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103-713: Spice is the debut studio album by English girl group the Spice Girls , released in Japan on 19 September 1996 and in the United Kingdom on 4 November 1996 by Virgin Records . The album was recorded between 1995 and 1996 at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London , and Strongroom Studios in Shoreditch, London , by producers Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard , and the production duo Absolute . Spice

206-414: A chorus —check this out'. Then they were throwing lines at us. 10 minutes later the song was written. Then you go through and refine it. Then later, as you were recording it you might change a few thing here and there. But pretty much it was a real quick process." Four tracks were composed in that session: "Love Thing", " Say You'll Be There ", " Step to Me " (which was released later) and "Strong Enough". In

309-416: A harmonica solo played by Judd Lander , who also played the harmonica on Culture Club 's " Karma Chameleon ". The other songs produced by Absolute feature different music genres: "Naked" and "Something Kinda Funny" include pop elements with influences of soul music and funk, respectively. " Who Do You Think You Are " is influenced by early-1990s Europop , and incorporates a disco -style beat that resembles

412-602: A bit of fun, so we just off the top of our heads started to come up with a full-on disco backing track, which became ' Who Do You Think You Are '." Wilson said of the song, "The thing is when they wrote it, they were also writing the dance routine, constructing the music video, all at the same time as writing the song. And that's when the penny dropped." The girls went on to write "Something Kinda Funny", "Last Time Lover", "Naked", "Bumper to Bumper", "Take Me Home", "One of These Girls", and "Baby Come Round" with Watkins and Wilson, none of them singles , but all of them tracks which lent

515-524: A crush or lover, and heartache. Some songs sounded upbeat or cheerful and sang about falling in love, whereas others took a decidedly more melancholic turn. Groups like the Shangri-Las , with the song " I Can Never Go Home Anymore " sang about the darker side of being in love. An especially prevalent theme was adolescence. Since most of the girl groups were composed of young singers, often still in high school, songs mentioned parents in many cases. Adolescence

618-647: A female group, and a film, the Spice Girls became the most commercially successful British group since the Beatles . Unlike their predecessors who were marketed at male record buyers, the Spice Girls redefined the girl group concept by going after a young female fanbase instead. The cultural movement started by the Spice Girls produced a glut of other similar acts, which include the British-Canadian outfit All Saints , Irish girl group B*Witched , Atomic Kitten and

721-560: A huge impact in Asian countries, selling two million copies in Japan and Southeast Asia by 1997, peaking at number seven in Japan and certified four-times Platinum, with sales of 718,432 copies by March 1997. In the United States, Spice debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 , eventually reaching number one for five weeks and selling 1.46 million in its first 12 weeks of release. It became

824-417: A means of organizing an artist's catalogue. Another, more recent, definition of discography refers to a collection of musical recordings by a performer or composer, considered as a body of work. For instance, all studio albums by a performer could collectively be considered their discography. A compilation of a performer's piano rolls is called a "rollography." The term "discography" was popularized in

927-558: A more potent sound allowed girl groups to sing powerfully and in different styles than earlier generations. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller would likewise foster the Exciters , the Dixie Cups , and the Shangri-Las . The Shangri-Las' hit single, " Leader of the Pack ", exemplified the "' death disc ' genre" adopted by some girl groups. These songs usually told the story of teenage love cut short by

1030-498: A straight 50–50 split between them and their various songwriting collaborators. Here they anticipated one of the key developments in the pop industry since the 1990s, namely the increasing importance of publishing royalties as opposed to royalties payments made for the performance of the song on the record. In an interview with Apple Music for the Spice25 release, Melanie C divulged, "We had [a] risqué song called 'C U Next Tuesday', which

1133-526: A total of 20 million copies in Japan within three years, with Variety calling them "Japan's top girl group", while Max still hold the record for girl group with the second most consecutive top 10 singles in Japan. Throughout the 2010s, AKB48 sister groups have been launched or will be launched in Indonesia, China, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Several new Japanese idol groups appeared in

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1236-533: A touch of classy R&B feel to the Spice album and singles. Absolute also produced all of these songs as well as the three tracks penned with Eliot Kennedy: "Say You'll Be There" "Love Thing" and later "Step to me" giving the duo a guiding hand in six of the ten tracks that eventually ended up on Spice . The tracks that Absolute produced were recorded for the most part at Olympic Studios in Barnes . At this time in 1995, Auto-Tune had not yet come to market and most of

1339-675: A weapon to be deployed along with any other skills that would help to get a result. Released as the group's debut single in July 1996, " Wannabe " topped the UK Singles Chart for seven weeks and received a Platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). In January 1997 it was released in the United States, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. It was the group's only number-one single in that country. By

