Written April 2019
Made in the style of ELLE Magazine
The Spice Girls came to fame in 1996 and have since been named the best-selling female band of all time. But as they head on their 2019 reunion tour (sans Posh), Millie Richardson asks if they could make it if they formed today.
If someone were to ask you to name some girl groups that are doing well right now, you would be forgiven if you were to draw a blank, other than say, Little Mix. Whilst in the past we have seen iconic groups such as the finger-clicking, harmonious hit-makers The Supremes, and the fierce R&B trio Destiny’s Child, girl groups don’t seem to be running well, supreme at all. Just look at how All Saints’ 2017 album Testament failed to make it into the top charts anywhere but the UK and how G.R.L has fallen off the radar.
However, it is clearly not a matter of society collectively deciding to dislike girl groups as the Spice Girls are about to embark on a mostly sold-out reunion tour - and it’s not just any tour, it’s a stadium tour. When the dates went on sale, there was an impressive 700,000 fans in Ticketmaster’s online queue. But if the band were to start out now, could changes in music, technology, the media and even feminism make reaching the same level of success near impossible?
The Spice Girls of course broke out in the 90s with their number one debut single ‘Wannabe’ (fun fact: the band claim they wrote it in under 20 minutes), and it’s fair to say a lot has changed in the music industry since; from the iPod being released, to the game changing introduction of streaming sites. Remember when we all thought we were at the height of technology, manually moving songs from the computer onto a brick with earphones attached, aka, the good ol’ iPod Classic, after burning songs off a CD (probably now an archaic term)?
With streaming services, we love how millions of songs are at the tip of our fingers. But the problem with this for anyone trying to make it big (so, girl groups included) and as told by Johan Svanberg, CEO of distribution company Record Union, is this “difficulty of breaking through the noise”. “Spotify releases 30,000 tracks every day so competing for the listener’s attention is a fierce fight,” he continues. Meanwhile, the Spice Girls didn’t have to battle this “noise” when they started out. Instead, it was more a conversation of “Do you have a wellfunded record label backing you to make physical copies of your songs?”, “Yes? Okay good”, because as Johan recalls, “In the 90s the manufacturing costs of pressing the records were substantial and hard to do without a deep pocketed partner.” The Spice Girls were formed via them all auditioning to be a part of a girl group, advertised on a flyer by the renowned Hearst Management.
There is also the factor that gaining media exposure just isn’t the same as it was in the 90s since the media is no longer centralised. And to make things worse for a girl group of today, Paula Hearsum, lecturer at the University of Brighton, specialising in popular music and journalism, states that whilst teen pop magazines helped break the group, today “there just isn't a 'Smash Hits' culture for a Spice Girls, those magazines don't exist as such”. The closest thing left is probably Top of the Pops Magazine which Paula regards as “mainly lifestyle and pretty awful”. And whilst a new artist does have the chance of receiving a viral hit from uploading a track to streaming sites (Johan says it only takes 15 minutes maximum), obviously this is rarely the case. Johan believes that for a new artist to be heard, it is essential not to bargain on a viral number. “Work on your craft, play live as much as you can, write with others, network, bother important industry people etc etc. And most importantly; be undeniably good. Whatever you can think of doing to build a following, definitely do them,” he says.
But of course, whilst it might be easy to say that the Spice Girls wouldn’t be as successful today because of the shifts in attaining visibility, as with most arguments, it’s not quite so black and white. Remember that prior to the Spice Girls’ arrival, many girl groups had already been wildly successful; from the swinging melodies of The Andrew Sisters, to The Shirelles whose 1961 hit ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’ became the first song by a girl group to hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s just they didn’t quite reach the same level of achievement and fame. Because let’s face it, at this point it feels like everyone comes out the womb knowing the lyrics to ‘Wannabe’.
