Mr.X

I think eventually they will correct those Spotify mistakes. In terms of the Wannabe remixes being so low on streams - as far as I know, they didn't even advertise or even post anything about the EP itself, it went completely unnanounced back then, as the focus was on Wannabe tiny vinyl. They sent out a newsletter today about the Say You'll Be There EP and I would imagine they will do similarly to the upcoming 2 Become 1 and WDYTYA/Mama EP as well...

No, they are not. Maybe for a future Spice anniversary release lol

(funny that for the bloody UNO announcement, the individual girlies - at least Emma and Mel B, shared it on their stories.... still nada about their music, not even the footage they have been dropping on instagram from the vaults) they truly are their own worst enemies lol

the abundance of stuff this year has really been quite something hey...

I just saw this on facebook and ran here... I am not buying this crap, girls... (in other news, I did buy the Collection CD boxset)

Where??

The sessions in April booked when they decided to go full R&B with Rodney at the helm and it was only then because Mel C and the others' schedules didn't match. Then they didn't record all songs so they had to book more sessions. For all we know, they had other demos that just weren't deemed good enough so they tried another session in July. Anyway, these are just suppositions.

I actually love this interview, the presenter guy (super cute!) actually is interested and makes great questions about method and them and their music, not just the scandals. Shame it is only Emma........ the way they promoted Forever was really shocking. Specially in Canada where Holler and Let Love Lead The Way were quite popular as well

After Wannabe and Viva Forever, they have now uploaded their iconic Top of the Pop's performance of Say You'll Be There on YouTube and you can also buy it on iTunes

They do have to sign off on any release, we know this. It is just that they weren't involved in the creation of it, it was a record label thing only. You can tell they didn't care much for it since none of them even mentioned it lol

In late 1999/early 2000s, Darkchild was made the main producer and paid a fee to make 9 songs (that is what he said at the time when he was made the record executive producer). They did have sessions with him before this, in early 1999 (which he mentioned was where he got the idea for Destiny's Child "Say My Name"), and then again in summer 1999 which is where Holler comes from. There could be more demos from these sessions, just like there could be demos from the Biff/Matt sessions in Dublin when Emma and Mel C went to record some demos with them (I think 5 tracks where mentioned? it is in a thread somewhere lol). Darkchild ended up released 8 songs in the Forever album. From what we know, WOMAN was also given a Darkchild production like Right Back At Ya but ultimately didn't make the album (which is probably what the 9th song was going to be...). As the record producer, he would have to have a say on releasing any unheard songs, just like the girls do. It's common practice lol Not sure on publishing but he would get producer royalties as well. We know there are demos - some of them are even registered on ASCAP - of Forever songs. Time Goes By, Wasting My Time and If You Wanna Have Some Fun all have registered demos/early versions. Those could be released if they wanted to... In terms of sales and making money from this?... I don't know... For instance, If they sell 2000 copies of the boxsets (which could easily happen as it is often selling out and re-stocked), they will make around £660,000. I think they could easily make more than that in the long run lol... It's kind of everywhere and it was a big launch, they will want to make bank from this. And yes, if they had made more of an effort they could make even more.

I think you answered the question in the beginning. The Singles Collection was a great example of a release that could house a lot of unheard songs - and technically it does, just not the ones we actually care about lol I think some Spice and Spiceworld-era unheard tracks could (should) eventually make their way to a Spice or Spiceworld anniversary edition. I can only see Darkchil and Jam & Lewis demos being tagged on to a Forever release, not the rest. But EMI and the girls need to invest to make that happen. I would LOVE for the demo of If You Wanna Have Some Fun to come to light - just the title of it is intriguing... Songs like WOMAN, Song for Her, Spice is Back, Overnight (1999), Too Hot, Go Go Go or other Spice 1998-1998 or 2007 tracks I can only see being attached to a Rareties Collection or something like that, sadly... The Sugababes did a great move with their unreleased demos they recorded during their MKS era, releasing it on their own and called it The Lost Tapes. I would love for the Spice Girls to have an initiative like that...

Yeah the US-first approach was always very clear when it comes to Pop music. Even across Europe, it is mainly USAmerican Pop that is put first, and it is sickening to be honest with you. They should have taken the Backstreet Boys approach. The BB released in Europe first. In 1997, they released their second album in Europe while also releasing their first album in the US, and the same happened for the next album, eventually catching up with release dates once they got to tour. Releasing Spiceworld in 1997 might have brought in Christmas sales but they should have waited for early 1998 so they could focus on the US market with both the album and the movie. I think you are right about them possibly getting another #1 album if that were the case. Sad though. Spiceworld deserved waaaaay better sales. It still sold over 4.1milliom in the US (as per Billboard in 2006).