1442-418: Is a pop album that incorporates styles such as dance , R&B and hip hop . It is considered to be the record that brought teen pop back, opening the doors for a wave of teen pop artists. Conceptually, the album centered on the idea of Girl Power , and the hype surrounding the group was compared to Beatlemania . A worldwide commercial success, Spice topped the charts in more than 17 countries across

1545-435: Is about the "fun" the group experienced together, and how it was fate that they came to know each other. The ninth track, "Naked" deals with vulnerability and the step from girls to women and how this process made the group stronger, something they were experiencing at that moment. It received mixed reviews from critics; some described it as "soulful and funky as anything by TLC or Brand New Heavies ", while others considered

1648-403: Is about the presumptuous superstar life and how someone can get trapped in the world of fame. The inspiration for this song came from some of the people the group met in the music industry. It was well received by critics, who thought that the song was one of the group's "strongest and underrated songs" and that it "still feels relevant today". "Something Kinda Funny", the eighth track of the album,

1751-560: Is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of whom were influenced by doo-wop and which flourished in the late 1950s and early 1960s between the decline of early rock and roll and start of the British Invasion . All-female bands , in which members also play instruments, are usually considered a separate phenomenon. These groups are sometimes called "girl bands" to differentiate, although this terminology

1854-403: Is an uptempo pop song with elements of white hip–hop, rap and dance music. Two of the three ballads of the album, " 2 Become 1 " and " Mama ", were co–written and produced by Stannard and Rowe, and both feature the use of keyboards, guitars, string arrangements and backing vocals. Production duo Absolute incorporated a mix of dance-pop, funk and R&B on " Say You'll Be There ", which includes

1957-482: Is not universally followed. With the advent of the music industry and radio broadcasting, a number of girl groups emerged, such as the Andrews Sisters . The late 1950s saw the emergence of all-female singing groups as a major force, with 750 distinct girl groups releasing songs that reached US and UK music charts from 1960 to 1966. The Supremes alone held 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 during

2060-538: The Los Angeles Times found the group's music and image "shamelessly one-dimensional", while Christina Kelly from Rolling Stone dismissed them as another " bubblegum-pop " group who "offer a watered-down mix of hip-hop and cheesy pop balladry", stating that "despite their pro-woman posing, the Girls don't get bogged down by anything deeper than mugging for promo shots and giving out tips on getting boys in bed." Spice

2163-501: The 1930s by collectors of jazz records , i.e. 'to study and write about the discs of music '. Jazz fans did research and self-published discographies about when jazz records were made and what musicians were on the records, as record companies did not commonly include that information on or with the records at that time. Two early jazz discographies were Rhythm on Record by Hilton Schleman and Hot Discography by Charles Delaunay . The following books list detailed information on

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2266-556: The Great Depression . The Boswell Sisters , who became one of the most popular singing groups from 1930 to 1936, had over twenty hits. The Andrews Sisters started in 1937 as a Boswell tribute band and continued recording and performing through the 1940s into the late-1960s, achieving more record sales, more Billboard hits, more million-sellers, and more movie appearances than any other girl group to date. The Andrews Sisters had musical hits across multiple genres, which contributed to

2369-647: The Honeyz , who all achieved varying levels of success during the decade. Throughout the 2000s, girl groups from the UK remained popular, with Girls Aloud 's " Sound of the Underground " and Sugababes ' " Round Round " having been called "two huge groundbreaking hits" credited with reshaping British pop music for the 2000s. Despite her being a solo artist, Amy Winehouse's 2006 album Back to Black contained heavy influence from 1960s girl groups and garnered Winehouse comparisons to

2472-603: The Official Vinyl Albums Chart and number four on the Official Physical Albums Chart. Credits adapted from the liner notes of Spice . Sales figures based on certification alone. Shipments figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Girl group A girl group is a music act featuring three or more female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group"

2575-600: The Spice Girls , the 1990s also saw the target market for girl groups shift from a male audience to an increasingly female one. In the 2010s, the K-pop phenomenon led to the rise of successful girl groups including Girls' Generation , Twice and Blackpink . One of the first major all-female groups was the Hamilton Sisters and Fordyce , an American trio who successfully toured England and parts of Europe in 1927, recorded and appeared on BBC radio – they toured

2678-565: The disco craze and beyond, female acts included First Choice , Silver Convention , Hot , the Emotions , High Inergy , Odyssey , Sister Sledge , Mary Jane Girls , Belle Epoque , Frantique , Luv' , and Baccara . Groups of the 1980s like the Pointer Sisters , Exposé , and Bananarama updated the concept. In Latin America, there were a number of dance-oriented popular girl groups during

