I don't think Christmas 1997 can ever be topped for me.

 

I didn't get the album until Christmas Day and I spent the whole day listening to my 'Spiceworld' cassette, eating Spice Girls' Cadbury Chocolates and watching the Istanbul concert on ITV :D

 

 

That was MY Christmas 1997 too!! I took over the television in the living room and put Istanbul on while sat on my Spice Girls bean-bag with my giant Spice Girls Christmas card propped up by the side of me :wub: :wub: :wub: It was my second favourite Christmas as 1998 I got my own TV and the Wembley VHS which dad set up for me and then as I was about to put it on I saw it was on the the TV on BBC so watched it on there instead :wub:

 

The days when a re-play of a Spice Girls concert would get Christmas day play :heart: :wub: :heart: :wub:

Tbf they could probably sell the SW19 footage to Netflix or a main stream UK channel but alas.

9th March 1998 - Stop was released as a single, 23 years ago!

Their flop at the time now their 2nd most successful song in the streaming era.

TBH Stop was never a flop - it sold really well back then, just not on the standards everyone was used to. But it was bound to happen at some point, no single artist sells more than 300k for ALL their singles forever throughout their whole career.

 

I think it was mostly saturation and also the press hounding them as they were no longer press darlings by that point (after Simon being fired!) which labelled the song as a flop. The general public always loved it!

It was a flop though back in the day, it barely sold 200k at the time, which was low by not just their standards.

It was certified silver so it must have sold over 200k and 200k was not a flop by anyone’s standards.

It was certified silver so it must have sold over 200k and 200k was not a flop by anyone’s standards.

 

Exactly. We have to put things into perspective. Many artists of their level sold less than that, and less than Holler or even Forever, with their releases very often.

 

The perception that Stop, Holler or Forever were massive flops has to be contextualised. Yes, they were lower sellers then what came before, but to be honest the press was already saying they were over and flops because Spiceworld sold roughly 150k on its first week AT NUMBER ONE and Spice Up your Life was NUMBER ONE only for ONE WEEK, as if that wasnt normal lol

 

Ultimately, the press and the industry had turned against them by then so whatever they did, they were slandered. So when Stop didnt get to #1, the press still labelled it as a flop because they wanted to hate on them.

 

Stop was a hit, and still is today. That's what matters!

You have to look at the context though, Stop wasn't any ordinary song it was a song with massive backing from a label pumping huge money into it. It got a Brits performance and I'm sure a lot of advertising £££ spent on it.

 

They went from 6 platinum singles to a #2 silver single. Yes in the grand scheme of comparing to everyone else it did ok (and only ok) but comparing to them and the absolute massive machine they had behind them at that point it was a flop.

You have to look at the context though, Stop wasn't any ordinary song it was a song with massive backing from a label pumping huge money into it. It got a Brits performance and I'm sure a lot of advertising £££ spent on it.

 

They went from 6 platinum singles to a #2 silver single. Yes in the grand scheme of comparing to everyone else it did ok (and only ok) but comparing to them and the absolute massive machine they had behind them at that point it was a flop.

 

Sure. A few more things though:

 

- they didnt promote it as much as the rest of the other singles as they were on an international tour at the time so performances of promo were limited compared to the other singles

 

- even though it didnt sell as much as their previous singles, it was still a very popular song with everyone knowing the choreography (we all remember how influencial it was and how everywhere it was!)

 

- AND they quickly turned it around by going over 600k/Platinum with their next two singles that same year.

 

Yes, it sold less than their previous singles but there is no way in hell - other than in the press' dirty minds - that Stop was a flop.

 

:teresa:

Definitely not a flop, the first spice related release I'd call a flop would be Word Up.

 

A number 2 single will never be a flop in any context.

 

 

Sure. A few more things though:

 

- they didnt promote it as much as the rest of the other singles as they were on an international tour at the time so performances of promo were limited compared to the other singles

 

- even though it didnt sell as much as their previous singles, it was still a very popular song with everyone knowing the choreography (we all remember how influencial it was and how everywhere it was!)

 

- AND they quickly turned it around by going over 600k/Platinum with their next two singles that same year.

 

Yes, it sold less than their previous singles but there is no way in hell - other than in the press' dirty minds - that Stop was a flop.

 

:teresa:

 

 

It definitely wasn't promoted by them enough for sure.

