Piers

A few thoughts about the scrapped material. So, we know My Love Is For Real is from a third set of recordings for Victoria's album. A third change of direction? I've heard fans claim over the years that Shake It was also from the third sessions...but beats me if we know that for sure. Do we know if the intent was to start completely fresh with recordings a third time? I'm not sure I follow why she was trying to entirely dump all her pop material in 2003 in favor of the Damon Dash stuff. The pop recordings are so obviously stronger than, say, It's That Simple, That Dude, and Valentine. Was it out of the question to just combine the best of all the sessions? To me, the thing to do by 2004 would be to take the best pop tracks (especially the five Biff songs), pair them with This Groove, Resentment, and So Cold from the Damon Dash material, and lastly add My Love Is For Real and Shake It. It would have made a rather strong solo Spice album, I think. Better than the VB album, for sure. Last thought. I admittedly don't know enough about releasing music to gather when payment for a song sample takes place...but I've wondered if the samples Damon Dash used contributed the most to what bankrupted Telstar. A lot of Victoria's recordings with Dash rely heavily on famous song samples...the most prominent cases being The Beatles' Come Together and George Michael's Freedom. There's no way those rights came cheap...especially for what was supposed to be a smaller record label. Granted, the fact Victoria recorded A LOT of material with several high profile collaborators could have played the bigger role in Telstar's demise.

There are a number of things that I hope she addresses. Yes, the split from Virgin (and the general behind-the-scenes conflict behind the Reason album) could be really interesting. I've also wondered if she might address the subject of Goin Down. The rumor mill back in 1999 was that the song was about Robbie Williams. I haven't found much out there about Robbie and Goin Down since then, though. Has Mel herself ever explicitly said it's about Robbie? Anyway. Could be a juicy tidbit...if it honestly is about him.

Yeah. I've been similarly conflicted about the leaks. Ultimately, the songs are Geri's work...Geri's art...and even as a fan, I'm not owed that. On the flip side, for her to spend years and years playing bits of songs in baking videos, doing interviews to tease new material, and then releasing snippets to YouTube with her talking over them...*is* odd and confounding. I don't actually think she was trying to troll anyone. My guess is she was trying to generate enough interest in her work to get a more traditional album release deal. If memory serves correctly, she has been offered digital-only releases for this material...but she kept holding out to release a physical album. As an aside, to my ears, Geri's leaked material from a few years ago sounds more finished than the unreleased Victoria material. My guess is the Geri stuff was pretty much ready to go...just waiting for a proper avenue to get out there...while Victoria's stuff is demos. Last thought. How did the collection of songs get dubbed Man on the Mountain, anyway? I feel there are several of her song titles that better sum up the full work...

Yeah. I do stick up for Hot on occasion. I *love* I Want You Back, Tell Me, and Feels So Good. I think Hotter, Step Inside, and Lullaby are strong tracks. I'm indifferent to the other five songs. The album's not what I'd truly call a bust. I was disappointed in it in 2000, though...just because of my expectations for it. Up until the album release, what we'd heard from solo Mel was I Want You Back, Word Up, Sophisticated Lady, Tell Me...and the chorus of Feels So Good. I loved all of it and assumed Mel was just knocking it out of the park every time she walked into the studio. Tag to that, Hot had the most impressive roster of collaborators of any Spice-related project. The Christmas in Spice World shows seemed to show her at a new performance peak. I assumed Mel was primed to become the best solo pop star of the group. I do think the self-destructive release date was the key problem...but I'd be curious to have an inside peak at the album creation itself. Of course, she should have kept recording until she had stronger material...but with collaborators that prolific, I do wonder if there were pressures to just accept what she'd been given.

I guess my first familiarity with Meat Loaf was hearing I'd Do Anything For Love. Loved both the song and video as a kid. Next...I would have caught him in Spice World. I started watching Rocky Horror Picture Show not long after that (I'm a bonafide fan of the film today). Actually, an actor who played Meat Loaf in a VH1 TV movie used to come speak to my high school every year. He shared the story of hating having to say the line..."So, you mean to tell me after 20 years...I have the #1 record?!" Meat Loaf also has a pretty memorable part in Fight Club. He really was a very varied guy...and I'd credit him with being someone who redefined what a rock star could look like. I like that his music was kinda halfway between rock and Broadway musical. His role in Spice World is a fairly random thing, I think. There's part of me that thinks the musicians in it should have all played themselves...instead of getting Elton John as Elton John...and Elvis Costello and Meat Loaf as whatever rando roles they could shove them in. But. Nonetheless, I see Meat Loaf's presence as further proof the filmmakers of Spice World knew it would be a movie for kids in 1997...and a midnight cult film in the decades to come.