2781-539: The 1950s era would also give advice to other girls, or sing about the advice their mothers gave to them, which was a similarity to some male musical groups of the time (for example, the Miracles ' " Shop Around "). Adolescence was also important (especially starting in the 1950s) from the other end: the consumers were "teenagers [with] disposable income, ready access to automobiles, and consolidated high schools that exposed them to large numbers of other teens. Mass teen culture

2884-579: The 2010s and created a fiercely competitive situation in the music industry, which has been referred to as the "Idol sengoku jidai " (アイドル戦国時代; lit. Age of the Idol Warring States). Since 2009, Hallyu (Korean wave) and K-pop became increasingly significant in the entertainment industry. Its influence spread across Asia and began to reach the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the Americas. At

2987-492: The 2010s. Japan has the music industry's second largest market overall and the largest physical music market in the world, with the physical sales Oricon Singles Chart being dominated by J-pop idol girl groups. In the late 1990s, vocal/dance girl bands Speed and Max gained prominence in Asia, and paved the way for succeeding Japanese girl groups, such as Morning Musume , AKB48 , Perfume , and Momoiro Clover Z . Speed sold

3090-627: The Bonnie Sisters with "Cry Baby" and the Teen Queens with " Eddie My Love " showed early promise for a departure from traditional pop harmonies. With " Mr. Lee ", the Bobbettes lasted for 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 months on the charts in 1957, building momentum and gaining further acceptance of all-female, all- black vocal groups. However, it was the Chantels ' 1958 song " Maybe " that became "arguably,

3193-544: The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipments of one million copies. The album sold 10 million copies worldwide in its first seven months. In total, Spice has sold 23 million copies worldwide, becoming the biggest-selling album by a girl group in music history and one of the most successful albums of all time . Following the Spice World Tour announcement, Spice re-entered

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3296-497: The Chantels and others was followed by an enormous rise in girl groups with varying skills and experience, with the music industry's typical racially segregated genre labels of R&B and pop slowly breaking apart. This rise also allowed a semblance of class mobility to groups of people who often could not otherwise gain such success, and "forming vocal groups together and cutting records gave them access to other opportunities toward professional advancement and personal growth, expanding

3399-476: The Korean wave's globalization accelerated. These newer girl groups gradually shifted towards more "girl crush" concepts and it became more common for members to be involved in writing or production. Popular South Korean girl groups include Blackpink , Twice , Aespa , NewJeans , IVE and Red Velvet amongst others. Girl groups have a wide array of subject matter in their songs, depending on time and place and who

3502-749: The Murmaids took David Gates ' " Popsicles and Icicles " to the top 3 in January, the Carefrees ' " We Love You Beatles " scraped the top 40 in April, and the Jewels ' "Opportunity" was a small hit in December. Over 750 girl groups were able to chart a song between 1960 and 1966 in the US and UK, although the genre's reach was not as strongly felt in the music industries of other regions. As

3605-559: The Ronettes. UK girl group continued to have success in the 2000s and 2010s, with acts such as Mis-Teeq , the Saturdays , StooShe and Little Mix , one of the successful acts to come from the British version of The X Factor . Although the emergence of dance-pop focused acts in Asia paralleled their British counterparts in the 1990s, girl groups in Asia sustained as a successful format through

3708-627: The Three Degrees (which had roots in the 1960s and in 1970, like the Chantels in 1958, began their top 40 pop career with "Maybe"). Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles was a US 1960s girl group whose image Vicki Wickham , their manager, helped remake in the early 1970s, renaming the group Labelle and pushing them in the direction of glam rock . Labelle were the first girl group to eschew matching outfits and identical choreography, instead wearing extravagant spacesuits and feathered headdresses. During

3811-764: The Toys and the Sweet Inspirations , the only girl groups with any significant chart presence from the beginning of the British Invasion through 1970 were Motown girl groups with the Supremes being the only girl group to score number one hits. The distinct girl group sound would not re-emerge until the 21st century, where it would influence modern-day English-speaking pop-soul soloists who have been met with international success, such as Amy Winehouse , Adele , Duffy and Melanie Fiona among others. In addition to influencing individual singers, this generation of girl groups cemented

3914-538: The UK Albums Chart at number 94 on 16 November 2018 and at number 84 on 16 June 2019. To mark the 25th anniversary of "Wannabe", an EP of the group's debut single was released in July 2021 that included previously unreleased demos. On 1 September 2021, the Spice Girls announced the re-release of Spice to mark the album's 25th anniversary, titled Spice25 . The deluxe double album was released on 29 October 2021 and contains remixes, demos and unreleased tracks. Also,

