'Headlice' truly got what it deserved,

'Headlice' truly got what it deserved,

 

 

It did tbh. I do like the song but it should have been the 'album' track of the GH while a much stronger and upbeat track should have been the single release. Even then they should have promoted Headlines properly and really thought out the campaign of it rather than just stick CIN on the front and expecting it to be an automatic #1.

As far as comeback single goes, it was anticlimactic. No one was expecting a ballad. Plus, the message of the song isn’t even universal so they already eliminated casual single buyers.

Headlines was fine but that wasnt what we needed.

 

The lack of promo, that awful video and the terrible message of the song felt really wrong for an act like the Spice Girls. It was clear that they were not that united at the time, as confirmed since by some of them.

 

It was very obvious that they didn't care much for the single, so no-one else did... They can do so much better!

Headlines was fine but that wasnt what we needed.

 

The lack of promo, that awful video and the terrible message of the song felt really wrong for an act like the Spice Girls. It was clear that they were not that united at the time, as confirmed since by some of them.

 

It was very obvious that they didn't care much for the single, so no-one else did... They can do so much better!

 

(Contractual) friendship never ends. :teresa:

(Contractual) friendship never ends. :teresa:

 

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Headlines mostly missed the Top 10 because of the stupid release strategy - download available only, then it was on the GH that 90,000 people already had and then a CD with no b-side or alt version, just a Wannabe mix two weeks later.

 

A proper all-at-once release the week before GH and we would have had a top 10!

As a fan in the US, it's unquestionably...Forever landing at #39. I realize all the signs were there...but it was still shocking. Geri and Melanie C's albums had already bombed, but I chalked that up to the fact that (at that time) the girls were famous as a unit far more than as individuals. "Geri Halliwell" and "Melanie C" may not have carried that much commercial weight, but certainly "Spice Girls" did. I'd noticed how weird the promotion strategy was. Only Emma and Victoria were here doing interviews...but their appearances seemed so random (the disastrous Daily Show interview). And they were going to debut the Holler video a few weeks AFTER the album release? ...uh.

 

The hope I had for the whole thing was basically carried by all the rumors about an upcoming rigorous promotional schedule featuring the whole group. Spice sites had (made-up) dates for when they were going on shows like Saturday Night Live. When it became clear none of that was happening, it seemed inexplicable that they'd go to the effort of recruiting American producers and then completely neglect the market. Plus, having lived through the continued Spice mania of the tour in 1998...how could that fandom already be gone two years later?

 

Last thought. The three year gap between Spiceworld and Forever here may have been disastrous for them...but honestly, it's not that long. Lizzo just released an album after three years...and it's like she never left. She's still killing it. I kinda see 1999 as a uniquely important year for the direction of music in the US (and perhaps everywhere). A lot of names with true longevity suddenly rose to prominence that year...and it seemed like if you weren't active as an artist in pop that year, you were out.

I think back then, without social media, it was hard for pop bands to keep interest while they are away. I mean they tried to do that with just the UK (Christmas tours in 1999) but they still couldn’t keep them when Forevef was released.

 

A lot have happened while they were away, Britney and Christina popped up and they probably got some of the girls’ fanbase who were growing up real time by then. Plus, the boy bands were taking over again ( Backstreet Boys and *Nsync). Plus, little to no promotion, they kinda set themselves up to fail by then.

Forever got what it deserved.

As a fan in the US, it's unquestionably...Forever landing at #39. I realize all the signs were there...but it was still shocking. Geri and Melanie C's albums had already bombed, but I chalked that up to the fact that (at that time) the girls were famous as a unit far more than as individuals. "Geri Halliwell" and "Melanie C" may not have carried that much commercial weight, but certainly "Spice Girls" did. I'd noticed how weird the promotion strategy was. Only Emma and Victoria were here doing interviews...but their appearances seemed so random (the disastrous Daily Show interview). And they were going to debut the Holler video a few weeks AFTER the album release? ...uh.

 

The hope I had for the whole thing was basically carried by all the rumors about an upcoming rigorous promotional schedule featuring the whole group. Spice sites had (made-up) dates for when they were going on shows like Saturday Night Live. When it became clear none of that was happening, it seemed inexplicable that they'd go to the effort of recruiting American producers and then completely neglect the market. Plus, having lived through the continued Spice mania of the tour in 1998...how could that fandom already be gone two years later?

 

Last thought. The three year gap between Spiceworld and Forever here may have been disastrous for them...but honestly, it's not that long. Lizzo just released an album after three years...and it's like she never left. She's still killing it. I kinda see 1999 as a uniquely important year for the direction of music in the US (and perhaps everywhere). A lot of names with true longevity suddenly rose to prominence that year...and it seemed like if you weren't active as an artist in pop that year, you were out.

 

It is so obvious that the lack of proper promotion killed the album everywhere... The strategy of Emma and Victoria in the US, Mel C in the UK and Mel B in Asia was just terrible... they were totally not united and just focusing on their own solo projects, and it showed...

