Piers

I feel it says something about the public perception of James Corden that the article/headline targets him the most. Typically, I think the article would focus on Mel listing Geri as a dickhead celeb. But Corden's not in the best space PR-wise...and so he ends up with the focus. As to the comment about Geri...I mean, look. I'm not new here. I know Mel's saying that in jest about a friend. I also know how things will often get intentionally misrepresented in articles. But. There is part of me that thinks Mel's been doing this long enough that...maybe she should realize listing Geri as a dickhead could be low hanging fruit for the press? I guess Mel's gonna Mel... Also. I'm late to the party on this, but I just watched that Special Forces TV show trailer. Fox really is just throwing every idea at the wall to see what sticks. I don't figure this has any hit potential. It's not a reality competition with people getting voted off week-to-week. Participants can quit...and the special forces team can ask them to leave. But it's not a competition in the traditional TV sense. So. What's the point of watching? Just to see Jamie Lynn Spears be miserable in training? The trailer's not even playing to the comedy of celebs doing this stuff. What a dud. I don't think this is a very good match for Mel. She's got a natural athleticism...but I can't imagine her reacting well to aggressive people giving her demands. She's barely featured in the TV trailer...and considering what good TV/a soundbite machine she is...I'm guessing she doesn't last long. At first glance, she doesn't appear to be pushing to this show on social media.

Oh, cool! I've always seen little bits and pieces of this interview, but this is the first time I've watched it all the way through. I think they claimed on several occasions they struggled to pick the first single...and it came down to Emma choosing Holler. I've always thought this was odd as with the Forever material that actually made the album...Holler is the obvious first single choice. I'd say If You Wanna Have Some Fun is also very strong. Personally, I like it almost as much. But IYWHSF isn't as indicative of the album as Holler...and Holler is also a bolder statement. What other song could they possibly be talking about? So. Here's where my theory comes in...which isn't based on much. But...could the other song they were considering to launch the era be one of the Stannard/Rowe songs?...probably one we haven't heard? I've always carried the belief that the pop tracks were dumped from the lineup much later than people generally think...namely in the summer of 2000. Why? There was an interview where one of the girls said they needed that last recording session (the one that yielded Wasting My Time) because they suddenly realized they didn't have enough to complete the album. I think that's when the pop tracks got dumped. That unheard material is Stannard/Rowe in 1999 working with their top priority group. I find it hard to believe that nothing they came up with at that time was any good. That makes me wonder if the group's big decision was actually to launch the album with a Stannard/Rowe track and include all their collaborators...or lead with Holler and only use the work of the American producers. Might be a crackpot theory. But. Anyway. Maybe? Last thought. I am the last person to criticize someone for their clothes...but...urgh. Mel C is sitting there next to Victoria Beckham of all people...while wearing a 'Trailer Trash' shirt that looks like its sold at some gas station from hell.

I feel like after 1998, the group could have gone one of two routes. They could have been like Janet Jackson; mostly working with the same collaborators over many years...and letting the artist and producers grow and change together. OR...they could have been like Madonna; entering each album era with new collaborators who help shape the image and sound of the latest reinvention. Judging by Forever...I think the group was more likely to go the Madonna route. In an ideal world where the girls maintained interest in the group, I feel the interesting thing to do...would be to let Forever be their lone Darkchild album. Then...perhaps follow that up with a Rick Nowells produced album that's a bit rock (leaning toward the strengths of the Mels)...and a bit guitary pop (for Emma). Then...maybe the next album could be a tribute to 60s girl groups...something adjacent to Emma's Free Me. Then maybe the next album could have been an outright mature dance album. Something like that. Part of the appeal of the group for me as a kid was the fact they could convincingly handle so many genres. Maybe after Spice and Spiceworld, they weren't going to cram so many flavors into one album anymore...but they could have shown their versatility through contrasting album eras. Could have made for a super cool Greatest Hits package eventually, I think.

In relation to Goodbye, the way I've interpreted Geri's comments is that she didn't actually work on/contribute to the song...but she did hear an early version of it that Biff/Matt Rowe had worked up while she was still in the group. I've always thought the group was involved in different capacities on different songs. For example, some of the girls have been open about making more contributions to Too Much than 2 Become 1. I definitely don't know this, but I'm guessing Matt and Biff had an early version of the chorus, maybe? Like...maybe the melody was coming together...but the final lyrics would come later? Actually, I always wondered if Geri's claim that she'd heard a version of the song before she left was meant as a dig at the other girls. Like she was uncovering that they weren't always involved in the creation of the songs from the ground up. There have always been rumors that the five-piece started some album #3 work in early 1998, but I'm not sure I'm convinced of that. I can believe they spent some time in studio for something...but do we *really* know that was material for a SpiceWorld follow-up? Frankly, if they did some time in studio, it should have been to come up with b-sides for Stop and Viva Forever. I wouldn't trust the story from Canadian radio. There were a ton of rumors flying around at that time.