4017-521: The UK charts at the time was Eternal , but even they "remained largely faceless". Amidst the American domination of the girl group format, the Second British Invasion saw the UK's Spice Girls turn the tide in the mid-1990s, achieving ten number 1 singles in the UK and US. With sold-out concerts, advertisements, merchandise, 86 million worldwide record sales, the best-selling album of all time by

4120-698: The US and UK quickly recognized the potential of this new approach and recruited existing acts (or, in some cases, created new ones) to record their songs in a girl group style. Phil Spector recruited the Crystals , the Blossoms , and the Ronettes , while Goffin and King penned two hit songs for the Cookies . Phil Spector made a huge impact on the ubiquity of the girl group, as well as bringing fame and notoriety to new heights for many girl groups. Phil Spector's so-called Wall of Sound , which used layers of instruments to create

4223-499: The US variety and big-time theaters extensively, and later changed their stage name to the Three X Sisters . The band was together from 1923 until the early 1940s, and known for their close harmonies, as well as barbershop style or novelty tunes, and utilized their 1930s radio success. The Three X Sisters were also especially a notable addition to the music scene, and predicted later girl group success by maintaining their popularity throughout

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4326-918: The United Kingdom. In Europe, the album became the biggest-selling album of 1997 and was certified eight-times Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for sales in excess of eight million copies. The album reached number one in France and was certified Diamond by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP), triple Gold in Germany by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI), and 10-times Platinum in Spain for one million copies sold. The album also made

4429-559: The United Kingdom. In July 1997, the song was released in the United States, peaking at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 , and receiving a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It performed similarly internationally, peaking inside the top 10 on the majority of the charts that it entered. " Mama " and " Who Do You Think You Are " was released as a double A-side single in March 1997 as

4532-492: The act of sex; in addition, the lyrics address the importance of contraception . "Love Thing" is the fourth track; it focuses on relationships and how after many disappointments the girls do not want to know anything about love. The song symbolizes the Girl Power philosophy by showing the support between each other and finding the strength to continue. The fifth track, "Last Time Lover", was originally called "First Time Lover" and

4635-408: The album "a devilishly good pop collection", and Lois Alter Mark from the same magazine described the Spice Girls as " Go-Go's with attitude", while also noting that "with their brash attitudes and rude behavior, the girls may not be ideal role models" for children. LAUNCHcast 's Dev Sherlock called Spice "pure upbeat ear candy" and said that it was "one of the most fun and exciting pop releases of

4738-484: The album as "a consummate state-of-the-art pop record, as good as the mainstream ever gets", with "some of if not the best pop music of the year." AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine deemed it "immaculately crafted pop" that is "infectious" and "irresistible", adding that " Spice doesn't need to be original to be entertaining" and that "none of the girls have great voices, but they do exude personality and charisma ". Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly called

4841-457: The album's last track "If U Can't Dance". In May 1995, the group was introduced to Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins, the songwriters and production duo known as Absolute . Watkins commented about their first meeting, "They played us a few tracks, which we didn't particularly like. So we thought, this is OK. We can work with this." A songwriting session was booked within the next few days at Absolute's studio located on Tagg's Island near Chertsey , but

4944-469: The beginning, girl groups such as Girls' Generation , 2NE1 and Wonder Girls were among the leaders of this "Hallyu" wave. The influence of the original girl groups of the United States was not lost on this era of artists, as many adopted visual influences through their "retro" concepts, such as the international 2008 hit " Nobody " by Wonder Girls. From the second half of the 2010s, new generations of Korean girl groups emerged and enjoyed great success as

5047-472: The best-selling album by a girl group in the United States (Diamond certification), while selling over 14 million copies worldwide. Destiny's Child emerged in the late 1990s and sold more than 60 million records. In the mid-to-late-2000s, there was a revival of girl groups. American girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls achieved worldwide success with their singles. Danity Kane also became

5150-459: The best-selling album in music history by a girl group and one of the best-selling albums of all time . Four singles were released from the album. The lead single, " Wannabe ", reached number one in 37 countries, becoming one of the best-selling singles of all time as of 2010 by selling over six million copies worldwide. The next two singles, " Say You'll Be There " and " 2 Become 1 ", reached number one in 53 countries. " Who Do You Think You Are "

5253-477: The biggest-selling album of 1997, with 5,302,000 million copies sold by the end of the year. On 19 May 1999, the album was certified seven-times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and as of May 2017, it had sold 7.5 million copies in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan . In Canada, the album topped the Canadian Albums Chart . It was certified 10-times Platinum (Diamond) by

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5356-450: The business name of Heart Management, placed an advert in The Stage magazine, which asked the question: "Are you street smart, extrovert, ambitious, and able to sing and dance?". The management received hundreds of replies, but eventually reduced their search down to a final group of five girls: Victoria Beckham , Mel B , Melanie C , Geri Halliwell and Michelle Stephenson . The new band

