.gif)
Wannabe (song)
Encyclopedia
"Wannabe" is the debut song by British pop
group Spice Girls
. Written by the group members with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session, it was produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice
, released in November 1996. The song was written and recorded very quickly; the result was considered lacklustre by their label, and was sent to be mixed by Dave Way
. The group was not pleased with the result, and the recording was mixed again, this time by Mark "Spike" Stent
.
"Wannabe" is an uptempo pop song that incorporates a mix of hip-hop
, rap
, and dance music
. The lyrics, which address the value of female friendship over the heterosexual bond, became an iconic symbol of female empowerment
and the most emblematic song of the group's Girl Power
philosophy. Despite receiving mixed reviews from music critics, the song won for Best British-Written Single at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards
and for Best Single at the 1997 BRIT Awards
.
"Wannabe" was heavily promoted by the group. Its music video, directed by Jhoan Camitz, became a big success on the British cable network The Box, which sparked press interest in the group. Subsequently the song had intensive radio airplay across the United Kingdom, while the group performed it on television programmes and started doing interviews and photo shoots for teen magazines.
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 the end of 1996, "Wannabe" had topped the charts in twenty-two nations, and by March 1997 this number had climbed to thirty-one. It became the best-selling single by a female group, selling over six million copies worldwide.
and Chris Herbert
, together with financer Chic Murphy, working under the business name of Heart Management, placed an advertisement in The Stage
, which asked the question: "Are you street smart, extrovert, ambitious, and able to sing and dance?" After receiving hundreds of replies, the management had narrowed their search to a group of five girls: Victoria Adams
, Melanie Brown
, Melanie Chisholm
, Geri Halliwell
, and Michelle Stephenson
. The group moved to a house in Maidenhead
and received the name "Touch". Stephenson was eventually fired because she lacked the drive of the other group members. She was replaced by Emma Bunton
. In November, the group—now named "Spice"—persuaded their managers to set up a showcase
in front of industry writers, producers, and A&R men at the Nomis Studios in Shepherd's Bush
, London. Producer Richard Stannard, at the studio for a meeting with pop star Jason Donovan
, attended in the showcase after hearing Brown, as she went charging across the corridor. Stannard recalls:
Stannard stayed behind after the showcase to talk to the group. He then reported to his songwriter partner, Matt Rowe, that he had found "the pop group of their dreams". Chris Herbert booked the group's first professional songwriting session with the producers at the Strongroom in Curtain Road, East London in January 1995. Rowe recalls feelings similar to Stannard's: "I love them. Immediately. [...] They were like no one I'd met before, really." The session was productive; Stannard and Rowe discussed the songwriting process with the group, and talked about what the group wanted to do on the record. In her autobiography, Brown recalls that the duo instinctively understood their point of view and knew how to incorporate "the spirit of five loud girls into great pop music".
; the song was not used because it was considered too rude for the target audience. The group next proposed to write a track with an uptempo rhythm. Rowe set up a drum loop
on his MPC3000 drum machine. Its fast rhythm made Stannard remember the scene where John Travolta
and Olivia Newton-John
perform "You're the One That I Want
" in Grease
. The group added their own contributions to the song, Rowe recalls:
"Wannabe" was written in thirty minutes—mainly because the group had written parts of the song beforehand—in what Brown describes as a "sudden creative frenzy". During the session, Brown and Bunton came up with the idea of including a rap near the end of the song. At this point the group got very motivated, and incorporated the word "zigazig-ha" into the lyrics. Chisholm told Billboard
magazine: "You know when you're in a gang and you're having a laugh and you make up silly words? Well we were having a giggle and we made up this silly word, zigazig-ha. And we were in the studio and it all came together in this song".
and sings during the chorus. Rowe stayed up all night working on the song, and it was finished by morning.
The group parted with Heart Management in March 1995 because of their frustration with the management company's unwillingness to listen to their visions and ideas. The girls met with artist manager Simon Fuller
, who signed them with 19 Entertainment
. The group considered a variety of record labels, and signed a deal with Virgin Records
in July. The original mix of "Wannabe" was considered lacklustre by the label's executives. Ashley Newton, who was in charge of A&R, sent the song to American producer Dave Way
for remixing; the result was not what the group had hoped to achieve. As Halliwell later described it, "the result was bloody awful". She elaborated in her second autobiography, Just for the Record: "Right at the beginning of the Spice Girls, [...] Ashley Newton had tried to turn us into an R&B
group. He sent "Wannabe" over to America to be remixed by some hot R&B producers. He brought us jungle versions
and hip-hop
mixes and I hated them all. Although Mel B[rown] was a big fan of R&B, she agreed with me that these versions just didn't work so we exercised our Spice veto!" Fuller gave the song to audio engineer
Mark "Spike" Stent
, who thought that it was a "weird pop record". Stent remixed it in six hours, in what he described as "tightening it up" and "getting the vocals sounding really good".
song with influences of hip-hop
and rap
. Written in the key of B major
, it is set in the time signature
of common time and moves at a moderate tempo of 116 beats per minute. It uses the sequence B–D–E–A–A♯ as its chord progression
during the refrain, the chorus, and the bridge
, and F♯–G♯m–E–B for the verses. The song is constructed in a verse-pre-chorus-chorus
form, with a rapped bridge before the third and final chorus. Musically, it is "energised" by a highly-syncopated
synthesised
riff, and by the way the repetitive lyrics and rhythm are highlighted during the bridge. "Wannabe" presents a different version of the traditional pop love song
performed by females; its energic, self-assertive style expresses a confident independence that is not reliant on the male figure for its continuance.
The song opens with a laugh, followed by "undislodgeable piano notes". Over these notes, the first lines of the refrain are sung with spoken—almost shouted—vocals, in a call and response
interaction between Brown and Halliwell. The words "tell", "really" and " I wanna" are repeated, so that the vocal tone and lyrics build up an image of female self-assertion. The refrain ends with the word "zigazig-ha", a euphemism for female desire, which is ambiguously sexualised or broadly economic. The first verse follows; Chisholm, Bunton, Brown, and Halliwell sing one line individually, in that order. In this part, the lyrics have a pragmatic sense of control of the situation—"If you want my future, forget my past"—which, according to musicologist Sheila Whiteley, tap directly into the emotions of the young teenage audience.
During the chorus, the lyrics—"If you wanna be my lover/You gotta get with my friends"—address the value of female friendship over the heterosexual bond, while the ascending group of chords and the number of voices creates a sense of power that adds to the song's level of excitement. The same pattern occurs, leading to the second chorus. Towards the end, Brown raps the bridge, which serves as a presentation to each of the girls' personalities. The group repeats the chorus for the last time, ending the song with energetic refrains—"Slam your body down and wind it all around"—and the word "zigazig-ha".
format was untested. The group, led by Brown and Halliwell, was adamant that the debut song should be "Wannabe", they felt it served as an introduction to their personalities and the Girl Power
statement. Virgin's executives believed that the first single should be "Say You'll Be There
", which they considered a much "cooler" track. At the beginning of 1996 the impasse between the group and their record label about the release of the single was temporarily solved. In March, Fuller announced that he agreed with Virgin in that "Wannabe" should not be the first single. The label wanted a song that appealed to the mainstream market, and nothing considered too radical. Halliwell was shocked and furious; she told Fuller, "It's not negotiable as far as we're concerned. 'Wannabe' is our first single." Fuller and the executives at Virgin relented, and the song was chosen as their first single.
The trigger for the Spice Girls' launch was the release of the "Wannabe" music video in May 1996. Its quick success on the British cable network The Box sparked press interest, despite initial resistance to the all-girl group idea. The same month, their first music press interviews appeared in Music Week
, Top of the Pops
, and Smash Hits
, and their first live TV slot was broadcast on LWT
's Surprise Surprise. A month after the video's release, the song was receiving intensive airplay on the main radios stations across the UK, while the group started to appear on television—mainly on kid's programmes such as Live & Kicking
—and doing interviews and photo shoots for teen magazines. A full-page advertisement appeared in the July issue of Smash Hits, saying: "Wanted: Anyone with a sense of fun, freedom and adventure. Hold tight, get ready! Girl Power is comin' at you". The group appeared on the television programme This Morning with Richard and Judy
, and performed at their first Radio One
road show in Birmingham
.
