By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
November 21, 2000
What the Spice Girls want–what they really, really want–is another hit album.
But if early sales reports are any indication, their latest record “Forever” isn’t going to cut it.
Just three years after their debut album “Spice” charted at No. 6 and went triple platinum in three weeks, “Forever” barely made it into the Top 40 of the U.S. pop charts.
“Forever,” released Nov. 7, debuted at No. 39. It was supposed to mark the Spice Girls’ foray back into the pop world. But as of Nov. 12, the cheeky girl group has sold just 40,000 copies of the album, according to SoundScan. Compare that with the 543,000 units sold by Chicago’s R&B star R. Kelly in the same time period.
Although the R&B-tinged single “Holler” is popular on dance-pop radio stations, including Chicago’s WBBM-FM (96.3), that enthusiasm has not transferred to the album.
The Spice Girls’ fame preceded the boy band craze and the glut of blond, teenage singers led by Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. And while the Girls, who are still in their 20s, are hardly rock ‘n’ roll fossils, their young, female audience appears to have moved on to newer acts.
“When you’re a group like the Spice Girls that relies on a young fan base, you tend to run into a wall at some point,” says Geoff Mayfield, director of charts at Billboard magazine. “Compared to where they were three years ago, the Spice Girls aren’t doing very well. At one point, they had two albums in the Top 10.
“But I think that they actually debuted fairly high with this album. I don’t know how many other artists who are fueled by a young fan base would be able to do that three years after their prime.”
The Spice Girls have experienced their own share of drama over the past couple of years. Original member Ginger Spice (a k a Geri Halliwell) quit to go solo. Her album tanked. Sporty Spice (Melanie Chisholm) put out a solo flop of her own while fighting off rumors about her sexuality. Scary Spice (Melanie Brown) got married, had a baby and dumped her husband. And Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) got married, had a baby and lost so much weight that rumors of anorexia surround her.
Then there’s their sound. While the previous records conveyed giddy pop, “Forever” was produced by R&B specialists including Rodney Jerkins, who tried to give the band a more serious musical image.
“Whether or not the album will be able to sustain a shelf life will depend on how well they do getting airplay at radio stations,” says Mayfield. “The songs of theirs that I’ve heard belong on hip-hop stations, and I don’t know that they want to play the Spice Girls.
“I happen to find `Holler’ appealing, and I don’t recall saying that about any of their other records.”
All Saints: Think Spice Girls, only sexier and more urban. Singer Nicole Appleton is expecting a child with Oasis’ Liam Gallagher (see below).
BB Mak: The U.K. equivalent of 98 Degrees.
Blur: Superb British rockers best known here for feuding with Oasis.
Boyzone: Irish boy band that causes as much commotion as the Backstreet Boys … in England, that is.
London Suede: Highly hyped, never played on U.S. radio.
Oasis: “Wonderwall” was supposed to get the ball rolling for this Manchester group that proclaimed loud (and often) that it was the best band in the world.
Placebo: Best known for a cameo role in “Velvet Goldmine.”
Pulp: “Common People” made the musicians heroes in Europe. Here, the common people couldn’t pick singer Jarvis Cocker out of a lineup.
Robbie Williams: The bad boy of Take That (see below), Williams was the equivalent of Donnie Wahlberg from the New Kids on the Block. Then he recorded a couple of critically acclaimed albums.
Ronan Keating: The former frontman for Boyzone has gone solo, which only ups the “huh?” factor here.
Take That: Dewy, defunct boy band that spawned Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow.
Texas: Scottish band fronted by Sharleen Spiteri, who has the best voice since Chrissie Hynde.
Westlife: Irish boy band partially managed by Boyzone’s Ronan Keating had a minor hit here with “Swear It Again.” Their first seven singles went straight to No. 1 in the U.K.