Jesus I need a lay down after that long ass post

OK so here is my main theory around why they wont release Forever demos. There are a few reasons, all of them which kind of mix together and make the whole thing perhaps too notted and complicated to navigate for them. The Pop vs R&B sound I think this is the main issue here. Forever was their attempt at doing a contemporary R&B album. It is the first time they had an executive producer doing the whole album (bar three songs, one of which was already a hit anyway). Like it or not, even if it wasnt a successful attempt (depending on how you want to look at it), Forever was their first almost-concept album as a whole. Before they arrived at the decision for the album as a whole and the era to be focused on a 'serious American-produced R&B album' concept, they had seemingly recorded a lot of songs throughout 1998 and 1999 with their original Pop-producers teams. These songs were discarted to focus Forever on contemporary R&B. Putting out songs they recorded with their original team of producers and focused on straight up pop (like the Give You What You Want and Right Back At Ya pop mix are), would be a bit of a disservice to the concept of Forever. I can understand that from an artistic point of view, and also an ego point of view. I don't think Darkchild would approve a Delux/new version of Forever with pop demos attached to them because it would be a bit of a slap in the face of his work/vision. Remember that he was 'the chosen boy' at the time, and they discarded their previous teams to work with him. At best, we will one day get maybe a couple of demos from the Darkchild sessions leaked or released alongside a Forever re-issue. But I don't think we will ever get WOMAN or Give You What You Want, nor the Right Back At Ya Pop Mix attached to them because in their eyes, it would deviate too much from the concept/Sound of the album. The pop tracks can be released independently of a Forever-focused release though, that's for sure. Legal rights Forever has been re-issued a few times over the years, in both CDs back in the early 2000s and more recently on Vinyl. All girls and Darkchild had had to approve of these, so they are happy for the album to be out there as it is. However, EMI/Virgin would have to pay Darkchild for any unheard Forever demos and since the album re-releases haven't necessarily made that much money, they probably don't want to bother investing money in those demos for a Forever release (even though that would probably actually mean the fans would have more incentives to buy lol) Same thing with pop/early demos from Touch - Spice - Spiceworld eras, although clearly they are content with some of these being released in some context related to their eras. Both Feed Your Love and Do You Think About Me are from the Touch era, before they left the original team (they technically had recorded DYTAM, Wannabe and 2 Become 1 by then!). I imagine that Virgin bought those demos at the time when they signed the group up - which would indicate as to why it is easier to release those, since there is no legal cost in doing that. Drip-feed As pointed out by @Rebel they are drip-feeding us early demos to go along with re-releases and/or Compilation releases. The drip-feeding is definitely part of a 'long game' type of approach because since they have such a small catalogue and are no longer actively working as a band, the record label and their ream need to space out what they have to release. They are probably now using Touch-era demos and eventually will start going towards Spice unheard demos soon. Think about it like this: if they had released WOMAN and Spice is Back or any of the other more popular demos by now, they would have had the main 'fan-service' aspect of these releases done and dusted. They know those will attrack more so they play the waiting game with them, teasing us until eventually (when we are too old to care lol) releasing them. This approach seemingly works for them but I think it is starting to work agaisnt them, as fans are starting to rebel/not buy the editions they put out without proper incentive. Do You Think About Me was a terrible demo to lead this new collection with, and it is a bit wild they chose this instead of a demo that is completely unheard. That would have made it much more special to buy the collection. Imagine if the 'new' song added to The Singles Collection was the original 1995 demo of Overnight? I think more fans would have wanted that. The Band itself I think there are two main players against us having more demos out there to buy, sadly. I used to think Victoria was a third reason, but both Feed Your Love and Do You Think About Me are actually very Victoria-lead LOL so that went out of the window. Mel C and Geri are the main reasons. Mel C is against some of the most sought-after demos being out. She hates WOMAN and is very selective about what she mentions. In her book she mentions Serial Killer and Overnight, seemingly showing she would approve of those, and I think we might hear them one day soon, specially since the fan backlash to DYTAM was quite strong so hopefully they have heard/seen that and will think of better strategies for the future. But the "holy grails" of demos, she seemingly hates and actively blocks, which is frustrating and honestly makes her look like an ass. Geri is a stumbling block for Forever-specific demos. Not necessarily meaning she is blocking them, but just that she wasnt a part of them and it seems the group doesn't want us to remember that/are awkward about any non-Geri releases that weren't singles lol... Finally, I think also the Group itself not being involved in these releases post Spice25, really doesn't help either. I can't quite comprehend why they wouldn't care at all about their releases and put some effort into them. Since they don't, it is just the label doing its work on its own, and there is only so much they can do when the group itself wont do shite. Anyway, those are my main takes... Legal Rights, 'Concept Album' and Egos (as usual...)

