The chart position for this was truly shocking, especially when Think about it made the top 100 without a full weeks sales and much less promo (albeit it's a much better song). I guess the Spice Girls effect had well and truly worn off by this point, if this had been released in the early 2000s it would have been a #1 contender, plus I think for most of the 2000's decade it would have been a very likely top 10/20 hit.

 

I like the song but it's another that doesn't really offer anything new and the original will always be better for that reason. Should have performed it on Superstar instead of I don't know how to love him, surely that would have given it a bigger boost.

Yeah I'm amazed that's so low. A sweet version by them, but I suppose that's all it is, sweet

Its also low as wasnt included in original list of songs to vote for.

And its been covered to death !

At the time I thought it was a strange song for them to choose. I would’ve preferred them to do a non-musical song and just bang it on the album anyway. As long as it had a sympathetic sound.

 

For me, a John Lewis ad cover version would’ve been lovely. Imagine them having a Lily Allen/Slow Moving Millie type moment. Maybe a cover of something like Gravity by Embrace … although Embrace fans would be outraged 😆

At the time I thought it was a strange song for them to choose. I would’ve preferred them to do a non-musical song and just bang it on the album anyway. As long as it had a sympathetic sound.

 

For me, a John Lewis ad cover version would’ve been lovely. Imagine them having a Lily Allen/Slow Moving Millie type moment. Maybe a cover of something like Gravity by Embrace … although Embrace fans would be outraged 😆

 

It's not like there arent other songs on the Stages album that were not originally non-musical theatre songs. Joni Mitchell's song is one of those for instance.

 

They could have done a more interesting cover for sure. This track doesn't really work for me either and I get the low score to be honest... A lot of people just didn't care for it, it was only for the nostalgia and getting them back singing together again

#57 She Was a Friend of Mine

 

From album: A Girl Like Me

Release year: 2001

Average votes: 4,93

 

 

With just 0,01 point difference, She Was a Friend of Mine just about gets over I Know Him So Well :unsure: A Girl Like Me's least favourite track overall. This was rumoured to be about Geri, which if I remember well, I think Emma didn't particularly dismiss nor confirmed since. If it is about Geri, it would be the third (out of known FOUR!) Spice Girls-related songs about Geri (these being Goodbye, Tell Me Why, She Was a Friend of Mine and Watcha Talkin' Bout)

 

 

#56 Don't Tell Me You Love Me Anymore

 

From single: Maybe (CD)

Release year: 2003

Average votes: 5,19

 

 

Don't Tell Me You Love Me Anymore is a cute b-side but it never quite goes anywhere, which is most probably why it didn't make the album in the first place. Strangly, it sounds very very at odds with its A-side single, the iconic Maybe, as it is a straight up pop ballad. Maybe is such a tour de force kind of single, that this has never really had the chance to shine.

 

It's innofensive and fine. But thats' about it... It is also not on streaming or download platforms at all. :blink:

 

 

#55 Free Up Your Mind

 

From single: What Took You So Long?

Release year: 2001

Average votes: 5,193

 

Free Up Your Mind is the last of the A Girl Like Me era b-sides to leave the charts. It is truly safe to say that this era's b-sides were Emma's weakests for sure, and it shows it very clearly here!

 

The song was actually Emma's first ever solo release, when it was included in the Pokemon Movie soundtrack back in 1999 :o It is a straight up bubble-gum pop type of affair. The fact it was re-used as b-side to WTYSL was quite strange though, it didn't really feel necessary and I'm sure Emma would have had a few more demos laying about she coudl polish for it!

 

Anyway, it features Melanie C on backing vocals which also made it the very first Spice duo on a song as well, and the firts time they collaborated outside of the group! I always thought it was cute that Emma was also on backing vocals for Sophisticated Lady as well during this time. It was cute seeing them supporting each other with their early releases, and it was lovely to see!

 

 

#54 Spell it OUT

 

From album: A Girl Like Me

Release year: 2001

Average votes: 5,194

 

Just edging FUYM out by 0,001 votes :o is the innofensive pop-r'n'b track Spell it OUT. It has always been a bit of a forgotten track because it kind of doesn't really go anywhere, so no surprises to see it going so early.