I'm pretty positive we'll never see the Man on the Mountain tracks again in any new form. I viewed the YouTube Channel as our last chance to get the songs in better quality and in full...and...well...we saw how that went. A few of the originally leaked songs are a bit wishy washy for me (namely Beautiful Life, If You Love Someone, and I'm Older Now). But if she'd replace those with the likes of the stronger Rainbow Woman and Traveling Light, I actually do think she'd have a rather good set of songs. I listen to Love and Light, Phenomenal Woman, Deep Down, Without Love (both versions), and Man on the Mountain quite a bit, really. Am I under any confusion an album would do well on the charts? Not especially. I get that Emma and Mel C have charted decently in their first weeks recently...but I'm not sure if that would extend to Geri. And that's why I thought the YouTube page actually was the best way to go for releasing music.

So. This is off-topic. But. With nearly 17 years of retrospect...what's the general feeling out there in terms of how Mel should have handled LA State of Mind? I'll say this. I recently did a re-listen...and the album does sound better when taken as a whole. I think most of it sounds remarkably cheap as isolated tracks (especially Music of the Night). I just don't know if the situation should have been this bleak for Mel in 2005. The other four girls managed to have top 10 singles between 2004 and 2005. Mel herself was coming off from a (miscast...but still high profile) run in Rent. The thing is...I can't really claim LA State of Mind was undervalued on the charts with its #453 placing. Though I think several of the songs actually could have been pretty good with different production (In Too Deep especially)...the album we have is an extremely uncommercial release. On the flip side, though...I think it's a little admirable that Mel wanted to give her producer friends a moment in the spotlight. And if Mel wanted a musical outlet and a chance to work with her friends...why shouldn't she do that? I think I land on...maybe she should have made the tracks available for free on her site? Either that, or she could have made a legit full-length doc and included the songs on the DVD (similar to what Victoria did with Real Beckhams). It'd have been a chance to get some music out there without the tabloid lashing from the #453 chart placing.

My issue isn't the fact they did commercials for Coinmaster, really. It's the commercials themselves. The Walkers commercials from 2019 and the Tesco commercials from 2007 actually were fairly cute...and played up the girls' individual personalities. On the flip side, if I were in a pitch meeting for these Coinmaster commercials...my guess is the first idea in the first ten seconds would be..."the girls are busy playing the game, so a group of awkward guys fill in for them on stage." It's not funny because it's too expected. It's just not...even trying to throw a twist at us? Furthermore, (and I realize this is thinking deeper than perhaps the commercial deserves) from a purely PR perspective, I'm not sure it's a good look to have your act preferring to play on their phones rather than perform for paying, dedicated fans. Yeah, I know. It's not that deep. No one's going to be offended. But. I'm just saying. If I were on their team, I'd bring up the concern that it's not super flattering. Though. If they really wanted to troll us, they should do a commercial where they're actually in a studio together...but none of them will go into a recording booth cause they're too busy playing Coinmaster. Everyone will just love that.

^ So. Watching these two back-to-back, I kinda realized...I actually do like Ride It better of the two songs. My thought earlier was just that Some Girls would have made the more dynamic reinvention...and maybe would have made a bigger comeback for Geri. That said, I do like both. I'll stick up for Ride It as being rather likable and super catchy. As Geri sang in Deep Down..."maybe I'm not that cool, but I'm cool with that." I relate. But while I like the song, I think it's the promotional stuff that lets Ride It down a bit. I remember hating the video back in 2004...but I guess I've warmed to it a bit over time. I think her previous videos tended to be fairly good, actually (especially Look at Me and It's Raining Men)...and I chalk up the cheapness of this one to her hiring her friend to direct. But. Now, I think some of it's cute. Today, I'm mostly just irked by a few editing choices that are trying too hard (the messy superimposed video section around 2:30...the reversed dancing video toward the end). I also can't quite get past that shot of her butt where her dress flies up...which has always looked to me like she just farted. I wouldn't say the Some Girls video is a big winner here either. It's better made than Ride It's video...but...it's essentially about hordes of beautiful women who live in the sewer (?) and only emerge to be wasteful of bottles of water.