Oh wow this is an amazing thing to have. First of all, thank you so much for sharing!! It's honestly such a kick and joy to have this, as most of it is completly unseen I think the AI upscale does make them look so weird though. The original, even if grainy or old, would be much better, imo. It's ok to look rough, it was in 1996, literally 30 years ago. Technology wears out, and it is beautiful that way imo. Either way, thanks for sharing

This is amazing. Some VERY RARE footage from early days pre-UK/West Spice album release when they were promoting in Japan in summer/early Autumn 1996 has been released including some *actually live* performances (which was so rare back in the day lol). They sound amazing and this is mostly all unseen footage 😍 hate that it is AI upscalled though as they look mostly disfigured lol

was it?? I remember that and, well.......... I'm glad the Spice Girls didn't do that in 1997, and instead a bit later on would have been fun to do with a proper team behind it. Richard Curtis would have been amazing. Can you imagine Gerita's and Emma's acting though?....

Exactly. Don't really get the drag from the other comment lol... like, yes we are aware this is not 'new' and yes we all want 'new' things. It's just nice to have them officially put out there in great quality rather than fan-uploaded potato-quality videos (some of them with awful AI upscales where they look worse than the aliens from SpiceWorld The Movie!!)

The CD version is sold out on Italy and Spain Universal shops... maybe it is selling? lol Over the past two years they have been more focused on appealing to the Collectors' market, which is an interesting turn of events as they are maybe attempting to branch their legacy to a wider crowd rather than the usual fanbase that will just buy a new variant of Spice lol They have done partnerships with the Royal Mint, Royal Mail, now the Singles Collection box sets. these are not just a CD and vinyl (like Mel B called it lol), they are proper collectors' editions. Collectors have money and often they are on the hunt for special releases like these: expertly made, official, released by 'proper' companies like the royal mint and and which are rare or will become in the future. These Collection boxes seem very pointed to collectors rather than the casual, usual fan. Which might also point towards why so many casuals where pissed that this was the release and not something catered for them. The coins, the stamps, the collectors items... It's a clever expanse into more up-market products and will certainly bring in a lot of money and prestige, so good for them.

Did he? I know the girls were talking with Richard Curtis (from Love Actually fame) to do a TV series with them in 1998 and also Disney to develop an animated film, both of which got cancelled /thrown away when Geri left...

Yeah that release strategy was crazy! I never understood why Simon and the label agreed to it since the US market was so vastly different from the European one. They needed to promote there more, and could have easily waited a bit more and release the album in early 1998 in the US to coincide with the tour. That would have made much more sense and probably the radios and MTV wouldnt be so saturated by them. Ultimately, this is Simon's fault. He overworked them and not only they got exahsuted, but the industry got exhausted as well.

Yeah specially after Too Much and Stop, which are excellent songs and not necessarily songs "for children" or even Teen-Pop, and which had both been in the Top20 of Billboard and they were on a massive US tour in the summer... wild..

They have been releasing videos on YouTube of their performances on Top of the Pops from over the years, which is something the fans have been asking for, for ages. You can also buy them on iTunes as videos, which will count towards the sales and charts of their respective singles. So far, they have released the very first Wannabe performance on TOTP and the very last performance without Geri, Viva Forever.

You are not wrong. Radios in the US started to boycott them around the Spice Up Your Life release date as they were seen as an act for children, and then when Simon was fired there was an industry shift against them. In the US, priority was definitely given to Destiny's Child and TLC when it comes to girlbands BUT ALSO to teen-pop acts like Britney, Christina and N*SINC... The US has always been very 'America-first'... It's amazing how popular they still remained in 1998/1999 in the US, against this industry backlash though. And how they are still very popular today, they could still very easily sell out a massive tour over there and the GH sold like 1,5million copies there which is not bad at all