 

It's funny because this the song that is at the middle of the album and it feels like a chore to get through. Emma does r'n'b much better than this, and I wonder what her tracks with Darkchil must have been like! Shame we never got to listen to those, as I do wonder if they were better than this.

5 known songs, Let love lead the way is also about Geri. 7 if you include other artist, Robbie wrote Eternity about Geri and there was that diss track written about her, me plus one was it???

I read somewhere SWAFOM is not about Geri. The lyric is about a love betrayal.

#53 Come Away With Me (featuring Josh Kumra)

 

From album: My Happy Place

Release year: 2019

Average votes: 5,38

 

 

Emma really has released a lot of covers throughout her career. Every single album of hers includes at least one cover, and whilst she has always been a clear fan of doing covers, the same can't really be said about her fans - or the critics.

 

This is another innofensive track, in an album full of innofensive covers. It's one of her biggest streaming hits, as it is included in a few Spotify playlists. Personally I dont mind it, but I never visit it at all. I think Josh's voice suits the track more than Emma's, actually. Strangely, as on paper it should be an easy fit for Emma.

Edited November 18, 2024Nov 18 by Mr.X

I don't dislike the song but then I don't really like it either. It's a bit of a nothing tune really, elevator music or waiting on the phone music. Both sound lovely on it though.

CAWM is one of the better tracks on ‘

MHP

#52 Coming Home For Christmas

 

From EP: Coming Home For Christmas

Release Year: 2019

Average votes: 5,46

 

 

Coming off the high of releasing her solo album to chart at #11 (a major improvement from her last album release...) with My Happy Place, and what is perhaps the biggest girlband stadium tour ever with the Spice Girls, Emma caped her excellent 2019 by tackling a coveted Christmas release.

 

Coming Home For Christmas is the main song/promo single on a 2-track EP released in late 2019, right before her first ever major solo concert at the Albert Hall. The EP includes a cover version of Santa Baby (still on the competition here!) but Coming Home for Christmas is, by all accounts, also a kind of a cover of another band that had recorded the song before but never released it official ( I think.... ). Emma took it and made it her own though, even if she doesn't have a writing credit either...

 

I don't think she made a lot of money from this release, sadly :blink: The song was a major flop, it didn't chart and after all these years is still at 173,000 streams on Spotify, which is barely anything :arrr: By contrast, Sant Baby has over 800,000 and even though that is nothing to celebrate either, it completely dwarfs the main song on the EP... It doesn't have a video either, sadly. Not even a lyric video -_-

 

Oh Emma... She obviously loves Christmas, and the song is nice if completely pointless. The lack of a bridge is so obvious, and just a couple of small verses, no flair to it.

 

It has provided some nice live moments though:

 

It's honestly one of the worse Christmas releases ever, so drab and it goes nowhere! :lol: I've no idea what I gave it score wise, but probably too much. All the covers she did at her show were way better. Her voice sounds lovely on it at least and I guess it's nice to have an actual Spice Girls somewhat original Christmas song. I never knew it was recorded by a band first.

#51 Emotion

 

From album: My Happy Place

Release year: 2019

Average votes: 5,50

 

 

Yer another cover from Ms Bunton's My Happy Place bites the dust. Emotion is a cover from the Samantha Sang's 1977 original hit. Orginally written and produced by Barry and Robin from Bee Gees, the major group then covered their own version of it and made it even more successful. The song has been covered to death since then, most notably by girlband Destiny's Child who brought it to a more pop-r'n'b contemporary audience. Emma's version is the usual Bunton cover affair: it brings very little to the song, but she sure sounds lovely in it.

 

 

#50 Santa Baby

 

From EP: Coming Home for Christmas

Release year: 2019

Average votes: 5,53

 

 

Santa Baby was originally released by Eartha Kitt in 1953 and has become a christmas stapple, covered by thousands of artists over the years. When Emma decided to do the Christmas music shtick in 2019, it was plainly obvious that this was a song that our Baby Spice just had to cover. It was included in the Coming Home for Christmas EP and has been added to a few Christmas playlists, which is what sees it getting a few ok streams every Christmas. But in general, the song doesn't do much. I think the absolute abundance of covers for it, and the fact that Emma does very little in the way of making it interesting, kind of meant the song is dead in the water for her too.