All that said, I do actually think Some Girls would have been good for Geri. And I can pretty easily imagine Geri's voice (post-nodule surgery) singing it. I've always liked Ride It...but I think Some Girls would have made the bigger comeback for her. It would have been a more dynamic reinvention...especially coupled with a sleek video revealing the return of curvy Geri (as opposed to the 'look at this goofy thing my friends and I made!' that is the Ride It video). Assuming she'd let the cool, electronic vibe of the song stay...I do actually think she'd have a more successful third album era. Two last thoughts. 1. I've always found it odd that Geri clamored for an already-written track as she always seemed to be involved in the writing of her material (bar her few covers). None of her collaborators have ever disputed her deep involvement. Was this the only time that happened? 2. Richard X says in this podcast that he didn't want it to go to Geri for fear of it turning out something like Bag It Up. I don't exactly think *that* was in the cards. But I am somewhat curious if Geri would have tried to refashion the song into something bigger and dancier in the vein of her unreleased 100% Pure Love. I mean. Maybe not. I could see her pulling off the vibe of Some Girls as it is.

As the Richard X stuff goes...since he's the writer/producer of the song, I do understand why he'd have such an interest in who performs it. So he didn't view Geri as the right match...that's fair enough (even though he's been a bit more rude than necessary about it...) There is some hypocrisy I think has to be called out here. Richard X is sharing this story about some alleged diss track Geri wrote about him...making Geri sound like she's just ca-raaazy. That track is unreleased and unheard...and I guess no one would even know about it if it weren't for him bringing it up. Meanwhile, he's the one who actually wrote and *released* a diss track about Geri. So...

Right. My thought is...since it'll likely be four years or so from the 2019 tour once they can logistically get back on the road, there will be a need to freshen up the show. I gather the audience didn't love Spice Circle...or at least the ones who paid for it didn't. That makes me wonder if they'll go the route of a more traditional runway platform into the audience. Anyway. My only concern about a tour with huge gaps is how production crews will react to that. I'm not personally in production for the touring of big shows, but I have several friends who are. A show going only when the Spices' kids are off from school would put the crew in a bizarre spot of a super long commitment...and not being able to accept other paying gigs in the meantime. The crew and dancers are, in effect, normal workers. Gotta eat. In that sense, it'd make it easier if the girls would take the time to just honestly commit to the road. But. These are all hypothetical situations. We'll see how it goes. As an aside to that, my friends have told me there was a belief within the production crews that the ROTSG tour was going to resume in summer 2008. What I don't know is if that was based on anything substantial behind the scenes...or just wishful thinking after a big tour was abruptly halted for unusual reasons. All I do know is this. For this new tour, we all better get our expectations ready for...an all-white stage costume wardrobe for Geri!

As to the conversation about an extensive tour...I mean...I would love that. But I have my doubts. To me, only Mel C seems to have the sort of endurance for performing on stage for months...even weeks on end. Even in 1998, touring seemed to really drain several of the members. My guess is we can expect another little flurry of shows at some point. With it being so long since the 2019 tour, my guess is they're going to need to build a new show from the ground up.

Sorry to jump back to an earlier conversation...but I do think this brings up some interesting thoughts. I don't remember the girls getting any negative press for keeping the song itself. Everything I remember hearing was just about cutting Gary Glitter himself from the film. That news, I think I only heard about from me following the girls so closely at the time. Gary Glitter's not really a known entity in the US...though his song Rock and Roll Part 2 remains a permanent fixture at sporting events...and was just featured in the movie Joker too. I think you're right that the scene would be cut altogether if this happened in 2022. The scene's not integral to the plot in any way. I do think there's a music performance that's needed in that moment for the flow of the film. My guess is if this happened now, a new performance scene might be rushed together...and the film possibly pushed back a bit. But. Y'know. 1997 wasn't 2022. I think the steps they took were in line with the expectations of the time. I guess there's something of a question of how much Glitter stood to benefit from the song staying in. My guess is he'd already gotten paid for use of the song with the film so close to release...and I'm not sure how many kids were going to seek out the original. I assumed for years this was a song the girls had written just for the movie. It was ages before I found out it was a cover.