 

To think they only did ONE WEEK of promo together, and in the UK only, with only a MTV Awards mimed performance later... what were they thinking?....

 

The album deserved better. It deserved them being focused on it and promoting it, touring it. Of course they werent going to do a 1997 with multi advertisements or a tour like in 1998 but they should have done something... The fact they just dropped it, was so dissapointing as a fan...

Edited October 5, 20222 yr by Mr.X

It's such a sad state of affairs to think we never would've imagined the Forever debacle unfolding how it did at the beginning of the Spiceworld era.

Basically by that time I remember they kept harboring the line that they got nothing else to prove anymore so they were gonna do it their way. Showed that they still had to prove that they could do it three years later but they just couldn’t be arsed about it and too solo focused by then. It flopped spectacularly, which was a damn shame. Forever deserved better.

It's such a sad state of affairs to think we never would've imagined the Forever debacle unfolding how it did at the beginning of the Spiceworld era.

 

And for me, the cherry on top, was the blatant irony that the album was called 'Forever' when their intentions for the group at the time were anything BUT. Terrible title for an album that did not represent the Spice Girls brand in the slightest.

Headlines needed that Strictly performance to support it. The song seemed more tailor made for the strictly audience than X Factor anyway. Was strange to not do it. They could’ve performed both it and 2 Become 1 or perhaps a ballad medley that ended in Headlines.

 

What a missed op.

Holler should have done well in USA

Headlines needed that Strictly performance to support it. The song seemed more tailor made for the strictly audience than X Factor anyway. Was strange to not do it. They could’ve performed both it and 2 Become 1 or perhaps a ballad medley that ended in Headlines.

 

What a missed op.

By the time they returned to the UK to perform at Strictly the single had already tanked. There was no point in trying to revive it.

 

The Children In Need slot should have been enough to carry it, but the general public just didn't connect with the song.

Holler should have done well in USA

 

Yeah, it honestly should have. We can all debate another few decades on whether the change in music direction and level of Darkchild involvement was a good idea. But looking past all of that...they did have a strong single and video with Holler. There was obvious commercial potential. Furthermore, that change in sound/image...along with it being their first album as a four piece...should have been obvious stuff to drum up interest and be the pegs of interviews.

 

The girls shoulder the most blame, but (and sorry to harp on this again) shouldn't the record company share some fault for allowing the album to come out weeks before the video premiere on MTV? Did Virgin Records not have any agency in how anything went down? The girls should have still been a priority act for them. What I remember is the Holler video came out during a new music week campaign on MTV...so I'm guessing there was some contractual agreement that Holler be included. But that also meant Forever showed up in stores without any sort of push. After it'd already bombed so badly, why would MTV put any extra effort into supporting the album?

 

The months leading up to the album had been rough. The girls had already been a subject of some Where Are They Now program (think that was on VH1?) Far worse was their mention in the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards where they were included in an In Memoriam segment...where the hosts cried over a montage of 'acts that we've lost' that included MC Hammer, Vanilla Ice...and the Spice Girls.

As far as the UK charts go...I usually found the doom and gloom around their placings to be odd. I live in the US. I guess I just don't get it. In 2001, Britney Spears released the Britney album. The singles off that got to #27 (I'm a Slave 4 U) and #86 (Overprotected) in the US charts. The further singles off the album didn't make the top 100 at all. I flat-out don't remember if there were many articles written about this at the time...but I can tell you from being a teen during that era, there wasn't a feeling that her career was over. (I'll add...it's important to note the album itself hit #1...and perhaps that's all that mattered)

 

Anyway. I say all of that because I remember when the Scream If You Wanna Go Faster single landed at #8 in the UK. My immediate thought was just...oh, cool. Geri got another top ten single. But the fans in the forums were acting like this was a total disaster. I didn't understand at all. Why was that so bad? Wouldn't there have been, like, nine Spice-related singles (and a whopping four albums and a re-issue of Northern Star) released in the year before the Scream single? Were people just expecting the Spices to be at #1 for half the year?

As far as the UK charts go...I usually found the doom and gloom around their placings to be odd. I live in the US. I guess I just don't get it. In 2001, Britney Spears released the Britney album. The singles off that got to #27 (I'm a Slave 4 U) and #86 (Overprotected) in the US charts. The further singles off the album didn't make the top 100 at all. I flat-out don't remember if there were many articles written about this at the time...but I can tell you from being a teen during that era, there wasn't a feeling that her career was over. (I'll add...it's important to note the album itself hit #1...and perhaps that's all that mattered)

 

Anyway. I say all of that because I remember when the Scream If You Wanna Go Faster single landed at #8 in the UK. My immediate thought was just...oh, cool. Geri got another top ten single. But the fans in the forums were acting like this was a total disaster. I didn't understand at all. Why was that so bad? Wouldn't there have been, like, nine Spice-related singles (and a whopping four albums and a re-issue of Northern Star) released in the year before the Scream single? Were people just expecting the Spices to be at #1 for half the year?

 

They were sadly and anytime the girls didn’t hit#1 the media was there to call them a flop, then the public started buying into that too.