 

She has performed it on her Christmas tour, her Albert Hall show and also on a Disney theme park Christmas variety show since. It's sad that Emma's attempts to rebrand herself as a Christmas pop queen in the UK fell so flat over the years. Her EP and her tour both flopped hard, and it doesnt look like the UK public is here for that kind of branding from her. Judging from her two main attempts at doing Christmas songs, it looks like she should let go of that and focus on her own music again :teresa:

 

 

#49 Been There, Done That

 

From album: A Girl Like Me

Release year: 2001

Average votes: 5,54

 

 

Very little voting points separate Been There, Done That from the previous entry, with only 0,01 difference between them :o Been There, Done That is a low key r'n'b number and the second of its kind from the A Girl Like Me album to leave this competition. It's never particularly been a fan favourite so it is not surprising that is just about makes the Top50 here...

Edited November 19, 2024Nov 19 by Mr.X

It's honestly one of the worse Christmas releases ever, so drab and it goes nowhere! :lol: I've no idea what I gave it score wise, but probably too much. All the covers she did at her show were way better. Her voice sounds lovely on it at least and I guess it's nice to have an actual Spice Girls somewhat original Christmas song. I never knew it was recorded by a band first.

 

I find the whole 'I'm Christmas Spice' shtick so lame though, it really put me off specially after a whole album of lame covers... The EP flopped, and then with the pandemic she took until 2022 to go on her Christmas tour without much promo, and it fell flat as well...

 

Coming Home For Christmas feels unfinished to me. The way it goes from the verses to the chorus is too quick and jarring, and the chorus needed better production too to really hit. I get it that it wasnt her song originally but maybe instead of just releasing the song under her name, why not re-work it before releasing it?...

 

Santa Baby should have just been the main release imo, but I get why she didnt (Kylie had just released that not long before!).

 

Anyway, happy to not have any more Christmas-releases from La Bunton. The rumours of the Christmas album have never materialised and I for one I AM HAPPY ABOUT IT :angry:

#48 We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight (single version)

 

From album: A Girl Like Me

Release year: 2001

Average votes: 5,57

 

 

I was a bit shocked to see this so low to be honest :arrr:

 

After the successes of What Took You So Long? and Take My Breath Away across UK and Europe, it was coming up to the end of the year and Emma needed a bit of a change of pace. Shockingly, instead of tackling the Christmas market with a Christmas-friendly song, self-proclaimed Christmas-Spice herself made the decision to release a more dancey remix of her latin-favoured song We're Not Gonna Sleep Tonight.

 

Remixed by Andy Wright, it was released on a CD single which included the b-side Let Your Baby Show You How To Move and the 3AM remix of the single. A DVD was also released which included videos of Emma talking about the video making process.

 

An omage to her girlfriends, the video includes a leather-clad Emma dancing and 'vibying' with a group of girls which resemble the Spice Girls themselves. It was a bit of a shock departure from her more guitar-led and softer image of her previous single and album launched, but sadly the public didn't particularly gel to it.

 

At one point there were rumours that A World Without You was going to be the chosen Christmas-single and it made sense. However, Virgin and Emma announced they wanted 'something different for the Christmas holidays' and Emma turned up at the MTV EMAs that year with a brand new style (and haircut!). It flopped into oblivion. Did she not remember the flop that was Forever the year before with its new 'sleek and leather-clad' branding style?? Oh Emma, Emma, Emma....

