I can totally see why it was a single! General public would never think Emma would release a song like this!

 

The obvious choice was TMTAT !!!

#7 Take Me To Another Town

 

From album: Life in Mono

Release year: 2004

Average votes: 8,88

 

I go to London

I go to Hollywood

There are too many people who would kill me if they could

I go to Shanghai

I go to Tokyo

There are so many people that I'll never get to know

 

Firmly a fan-favourite, Take Me To Another Town is Life in Mono's highest placing track overall ( :blink: ) and the THIRD highest placing album track from Emma's full discography :wub:

 

Writen by Emma, Gary Clark and Keely Hawkes the song threads on the hyper-pop of Maybe and Crickets Sing for AnaMaria - loud, quicky and fun, with almost non-sensicle lyrics but no bossa-nova this time! - portraying Emma as a Western Hemisphere-trotting tourist looking for fun only to find out that she only finds fullfillment with her lover.

 

In the song, Emma goes to London, Glasgow, Hollywood, Shanghai, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Cairo and St Tropez, where she takes her bike to the train, train to the bus, bus to the beach and sails on. Only to then I'll surf to the shore, walk to her car and drive to what her life can depend on :teresa: :P

 

Critically, it was welcomed as a much needed boost to the tempo of the album. As track #7, it does provide a strong moment of energy and fun after 6 tracks of mid-tempo (GORGEOUS!) sonic landscapes, and it was perhaps the closest thing to a Maybe of the album. It is sad this never got the single treatment. Personally, I think it would have been the perfect follow up to Downtown, before she went in on a ballad.

 

Emma says of the song at the time:I love this track. I just think it's got that real fun, upbeat kind and vibe to it. It's all about being able to travel around the world and see some amazing things but that there's kind of no place like home.

You just feel safe and settled when you get home.

 

The critics loved it and positioned it firmly as a favourite with comments like "The witty and infernally catchy highlight of the album" (The Guardian), "this sounds like the soundtrack to '60s footage of Brigitte Bardot strutting around St Tropez in a miniskirt." (Yahoo! Music), 'the album's gem' (The Observer).

 

To this day, it is the song that was most heavily hinted by Bunton and her team to be the third single of the album and to my knowlege, it is the ONLY Life in Mono track to be performed live (no, those awful covers dont count!!) when she performed at G-A-Y in London for the launch of the album Emma performed this alongside Maybe, Downtown, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps and Something Tells Me.

 

Note: Before Emma got her hands on it, a demo of the song was originally intended for the soundtrack of the Disney movie Herbie: Fully Loaded and in fact a snippet of the original track can be heard on the soundtrack (though not the full thing and it does appear on the official Soundtrack release either). Eventually when she started working with Gary Clark (of Perfect Strangers fame!), she recorded it, wrote more on it and made it her own.

 

Completely agree Mr. X.

 

At the time, I thought Emma really needed to make more of a splash with her follow-up (after releasing a cover as a lead single).

 

TMTAT is so radio friendly. It’s a crime it was overlooked.

#6 Too Many Teardrops

 

From album: My Happy Place

Release year: 2019

Average votes: 8,92

UK Sales: 1,113 (didn't chart at all)

 

 

Released as an instant-grat during the lead up to My Happy Place, Too Many Teardrops is just shy of being Emma's most loved album track currently :teresa: and it is the highest placed My Happy Place track overall above the singles and a cover.

 

The only other (out of two!) original song on the album, the song threads on Emma's 60s sound again but expands it to quite a cinematic, Bond-esque sound that sees her leaving a broken relationship. Her vocal is simply stunning and showcases how she has matured and developed over the years. Written with and produced by Metrophonic, it is one of her best writing as well, tapping into territories of story-telling that she had been developing in her previous album. It's a shame she didnt do more originals on the album as both of them showcased so much potential!

 

The song premiered on Graham Norton's Virgin Radio show where Emma sat down to give a full interview and the host praised it. However, no other promotion, other than it being released as a pre-album promo song, was done and attention was given more to Emma and Jade's You're All I Need To Get By as the albums' true second single. Ultimately the song didn't chart at all and sold around 1,113 copies in the UK (as of 2020!). It's a pity, since it was so well received by the fans and the critics at the time, whereas YAINTGB was slanted and met with indiference.

 

All Music: "a clear standout, injecting both sexual urgency and grand, sweeping drama to the mix"

Albumism: "Instant Bunton classic"

The Guardian, The Irish Times and The Herald Standard called it the standout of the album alonside BPDS and I Wish I Could Have Loved You More.