I can't remember all the details, but I do remember that, yes, they had to pay up to Aprilia. I'm sure the remaining four girls just loved that Geri included her plans to leave in her book. Lol. If Geri left in September as planned, I guess that would have given Aprilia a few more months to run the ad. But really...the company could have still sued the group for knowingly taking their payday with a member openly planning to leave. Ultimately, they just shouldn't have taken the deal...but to hear Mel C tell it, Geri had left before. And, well. Maybe they weren't taking her 100% seriously and knew how rapidly she could change her mind? That said, there's part of me that wonders why Aprilia didn't just run the ad anyway. Geri's image remained on the merchandise they were selling, in the Viva Forever video, and the Playstation game well into 1998. Was the ad really useless? Last thought. I love that they thew Emma up on the stand. It does make me wonder if they used her because she'd be most sympathetic to the court? Lol. I do remember pictures of Victoria heading to court as well, actually. Don't remember if the Mels went at all. In all seriousness, I imagine Emma was just told to say "I don't remember"...cause...frankly...what other defense could they use?

Interesting behind-the-scenes vid. It actually does clear up the storyline of the commercial for me a bit...as I've always thought the finished 30-second product was just an explosion of weird. So. About the actual Aprilia ad. It actually did make it onto TV, right? The only version of it I've ever seen looks like it was recorded onto VHS...and has an MTV watermark on it. Was it shown on TV quite a bit? When I saw the four-piece group on the tour in 1998, they actually did run an Aprilia commercial several times before the show. It's been more than 24 years...so...my memory's not perfect on this...but I think it was a revised version with close-up shots of a few of the girls (not Geri)...a quick pan across them on the scooters...and then the Aprilia logo. The plot line with the pepper bar (?) and scooter riding vampire dudes (??) wasn't part of it. I also remember Aprilia scooters being the center piece of their first press appearances on the US leg of the tour.

I just relistened to the song/rewatched the video for the first time in ages. Yeah, I've never loved it...and it's never grown on me. It's...fine? I hate to say this, but I actually think the song would be better without the girls on it. I don't know the genesis of the song, but I'm guessing their vocals were a late addition. To me, their voices sound tacked on. I'll give it this, though. It towers over the version of It's Only Rock N Roll they're featured on...a recording that defines the notion of "this is meant to be bought, not listened to." It's striking to me that the group's vocals probably sound the most awkward on these two songs than on anything else they did. I don't know if that's a matter of people outside of their normal team of producers not totally knowing how to create the group sound...or if they're just *that* mismatched to the songs they're recording...

I'd actually go out on a limb and say I think Darkchild was as good to the girls as any other artist. Maybe better. Yes, around that same time, he gave brilliant singles to Destiny's Child with Say My Name...to Jennifer Lopez with If You Had My Love...and to Toni Braxton with He Wasn't Man Enough (probably my favorite of his tracks). But. To me, what's key is that the other hit singles off of those albums weren't by Darkchild. Those artists got their hit from him and moved on to other collaborators. It was pretty regular for him to give one song to an artist per album. He thrived as a singles creator, not an album executive producer. To me, his work with the Spices actually towers over what he gave Whitney Houston, Britney, and (perhaps surprisingly) Michael Jackson. I definitely think Holler's a stronger comeback single than MJ's You Rock My World (a song I basically like...but it didn't have the oomph needed for a return of that magnitude). And if you think Forever sounds too same-y...listen to the other Darkchild material off MJ's Invincible album. The fact he gave the girls one brilliant single in Holler...another potential single in Tell Me Why...and a few more pretty good songs on one album...seems to actually be more than what he was giving others. And he always seemed to be genuinely proud of the work...talking about his hopes for a Grammy nomination even after the album tanked.