"Wannabe" was released in the United Kingdom on 8 July 1996 in two single versions. The first one, released in two formats—a standard CD single
and a cassette single
—included the radio edit of the track, the Motiv 8 vocal slam remix, and the B-side, "Bumper to Bumper". The group wrote "Bumper to Bumper" with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriter-production duo known as Absolute
—and British singer-songwriter Cathy Dennis
. The second version, released on maxi single format, featured the radio edit, an instrumental version, the Motiv 8 dub slam remix, and the Dave Way
alternative mix. This version came with a fold-out postcard inlay and a stickered case.
During the weeks following the UK release, the group began promotional visits abroad. They did three trips to Japan and brief visits to Germany and the Netherlands. On a trip to the Far East, they visited Hong Kong, Thailand, and South Korea. In January 1997 they traveled to North America to do a promotional campaign that Phil Quartararo, president of Virgin Records America, described as "absolutely massive". During their visit to the US, the group met with influential radio programmers, TV networks, and magazines. In addition, Virgin persuaded fifty radio stations to playlist the song before it was released, while the music video was placed into heavy rotation by MTV
.
of Music Week
called the group "smart, witty, abrasive and downright fun". He described the song as a "R&B-lite debut single", and noted influences from Neneh Cherry
in it. In a review conducted by the British pop band Deuce
for Smash Hits
magazine, the group described "Wannabe" as "limp", "awful", and "not strong enough for a debut single". Kate Thornton
, editor of Top of the Pops
magazine, commented that the all-girl group idea was "not going to happen"; she considered it too threatening. In her review for The Guardian
, Caroline Sullivan called it a combination of "cute hip pop and a vaguely feminist lyric", she was also surprised that "considering the slightness of 'Wannabe'", the group had an overwhelming amount of offers from record companies. The NME
characterized the song as "a combined force of Bananarama
, Betty Boop
and Shampoo
rolled into one." Dele Fadele of the same magazine called the rap during the song's bridge "annoying", and added that the group's music "It's not good. It's not clever. But it's fun". The magazine named "Wannabe" the worst single of the year at the 1997 NME Awards
. Conversely, it won for Best Single at the 1997 BRIT Awards
, and for International Hit Of The Year and Best British-Written Single at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards
presented by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. In October 2011, the NME placed it at number 111 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
In the US, reaction to the song was mixed. In a review of the group's debut album, Edna Gundersen
of USA Today
said that "Wannabe" is "a melodious but disposable tune that typifies this debut's tart bubblegum and packaged sexiness". Greg Kot
of the Chicago Tribune
called it "insidiously snappy, [...] [that] is shaping up as this year's "Macarena
". Karla Peterson of The San Diego Union-Tribune
said that "'Wannabe' has UGH written all over it", adding that it is "relentlessly catchy and horrifyingly hummable". The Buffalo News
Anthony Violanti called it "irresistible". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe
described it as a "maniacally zippy single", and Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com
referred to it as an "unapologetically sassy dance hit". Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
commented that "based on their efficacious American debut single, [...] the Spice Girls might be expected to deliver more of that zingy pop on their debut album", but she felt that "aside from 'Wannabe', the album's dance tracks are color-by-numbers bland". Larry Flick of Billboard
magazine said that "fans of the more edgy girl-group [...] may find this single too fluffy", but added that "everyone else with a love of tasty pop hooks
, lyrical positivity, and jaunty rhythms is going to be humming this single for months to come".
Some reviewers noticed the combination of musical genres. Christina Kelly from Rolling Stone
magazine criticized the group's image, and added that their songs, including "Wannabe", were "a watered-down mix of hip-hop and cheesy pop balladry, brought together by a manager with a marketing concept". Matt Diehl of Entertainment Weekly
said that it was "more a compendium of music styles (from ABBA
-style choruses to unconvincing hip hop
) than an actual song", and Sara Scribner of the Los Angeles Times
described it as "a bubblegum hip-hop confection of rapping lifted off Neneh Cherry and Monie Love
albums". Charles Aaron of Spin
magazine called it "a quickie, mid-'80s teen paperback come to life [...] so gooey it melts in your hands, not in your mouth". The song ranked at fifteenth on Village Voice's 1997 "Pazz & Jop
" critics' poll, conducted by music journalist Robert Christgau
.
Contemporary reviews from critics were mostly positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
of Allmusic said that "none of the girls have great voices, but they do exude personality and charisma, which is what drives bouncy dance-pop like 'Wannabe', with its ridiculous 'zig-a-zig-ahhh' hook, into pure pop guilty pleasure". Dam Cairns of The Sunday Times
said that the song "leaves a bad taste in the mouth: [because] the true legacy of Girl Power is, arguably, a preteen clothing industry selling crop tops and other minimal garments to young girls", but added that it "remains the same two minutes and 53 seconds of pop perfection that it ever was". In a review of their Greatest Hits
album, IGN
said that after ten years it "still sound reasonably fresh", while Digital Spy
's Nick Levine said that "Wannabe" still remained an "exuberant calling card". In 2010, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio
ranked the song at number twelve on his "100 Worst Songs Ever" list, exclaiming, "You know what we want? What we really, really want? A time machine, a map of England, five muzzles and glue."
"Wannabe" debuted on the UK Singles Chart
at number three, six days after its physical release, and climbed to number one the next week. It spent seven weeks at the top, the second-longest stay by an all-female group, only behind Shakespears Sister
's "Stay". With eighteen weeks in the top forty and twenty-six weeks in the top seventy-five, it sold over 1.267 million copies, becoming the second-biggest selling single of the year, and the biggest-selling single by a female group in the UK.
"Wannabe" was commercially successful in the rest of Europe. On 14 September 1996 the song reached the top of Eurochart Hot 100, where it stayed for nine consecutive weeks, when it was replaced by the group's second single, "Say You'll Be There
". "Wannabe" topped the singles charts in Belgium (both the Flemish and French charts), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, and peaked inside the top five in Austria and Italy. The song was a success in Oceania. In Australia, it debuted at number forty-five, reached the top of the ARIA Charts
for eleven weeks, and ended at number five on the 1996 year-end chart. In New Zealand, it debuted on 1 September 1996 at number thirty-eight, reaching the top position ten weeks later. "Wannabe" also topped the singles charts in Hong Kong and Israel.
"Wannabe" was released in North America in January 1997. In Canada, it debuted at the eighty-ninth position of the RPM
singles chart, peaked at nine in its eighth week, and ended at number sixty-eight on the year-end chart. The song performed better on the dance chart, where it reached the top for three weeks, and ended at the top of the year-end chart. In the US, the song debuted on 25 January 1997 at number eleven. At the time, this was the highest-ever debut by a British act, beating the record previously held by The Beatles
for "I Want to Hold Your Hand
" at number twelve. It reached the top of the chart in its fifth week, and stayed there for four consecutive weeks simultaneously with the group's fourth single ("Mama
"/"Who Do You Think You Are
") being at number one in the UK. "Wannabe" reached the sixth position of the Hot 100 Airplay
chart, and topped the Hot 100 Singles Sales
chart for four consecutive weeks, selling over 1.8 million copies as of September 2000. It peaked at four on the Mainstream Top 40
, and was a crossover
success, topping the Rhythmic Top 40
, peaking at fifteen on the Hot Dance Club Play and at nine on the Hot Dance Singles Sales
chart.
The music video for "Wannabe" was the first for director Jhoan Camitz. Camitz was hired on Fuller's recommendation because of his commercials for Volkswagen
, Diesel, and Nike
. His original concept for the video was a one-take shoot of the group arriving at an exotic building in Barcelona
, taking over the place, and running a riot—the same way they did when they were looking for a manager and a record company. A few days before the shoot on 19 April 1996, Camitz was unable to get permission to use the building, and the shoot was relocated to the Midland Grand Hotel
in St Pancras, London
.