***SPOILER FOR LAST NIGHT'S SHOW*** Well. This was actually my worst case scenario. Mel got voted off last night in a 2-2 split vote from the judges. Len's vote counts the most at the table. The person he decided to save was...*sigh*...Olivia Jade. For anyone not familiar, Olivia Jade is primarily known in the US for her family faking Olivia's involvement in competitive rowing for college admission. Her parents were accused of also bribing a coach at the college with $500,000. Parents got arrested. It was part of this college emissions scandal. Before the arrests, she posted some videos where she talks about how she just wanted to go to college to party and didn't care about school. Was also doing a video on her phone when she crashed a car one time. Yeah. All that. I'm not saying this stuff should mean she can't get employment for the rest of her life...or even define her for forever...but I did think it was morally questionable for DWTS to cast her. It's handing her yet another amazing opportunity...just two years after this college emissions scandal broke. To be fair, Olivia was good on the show. Better than Mel? I'd say they were about neck-and-neck. But it was disappointing to see Mel working so hard...and see someone else nab it away who has a rather unsavory recent history. Twitter is shook about it. Lol. Mel was clearly feeling pretty low last night. Granted, neither of them really deserved to be in the bottom two. I'd say they were both better than about five of the other couples...including three guys who have never landed in the bottom but are the clear weakest at this point. But. Anyway. The most important thing is Mel was excellent every week...was a class act...and came off really well. She deserved to go further. But. Hey. She hasn't done a lot in the US since the 90s...and I guess some of the others just have more enthusiastic current fanbases. Well done, Mel!

I have a very different view of her. I don't view an album as odd as Schizophonic as a produced-by-marketing-department album. I think that's true of some songs on the other girls' solo albums (largely the Mel B and Victoria songs that didn't have their writing credits). As 1999 goes, I don't think Geri did anything as bold as Mel C launching her album with Goin Down...or Mel B doing a video as risqué as Word Up. But I don't view Schizophonic as entirely generic and safe. To my ears, Look at Me is a very weird song. I like it...but I don't think another artist on her level of mainstream would have thrown in the "...my little white lie" part. Tracks like You're In A Bubble and Let Me Love You are overtly weird. Most producers would have swayed Geri from the big vocals on Walkaway. Lift Me Up and Bag It Up (and especially their videos) are high camp. The perspective on this may differ a bit on where you live. But for me living in the US, the Bag It Up video was among the most gay-positive videos I'd ever seen at that point. And it came out during a time Eminem was in his videos nearly barfing over the sight of two men together. That was the mainstream sensibility. Not Geri's. Even what I'd consider her most straightforward track on the album (Mi Chico Latino) has that oddball Spanish (sorta) rap. To me, the album's full of quirks...and her producers let her be her. I view a lot of decisions as something of a gamble. I think it paid off in the UK, and it didn't in the US. In terms of her retaining the Spice sound, my feeling is...she's entitled to it. Not just her. They all were. I view all five girls and their producers as the architects of that sound. And, frankly, I think some of the others' solo offerings would be better if they employed the Spice producers more often. I think Victoria's unreleased stuff with Biff is quite a bit better than a lot of VB.

Mel continues to be fab, but the competition is getting tooough. I think Mel landed in, like, 7th place this week based on the judges' scores. I thought her Mary Poppins routine, in particular, was undervalued. But then, I'm also aware of how hard she's pushing herself. Beats me how she's faring with the votes. "Sporty Spice" is a far more known name in the US than, say, Peloton trainer Cody Rigsby. But the DWTS voting audience may very well be the types to be fans of Rigsby or an influencer like Olivia Jade. I continue to think this is Jojo Siwa's to lose, but Melora Hardin has emerged as the judges' favorite. She's definitely very good...though I'm not sure I follow why she gets better scores than several of the others. But. Hey. The judges are professionals. Not me. But beyond the judges' support, Melora has something else going for her. She was on The Office...which was a popular show in its original run...but today? The show has risen to obsession-level in the US. So. She's likely got both the judges and the public on her side. One to watch out for.