 

Did this song deserve to be a proper single back then?

Does it deserve to be Emma's second highest rated album track??

And what type of video woudl you imagine for it?

 

Edited January 15Jan 15 by Mr.X

I am sure there a spice fans in this forum that have never listed to Take Me To Another Town or Too Many Teardrops !!! Surely they have to now!

 

I would just swap their positions.

If I were to dream up a video for Too Many Teardrops - I’d go for a vintage angle again.

 

It’s got an old western vibe to the instrumentation, especially with the percusssion and guitar.

 

I could see Emma on horseback, trekking down a hillside into a spaghetti western set.

 

I’m imagining a nod to Marilyn Monroe in River of No Return. Maybe a scene in a saloon bar and shoot out against the dirtbag heartbreaker :P

 

I’d also love those flickering old film-reel effects and retro movie graphics.

Edited January 16Jan 16 by McAndrew

Breathing and Too Many Teardrops are so like a Bond theme and also I Wish I Could Have Loved You More .

 

 

#5 Breathing

 

From album: Free Me

release year: 2004

Average votes: 9.07

 

 

Let the last thing that I breathe be you

 

Aaaaan the honour of being Emma's favourite album track goes to, of course, the immaculate Breathing. For long considered a masterpiece by the fandom and mentioned as one of the central songs of the album, Breathing is written by Emma in collaboration with Zero 7's main writer-producer Henry Binns.

 

When refering to the song upon the album's release, Emma mentioned that the recording sessions had been some like a live performance in the studio because she wanted to make sure the instrumentation of the songs was audible and front-and-centre. Perhaps that is most present in Breathing, where the various instruments take you on a journey and pull on your emotions like no digital reproduction of sound can. I mean those strings? Perfect. That flute?? Heaven.

 

It falls within the retro vibe of the album but focused on the Bond-esque approach of some songs of the album like Free Me and No Sign of Life which Emma was angling for at the time. I can totally see it as not the main song but a song part of the James Bond movie of the time.

 

Of course, the song was a standout for the public as well as the critics with the BBC calling it "sexy and perfect for hot steamy nights" and The Guardian framing it as 'the lighlight' of the album.

 

This was heavily hinted and rumoured to be the fifth single of the album at the time, often mentioned as a potential Double A-side release with No Sign of Life, both tracks showcasing similar approached but with very different moods and intentions. Sadly, this never came to be as Crickets Sing for AnaMaria failed to meet expectations at the time, so no more singles were released.

 

If Emma ever tours again, we should campaign for her to sing this song live. WE NEED IT! :teresa: :cheer:

Edited January 19Jan 19 by Mr.X

Breathing is definitely one of her best album tracks, and it really should have been a single! :cry:

I was fully expecting Breathing to be a single at the time, given the special design treatment in the album booklet.

 

I think it might’ve performed better than Crickets, which was a bit of a curve ball.

I prefer Breathing to Crickets and wish it was the single however it is overrated by fans.

If Breathing had been a single, Baby might be raking it in from piriteze adverts every summer.

I'm just constantly flawed by Breathing, every time I listen to it. It's her Viva Forever in my opinion and yes, should have been a single.

 

Crickets might have not sold a lot but it did help the album, and I wish they would have used that as justification for another single at least. they just abandoned the album in the UK where it was doing quite well for an artist of her status at the time.

 

I never quite bought that the rumoured A-side with No Sign of Life would have been a possibility to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE her to release those two songs together but I don't see her commiting to it at the time.

 

Breathing would have been perfect in my opinion. A perfect closer to the almost perfect era.

If Breathing had been a single, Baby might be raking it in from piriteze adverts every summer.

:lol: 🤧

 

I never quite bought that the rumoured A-side with No Sign of Life would have been a possibility to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I would LOVE her to release those two songs together but I don't see her commiting to it at the time.

Also with 2-track singles being a thing in 2004 and a maxi single only allowing 3 unique tracks on the track list to the eligible, if she'd done a Double A Side single then we'd have only got one new track :lol: I fear that might have flopped, particularly as a 5th single. I looooove No Sign of Life but I feel like Breathing probably had the edge for being a better commercial choice.

 

Crickets felt like such a left field choice, and I'm not sure it was ultimately the right decision... even if it did attract some attention to the album... but good on her for being daring!