The video features the group running, singing, dancing, and creating mischief at an eccentric bohemian party. Among their antics is Chisholm's back handspring
on one of the tables. Because the video needed to be taken in one shot, the group rehearsed the routine several times through the night, while a steadycam operator followed them. About the experience, Halliwell wrote: "The video I remember as being very chaotic and cold. It wasn't very controlled—we didn't want it to be. We wanted the camera to capture the madness of the Spice Girls". Virgin's executives were horrified with the final result: "the girls were freezing cold, which showed itself in various different ways", Ashley Newton recalled. The video was later banned in some parts of Asia because of Brown's erect nipples. Additionally, the lighting was considered too dark and gloomy; the best takes showed the girls bumping with the furniture and looking behind them. Virgin was concerned that old people appeared on the video, the part when they jump up on the table, and Halliwell's showgirl outfit would be considered too threatening by music channels. Virgin immediately opened discussions about a re-shoot of the video or creating an alternate one for the US, but the group refused. The video was sent for trial airing in its original form.
When the music video first appeared on the British cable network The Box, it was selected so frequently that it reached the top of the viewers' chart within two hours of going on air, and stayed at number one for thirteen weeks. It was aired up to seventy times a week at its peak and became the most requested track in the channel's history. The video won Best Dance Video
at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards
, and Best Video at the 1997 Comet Media Awards. It was also nominated for Best British Video at the 1997 BRIT Awards
, and was ranked at number forty-one in the Top 100 Pop Videos of all time by Channel 4
.
by satellite link from Tokyo, where they used a local temple as a backdrop for their mimed performance
. They have performed the song several more times on the show, including the programme's 1996 Christmas special. It was performed many times on television, in both Europe and the US, including An Audience with...
, the Bravo Supershow
, Sorpresa ¡Sorpresa!, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, The Oprah Winfrey Show
, and Saturday Night Live
. The performance at Saturday Night Live on 12 April 1997 was the first time the group performed "Wannabe" with a live band—their previous performances have all been either lip-synched or sung to a recorded backing track
.
The group performed it at awards ceremonies such as the 1996 Smash Hits! Awards
, the 1996 Irish Music Awards, the 1997 BRIT Awards, and the 1997 Channel V Music Awards
held in New Delhi, where they wore Indian costumes and entered the stage in auto rickshaw
s. In October 1997 the group performed "Wannabe" as the last song of their first live concert at the Abdi İpekçi Arena
in Istanbul
, Turkey. The performance was broadcast on Showtime in a pay-per-view event titled Spice Girls In Concert Wild!, and was later included in the VHS and DVD release Girl Power! Live in Istanbul
.
The Spice Girls have performed the song on their three tours, the Spiceworld Tour
, the Christmas In Spiceworld Tour
, and the Return of the Spice Girls. After Halliwell left the band at the end of the European leg of the Spiceworld Tour, her parts were replaced by Chisholm (refrain), Beckham (verses), and Bunton (bridge). The performance at the tour's final concert can be found on the video Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium
, filmed in London, on 20 September 1998.
y, lounge
-inspired rendition of "Wannabe" for their debut album, Experiment in Terror. British intelligent dance music
producer µ-Ziq recorded a cover for his fourth album, Lunatic Harness
. The London Double Bass Sound recorded an instrumental
version in 1999, a dance
remix was recorded by Jan Stevens, Denise Nejame, and Sybersound for the 1997 album Sybersound Dance Mixes, Vol. 2, while an electronic
version was recorded by the Street Girls for the 2005 album The World of Hits of the 80's. In 1999 the song was used in "Weird Al" Yankovic
's polka medley, "Polka Power!", for his tenth album, Running with Scissors
.
Covers of the song in a punk style include a thrash parody
version by British punk rock
band Snuff
for their 1998 EP, Schminkie Minkie Pinkie, a punk rock version by Dutch band Heideroosjes
for their 1999 album, Schizo
, and a pop punk
cover by Zebrahead
for their 2004 EP, Waste of MFZB
. Covers in live performances includes a punk version by Australian duo The Veronicas
, and another from American rock band Foo Fighters
. In 2005 "Wannabe" was covered and included in the soundtrack
of Disney
's animated film Chicken Little
.
Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd/PolyGram Music Publishing Ltd.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
. Written by the group members with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session, it was produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice
Spice (album)
Spice is the debut album by British pop group Spice Girls. Released on November 4, 1996 by Virgin Records, the album was recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London between 1995 and 1996, by producers Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard, Eliot Kennedy and the production duo Absolute...
, released in November 1996. The song was written and recorded very quickly; the result was considered lacklustre by their label, and was sent to be mixed by Dave Way
Dave Way
Dave Way is a successful mixer, producer and audio engineer, based in Los Angeles, California. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Savage Garden, Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, Babyface, TLC, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Ziggy Marley,...
. The group was not pleased with the result, and the recording was mixed again, this time by Mark "Spike" Stent
Mark Stent
Mark 'Spike' Stent is a British record producer, and audio engineer who has worked with The KLF, Björk, Keane, Depeche Mode, Muse, Erasure, Hard-Fi, Massive Attack, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Marilyn Manson, Pet Shop Boys, Dave Matthews, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, CSS, Beth Orton,...
.
"Wannabe" is an uptempo pop song that incorporates a mix of hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
, and dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
. The lyrics, which address the value of female friendship over the heterosexual bond, became an iconic symbol of female empowerment
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and the most emblematic song of the group's Girl Power
Girl Power
The phrase "girl power", as a term of empowerment, expressed a cultural phenomenon of the 1990s and early 2000s. It is also linked to third-wave feminism...
philosophy. Despite receiving mixed reviews from music critics, the song won for Best British-Written Single at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They are presented annually in London by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and were first introduced in 1955.Nicknamed The Ivors, the awards take place...
and for Best Single at the 1997 BRIT Awards
1997 BRIT Awards
The 1997 BRIT Awards were the 17th edition of the biggest annual pop music awards in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 24 February 1997 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.-Live performers:...
.
"Wannabe" was heavily promoted by the group. Its music video, directed by Jhoan Camitz, became a big success on the British cable network The Box, which sparked press interest in the group. Subsequently the song had intensive radio airplay across the United Kingdom, while the group performed it on television programmes and started doing interviews and photo shoots for teen magazines.
Released as the group's debut single in July 1996, "Wannabe" topped the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
for seven weeks and received a platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
certification by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
(BPI). In January 1997 it was released in the United States, topping the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
for four weeks. It was the group's only number-one single in that country. By the end of 1996, "Wannabe" had topped the charts in twenty-two nations, and by March 1997 this number had climbed to thirty-one. It became the best-selling single by a female group, selling over six million copies worldwide.
Background
In March 1994 father-and-son team BobBob Herbert (manager)
Robert “Bob” Herbert was an English talent manager. He was the original manager of the Spice Girls.-Early life:...
and Chris Herbert
Chris Herbert
Chris Herbert , is a talent manager who has helped overseen the careers of the Spice Girls, Five, Stephen Gately and Hear'Say...
, together with financer Chic Murphy, working under the business name of Heart Management, placed an advertisement in The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
, which asked the question: "Are you street smart, extrovert, ambitious, and able to sing and dance?" After receiving hundreds of replies, the management had narrowed their search to a group of five girls: Victoria Adams
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
, Melanie Brown
Melanie Brown
Melanie Janine "Scary Spice" Brown , often better known as Mel B, is an English pop singer-songwriter, actress, author and television presenter...
, Melanie Chisholm
Melanie Chisholm
Melanie Jayne Chisholm is an English singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman professionally known simply as Melanie C . She is best known as one of the five members of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice"...
, Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...
, and Michelle Stephenson
Michelle Stephenson
Michelle Stephenson is a British singer and TV presenter. At the age of 17 she was briefly a member of the English vocal girl group that would go on to become the Spice Girls...
. The group moved to a house in Maidenhead
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a town and unparished area within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London.-History:...
and received the name "Touch". Stephenson was eventually fired because she lacked the drive of the other group members. She was replaced by Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...