5459-471: The charts. Groups in these genres, such as SWV , Xscape , 702 , Total , Zhane , Blaque , and 3LW , managed to have songs chart on both the U.S. Hot 100 and the U.S. R&B charts. However, TLC achieved the most success for a girl group in an era where contemporary R&B would become global mainstream acceptance. TLC remains the best-selling American girl group with 65 million records sold, and their second studio album, CrazySexyCool (1994), remains

5562-451: The day after the departure from Heart Management and looked for the first phone book they came across; Eliot was the third Kennedy that they called. That evening they went to his house and persuaded him to work with them. The rest of the girls travelled to Sheffield the next day. Kennedy commented about the session: "None of them played instruments, so I was left to do the music and get that vibe together. What I said to them was, 'Look, I've got

5665-604: The death of one of the young lovers. The Paris Sisters had success from 1961 to 1964, especially with " I Love How You Love Me ". The Chiffons , the Angels , and the Orlons were also prominent in the early 1960s. In early fall 1963 one-hit wonder the Jaynetts ' " Sally Go 'Round the Roses " achieved a mysterious sound quite unlike that of any other girl group. In 1964, the one-hit wonder group

5768-474: The end of 1996, "Wannabe" had topped the charts in 22 nations, and by March 1997 this number had climbed to 31. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, who called it "a melodious but disposable tune that typifies this debut's tart bubblegum and packaged sexiness" and found the track as "more a compendium of music styles than an actual song", it became the best-selling single by a female group, selling over six million copies worldwide. " Say You'll Be There "

5871-457: The era, including the Flans , Pandora and Fandango. In Japan, all-female idol groups Candies and Pink Lady made a series of hits during the 1970s and 1980s as well. The Japanese music program Music Station listed Candies and Pink Lady in their Top 50 Idols of All Time (compiled in 2011), placing them at number 32 and number 15, with sales exceeding 5 and 13 million in Japan, respectively. With

5974-618: The first girl group in Billboard history to have two consecutive number-one albums, as their self-titled debut album (2006) and their second album Welcome to the Dollhouse (2008) both topped the U.S. Billboard 200 . Girl groups have now been more popular compared to the early 2000s. Girl groups continued their success in the 2010s. Miami -based girl group Fifth Harmony formed in 2012 on The X Factor USA . They reached international success with their debut album Reflection , which featured

6077-410: The first session with Stannard and Rowe, they wrote "Feed Your Love", a slow, soulful song which was eventually recorded and mastered for the album, but not released because it was considered too rude and racy for their target audience. Having completed that session, the girls wanted to write something more uptempo , so they started to write the song that would be the lead of the album, " Wannabe ", which

6180-414: The first true glimmering of the girl group sound". The "mixture of black doo-wop, rock and roll, and white pop" was appealing to a teenage audience and grew from scandals involving payola and the perceived social effects of rock music . However, early groups such as the Chantels started developing their groups' musical capacities traditionally, through mediums like Latin and choir music. The success of

6283-513: The following months the group continued to meet with producers, wrote new songs, prepared demos and searched for a new manager. They met again with the writers Stannard and Rowe. They had previously worked with the girls in January 1995 before their departure from Heart Management; that was the group's first professional songwriting session, held at the Strongroom in Curtain Road, east London. In

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6386-498: The girl group form and sentiment and provided inspiration for many future groups. Entering the 1970s, the Supremes had continued success with top 10 hits " Up the Ladder to the Roof " and " Stoned Love " along with six other singles charting on Billboard's top 40. Only two other girl groups made top 10 chartings through 1974 with " Want Ads " by Honey Cone and " When Will I See You Again " by

6489-507: The group and watched the evolution in their singing and writing abilities. Together they composed a song called "Sugar and Spice", which served as the inspiration behind the change of the group's name to "Spice". Eventually the name was changed again to "Spice Girls" due to an American rapper using the name "Spice" at the time. On 3 March 1995, because of the group's frustration at their management's unwillingness to listen to their visions and ideas, they parted from Heart Management. The group stole

6592-522: The group signed a deal with Virgin Records , and continued to write and record tracks for their debut album while touring the west coast of the United States, where they signed a publishing deal with Windswept Pacific in November. The Spice Girls were fully involved in the writing of all the songs. Halliwell in particular was clearly a fund of ideas for songs, arriving at sessions with her book of jottings, notes and miscellaneous scribblings which often produced