I guess I had far lower expectations for Geri's debut than most others here. I liked Geri in the group and also liked her bits on Spice and Spiceworld...but I never thought her voice could carry a solo album (I thought the same about Victoria). So, yeah. I was actually really surprised by how well it turned out. I get that Geri often struggles to sing live and has a limited vocal range, but I actually find her voice on Schizophonic to be mostly very warm and distinct. I like the majority of the songs. And perhaps most importantly, the material is HER. I have no doubts she was behind the steering wheel in the creation of the songs. As for her antics in promoting her records...I'm not bothered by them at all? Frankly, in the wake of Lady Gaga in her prime and Lil Nas X today, I find Geri's promotions to be downright...quaint. (to be clear, I have no issue with anything Gaga or Lil Nas X has done either) If Geri's whole Chris Evans relationship was faked for the sake of Lift Me Up...I don't care? Celebs do that all the time. I actually think she's taken an unusual amount of heat for something so common. And as for her parading out dozens of pink speedo-clad men to promote Bag It Up...nope. Not bothered by that either. I would've added more.

The big thing for me is...Mel has danced beautifully and has come across great with these first three weeks. The competition is going to be tough, though. Granted, it's been a lot of years, but I remember thinking pretty early on that Mel B pretty much had it in the bag in her 2007 season...and that only one of the Cheetah Girls seemed to be challenging that (she was sent home surprisingly early). Granted, Mel B took second...but she was legitimately a better dancer than the winner. It strikes me that the competition is a lot tougher for Mel C this year. There are a lot of them who are uniformly good and likable to boot. To me, there's a pretty wide gap of what gets a 7 on the show. A few of the men seem to be letting their partners do all the work...and just rip out the abs at the right moments. (not mad at them...they're still better dancers than I'll ever be, and if I had abs like that, I'd be breaking them out too) Ultimately, I think this is Jojo Siwa's to lose. She's the one who first came to the public's attention as a dancer, and she's still got the youthful energy of a teenager. You could say the deck's stacked in her favor a bit...but on a 'making television' level, I get that if they were going to have historic same-sex dance partners, it couldn't be left to fail with a less skilled dancer. I don't have very clear predictions of how far Mel goes, but she should be proud of everything she's doing.

A few have asked if people in the US know the contestants. And. Well. Kinda? I think they're a bit short on household names this season. JoJo Siwa's a bit of an unusual case as someone who gets on these Most Influential Stars lists...yet I wouldn't be surprised to meet people who haven't heard of her. Sunisa Lee's a recent gold medal Olympian, so that name's probably out there. I don't know if "Martin Kove" is a name everyone knows, but people are definitely familiar with his face through Karate Kid and the hugely popular Cobra Kai series. Brian Austin Green was a 90s heartthrob. The others...kinda cover the niche audiences there for a sports star/country star/reality star/talk show host/etc, I think. I realize people arrive to fame in very different ways these days, but I'll admit I raised an eyebrow at one of them being described as a Peloton instructor. I've never heard of Cody Rigsby, but he's got a huge following. So. What do I know? And beats me what to make of Olivia Jade being included. She's mostly known for her college emissions scandal, so I'm not sure about the morality behind handing another grand opportunity to her. But. I find most of these shows like to cast someone who's not exactly...beloved. Anyway. While "Melanie C" may not immediately be known to everyone in the US, I would actually say "Sporty Spice" is the closest to a household name of the whole bunch. Honestly. The Spices owned an entire year in the US in a way that JoJo never did...though I'd still say JoJo will the biggest force to be reckoned with as a vote getter in the cast.