. In November, the group—now named "Spice"—persuaded their managers to set up a showcase
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
in front of industry writers, producers, and A&R men at the Nomis Studios in Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush
-Commerce:Commercial activity in Shepherd's Bush is now focused on the Westfield shopping centre next to Shepherd's Bush Central line station and on the many small shops which run along the northern side of the Green....
, London. Producer Richard Stannard, at the studio for a meeting with pop star Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan
Jason Donovan is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap opera Neighbours, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 million records, and his début album Ten Good Reasons was one of the highest-selling albums of 1989...
, attended in the showcase after hearing Brown, as she went charging across the corridor. Stannard recalls:
More than anything, they just made me laugh. I couldn't believe I'd walked into this situation. You didn't care if they were in time with the dance steps or whether one was overweight or one wasn't as good as the others. It was something more. It just made you feel happy. Like great pop records.
Stannard stayed behind after the showcase to talk to the group. He then reported to his songwriter partner, Matt Rowe, that he had found "the pop group of their dreams". Chris Herbert booked the group's first professional songwriting session with the producers at the Strongroom in Curtain Road, East London in January 1995. Rowe recalls feelings similar to Stannard's: "I love them. Immediately. [...] They were like no one I'd met before, really." The session was productive; Stannard and Rowe discussed the songwriting process with the group, and talked about what the group wanted to do on the record. In her autobiography, Brown recalls that the duo instinctively understood their point of view and knew how to incorporate "the spirit of five loud girls into great pop music".
Writing and inspiration
The first song the Spice Girls wrote with Stannard and Rowe was called "Feed Your Love", a slow and soulful song that was recorded and mastered for the group's debut albumSpice (album)
Spice is the debut album by British pop group Spice Girls. Released on November 4, 1996 by Virgin Records, the album was recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London between 1995 and 1996, by producers Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard, Eliot Kennedy and the production duo Absolute...
; the song was not used because it was considered too rude for the target audience. The group next proposed to write a track with an uptempo rhythm. Rowe set up a drum loop
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
on his MPC3000 drum machine. Its fast rhythm made Stannard remember the scene where John Travolta
John Travolta
John Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
and Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John
Olivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 solo albums. Eleven of her singles and 14 of her albums have been certified gold by the RIAA...
perform "You're the One That I Want
You're the One That I Want
"You're the One That I Want" is a song written by John Farrar for the 1978 film version of the musical Grease. It was performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John....
" in Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
. The group added their own contributions to the song, Rowe recalls:
They made all these different bits up, not thinking in terms of verse, chorus, bridge or what was going to go where, just coming up with all these sections of chanting, rapping and singing, which we recorded all higgledy-piggledy. And then we just sewed it together. It was rather like the way we'd been working on the dance remixes we'd been doing before. Kind of a cut-and-paste method.
"Wannabe" was written in thirty minutes—mainly because the group had written parts of the song beforehand—in what Brown describes as a "sudden creative frenzy". During the session, Brown and Bunton came up with the idea of including a rap near the end of the song. At this point the group got very motivated, and incorporated the word "zigazig-ha" into the lyrics. Chisholm told Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine: "You know when you're in a gang and you're having a laugh and you make up silly words? Well we were having a giggle and we made up this silly word, zigazig-ha. And we were in the studio and it all came together in this song".
Recording and production
While most of the other songs on the Spice album required two or three days of studio time, "Wannabe" was recorded in under an hour. The solo parts were divided between Brown, Bunton, Chisholm, and Halliwell. Beckham missed most of the writing session and communicated with the rest of the group on a mobile phone. In her autobiography Beckham wrote: "I just couldn't bear not being there. Because whatever they said about how it didn't matter, it did matter. Saying 'Yes, I like that' or 'Not sure about that' down the phone is not the same". She contributed backing vocalsBacking vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
and sings during the chorus. Rowe stayed up all night working on the song, and it was finished by morning.
The group parted with Heart Management in March 1995 because of their frustration with the management company's unwillingness to listen to their visions and ideas. The girls met with artist manager Simon Fuller
Simon Fuller
Simon Fuller is a British artist manager, television producer and creator of the Idol franchise, first seen as Pop Idol in the UK. Fuller is also the co-creator and executive producer of the Fox TV reality show So You Think You Can Dance and other U.S...
, who signed them with 19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment, based in Los Angeles, United States, is a creator and producer of entertainment properties based around the areas of Music and Television / Film, including American Idol in the United States, Pop Idol in the United Kingdom as well as versions of the Idol series in more than...
. The group considered a variety of record labels, and signed a deal with Virgin Records
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
in July. The original mix of "Wannabe" was considered lacklustre by the label's executives. Ashley Newton, who was in charge of A&R, sent the song to American producer Dave Way
Dave Way
Dave Way is a successful mixer, producer and audio engineer, based in Los Angeles, California. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Savage Garden, Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, Babyface, TLC, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Ziggy Marley,...
for remixing; the result was not what the group had hoped to achieve. As Halliwell later described it, "the result was bloody awful". She elaborated in her second autobiography, Just for the Record: "Right at the beginning of the Spice Girls, [...] Ashley Newton had tried to turn us into an R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
group. He sent "Wannabe" over to America to be remixed by some hot R&B producers. He brought us jungle versions
Oldschool jungle
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that incorporates influences from genres including breakbeat hardcore, and reggae/dub/dancehall. There is debate as to whether jungle is a separate genre from drum and bass as many use the terms interchangeably...
and hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
mixes and I hated them all. Although Mel B[rown] was a big fan of R&B, she agreed with me that these versions just didn't work so we exercised our Spice veto!" Fuller gave the song to audio engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
Mark "Spike" Stent
Mark Stent
Mark 'Spike' Stent is a British record producer, and audio engineer who has worked with The KLF, Björk, Keane, Depeche Mode, Muse, Erasure, Hard-Fi, Massive Attack, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Marilyn Manson, Pet Shop Boys, Dave Matthews, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, CSS, Beth Orton,...
, who thought that it was a "weird pop record". Stent remixed it in six hours, in what he described as "tightening it up" and "getting the vocals sounding really good".
Composition
"Wannabe" is a dance-popDance-pop
Dance-pop is dance-oriented pop music that originated in the early 1980s. Developing from post-disco, it is generally up-tempo music intended for clubs with the intention of being danceable or merely dancey...
song with influences of hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and rap
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
. Written in the key of B major
B major
In music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
, it is set in the time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
of common time and moves at a moderate tempo of 116 beats per minute. It uses the sequence B–D–E–A–A♯ as its chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
during the refrain, the chorus, and the bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
, and F♯–G♯m–E–B for the verses. The song is constructed in a verse-pre-chorus-chorus
Song structure (popular music)
The structures or musical forms of songs in popular music are typically sectional, repeating forms, such as strophic form. Other common forms include thirty-two-bar form, verse-chorus form, and the twelve bar blues...
form, with a rapped bridge before the third and final chorus. Musically, it is "energised" by a highly-syncopated
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
synthesised
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
riff, and by the way the repetitive lyrics and rhythm are highlighted during the bridge. "Wannabe" presents a different version of the traditional pop love song
Love song
A love song is about falling in love and the feelings it brings. Anthologies of love songs often contain a mixture of both of these types of song. A bawdy song is both humorous and saucy, emphasizing the physical pleasure of love rather than the emotional joy...
performed by females; its energic, self-assertive style expresses a confident independence that is not reliant on the male figure for its continuance.
The song opens with a laugh, followed by "undislodgeable piano notes". Over these notes, the first lines of the refrain are sung with spoken—almost shouted—vocals, in a call and response
Call and response (music)
In music, a call and response is a succession of two distinct phrases usually played by different musicians, where the second phrase is heard as a direct commentary on or response to the first...
interaction between Brown and Halliwell. The words "tell", "really" and " I wanna" are repeated, so that the vocal tone and lyrics build up an image of female self-assertion. The refrain ends with the word "zigazig-ha", a euphemism for female desire, which is ambiguously sexualised or broadly economic. The first verse follows; Chisholm, Bunton, Brown, and Halliwell sing one line individually, in that order. In this part, the lyrics have a pragmatic sense of control of the situation—"If you want my future, forget my past"—which, according to musicologist Sheila Whiteley, tap directly into the emotions of the young teenage audience.