Actually, I don't disagree with anything said in the article, per se. But I do think it leaves out the main reasons for the album's failure...as have most retrospectives. Everyone talks about Geri's departure and switching the sound/producers as the reasons the whole project bombed...but articles rarely (never?) address the group barely promoting Forever and Virgin mishandling everything on top of that. I'm from the US so I can really only speak from the perspective here. People flat-out didn't know this album happened. The general public still doesn't know it happened. There were fans from 97/98 who didn't know this album happened (most of them that I know are like this...). How much can you blame the shift to r'n'b when the project was barely acknowledged by its creators and then promptly abandoned? So. With the article...I don't disagree with the perspectives it brings...but I do disagree with the headline. "Spice Girls Looked to 'Forever' to Extend Pop Dominance" Yeah, no. They didn't. At all. If I were writing something like this, I'd go with a headline like..."They Were A Pop Phenom Working With the World's Biggest Hitmakers: How Did the Spice Girls' Forever Fail?" And then I'd go into the behind-the-scenes stuff that actually sank the whole thing. And maybe that angle's too in-the-weeds for public consumption? It's easier to blame the simpler stuff.

There's part of me that thinks they just fuel these reunion tour rumors...cause various shows/outlets will be more likely to book them when it's time to push a solo project. Interviewers will entertain you coming on with your book or whatever...so long as you get the audience riled up with reunion talk (...whether there's much intention to actually do it or not). Wasn't that kind of the strategy in 2001? Make it sound like there are Spice things on the horizon...to help sell the solo projects? I'll never forget Mel B claiming they might continue releasing Forever singles in 2002. (?!) I don't know. It might not be that bleak. I also find it rather likely that three of them would legitimately get back on stage...but Geri's the holdout. She clearly wasn't completely comfortable up there at times in 2019. Who knows what the situation is now. Her confidence for performing seems to have taken a lot of hits.

In 2007, I honestly did think Stop was an unusual choice for US TV. The song managed to chart in the top 20 in the US...but I assume that's from single sales. I never heard it on the radio. Not once. The only time I saw the video ever on US TV was in the MTV Wannabe A Spice Girl karaoke contest...and even then, they only played about half the video. The fans would know the song, of course, but the general public wouldn't. I love that the song has become so popular streaming over the years. I'd kinda wonder how much US listeners contribute to that. If it does well with them, it certainly happened organically...cause that song certainly got no help from the traditional channels. Anyway. As for the performance itself, I actually do really love the USO show theme. All five of them look beautiful. The routine looks sharp. Obviously, the lip syncing was a big mistake...especially since the performance was pushing forward to a live tour. All five of them were quite capable of handling that song. A lot of fans made excuses for them at the time...saying they didn't have proper time to rehearse. Well. Uh. You get a chance to go on national television...you better rehearse? Anyone else remember this rumor? There were claims at the time that an act had to drop out of the VS Fashion Show, and they nearly replaced them with Geri doing It's Raining Men. Beats me how true that is. The claim was that IRM was the only other number from the show that was rehearsed enough to be performed already...which actually does sound plausible enough...as Geri's rehearsals happened before the other girls.

While I like Forever, I figure the Stannard/Rowe tracks would very likely be stronger than a lot of the Darkchild material...just because the girls would have been a higher priority for Stannard/Rowe. The Darkchild team's 1999/2000 work schedule was insane. The call must have been like..."Hey, Rodney, I know you just got done producing for Destiny's Child and Jennifer Lopez...and you're in the middle of working with Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, George Michael, the Backstreet Boys, and Toni Braxton...and Michael Jackson is wanting to record 300 new tracks with you or whatever...buuut...can you also executive produce a new album by a group that's showing signs they're about to split up?" I don't know all the behind-the-scenes details of this...but the girls lost their US radio support with the Spiceworld singles. I kinda wondered if Virgin Records was pushing for the Darkchild team to play to what was (at one time) their biggest sales market. I always thought the girls were a bit over enamored with working with US producers. All that said...I do think Holler and If You Wanna Have Some Fun are as strong as the group's best material...and the rest of the album (bar the unconvincing Time Goes By) is a perfectly good pop album. Last thought. If the thought was that the Elliot Kennedy Right Back At Ya sounded too young for the project...I wish it was Jam n' Lewis who'd been asked to rework the track, rather than Darkchild. I think Jam n' Lewis could have kept the song's spark...while also giving a bit of maturity. Likewise, I think they would have been ideal to do a new mix on Give You What You Want...and knowing how good they were with rock (Janet Jackson's Black Cat), they also would have done awesome with Pain Proof.

