efforts putting into their solo careers post 2000.

 

That’s a really good point I never thought of that! I bet that was a factor in dropping the girls solo and I can kinda see why, I mean it’s pretty ungrateful having an album funded and all the promo they put out there then not bothering with it because let’s face it they totally abandoned Forever, it could easily have been a double platinum album had they bothered to keep releasing material tour it. Also the total non-effort from the group in the USA was appalling tbh, they should have been in every show they could get with Holler that was screaming to be a huge US hit...

That’s a really good point I never thought of that! I bet that was a factor in dropping the girls solo and I can kinda see why, I mean it’s pretty ungrateful having an album funded and all the promo they put out there then not bothering with it because let’s face it they totally abandoned Forever, it could easily have been a double platinum album had they bothered to keep releasing material tour it. Also the total non-effort from the group in the USA was appalling tbh, they should have been in every show they could get with Holler that was screaming to be a huge US hit...

 

Holler deserved so much better -_-

 

It totally BANGS on tour though :cheer:

The girls should have pushed forever more and stayed with the campaign for much longer than they did.

But if they did we NS would not have been the success that it was .