6695-595: The group's fourth single. It became the group's fourth consecutive number-one single in the United Kingdom, making them the first act in UK chart history to have its first four singles reach number one. Additionally, it was certified Platinum by the BPI, and performed well internationally, reaching the top 10 in many European countries and New Zealand, and the top 20 in Australia, France, and Norway. Spice received mixed reviews from pop music critics. In NME , Mark Sutherland praised

6798-556: The height of the wave and throughout most of the British Invasion rivaled the Beatles in popularity. In later eras, the girl group template would be applied to disco , contemporary R&B , and country -based formats, as well as pop . A more globalized music industry gave rise to the popularity of dance-oriented pop music led by major record labels. This emergence, led by the US, UK, South Korea and Japan, produced popular acts, with eight groups debuting after 1990 having sold more than 15 million physical copies of their albums . With

6901-461: The hit " Worth It ". " Work from Home ", the lead single from their second studio album , became the first top-five single in the U.S by a girl group in a decade, following the September 2006 peak of " Buttons " by The Pussycat Dolls at number three. "Worth It" and "Work from Home" remain the most-viewed girl group music videos on YouTube . In the early 1990s, the British music scene was dominated by boy bands. The only girl group making an impact on

7004-564: The idea of girlhood as an identity across race and class lines." The group often considered to have achieved the first sustained success in girl group genre is the Shirelles , who first reached the Top 40 with " Tonight's the Night ", and in 1961, became the first girl group to reach number one on the Hot 100 with " Will You Love Me Tomorrow ", written by songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King at 1650 Broadway . The Shirelles solidified their success with five more top 10 hits, most particularly 1962's number one hit " Soldier Boy ", over

7107-410: The lead single "Wannabe" makes demands of sincerity and is a feminist message of choosing friends over relationships; "Say You'll Be There" motivates girls to stand up for themselves as individuals, while the focus of "Love Thing" is the symbolic expression of unity as a group; "Something Kinda Funny" deals with the identification of goals in life and "Last Time Lover" encourages the use of sexual charm as

7210-424: The lyrics. But in musical terms it was not a partnership of equals. Rowe commented: "We had to kind of steer it. It was very different for different tracks really. Some of them were when we were all jamming in the room. We'd just put up some drum sounds and start making things up. On other tracks me and Richard [Stannard] would prepare something beforehand and play it to them. We'd have some lyrics and make them write

7313-484: The master recordings of their discography from the management offices in order to ensure they kept full control of their own work. The group were supposed to meet with producer Eliot Kennedy the week after they left their former managers, but the meeting was arranged by the Herberts weeks before their departure. But without access to Herbert's address book, they knew nothing of Kennedy's whereabouts other than he lived in Sheffield . Mel B and Halliwell drove to Sheffield

7416-493: The music of the late 1970s. "If U Can't Dance", another heavily dance–oriented song, features a rap section performed by Halliwell in Spanish and contains a sample of Digital Underground 's song " The Humpty Dance ". The main concept of the album centred on the idea of Girl Power , embodying a feminist image, as both Madonna and Bananarama had employed before. Every track of the album deals with different aspects of this notion:

7519-401: The musical association between them did not seem to go well at the beginning. Wilson remembered, "When they started to sing it was never quite right: from our point of view. It was very poptastic." Watkins recalled, "After two sessions we phoned our managers and said 'This just ain't happening'." It was at this point that Watkins and Wilson heard " Wannabe " for the first time. When speaking about

7622-571: The next two and a half years. " Please Mr. Postman " by the Marvelettes became a major indication of the racial integration of popular music, as it was the first number one song in the US for African-American owned label, Motown Records . Motown would mastermind several major girl groups, including Martha and the Vandellas , the Velvelettes , and the Supremes . Other songwriters and producers in

7725-827: The prevalence and popularity of the girl group form. As the rock era began, close harmony acts like the Chordettes , the Fontane Sisters , the McGuire Sisters and the DeCastro Sisters remained popular, with the first three acts topping the pop charts and the last reaching number two, at the end of 1954 to the beginning of 1955. Also, the Lennon Sisters were a mainstay on the Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 on. In early 1956, doo-wop one-hit wonder acts like

7828-423: The recordings catalogue of an individual artist, group, or orchestra. This is distinct from a sessionography, which is a catalogue of recording sessions , rather than a catalogue of the records, in whatever medium, that are made from those recordings. The two are sometimes confused, especially in jazz , as specific release dates for jazz records are often difficult to ascertain, and session dates are substituted as

7931-499: The second verse." The Spice Girls introduced two key innovations that have had a lasting impact on the way which modern pop acts go about their creative business. Firstly they introduced the idea of songwriting identity. This was a familiar concept in rock bands like Queen or the Sex Pistols , but not in the world of " manufactured pop ", where the credits of songwriting would be divided out strictly in accordance with whoever had written

