Comments on: The Freaky Trigger Top 100 Tracks Of All Time No. 49

By: Pete Baran

Pete Baran — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 17:21:47 +0000

Eternal came from the US black music girl group mould, with the UK sensibility of why shouldn’t we have a white girl in the band (answer you won’t break America). All Saints were the reverse.

It proves nothing, of course, but I may have to refer to the truthiness of what I was saying before admitting its a load of toss and wishing I’d let Kat write about the Union Jack dress, which would have been better!

By: Marcello Carlin

Marcello Carlin — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:55:58 +0000

Even on a nineties Brit basis, Eternal (Take That) and ZTT-era All Saints (East 17) precede the Spices.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:39:52 +0000

If I do that, then you’ll find a loophole and then I’ll lose!

(Mumble mumble, break out for verses, tight harmonies for chorus - not a selling feature of Spice Girls or (good) post Spice Girls girl band.)

I could also play the lead and back-up card.

By: Marcello Carlin

Marcello Carlin — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:22:12 +0000

Define the harmonies card which I’m sure you’ve just invented.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:12:54 +0000

I disagree and play the harmonies card.

But yes, girls vs boys as ever.

By: Marcello Carlin

Marcello Carlin — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:23:30 +0000

I think you’ll find that the Andrews Sisters, perhaps preceded by the Boswell Sisters, invented the international model for girl groups some sixty years previously (and the boy band parenthesis also stands here since they were marketed as a direct complement to the likes of the Rhythm Boys).

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:10:50 +0000

Clearly the phrase “the pop girl group did not exist before the Spice Girls” was there to take the rise, but I maintain it is broadly true. Even if we take Banararama as predecessors, they stumbled into their popdom via an early post-punk stumblings (they supported the Jam after all).

Clearly elsewhere on FT we are talking about The Three Degrees, and girl groups existed in that context (and continued to via En Vogue and Destiny’s Child - though DC owe the Spice Girls something*), but the absolute power of the Spice Girls did basically invent the - OK British - model which would then be ploughed. But it also invented a potential international model.

As for the “personalities”, the longest lasting upshot of that was that we did not have to remember their rather dull names (two MELANIES!)

*Probably Independent Woman.

By: Andrew Farrell

Andrew Farrell — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:22:48 +0000

The pop girl group (as response to Boy band) did not exist before the Spice Girls

I think you have to add ‘in Britain’ before this makes any sense, and I’m not sure that it makes a lot of sense even then.

the tabloids had already decided, christened and set their personalities in aspic.

Yes, certainly the girls did all they could to shake the Baby/Scary/Posh/Ginger/Sporty tags.

By: Kat

Kat — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:48:06 +0000

I almost wrote up this one, as it’s one of my favourite tracks in the history of ever. It’s my favourite Spice Girls track - it’s totally their Relight My Fire: disco whirlwind that gives you a massive slap round the face and leaves you totally exhausted by the end. Dudes, this was the Union Jack Dress song! Gobsmackingly amazing.

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:37:18 +0000

ha ha at non-smiling Posh

their new one reminded me how rubbish they could be