During the chorus, the lyrics—"If you wanna be my lover/You gotta get with my friends"—address the value of female friendship over the heterosexual bond, while the ascending group of chords and the number of voices creates a sense of power that adds to the song's level of excitement. The same pattern occurs, leading to the second chorus. Towards the end, Brown raps the bridge, which serves as a presentation to each of the girls' personalities. The group repeats the chorus for the last time, ending the song with energetic refrains—"Slam your body down and wind it all around"—and the word "zigazig-ha".
Release and promotion
After signing the group, Virgin Records launched a major campaign for their debut song to promote them as the new high-profile act. There was a period of indecision about what song would be released as the first single; the label wanted to get everything right for the campaign, because the all-girl groupGirl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
format was untested. The group, led by Brown and Halliwell, was adamant that the debut song should be "Wannabe", they felt it served as an introduction to their personalities and the Girl Power
Girl Power
The phrase "girl power", as a term of empowerment, expressed a cultural phenomenon of the 1990s and early 2000s. It is also linked to third-wave feminism...
statement. Virgin's executives believed that the first single should be "Say You'll Be There
Say You'll Be There
"Say You'll Be There" is a song by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the Spice Girls and Eliot Kennedy, for their debut album Spice, released in November 1996. Production duo Absolute incorporated a mix of pop and R&B into the song, which includes an harmonica solo, played by Judd...
", which they considered a much "cooler" track. At the beginning of 1996 the impasse between the group and their record label about the release of the single was temporarily solved. In March, Fuller announced that he agreed with Virgin in that "Wannabe" should not be the first single. The label wanted a song that appealed to the mainstream market, and nothing considered too radical. Halliwell was shocked and furious; she told Fuller, "It's not negotiable as far as we're concerned. 'Wannabe' is our first single." Fuller and the executives at Virgin relented, and the song was chosen as their first single.
The trigger for the Spice Girls' launch was the release of the "Wannabe" music video in May 1996. Its quick success on the British cable network The Box sparked press interest, despite initial resistance to the all-girl group idea. The same month, their first music press interviews appeared in Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...
, Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops (magazine)
Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly publication published by BBC Magazines. It features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizzes, song lyrics and posters. It is a supplementary magazine for the TV show Top of the Pops....
, and Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
, and their first live TV slot was broadcast on LWT
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
's Surprise Surprise. A month after the video's release, the song was receiving intensive airplay on the main radios stations across the UK, while the group started to appear on television—mainly on kid's programmes such as Live & Kicking
Live & Kicking
Live & Kicking was a BBC Saturday morning children's magazine programme, running from 1993 to 2001. The fourth in a succession of Saturday morning shows, it was the replacement for Going Live!, and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, comedy, competitions and the showing of...
—and doing interviews and photo shoots for teen magazines. A full-page advertisement appeared in the July issue of Smash Hits, saying: "Wanted: Anyone with a sense of fun, freedom and adventure. Hold tight, get ready! Girl Power is comin' at you". The group appeared on the television programme This Morning with Richard and Judy
This Morning (TV series)
This Morning is a British daytime television programme broadcast on ITV. As of September 2011, its main presenters are Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, and Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes, with various other presenters standing in for illness or contributing to sections of the programme.The...
, and performed at their first Radio One
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
road show in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
.
"Wannabe" was released in the United Kingdom on 8 July 1996 in two single versions. The first one, released in two formats—a standard CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
and a cassette single
Cassette single
A cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette.- History :...
—included the radio edit of the track, the Motiv 8 vocal slam remix, and the B-side, "Bumper to Bumper". The group wrote "Bumper to Bumper" with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriter-production duo known as Absolute
Absolute (production team)
Absolute are a music production team responsible for a number of hits in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century.-History:Absolute was formed in 1988, by Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins after they met at university and decided to pursue a career in music...
—and British singer-songwriter Cathy Dennis
Cathy Dennis
Cathy Dennis is a British dance-oriented pop singer-songwriter, record producer and actress...
. The second version, released on maxi single format, featured the radio edit, an instrumental version, the Motiv 8 dub slam remix, and the Dave Way
Dave Way
Dave Way is a successful mixer, producer and audio engineer, based in Los Angeles, California. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Savage Garden, Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, Babyface, TLC, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Ziggy Marley,...
alternative mix. This version came with a fold-out postcard inlay and a stickered case.
During the weeks following the UK release, the group began promotional visits abroad. They did three trips to Japan and brief visits to Germany and the Netherlands. On a trip to the Far East, they visited Hong Kong, Thailand, and South Korea. In January 1997 they traveled to North America to do a promotional campaign that Phil Quartararo, president of Virgin Records America, described as "absolutely massive". During their visit to the US, the group met with influential radio programmers, TV networks, and magazines. In addition, Virgin persuaded fifty radio stations to playlist the song before it was released, while the music video was placed into heavy rotation by MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
.
Critical response
"Wannabe" received mixed reviews from music critics. Following its release in the UK, reaction to the song was mostly negative. Paul GormanPaul Gorman
Paul Gorman is an English writer.-Career:From 1978, Gorman worked on weekly news for trade publications. In 1983, Gorman won the Periodical Publishers Association award for campaigning journalism for a series of investigative food industry articles and in 1990 was appointed west coast bureau chief...
of Music Week
Music Week
Music Week is a trade paper for the UK record industry.Founded in 1959 as Record Retailer, it was relaunched on 18 March 1972 as Music Week . On 17 January 1981 the title was again changed, owing to the increasing importance of sell-through videos, to Music & Video Week...
called the group "smart, witty, abrasive and downright fun". He described the song as a "R&B-lite debut single", and noted influences from Neneh Cherry
Neneh Cherry
Neneh Mariann Cherry is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, and occasional DJ and broadcaster...
in it. In a review conducted by the British pop band Deuce
Deuce (band)
Deuce were a British pop group that found success in the mid 1990s. A two male, two female quartet, they released four Top 30 singles in the UK charts during 1995 and 1996, before splitting up in 1997.-Career:...
for Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
magazine, the group described "Wannabe" as "limp", "awful", and "not strong enough for a debut single". Kate Thornton
Kate Thornton
Kate Thornton is an English journalist and television presenter. Early in her career, she was notable for her articles at the Daily Mirror and for her role as editor of Smash Hits magazine...
, editor of Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops (magazine)
Top of the Pops magazine is a monthly publication published by BBC Magazines. It features chart information, star gossip, fashion and beauty advice, quizzes, song lyrics and posters. It is a supplementary magazine for the TV show Top of the Pops....
magazine, commented that the all-girl group idea was "not going to happen"; she considered it too threatening. In her review for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Caroline Sullivan called it a combination of "cute hip pop and a vaguely feminist lyric", she was also surprised that "considering the slightness of 'Wannabe'", the group had an overwhelming amount of offers from record companies. The NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
characterized the song as "a combined force of Bananarama
Bananarama
Bananarama are an English female pop duo who have had success on the pop and dance charts since 1982. Rather than relying on a two part harmony, the duo generally sings in unison, as do their background vocalists. Although there have been line-up changes, the group enjoyed their most popular...
, Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
and Shampoo
Shampoo (band)
Shampoo were a British all-girl band in the 1990s, formed by Jacqui Blake and Caroline "Carrie" Askew. They were most famous for their hit song, "Trouble".-History:...
rolled into one." Dele Fadele of the same magazine called the rap during the song's bridge "annoying", and added that the group's music "It's not good. It's not clever. But it's fun". The magazine named "Wannabe" the worst single of the year at the 1997 NME Awards
NME Awards
The NME Awards is an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine, NME .The first awards show was held in 1953 as the NME Poll Winners Concerts, shortly after the founding of the magazine....