8034-703: The single " Kiss in the Dark ", Pink Lady was also one of only two Japanese artists to have reached the Billboard Top 40 . With their 1990 eponymous debut album , the trio Wilson Phillips sold over 5 million copies worldwide and reached five major US hit singles, four of which cracked the Top 10, with three peaking at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 . After the rise of new jack swing , contemporary R&B and hip hop , American girl groups such as En Vogue , Exposé and Sweet Sensation all had singles which hit number one on

8137-453: The single version of 2 Become 1 was included as the third track on the album, instead of the original album version. The CDs come in an A5 hardback booklet, with a collection of iconic images and a set of six Spice Girls postcards, while the original album is also available on limited edition vinyl and cassette. The Spice25 reissue saw the album re-enter the UK Albums Chart at number five with 7,798 copies sold, while reaching number three on

8240-411: The song as a "bit of a let down". The last track of the album, "If U Can't Dance", deals with preconceived ideas about people and how sometimes they are totally different from what they appear. Spice is a pop album with a diverse inclusion of musical styles such as dance , R&B , hip hop , soul , rap and funk , which lead some reviewers to call it a pop collection. The lead single, " Wannabe "

8343-462: The song, Wilson said, "We listened to it and we didn't get it at all. It was so different to what we were doing. We thought is this going to work?". The next session was the definite one; either they would continue to work with the group or break up their relationship. Wilson recalled, "Every previous time we'd met up with the girls we had prepared a backing track. This time we had nothing." Watkins also said, "They said they wanted to do something up and

8446-402: The song. The Spice Girls recognised their solidarity as a group, which depended on maintaining parity in all departments, including the songwriting credits and the resulting royalties . They share the songwriting royalties on all the songs irrespective of what any member of the group had or had not contributed to any particular song. The second thing the Spice Girls established from the outset was

8549-483: The starting point of a lyric or a song title or just an agenda for the day's work. Watkins commented, "Geri [Halliwell] would come up with the concept for a song. Typically, she'd sing one line and the girls would pick up on it or we'd pick up on it and construct around it and then [Melanie C] and Emma [Bunton] would be very active. They'd really like to sit and sing melodies and go off and come up with little sections." They "conceptualised" and sang bits of melody and wrote

8652-427: The things the group had been through together and how they had always been there for each other. It received mixed reviews; some critics praised it as a catchy song, while others dubbed it as merely a bid for credibility, while others described the lyrics as "confusing". The third single " 2 Become 1 " focused upon the bonding of lovers, and how the bond can become so strong that they practically become one entity, through

8755-467: The top five in Canada and peaking at number three in the United States. " 2 Become 1 " was released as the group's third single on 16 December 1996. It was generally well-received by music critics and was a commercial success. It topped the UK Singles Chart for three weeks, becoming the group's third consecutive chart-topper, their second million-selling single, and their first Christmas number-one single in

8858-409: The vocals were recorded with few adjustments made afterwards. Absolute told Simon Fuller about the group they had worked with and asked whether he would consider managing them. Fuller received a demo of "Something Kinda Funny", one of the songs the group wrote with Absolute. He showed interest in the group, began a relationship and decided to sign them at 19 Management in March 1995. In September 1995

8961-463: The world, and was certified Multi-Platinum in 27 countries, Platinum in 14 countries and Gold in three countries, including 10-times Platinum in the United Kingdom and Canada, eight-times Platinum in Europe, and seven-times Platinum in the United States. It became the world's top-selling album of 1997, selling 19 million copies in over a year. The album has sold a total of 23 million copies worldwide, becoming

9064-408: The writing process between the group and the duo, Rowe credits Mel B as the one who came up with the song's concept. During the writing process, each member wrote a small verse in a different corner of the recording studio, while the chorus was finished around the piano with a guitar. Then, the producers added a gospel choir filled with the group's harmonies at the end of the song. They also produced

9167-404: The year", finding that the Spice Girls' Girl Power philosophy is "a well-balanced manifesto for young women everywhere that is neither twee nor riot grrrl -angry." In The Guardian , Caroline Sullivan wrote that despite the album's "unbelievably slick" and commercial sound, "all those Girl Power declarations aren't just empty slogans, one feels." Other critics were less receptive. Sara Scribner of

9270-466: The years. In the 1990s through the present, with the prevalence of such groups as the Spice Girls, there has been a strong emphasis on women's independence and a sort of feminism. At the very least, the music is more assertive lyrically and relies less on innuendo. This more recent wave of girl groups is more sexually provocative as well, which makes sense within pop music within this time frame as well. Discography A discography can also refer to