I'm glad to see Step To Me is getting this little mini-renaissance...as I've long felt I liked it a lot more than the fanbase overall. While it's becoming synonymous with the Spiceworld era now, I haven't forgotten it was actually among the original Spice album demos. Knowing the material they had to choose from for Spice...I think they were right not to pick Feed Your Love (at least not on a ten-track version of the album). However. I, personally, would have put Step To Me on the album. It's punchy and immediately catchy. I actually think it's pretty surprising they sat on the song as long as they did. Not only did it not make the album cut...but it wasn't a B-side either. Granted, I don't know the full story with Step To Me. The girls were apparently already in negotiations with Pepsi in the fall of 1996. I guess it's possible they decided even back then they'd set that one song aside for a Pepsi campaign.

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?

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 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've always kinda wondered if the real reason some of them have been hesitant about recording new music...is what it could do to the price of their offers. New material (no matter how good it is) will obviously sell a lot less and chart lower than the group in their prime. Could certain members think that could effect how much they'd be offered for a tour/Las Vegas residency/etc? I don't know. I'm just not totally buying the idea they don't think they can hack it creatively. Do we really know they can't do it? Do they really know they can't do it? In just the past few years, the two Emma originals we got, the Melanie C album, and Geri's unreleased material all show they still have an ability to construct a solid song. Song For Her is used as too much of an example around here as to why it can't work. It is a demo we were never supposed to hear for a TV show that never got picked up. How harsh should we really be to this song? Headlines and Voodoo were recorded with the group split across the world...with a producer who was just trying to recapture the sound of the previous decade. The truth is...the group hasn't been unified in a musical effort since...the initial recordings for Forever in 1999?

I actually do think Song For Her would have worked how it was intended...as a TV show theme song. In that sense, I think the song completely understands the assignment. I can imagine that chorus playing during the show's intro video...with the contestants dancing around...and the girls striking sassy poses or whatever. I figure we would have gone in and out of commercials with a quick "This is a song for her!" clip. I think there's a kernel of an idea that could have worked within the GEM proposal. It was a doomed plan to try to use a show to cast women to tour with Mel, Geri, and Emma. As much as they wanted to say "no one's getting replaced!"...replacing VB and Mel C (even for a singular tour) was literally what they were doing for the project. However...I do think a solid show could have been made out of Mel, Geri, and Emma playing hosts/mentors to a group of moms vying for a recording contract. Make it available to all moms...but with an emphasis on ones in their 30s/40s and up who perhaps thought their moment had passed them by. Have the girls do surprise appearances at the homes of each contestant. Leave elimination strictly to audience votes...so the girls themselves can be strictly supportive mentors. Does that totally defeat their original intent of doing a show so the three piece could go on tour? Yes. But. Whatever. That's my belated pitch. Last thought. I honestly am surprised no one picked up the show's original concept. Even if it would have been damaging to the Spice brand...I figure it likely would have been a ratings success for a network.

I think there's another major factor that could have shaped their careers if they launched in the streaming era...that's not actually linked to streaming. The brutality of their reviews and the tabloid articles in general just wouldn't be as intense. The tides have somewhat changed in that arena. The way write-ups treated them is appalling by today's standards. It's not that reviews aren't still often critical/snarky. But just read NME's unhinged review of Northern Star. It claims the album is so bad that if Mel tries to record again, someone should shoot her to death because no court would convict them (I'm actually putting this more nicely than they did). Few critics were even bothering to listen to Geri and Victoria's albums...and were instead just launching into tirades about their weight and trumped up "controversies" (why they were so bothered by Victoria wearing a lip ring one time...I'll never know). I remember Mel C being branded "The One Who Ate All The Pies Spice". Honestly, I think so much hate crushed their spirits. For Mel C, I think a pursuit of critical acceptance partly led to the bland, compromised Reason. Telstar folding is ultimately what did in Victoria...but she'd previously spoken about actually being happy enough with her chart positions, it was just her critiques that stung so much. I know the common perception today is that she didn't belong making music...but her unreleased pop material showed an honest artistic growth...until she second guessed herself and ruined it all with Damon Dash. Geri, I've always interpreted as an uncommonly sensitive celeb...and it's obvious the articles were a blow to her confidence. A lot of the solo albums weren't *perfect*...but had they been given fair write-ups by...sane reviewers/columnists...I'm curious if their collective solo careers would have soldiered on longer...and evolved differently.

This is the video. It's their electronic press kit from the Wannabe launch. It would have been their introduction to a lot of media companies (in fact, I still see a lot of shows borrowing from this video). Bizarrely enough, they actually used this video to open the 1997 Billboard Music Awards...with that soundbite of Geri claiming to be 21 when she was actually 25 by the time of the awards show. I mean. They're definitely lying here...but my guess is Simon/Virgin/whoever told them to. They also tended to lie about how they long they'd been together early on. There's a radio interview clip in the One Hour Of Girl Power video where they claim to have been together for four years...when (at the time the footage was shot) they were actually several months short of hitting even the three year anniversary of the initial group audition. I think it was Rolling Stone that confronted them about lying about how long they'd been a group. But the girls just smiled and thought it was funny...so...it never really became a thing.