 

I always wonder if the change in sound put people off too? I mean it's a very 60s sounding song and obviously to that point they were doing modern dance pop or ballads.

 

The next 2 singles selling 3 times what Stop did only adds to how much it flopped.

 

Let's put it this way flop essentially means under performs, would anyone argue Stop under performed?

Stop sold 331,000 in 1998! It was within the top 50 best selling singles of the year. It was less than they were accustomed to - I would say it was an under-performance by their own high standards.

 

Spiceworld sold 191,856 in its first week. It’s so funny that the press was quick to label that a disaster. 23 years later and it’s still far and away the highest first week sales for a girl group in the history of the UK chart. It’s still the second best selling girl group album of all time. Yes that first week sale was not on the level of phenomenal opening sales by Oasis... but I think Spice Girls’ album sales had an element of “young fanbase”. I can easily imagine so many parents waiting until nearer Christmas time to purchase it! It was within the Top 2 for the rest of 1997, swapping around with Celine Dion’s album. Huge! So the fact that the press were so eager to claim it had done poorly certainly shows that they were eager to create backlash. So the same goes for the “only #2” for Stop outcome.

Under performed = flopped it's just people don't like that word

Stop sold 331,000 in 1998! It was within the top 50 best selling singles of the year. It was less than they were accustomed to - I would say it was an under-performance by their own high standards.

 

Spiceworld sold 191,856 in its first week. It’s so funny that the press was quick to label that a disaster. 23 years later and it’s still far and away the highest first week sales for a girl group in the history of the UK chart. It’s still the second best selling girl group album of all time. Yes that first week sale was not on the level of phenomenal opening sales by Oasis... but I think Spice Girls’ album sales had an element of “young fanbase”. I can easily imagine so many parents waiting until nearer Christmas time to purchase it! It was within the Top 2 for the rest of 1997, swapping around with Celine Dion’s album. Huge! So the fact that the press were so eager to claim it had done poorly certainly shows that they were eager to create backlash. So the same goes for the “only #2” for Stop outcome.

 

Exactly! Also, 'under-performance' does a lot in this context. Of course it was by their own standards up to that point. But it was never a flop! That was bullshit from the press only.

 

The ridiculous suggestion that they flopped with Spiceworld first week was so stupid, by any measurement possible.

 

I still mantain that the song was hugely popular, even if it didnt sell as much. Culturally, it was quite a hit and time has vindicated that as it being one of the most recognisable hits of the 90s with hugely popular choreography that people still know today (like the Macarena choreo and the Las Keptchup!).

 

A timeless hit by all standards :wub:

Also some artists who sold 200k+ of a single and went Top 5 would be considered as a success, even if there was no album available. Yet Stop sold over 300k from an album that had already sold over a million!

 

I know they had some other singles achieve more while also coming after high album sales (2 Become 1 - Christmas #1, the Spice phenomenon was fresh, Mama/Who Do You Think You Are - charity single/Brit Awards, Too Much - Christmas #1/battle with Teletubbies, Viva Forever - possibly boosted due to the fact Geri left and I suppose the public really were captured by it being such a beautiful song).

 

Other than the Brits performance (which wasn’t as attention grabbing as WDYTYA) there wasn’t really a factor that propelled Stop to achieve major sales. As noted the overall promotion was less than usual. I would argue that the track lists weren’t as appealing as usual. This is probably clutching at straws, but maybe the artwork being bright pink was a turn off for some. :unsure: People sometimes have funny reasons for not feeling like buying something.

 

I don’t agree that under-performance = flop. I’d say there’s... phenomenal success, great success, middling success, under-performing, flopping and completely bombing. Maybe if they’d charted at #6 and the first week sales were 40k and didn’t go silver, I’d say that would have been a flop for them.

Exactly.

 

Headlines is their only flop as a group. By any standards, it was their real first - and only - flop. Stop was, at the time, a hit by all standards bar their own.

It's a classic now so you guys can chill and not worry that it flopped on release. ;)

That's fine... if you were talking about a flop single though.

 

It's definitely an under performance more than it's a flop. Like Jay said, a flop for them would be missing top 3, selling 40k in the first week and failing to go silver (or just about making it). This would have been considered a smash for (pretty much) any other artist at the time, so why do you consider it a flop?

sammy01 and the British Press:

 

 

:P

Edited March 11, 20214 yr by Mr.X