. Conversely, it won for Best Single at the 1997 BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
, and for International Hit Of The Year and Best British-Written Single at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Cardiff born entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They are presented annually in London by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and were first introduced in 1955.Nicknamed The Ivors, the awards take place...
presented by the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. In October 2011, the NME placed it at number 111 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
In the US, reaction to the song was mixed. In a review of the group's debut album, Edna Gundersen
Edna Gundersen
Edna Gundersen is an American journalist who is a longtime music writer and critic for USA Today.Gundersen grew up in El Paso, Texas. She attained a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and then wrote features and entertainment news for the El Paso Times from 1977 to 1987...
of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
said that "Wannabe" is "a melodious but disposable tune that typifies this debut's tart bubblegum and packaged sexiness". Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
of the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
called it "insidiously snappy, [...] [that] is shaping up as this year's "Macarena
Macarena (song)
"Macarena" is a Spanish dance song by Los del Río about a woman of the same name. Appearing on the 1994 album A mí me gusta, it was an international hit between 1995 and 1996, and continues to have a cult following. It was ranked the "#1 Greatest One-Hit Wonder of all Time" by VH1 in 2002.The song...
". Karla Peterson of The San Diego Union-Tribune
The San Diego Union-Tribune
-Predecessors:The predecessor newspapers of the Union-Tribune were:* San Diego Sun, founded 1861 and merged with the Evening Tribune in 1939.* San Diego Union, founded October 10, 1868.* Evening Tribune, founded December 2, 1895.-Ownership:...
said that "'Wannabe' has UGH written all over it", adding that it is "relentlessly catchy and horrifyingly hummable". The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area, and the area's only daily newspaper. It is the only newspaper owned by Berkshire Hathaway.-History:...
Anthony Violanti called it "irresistible". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
described it as a "maniacally zippy single", and Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
referred to it as an "unapologetically sassy dance hit". Melissa Ruggieri of the Richmond Times-Dispatch
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The Richmond Times-Dispatch is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond the capital of Virginia, United States, and is commonly considered the "newspaper of record" for events occurring in much of the state...
commented that "based on their efficacious American debut single, [...] the Spice Girls might be expected to deliver more of that zingy pop on their debut album", but she felt that "aside from 'Wannabe', the album's dance tracks are color-by-numbers bland". Larry Flick of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine said that "fans of the more edgy girl-group [...] may find this single too fluffy", but added that "everyone else with a love of tasty pop hooks
Hook (music)
A hook is a musical idea, often a short riff, passage, or phrase, that is used in popular music to make a song appealing and to "catch the ear of the listener". The term generally applies to popular music, especially rock music, hip hop, dance music, and pop. In these genres, the hook is often...
, lyrical positivity, and jaunty rhythms is going to be humming this single for months to come".
Some reviewers noticed the combination of musical genres. Christina Kelly from Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine criticized the group's image, and added that their songs, including "Wannabe", were "a watered-down mix of hip-hop and cheesy pop balladry, brought together by a manager with a marketing concept". Matt Diehl of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said that it was "more a compendium of music styles (from ABBA
ABBA
ABBA was a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1970 which consisted of Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Agnetha Fältskog...
-style choruses to unconvincing hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
) than an actual song", and Sara Scribner of the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
described it as "a bubblegum hip-hop confection of rapping lifted off Neneh Cherry and Monie Love
Monie Love
Simone Riscoe , better known by her stage name Monie Love, is an English emcee and former radio personality in the United States...
albums". Charles Aaron of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
magazine called it "a quickie, mid-'80s teen paperback come to life [...] so gooey it melts in your hands, not in your mouth". The song ranked at fifteenth on Village Voice's 1997 "Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
" critics' poll, conducted by music journalist Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
.
Contemporary reviews from critics were mostly positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic said that "none of the girls have great voices, but they do exude personality and charisma, which is what drives bouncy dance-pop like 'Wannabe', with its ridiculous 'zig-a-zig-ahhh' hook, into pure pop guilty pleasure". Dam Cairns of The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
said that the song "leaves a bad taste in the mouth: [because] the true legacy of Girl Power is, arguably, a preteen clothing industry selling crop tops and other minimal garments to young girls", but added that it "remains the same two minutes and 53 seconds of pop perfection that it ever was". In a review of their Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Spice Girls album)
-Background:The plan to reform and release a greatest hits had long been speculated by the media, but its planned release was first confirmed by Melanie Brown in June 2005. Speaking just before a planned reunion for Live 8 , she stated: "We'll get back together because we all want to. I know...
album, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said that after ten years it "still sound reasonably fresh", while Digital Spy
Digital Spy
Digital Spy is a British entertainment and media news website. According to Alexa Internet traffic statistics, as of February 2011, Digital Spy is the 93rd most popular website in the United Kingdom, with an overall Alexa ranking of 2,088....
's Nick Levine said that "Wannabe" still remained an "exuberant calling card". In 2010, Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio
AOL Radio
AOL Radio powered by Slacker, , is an online radio service available only in the United States.- Roots :...
ranked the song at number twelve on his "100 Worst Songs Ever" list, exclaiming, "You know what we want? What we really, really want? A time machine, a map of England, five muzzles and glue."
Chart performance
As part of Virgin's strategy to make the group an international act, "Wannabe" was released in Japan and Southeast Asia two weeks before the British release. After the song was placed into heavy rotation on FM stations in Japan, the Spice Girls made promotional tours in May, July, and September 1996. The group received major press and TV exposure, appearing in programmes such as Space Shower. The single was released by Toshiba EMI on 26 June 1996, and sold 100,000 copies by October 1996."Wannabe" debuted on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
at number three, six days after its physical release, and climbed to number one the next week. It spent seven weeks at the top, the second-longest stay by an all-female group, only behind Shakespears Sister
Shakespears Sister
Shakespears Sister/Shakespear's Sister is a British-based synth-pop-rock band formed by Irish-born singer–songwriter Siobhan Fahey in 1988, with plaudits including a BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award. It was Fahey's first musical outing since leaving Bananarama, and initially a solo project...
's "Stay". With eighteen weeks in the top forty and twenty-six weeks in the top seventy-five, it sold over 1.267 million copies, becoming the second-biggest selling single of the year, and the biggest-selling single by a female group in the UK.
"Wannabe" was commercially successful in the rest of Europe. On 14 September 1996 the song reached the top of Eurochart Hot 100, where it stayed for nine consecutive weeks, when it was replaced by the group's second single, "Say You'll Be There
Say You'll Be There
"Say You'll Be There" is a song by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the Spice Girls and Eliot Kennedy, for their debut album Spice, released in November 1996. Production duo Absolute incorporated a mix of pop and R&B into the song, which includes an harmonica solo, played by Judd...
". "Wannabe" topped the singles charts in Belgium (both the Flemish and French charts), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, and peaked inside the top five in Austria and Italy. The song was a success in Oceania. In Australia, it debuted at number forty-five, reached the top of the ARIA Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
for eleven weeks, and ended at number five on the 1996 year-end chart. In New Zealand, it debuted on 1 September 1996 at number thirty-eight, reaching the top position ten weeks later. "Wannabe" also topped the singles charts in Hong Kong and Israel.
"Wannabe" was released in North America in January 1997. In Canada, it debuted at the eighty-ninth position of the RPM
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
singles chart, peaked at nine in its eighth week, and ended at number sixty-eight on the year-end chart. The song performed better on the dance chart, where it reached the top for three weeks, and ended at the top of the year-end chart. In the US, the song debuted on 25 January 1997 at number eleven. At the time, this was the highest-ever debut by a British act, beating the record previously held by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
for "I Want to Hold Your Hand
I Want to Hold Your Hand
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, and recorded in October 1963, it was the first Beatles record to be made using four-track equipment....
" at number twelve. It reached the top of the chart in its fifth week, and stayed there for four consecutive weeks simultaneously with the group's fourth single ("Mama
Mama (Spice Girls song)
"Mama" is a song by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, and produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996...
"/"Who Do You Think You Are
Who Do You Think You Are
"Who Do You Think You Are" is a dance-pop song performed by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins,—also known as Absolute—for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996. The song is heavily influenced by early 1990s...