 

It was the first Spice-release to not enter the Top15 in the UK (in fact it barely managed to get to #20!), and it failed to chart in any other countries other than Romania (#27). It is stange as she did promote it heavily at the time, including in Australia (where it didn't chart either). Its flop meant the end of promotion for the album as a whole too. Sadly, after this release, Emma and Virgin parted ways and Emma set her sights onto making the iconic Free Me. So maybe the disastrous release of this single paved the way for bigger and better things?? :teresa:

 

A funny note: At the time, Mel C was miss-Anti Spice (in fact anti-anyone and anything that moved) and she critised this release, staying that after a couple of great singles, Emma has kind of let herself go :arrr: Not very girl power was it, specially after Emma was supportive of Mel C when she didnt get a Brit nomination in 2001 for Best Female act!

 

Edited November 19, 2024Nov 19 by Mr.X

Emotion is terrible.

WNGST should be a bit higher but should never have made a single !

Yeah that single was very underwhelming for me.

Eek didn't know Mel said that, what a bitch tbh. She said something similar about Victoria's LYHG/TG release too saying she had a cushy life and should just enjoy it instead of music!

 

I have to agree though, Ive always hated WNGST after a run of 3 great singles from Emma. I do really like her take on emotion though she sounds divine on it.

#47 So Nice (Summer Samba)

 

From single: Crickets Sing for AnaMaria (CD2)

Release year: 2004

Average votes: 5,84

 

 

This nice chill-by-the-beach-cafe-drinking-cocktails-all-summer type of vibe b-side is a cover of Bebel Gilberto's original from 2000. A huge hit in Brazil and latin-majority countries, Emma does a nice if quite standard affair. It is the weakest of the Crickets Sing for AnaMaria releases, overshadowed by the explosive single and the other b-sides. I would say even the other mixes are more note-worthy than this. But it is not bad at all as a song, and Emma suits is vibe a lot.

 

Funnily enough, it is one of her most listened to b-sides as it has been available for well over a decade on streaming/download sites: a sad illustration of just how bad Emma's presence on streaming has been over the years! Still, for well over a decade, no other Free Me bsides have been online. Heck, even What Took You So Long is not available as a single release to stream nor its bsides...

 

 

#46 Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps

 

From album: Life in Mono

Release year: 2006

Average votes: 5,85

 

 

Life in Mono is a stunning album and has finally been made available recently on streaming after well over a decade of waiting. The album was praised for its first run of 10 tracks, which formed the 'standard' part of the album. Upon its release, the only available 'version' of the album was the 'delux' version which included 4 covers stuck at the end of it. The reason for this seemed to be to capitalise on goodwill Emma had from her stint on Strickly Come Dancing. The 'standard' version of the album has never been released to this day.

 

The four covers have long been a sour point for Emma fans, as in general the understanding is that they completely run down the quality and interest in what is an otherwise pretty good, well crafted and quality album.

 

Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps is, perhaps :P , the least memorable of them. She sounds fine, but it doesn't really do much and to be honest it is quite meh of an interpretation. Emma has done much better.

 

It is one of the only album-tracks she has performed from the Life in Mono album, when she sang it live at G-A-Y for the album launch.

 

"Quizás, quizás, quizás", sometimes known simply as "Quizás", is a popular song by Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés. Farrés wrote the music and original Spanish lyrics for the song which became a hit for Bobby Capó in 1947. The English lyrics for "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" were translated by Joe Davis from the original Spanish version. The English version was first recorded by Desi Arnaz in 1948 and made popular by Doris Day in the 1970s.

 

Geri Halliwell also has a cover of this, so it makes for the second Spice cover of the song.

 

 

#45 Por Favor

 

From album: Life in Mono

Release year: 2006

Average votes: 5,85

 

 

In the words of Mel C on live TV to Louis Walsh: 'Covers, covers, covers!! We were original!' :teresa:

 

It is no surprising that most of the bottom-of-the-charts here are cover songs. Por Favor is the latest to get the boot here and it also is Emma's least streamed album track at only 15,781 streams so far... The song was written by Joe Sherman and Noel Sherman and was first released by Billy May and His Orchestra in 1955. It is a well known jazz-oriented track and Emma does a servisable job.

 

I just wish she actually could pronounce Por Favor as at points her pronounciation sounds like any other Brit girl after a few shots in Magaluf :arrr:

Edited December 16, 2024Dec 16 by Mr.X