9373-518: The youth culture of western Continental Europe was deeply immersed in Yé-yé , recording artists of East Asia mostly varied from traditional singers, government-sponsored chorus, or multi-cultural soloists and bands, while bossa nova was trendy in Latin America. Beat music 's global influence eventually pushed out girl groups as a genre and, except for a small number of the foregoing groups and possibly

9476-410: Was about the loss of virginity, but was discarded and changed to a song full of provocations, where sex is the main issue. The sixth track, " Mama ", was dedicated to the group's mothers, and deals with the difficulties in the relationships between mothers and teenagers that appear during adolescence. Reviewers described the ballad as "glossy" and "corny". The seventh track, " Who Do You Think You Are ",

9579-518: Was also a popular subject because of an emerging audience of young girls listening to and buying records. Adolescence was also reinforced by girl groups in cultivation of a youthful image, since "an unprecedented instance of teenage girls occupying center stage of mainstream commercial culture". An example of this youth branding might be Baby Spice from the Spice Girls . This was shown through flourishes like typically matching outfits for mid-century girl groups and youthful content in songs. Girl groups of

9682-529: Was born." As the girl group structure persisted through further generations, popular cultural sentiments were incorporated into the music. The appearance of " girl power " and feminism was also added, even though beginning groups were very structured in their femininity. It would be simplistic to imply that girl groups only sang about being in love; on the contrary, many groups expressed complex sentiments in their songs. There were songs of support, songs that were gossipy, etc.; like any other musical movement, there

9785-508: Was much variation in what was being sung. A prominent theme was often teaching "what it meant to be a woman". Girl groups would exhibit what womanhood looked like from the clothes they were wearing to the actual lyrics in their songs. Of course this changed over the years (what the Supremes were wearing was different from the Spice Girls), but girl groups still served as beacons and examples of certain types of identities to their audiences through

9888-437: Was nominated for the 1997 Mercury Prize . However, it lost to New Forms by Roni Size & Reprazent . Reflecting on the album in 2019, Pitchfork ' s Aimee Cliff opined that despite its somewhat "flimsy" feminism, " Spice remains an audacious achievement   ... it snuck five Girls who were not on the guest list inside the establishment, causing chaos for a brief, surreal moment." The commercial success of Spice

9991-642: Was originally called Touch and moved to a house in Maidenhead . Emma Bunton was the last to join after Stephenson dropped out when her mother became ill. The group felt insecure about the lack of contract and were frustrated by the direction in which Heart Management was steering them. In October 1994, armed with a catalog of demos and dance routines, the group began touring management agencies. They started to meet with producers, musicians and other business executives, among which were composer Tim Hawes , and writers Richard Stannard and Matthew Rowe. Hawes worked with

10094-485: Was producing. Songs also had a penchant for reflecting the political and cultural climate around them. For instance, songs with abusive undertones were somewhat common during the 1950s–1970s. One notable example was the song " He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss) " by the Crystals . During the "golden age of girl groups", lyrics were disparate, ranging from songs about mean dogs to underage pregnancy. However, common sentiments were also found in ideas like new love, pining after

10197-451: Was recorded in under an hour—mainly because they had already written parts of the songs beforehand. The next song they recorded was a slow ballad and the third track on and single from the album, " 2 Become 1 ". The song was inspired by the special relationship which had developed between Halliwell and Rowe during the session. "Mama" was written by the Spice Girls with songwriting partners Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard . In an interview about

10300-607: Was released as the album's second single on 14 October 1996. It became the group's second number-one single in the United Kingdom, and was certified Platinum by the BPI. It was a commercial success across Europe, reaching the top 10 in most of the charts that it entered. As a result of its popularity, the song was released in 1997 in Australia, receiving a Gold certification by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), and in North America, entering

10403-501: Was released as the official Comic Relief single in the UK as a double A-side with " Mama " and both songs reached the top 20 in charts across Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In the band's native UK, all four singles went to number one on the UK Singles Chart and, on the Billboard Hot 100 , the album spawned three top-five singles. In February 1994, Chris and Bob Herbert , who together with financer Chic Murphy traded under

10506-496: Was unprecedented and drew comparisons to Beatlemania (it was dubbed "Spicemania") due to the sheer volume of interest in the group. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with first-sales of 114,000 copies, spending 15 non-consecutive weeks atop the chart. The album was certified 10-times Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 1 August 1997, and as of November 2021, it had sold 3,022,090 copies in

10609-512: Was vetoed for the 25th anniversary edition, but I do have plans for it. It sounds like a Lily Allen song; it's absolutely brilliant." " Wannabe ", the most emblematic song of the Girl Power philosophy, was chosen as the first track and lead single of the album. It highlights the slogans the group tend to cite like the union and solidarity between friends and the power exercised by women over men. The second single " Say You'll Be There " described

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