") being at number one in the UK. "Wannabe" reached the sixth position of the Hot 100 Airplay
Hot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...
chart, and topped the Hot 100 Singles Sales
Hot 100 Singles Sales
The Hot Singles Sales chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures sales of commercial singles and is one of three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Airplay and the Hot Digital Songs, that determine the chart positions of singles on the...
chart for four consecutive weeks, selling over 1.8 million copies as of September 2000. It peaked at four on the Mainstream Top 40
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)
The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...
, and was a crossover
Crossover (music)
Crossover is a term applied to musical works or performers appearing on two or more of the record charts which track differing musical tastes, or genres...
success, topping the Rhythmic Top 40
Rhythmic Airplay Chart
The Rhythmic Airplay Chart is an airplay chart that is featured weekly in Billboard Magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on Rhythmic stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic pop, and some Dance tracks...
, peaking at fifteen on the Hot Dance Club Play and at nine on the Hot Dance Singles Sales
Hot Dance Singles Sales
Hot Dance Singles Sales is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States, established in 1985. It measures the sale of commercially released singles that deal with dance music and remixes...
chart.
Music video
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen Group is a German multinational automobile manufacturing group. , Volkswagen was ranked as the world’s third largest motor vehicle manufacturer and Europe's largest....
, Diesel, and Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
. His original concept for the video was a one-take shoot of the group arriving at an exotic building in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, taking over the place, and running a riot—the same way they did when they were looking for a manager and a record company. A few days before the shoot on 19 April 1996, Camitz was unable to get permission to use the building, and the shoot was relocated to the Midland Grand Hotel
St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel
St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel is a hotel in London, England, adjacent to St Pancras railway station. It opened in March 2011 occupying parts of the former Midland Grand Hotel , including the main public rooms, together with a new bedroom wing on the western side of the Barlow train-shed...
in St Pancras, London
St Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
.
The video features the group running, singing, dancing, and creating mischief at an eccentric bohemian party. Among their antics is Chisholm's back handspring
Handspring (gymnastics)
A handspring is an acrobatic move in which a person executes a complete revolution of the body by lunging headfirst from an upright position into a handstand and then pushing off from the floor with the hands so as to leap back to an upright position. Handsprings are performed in various physical...
on one of the tables. Because the video needed to be taken in one shot, the group rehearsed the routine several times through the night, while a steadycam operator followed them. About the experience, Halliwell wrote: "The video I remember as being very chaotic and cold. It wasn't very controlled—we didn't want it to be. We wanted the camera to capture the madness of the Spice Girls". Virgin's executives were horrified with the final result: "the girls were freezing cold, which showed itself in various different ways", Ashley Newton recalled. The video was later banned in some parts of Asia because of Brown's erect nipples. Additionally, the lighting was considered too dark and gloomy; the best takes showed the girls bumping with the furniture and looking behind them. Virgin was concerned that old people appeared on the video, the part when they jump up on the table, and Halliwell's showgirl outfit would be considered too threatening by music channels. Virgin immediately opened discussions about a re-shoot of the video or creating an alternate one for the US, but the group refused. The video was sent for trial airing in its original form.
When the music video first appeared on the British cable network The Box, it was selected so frequently that it reached the top of the viewers' chart within two hours of going on air, and stayed at number one for thirteen weeks. It was aired up to seventy times a week at its peak and became the most requested track in the channel's history. The video won Best Dance Video
MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video
The MTV Video Music Award for Best Dance Video was first awarded in 1989, and it was one of the original four genre categories that were added to the MTV Video Music Awards that year. With a revamp of the awards in 2007, the category was cut out along with several others, yet it returned for the...
at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards
1997 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1997, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1996, to June 16, 1997. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.-Video of the Year:* Beck — "The New Pollution"...
, and Best Video at the 1997 Comet Media Awards. It was also nominated for Best British Video at the 1997 BRIT Awards
1997 BRIT Awards
The 1997 BRIT Awards were the 17th edition of the biggest annual pop music awards in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 24 February 1997 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London.-Live performers:...
, and was ranked at number forty-one in the Top 100 Pop Videos of all time by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
Live performances
The Spice Girls were in Japan when "Wannabe" went to number one in the UK. The group made their first appearance on Top of the PopsTop of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
by satellite link from Tokyo, where they used a local temple as a backdrop for their mimed performance
Lip-synching in music
Lip-synching in music is "moving the lips in synchronization with [pre-]recorded speech or song" to give the appearance of a 'live' performance. It is generally considered dishonest, though some producers argue that it needs to be done in some performance contexts...
. They have performed the song several more times on the show, including the programme's 1996 Christmas special. It was performed many times on television, in both Europe and the US, including An Audience with...
An Audience with...
An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by ITV Studios, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.The show began as An...
, the Bravo Supershow
Bravo (magazine)
Bravo is the largest teen magazine within the German-language sphere. The first issue was published in 1956, subtitled as "the magazine for film and television" . Marilyn Monroe's portrait graced the first published issue, the never-published dummy issue cover displayed Elvis Presley.-History:The...
, Sorpresa ¡Sorpresa!, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
, and Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
. The performance at Saturday Night Live on 12 April 1997 was the first time the group performed "Wannabe" with a live band—their previous performances have all been either lip-synched or sung to a recorded backing track
Backing track
A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
.
The group performed it at awards ceremonies such as the 1996 Smash Hits! Awards
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
, the 1996 Irish Music Awards, the 1997 BRIT Awards, and the 1997 Channel V Music Awards
Channel V
Channel [V] is the brand name for multiple international music television networks owned by STAR TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation.-Channel [V] International:...
held in New Delhi, where they wore Indian costumes and entered the stage in auto rickshaw
Auto rickshaw
An auto rickshaw or three-wheeler is a usually three-wheeled cabin cycle for private use and as a vehicle for hire. It is a motorized version of the traditional pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw...
s. In October 1997 the group performed "Wannabe" as the last song of their first live concert at the Abdi İpekçi Arena
Abdi Ipekçi Arena
Abdi İpekçi Arena, formerly known as Abdi İpekçi Sports Complex, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul, Turkey, situated just outside of the ancient city walls in Yedikule. Opened in 1986 after many years of interrupted construction, it is named after the...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey. The performance was broadcast on Showtime in a pay-per-view event titled Spice Girls In Concert Wild!, and was later included in the VHS and DVD release Girl Power! Live in Istanbul
Girl Power! Live in Istanbul
Girl Power! Live In Istanbul was the first set of major concerts by the British pop group, The Spice Girls, in 1997. The concerts, organised by Pepsi as part of the group's sponsorship deal, were performed at the Abdi İpekçi Arena on October 12 and 13 in Istanbul, Turkey.The VHS release does not...
.
The Spice Girls have performed the song on their three tours, the Spiceworld Tour
Spiceworld Tour
The Spiceworld Tour was a concert tour performed by the British Europop group the Spice Girls in support of their second album Spiceworld which was the soundtrack to their feature film Spiceworld: The Movie. The sell-out European/North American tour ran from February to August 1998, after which it...
, the Christmas In Spiceworld Tour
Christmas In Spiceworld Tour
The Christmas in Spiceworld Tour was a concert tour performed by the British pop group the Spice Girls. It came after the Spiceworld Tour and before the Return of the Spice Girls World Tour .-History and general information:...
, and the Return of the Spice Girls. After Halliwell left the band at the end of the European leg of the Spiceworld Tour, her parts were replaced by Chisholm (refrain), Beckham (verses), and Bunton (bridge). The performance at the tour's final concert can be found on the video Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium
Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium
Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium is the DVD of pop band Spice Girls' tour, Spiceworld Tour, in 1998. The show was recorded at Wembley Stadium on the 20th of September and was released on the 24th of November, 1998. The show was recorded after Geri Halliwell left the band...
, filmed in London, on 20 September 1998.
Cover versions
"Wannabe" has been covered by numerous artists both in albums and live performances. In 1998 American retro-satirist duo The Lounge-O-Leers did a kitschKitsch
Kitsch is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that...
y, lounge
Lounge music
Lounge music is a retrospective description of music popular in the 1950s and 1960s. It is a type of mood music meant to evoke in the listeners the feeling of being in a place — a jungle, an island paradise, outer space, et cetera — other than where they are listening to it...