In her clues, the US football is throwing me off a bit. But maybe that's as simple as someone on the show asking..."Mel, what emojis should we use for you?" "A football!" And then they just posted that. But if it IS her for Dancing With The Stars, I actually really like this idea. It's rather unusual how this worked out. In the UK, the music sales/chart success for the girls would arguably go Mel C - Geri - Emma - Mel B - Victoria (I realize you could argue the placing of those last two). Meanwhile, the US profile/level of fame would actually go the polar opposite. Victoria - Mel B - Emma - Geri - Mel C. Mel C's presence in the US has largely been nonexistent...with the reception to Northern Star being especially tragic. That album boasted an amazing roster of producers and an appearance by Left Eye (who was on fire that year). Mel herself had even been part of a huge tour just the year before. And the album still couldn't crack the top 200 in its debut week. Oof. So. Yeah. I'm all for her getting people here talking about her again. No, she won't set the US charts on fire or whatever. But this is still a hit show...even after this many seasons. And if it can grow her small US following just a bit, then cool. I'm just glad the US exposure isn't from a judging gig. I much rather the girls be actively competing in something.

^ Really interesting to watch all those old press conference vids! A few interesting things from them. It's cool to hear them talk about the sign language interpreter on the tour screens (the only time I think I've heard them actually discuss that). Geri also talks about their gay fanbase, which she often did, really...something that was fairly rare at that time for an act geared toward kids/teens. There's one point Mel C dispels a rumor that they'd recorded a song called Desire...a song which had (according to the tabloid) made Geri cry. Interesting coincidence that Geri, of course, *would* record a Desire years later. They must have been quite exhausted. I know they liked to say the operation never ran smoother than in the months following Simon's firing...but I feel their energy as a group was never lower than the two months before Geri left. There are a lot of these sorts of appearances from then where they just seem...over...it. It doesn't help that Geri and Mel C are so overtly scolding the press here. I mean. I'm sure some of them in there deserved it. But...they did have lots of lovely articles in that era too? It's a really downbeat presser.

I haven't watched the Something About Geri documentary in ages, but from what I remember...it's a super unusual piece of television. She doesn't do/say anything outrageously offensive. It's just...going out of its way to find things that are mildly unflattering? She doesn't have a bag to pick up dog doo. She haggles the price of something at a market. What purpose did the show have other than to paint someone in a bad light? It's certainly not good television or worthy of air. Production quality is unusually poor. There are moments here and there where she's mildly egotistical...but in an age where artists pride themselves on their titanic egos, I think it's relatively quaint that Geri merely acknowledges her #1s and is a little upset her family can't come to a show.

We do actually know the writers. It's the women behind Legally Blonde and 10 Things I Hate About You. I think that was the last story I read about the animated movie production...from June 2019. In all fairness, the writers of Legally Blonde *do* seem to be a good match for a Spice film. A large part of my concern is...it's just so unprecedented. To me, an animated film is very much what a current act would do, not a group who got their last US top ten in early 1998. Sure, there are plenty of biopics and jukebox musicals out there...but what other film is comparable to this specific concept? I can't come up with anything. I mean, if it honestly does happen, I'll support it. I just can't help but think that if an announcement came out that New Kids On The Block were coming out with an animated movie, I'd just think..."well...that's about three decades too late..." I feel like that perception will haunt this film too. But. If I turn out to be wrong, I'll gladly admit it. A biopic of the Spice Girls makes more sense to me, really. They made enough of an impact on the 90s to deserve one. I could see a big, fun, quirky film that covers their main years of the 90s...and then concludes with an epic recreation of the Olympics performance. And I think a biopic is a better fit for their fanbase.

Honestly, I've been expecting this project to quietly get cancelled ever since it was announced. Yes, film projects take time...but I don't believe we've heard a peep about the production for well over two years. Maybe the filmmakers are seeing something here that I'm not...but I view this as a major gamble. I can understand the girls' interest in it...as a means of getting their music introduced to a new generation. Here's my concern. An animated film is generally going for kids. Others may catch it. But kids are the ultimate target... and they'll be quite a bit younger than who the group's actual core audience tends to be. There are film/TV properties that can get introduced to kids and experience a renaissance. We just saw this with the Looney Toons and the new Space Jam. I'm just not convinced this applies to music acts. When I was a kid in the 90s, would my friend circle have gone to an animated film of, say, the Bee Gees? Not a chance. We knew a few of their songs. We liked a few of their songs (I did, anyway). But ultimately, our generation had their own music acts. The girls still have a core audience out there, though they're largely in their 20s, 30s, and 40s...and I think the only majorly successful projects they're going to manage at this point will be tours.