Author of What Would the Spice Girls Do? Lauren Bravo explains, “They had the perfect storm of attitude, individuality, confidence, and music that managed to capture the zeitgeist. They were openly opinionated and bolshy too, unpredictable. You watched them to see what the hell they'd do next.” Young women (most likely some of you reading this) in particular gravitated to the five-piece because of these aspects. Danceable pop songs, empowering lyrics (I mean, try not to feel some kind of pride when singing “If you wanna get with me, better make it fast/ Now don't go wasting my precious time”) and interviews that frequently took on a feminist discourse, what more could you ask for? A stand-out moment was when Mel B called out a misogynistic MJI Broadcasting radio DJ live on air during 1997, “Excuse me, this is about girl power, this is not about picking up guys. We don’t need men to control our lives. We control our lives anyway.”
The group’s aesthetic also played an integral part in their likeability. “The fact they were a band who all dressed so differently from one another, that hadn't really ever been done before – or at least not in mainstream pop music. Looking at them, you could find somebody to identify with and emulate,” tells Lauren. “Reportedly the Spice Girls' original managers wanted them to dress the same, in the baggy trousers and cropped tops that were cool at the time on bands like TLC, but the girls felt that playing up their individual styles and personalities would be a strength.” Sartorial history was made when Geri Halliwell decided to dismiss her stylist’s choice of dress for the 1997 Brit Awards, instead opting to don a Union Jack tea towel.
The Spice Girls danced to the beat of their own drum so to speak, and it paid off. It was an approach that has led them to be crowned as the ones who paved the way for other 90s and 00s female groups like Atomic Kitten, Girls Aloud and The Saturdays. Actually, even solo artist Adele has said, “I’ve got the Spice Girls to thank for turning me onto music. I was mad about them,” in an interview with Daily Star. With this in mind, it’s possible they could easily still be as exciting and welcomed today as they were back in the day (unless of course someone beat them to this exact formula).
But if we’re being realistic, it really might have been a question of good timing after all. Lauren says a lot of the Spice Girls’ appeal was rooted in the way their “positive energy” felt like “a breath of fresh air against a background of surly indie and Britpop”. She also thinks that their approach to feminism might not go down as smoothly in today’s society, especially when keyboard warriors are in full force; “It often felt like feminism with a spoonful of sugar, to help the doctrine go down – but I think two decades on we have come a long way in terms of inclusivity,” she tells. “I'd like to think there would be the same affection and appreciation for what they were doing and the fact they weren't claiming to be 'perfect' feminists, but it would also be naive to think they wouldn't start a few Twitter storms.”
There is also the argument that the girl group sound, usually categorised as pop, just isn’t what people are enjoying all that much anymore. Out of the top five most streamed artists on Spotify in 2018, four were from the R&B/hip-hop genre (also interesting, all five were male solo artists). Even Little Mix, the most successful girl group right now, haven’t come close to the “world domination” Victoria Beckham says the Spice Girls achieved when speaking in the BBC documentary Giving You Everything. The Spice Girls have shifted 85 million records worldwide - which is very impressive considering they were only around, all five together, for two years - and Little Mix are in their eighth year but are yet to have their big break where the largest music market in the world is: America. Forbes reports that US radio play for the four-piece is few and far between and Mike Biddle, assistant program director/music director at North Carolina’s WPLW radio station, recalls to Billboard that when they played Little Mix’s 2012 single ‘Salute’, there was too little audience interest to warrant it any more plays. In the UK it hit number one.
There are numerous online articles questioning this Little Mix vs America mystery, in fact. Galoremag proposes an interesting answer, suggesting it might be that the-now-split-up The X Factor (U.S.) protégé Fifth Harmony, filled America’s girl group appetite before Little Mix got the chance. With Fifth Harmony launching in 2012, only a year after Little Mix, it is plausible. But on the topic of 5H, it might be worth noting that ex-member Camila Cabello has been more prosperous lonesome. Need more be said than her debut record was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the recent Grammys? Perhaps it is a matter of the general public being not that interested in a group of girls singing anymore. Because frankly, when considering Little Mix seem be ticking a lot of the same boxes as the Spice Girls, the lack of American success ordeal seems odd; for one, their discography is packed with empowering lyrics that young girls and women can resonate with. “Wish I could somehow go back in time and maybe listen to my own advice/ I'd tell her to speak up, tell her to shout out/ Talk a bit louder, be a bit prouder,” the girls sing on Christina Aguilera-esque ‘Little Me’.