-inspired rendition of "Wannabe" for their debut album, Experiment in Terror. British intelligent dance music
Intelligent dance music
Intelligent dance music is a term that describes an electronic music genre that emerged in the early 1990s. The genre is influenced by a wide range of musical styles particularly electronic dance music such as Detroit Techno...
producer µ-Ziq recorded a cover for his fourth album, Lunatic Harness
Lunatic Harness
Lunatic Harness is the fourth album by British intelligent dance music producer µ-Ziq. It was released on 30 June 1997 in the UK on the Planet Mu label, and on 29 July 1997 in the U.S. on the Astralwerks label. It is the follow-up to In Pine Effect...
. The London Double Bass Sound recorded an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
version in 1999, a dance
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
remix was recorded by Jan Stevens, Denise Nejame, and Sybersound for the 1997 album Sybersound Dance Mixes, Vol. 2, while an electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
version was recorded by the Street Girls for the 2005 album The World of Hits of the 80's. In 1999 the song was used in "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
's polka medley, "Polka Power!", for his tenth album, Running with Scissors
Running with Scissors (album)
Running with Scissors is the 10th studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 29, 1999. The album contains the hit single "The Saga Begins", a parody of Don McLean's song "American Pie".-Details:...
.
Covers of the song in a punk style include a thrash parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
version by British punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Snuff
Snuff (band)
Snuff are a British punk rock band formed in Hendon in 1986. Their name reportedly came about after a long discussion about names ended up with one of them claiming "That's Enough", which was then shortened to Snuff...
for their 1998 EP, Schminkie Minkie Pinkie, a punk rock version by Dutch band Heideroosjes
Heideroosjes
Heideroosjes , is a punk rock band from Horst aan de Maas, Netherlands. The band is known for their energetic shows and songs with lyrics mostly in Dutch and English, and a few songs in German and Limburgs...
for their 1999 album, Schizo
Schizo (album)
Schizo is the fifth official studio album by the Heideroosjes. The album has a mix of English and Dutch songs, which are mostly political. It contains a Spice Girls cover "Wannabe". The Heideroosjes play this song as a mocking statement at their live shows...
, and a pop punk
Pop punk
Pop punk is a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. Allmusic describes the genre as a strand of alternative rock, which typically merges pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and loud guitars...
cover by Zebrahead
Zebrahead
Zebrahead is an American punk rock band from Orange County, California, which fuses elements of Rapcore, Pop Punk, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal, and Funk Metal.-1996–98: Formation:...
for their 2004 EP, Waste of MFZB
Waste of MFZB
Waste of MFZB is the fifth studio album released by American punk rock band Zebrahead exclusively in Japan, it is also their final album with band member Justin Mauriello, who left the group shortly afterwards....
. Covers in live performances includes a punk version by Australian duo The Veronicas
The Veronicas
The Veronicas are an Australian electrorock, pop-punk and rock band. Twin sisters Jessica and Lisa Origliasso formed the band in 1999 in Brisbane. They have their own line of clothing which was released in 2007....
, and another from American rock band Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
. In 2005 "Wannabe" was covered and included in the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
of Disney
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
's animated film Chicken Little
Chicken Little (2005 film)
Chicken Little is a 2005 computer-animated science fiction family comedy film loosely based on the fable The Sky Is Falling. It was the 46th animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation...
.
Formats and track listing
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Wannabe":- UK CD1/Australian CD/Brazilian CD/European CD/Japanese CD
- "Wannabe" (Radio Edit) – 2:52
- "Bumper to Bumper" – 3:43
- "Wannabe" (Vocal Slam) – 6:20
- UK CD2
- "Wannabe" (Radio Edit) – 2:52
- "Wannabe" (Dave WayDave WayDave Way is a successful mixer, producer and audio engineer, based in Los Angeles, California. He has worked with Fiona Apple, Sheryl Crow, Pink, Christina Aguilera, Macy Gray, Ringo Starr, Shakira, Savage Garden, Michael Jackson, Spice Girls, Babyface, TLC, Toni Braxton, Boyz II Men, Ziggy Marley,...
Alternative Mix) – 3:27 - "Wannabe" (Dub Slam) – 6:25
- "Wannabe" (Instrumental) – 2:52
- European 2-track CD/US CD
- "Wannabe" (Single Edit) – 2:52
- "Bumper to Bumper" – 3:43
- UK Cassette/Australian Cassette
- "Wannabe" (Radio Edit) – 2:52
- "Bumper to Bumper" – 3:43
- "Wannabe" (Vocal Slam) – 6:20
- European 12" Vinyl Single
- A1 "Wannabe" (Vocal Slam) – 6:20
- B1 "Wannabe" (Dub Slam) – 6:25
- B2 "Wannabe" (Instrumental Slam) – 6:20
- US 12" Vinyl Single
- A1: "Wannabe" (Junior VasquezJunior VasquezJunior Vasquez, , is an American club DJ and remixer/producer.-Career:...
12" Club Mix) – 9:20 - A2: "Wannabe" (Vocal Slam) – 6:20
- B1: "Wannabe" (Junior Vasquez Club Dub) – 9:20
- B2: "Wannabe" (Dub Slam) – 6:25
- B3: "Wannabe" (Single Edit) – 2:52
- Digital EP
- "Wannabe" (Radio Edit) – 2:54
- "Bumper to Bumper" – 3:42
- "Wannabe" (Motiv 8 Dubslam Mix) – 6:25
- "Wannabe" (Motiv 8 Vocal Slam Mix) – 6:21
- "Wannabe" (Dave Way Alternative Mix) – 3:25
- "Wannabe" (Instrumental) – 2:52
Credits and personnel
- Spice Girls – lyricsLyricistA lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Matt Rowe – lyrics, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and programmingProgramming (music)Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock... - Richard Stannard – lyrics, producer, keyboards and programming
- Mark "Spike" StentMark StentMark 'Spike' Stent is a British record producer, and audio engineer who has worked with The KLF, Björk, Keane, Depeche Mode, Muse, Erasure, Hard-Fi, Massive Attack, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Marilyn Manson, Pet Shop Boys, Dave Matthews, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, CSS, Beth Orton,...
– audio mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Adrian Bushby – recording engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Patrick McGovern – assistant
Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd/PolyGram Music Publishing Ltd.
Chart positions
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
2 |
| Belgian Ultratop 50 (Flanders) Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
1 |
| Belgian Ultratop 40 (Wallonia) Ultratop 40 Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization... |
1 |
| Danish Singles Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
1 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
1 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 1 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 1 |
| French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
1 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
1 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
1 |
| Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
4 |
| Japanese Singles Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
50 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
1 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart VG-lista VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by... |
1 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
1 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
1 |
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
9 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
1 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play | 15 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart... |
4 |
| US Billboard Rhythmic Top 40 Rhythmic Airplay Chart The Rhythmic Airplay Chart is an airplay chart that is featured weekly in Billboard Magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on Rhythmic stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic pop, and some Dance tracks... |
1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 5 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 19 |
| Belgian Ultratop 50 (Flanders) | 12 |
| Belgian Ultratop 40 (Wallonia) | 11 |
| Dutch Singles Charts | 11 |
| French Singles Chart | 6 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 18 |
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
| Canadian RPM Singles Chart | 68 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 10 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | 32 |
Certifications
| Country | Provider | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
2× Platinum |
| France | SNEP | Diamond |
| Germany | BVMI Bundesverband Musikindustrie The Bundesverband Musikindustrie or simply BVMI represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 350 labels and music industry related enterprises.... |
Gold |
| Japan | RIAJ Recording Industry Association of Japan The Recording Industry Association of Japan is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved the music industry... |
Gold |
| Netherlands | NVPI NVPI The NVPI is the Dutch tradeassociation of the entertainment industry... |
Gold |
| Norway | IFPI | Platinum |
| Sweden | GLF Swedish Recording Industry Association Grammofonleverantörernas förening , or the Swedish Recording Industry Association in English, is an organization representing the music recording industry of Sweden... |
Gold |
| Switzerland | IFPI | Gold |
| United Kingdom | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Platinum |
| United States | RIAA | Platinum |