If I'm remembering this correctly, the fake ages came from that 1996 video press release that launched the group. It's the one that has them performing Wannabe (and has been misinterpreted as an alternate version of the video over the years). The girls themselves give wrong ages in that video. Super odd. Did they think Geri being 23 or whatever was going to sink their chances at radio? I don't think there was much scandal about the real ages cause they seemed to drop the charade so quickly. I'm fairly sure they were answering their real ages in some of those early TV appearances.

I guess we can view this as a bit of a one-off...but honestly, the song does seem to sum up the image/vibe Madonna has been giving off in the post-Madame X era. Is that a good thing? Well. I guess being defiant of what anyone thinks she should sound like in her 60s...is a very Madonna thing to do. And certainly...whatever we were expecting Madonna to sound like nearly 25 years after Ray Of Light...this definitely isn't it. Madonna's sung bits in this song are kinda catchy, but...sorry. I know this is going to make me sound old as dirt...but aren't people getting bored of shallow songs that list off a bunch of brand names? M spent decades upset by people not understanding the tongue-in-cheek nature of the original song. She hated the misinterpretation that she was really that superficial...and then she just gleefully puts this out there in 2022.

I'm definitely not defending the pictures themselves. They're people with some terrible politics...and these are more than just polite photos. Geri's hanging off Nadine Dorries like they've been best pals for a decade. However. Has Geri actually changed? I've honestly always found her to be ball of contradictions in that sense. Her Thatcher fandom came during the same era Geri was being vocally supportive of the gay community. And this gets forgotten in 2022, but Geri's support of gay fans was far more rare in that time...coming when most artists just kept their mouth shut about the subject...and far better respected artists like Eminem and Prince were making homophobic comments. Nadine Dorries has fought for abstinence-only education. On the total opposite end, Geri's work with the UN was for education on contraception. And let's also not forget that Geri's Ugenia Lavender books had the last thing a true conservative would include in their work...a gay child. So. Look. I don't know her mind and her heart. I'm just basing this off the evidence I've seen. This is a woman who once claimed to be a big fan of Marilyn Monroe...without having seen any of her films. I'm not sure Geri's politics are anything but the most surface understanding of things. Is ignorance an excuse? No. Not really. But I've known a number of people who have run the social media of various celebs...and I think you'd be surprised how many are oblivious to the actual policies of famous politicians they recognize. Maybe Geri learns something from this.

Honestly, it's mostly an age ceiling thing. The US music industry is set up to where by the time a major artist gets around 40, it's time retire, go on greatest hits tours, or do the occasional mentoring appearance on singing talent shows. You could point to a few outliers...(like that one time in 1999 that Cher got a big hit while in her 50s)...but they're rare. Beyond that...while it was a big hit in a lot of other places, I do think American Life was pretty damaging to Madonna in the US. Music was the last album era that truly felt like she owned the music scene. The American Life single arrived in the US...and was pretty much immediately placed on 'worst song ever' lists. MTV and VH1's smarmier shows of the time really tainted the whole thing. People hated the rap. Even though the original video was replaced, it had already gotten a ton of press. This very inaccurate perception got out there that Madonna had released an album full of her perceptions on war. I don't think she ever totally recovered. Yes, both Hung Up and 4 Minutes were chart/radio hits...but I'm not sure they're truly signature songs of hers in the US in the way they are the rest of the world. And it's a bit telling that those singles' follow-ups performed so poorly (even though I think they're rather good).

I'll admit my first reaction to this rerecording was...why? But okay. Sounds like Bryan's having the same trouble with owning his masters that Taylor Swift was (in fact, he says he got this idea from Taylor). This version seems only slightly different from the original...and as such, I do like the original slightly better. The opening of the original seems to have a little more punch...and Mel's laugh (huh-huh!) is gone from the end of this one...aw. But. Though it was done quick and cheap, this video honestly is cute...and Mel brings a lot of spark to it. Ultimately, I guess I'm just glad Mel's still on the track. Some of you may remember when Bryan released Anthology and replaced Mel with...Pamela Anderson (?!). Not trying to attack Pam...as the world's certainly been mean enough to that woman. But. Mel's take is so obviously 100% better. Pam's version sounds like a regular woman who was singing along to the song in her car.