#4 I'll Be There

 

From album: Free Me

Release Year: 2004

UK Chart Position: #7

UK Total Sales: 40,672

UK Chart Run: 07-10-20-33-45-52-73-85-Out-76-74-Out-118-124-143-140-188-Out-147-Out-180-199-Out

Average votes: 9,26

 

 

Fair-weather days can melt the ice

On many a cold heart

'Til the clouds roll in

And then you find

They're frightened of the dark

 

After a successful run of two pre-launch singles that showcased two very different sides of Emma (Free Me and Maybe), Bunton set herself a new frontiere to conquer: Big-Chorus Pop music that thrives on lyrical flourishes in the verses and takes it to a grand evocative chorus that is irresistable and catchy as hell. It is a very well known formula that Emma mastered here, and it shows how much it is loved by the fandom.

 

The song is a love-letter to her friends according to Emma herself, and was writen by Emma in collaboration with Michael Peden (Tina Turner, Shakira, David Bowie) who also produced it alongside other songs on the album. Alongside the song itself, Emma went to France to record the video with renowned film director Giuseppe Capotondi, who brought a vintage, old 70's glamour movies approach and aesthetic that fit Emma and her artistic profile really well, expanding it from the already cinematic and theatrical directions of previous singles. The single was released on 2CDs format, with CD1 including the iconic So Long, whereas the CD2 included Takin' It Easy, remixes and the video. CD1's cover was later used for international editions of the main album, replacing the iconic all-pink cover from the UK and certain EU editions.

 

Strangely, for the time, I'll Be There was the third single released ahead of the album, which was kind of a novelty back then. Pre-streaming, artists often released their album with one, maybe two pre-release singles. Emma, however, took her time and built her audience with three singles, which then enriched the audience expecations of the album. Alongside this, it also provided the audiences with a broad taste of the various sounds and approaches present in the album, showcasing its variety and broad-range of appeal.

 

It worked, because it built expectation that kind of wasn't there for a solo Spice record anymore by 2003, and Free Me (the album) was well received for what we were used to at the time. While the sales seem very low, please remember that by 2003 music sales had dwindled massively. So a 40-000 copies single from then would be close to a 80-000 sales if it has been a couple of years before. Not HUGE at all but on a similar level to the effect and success that Take My Breath Away. Not too shabby! This was also the last Spice-related single to stay for TWO WEEKS within the UK Top10, as the song stayed at #10 in its second week, and often returned to the chart throughout 2004. Just a shame that the sales back then were so low overall!

 

During this era, both Emma and Victoria were under Simon Fuller's XIX Records and Management, and often performed and appeared in similar places, as both were campaigning for similar release period, at on point both introduced each other's performances at Top of the Pops.

 

It was also during this era that Emma confessed to having an affair (or at least a one-night stand!) with Justin Timberlake...

 

Well-deserved placement for this classy number.

 

I remember being surprised how well it caught the attention of the general public. It was very radio friendly though.

Should've been N:1 fantastic song and video , absolute favorite of mine .

 

 

'I'll Be There' being 21 years old... :drama: It's a lovely song - not my most major favourite, but I'm sure I'd place it within my personal Top 15~ Bunton songs.

 

The release giving us 'So Long' :cheeseblock: I'm sure I played this B Side more times than I'll Be There when they were new :lol:

Into the Top 3 we go :cheer:

 

#3 Free Me

 

From album: Free Me

Release Year: 2003

UK Chart Position: #5

UK Total Sales: 57,245

UK Chart Run: 05-11-18-26-31-39-44-57-61-Out-119-142-131-153-148-175-174-Out-188-Out

Average votes: 9,42

 

 

Atmosphere's tense

Heavy with anticipation

Don't leave me here

With only my imagination

Free me

 

After parting ways with Virgin records in 2002 having released just one album with them, Emma signed a new deal with 19 Recordings that same year - marking her return to being managed by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller.

 

Emma went into the process of recording her second album feeling inspired by the 1960s Motown sounds that she had grown up listening to. The first taster of this new material? Free Me! Produced by Mike Peden, the song drew comparisons to James Bond themes due to its sweeping and grand instrumentation. The stunning music video, shot in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, showcased Emma with a confident and elegantly sexy new image.

 

The single resonated well with the UK public who sent it straight to #5 in the charts - Emma's fourth solo Top 5 hit out of five releases. A triumphant comeback!

 

Emma's second album, which is named after this song, proved to be a very successful era for Emma, both commercially and critically. For many, it's her magnum opus! And it all began with this single, which 22 years on(!!) is still beloved by her fanbase.

 

The hottest she ever looked