Little Mix fan Sophie Burn who has been running a Twitter account (@UpdatingLM) on the group since 2013 says, “They put across such a brilliant message about believing in yourself, loving who you are, and I do really feel empowered by that.” It’s an ethos that’s carried over into the girls’ interviews, regularly centring around feminism and sisterhood. In Attitude Magazine’s December 2018 issue, member Jade Thirwall addressed how they are frequently criticised for wearing sexy stage clothes whilst calling themselves feminists, “Being a feminist doesn't mean you have to wear a polo-neck jumper and a pair of trousers. Anyone can be feminist. Feminism is just believing in equality.”
Sophie also thinks the varying personalities of the Little Mix ladies makes them as relatable to fans as the Spice Girls were, it’s just maybe not as obvious because of the absence of nicknames à la Baby, Ginger, Posh, Scary and Sporty. And the similarities don’t end there, Little Mix get personal with their music, and for those who don’t remember, the Spice Girls were all for writing their own songs and creating their own dance routines (again, it was all about their own vision, no one else’s). When their manager Simon Fuller tried to take too much control of the band in 1997, they fired him - they did later rehire him, but this is beside the point. Little Mix have become hands-on in the writing process and last November, codirected the music video for ‘Strip’. It sees hateful words the girls have been called, such as “talentless”, “flabby” and “ugly”, decorate their naked bodies. Meanwhile, the lyrics talk about self-love and believing you are beautiful regardless of criticisms.
So, what about the male counterpart of girl groups, aka boybands? Are they able to do well right now? The explosion of the seven-piece K-pop group BTS – an acronym for Beyond the Scene - informs us that they are. Formed in 2013 by South Korean entertainment company, Big Hit Entertainment, the seven-member group has grown a cult-following online and has seen worldwide success, regularly being dubbed the biggest boyband in the world. Love Yourself: Answer and Love Yourself: Tear were reported by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry as the second and third best-selling albums worldwide in 2018. This year, they will play Wembley Stadium twice, with the first date having sold out in under 90 minutes. Then of course, in recent years we have witnessed the One Direction phenomena; five guys who had a cultural impact comparable to that of the Beatles. But Anna Louise Wiegenstein, a former pop culture instructor, explains to Billboard that there might be a simple reason as to why boybands are outperforming girl groups. They appeal to teenage girls’ hormones, whereas with girl groups, “It's more like, 'Which one would be your friend?' And there's less of a fantasy aspect to that," she states.
Back to BTS however, as noted, they come from a K-Pop background. Well, Paula points out that whilst we may think that there’s not many big girl groups right now, numerous K-Pop and J-Pop girl groups are hugely successful. You might’ve even heard of sassy foursome BLACKPINK. They were announced as part of this year’s Coachella line-up, just made their American talk show debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and the video for their 2018 single ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ recently became the most popular music video by a K-Pop group of all time – it’s close to reaching a staggering 800million hits. “Perhaps they [non-KPop and J-Pop girl groups] need to look at the global stage to sense the possibilities,” Paula suggests. Although, she does mention that these artists usually have a tightly controlled image and as spoken about earlier, this wasn’t the Spice Girls’ style, so maybe looking towards K-Pop and J-Pop groups wouldn’t quite work for them.
But on the bright side, at least this gives some kind of hope for new girl groups. And besides, Paula adds that “all female bands are not uncommon in say alt. country or indie”. Examples are Muna, who recently played support on Harry Styles’ tour, the Academy Award nominated Haim sisters and Utah’s The Aces. They just tend not to fall under the girl group category because they play their own instruments and again, are not pop. “Girl bands are not a genre/type of music, just as 'boy' bands aren't either,” says Paula.
Maybe all-in-all, the fact there are women and girl bands doing it for the ladies, is all that really matters. However, to answer whether the Spice Girls would make it today, there does seem to be a convincing case made for it being unlikely because of how different the circumstances are compared to the 90s – whether that’s the introduction of the wide world of streaming or society favouring male hip-hop artists. But does a combo of good tunes and girl power ever really go out of date? Let’s hope not.
Magazine layout and collage: Millie Richardson
Feature image: Wikimedia Commons
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