Hold On To Your Knickers, Girls…BABY GOT BACK!
25 years ago, Emma Lee Bunton joined a girl group called Touch, and was the one who replaced Michelle Stephenson as she didn’t gel with the other 4 members. Emma completed the line-up that would evolve into the Spice Girls. There’s not much point going into what happened between 1994 and 2000, that’s been documented enough!
In 2001, while the biggest girl group of the century quietly split up, Emma was readying the release of her first solo single “What Took You So Long”. The single would hit #1 in the UK, just weeks before Geri Halliwell would have the last solo Spice single to top the charts with her cover of “It’s Raining Men”. Several singles followed from her top 5 album “A Girl Like Me” before the label who’d funded her career since 1995, Virgin Records, unceremoniously dropped her from their roster, along with 2 of her bandmates Melanie B and Melanie C.
Victoria made a promising start with her solo career after she appeared on 2000 hit “Out of Your Mind” with the Truesteppers and Dane Bowers. The single received a ton of publicity after being pitted against Spiller and Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s “Groovejet”. It was the latter that would win the chart battle right at the finishing line.
Nevertheless, Victoria’s #2 start with 200,000 sales in week 1, was incredible at the time and, in 2019, would be practically unheard of. Sadly, after she was pitted against Kylie in 2001, with “Not Such An Innocent Girl” being released the same week as the most-played song in the UK ever (according to PRS, if my memory serves me correctly), “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, it all went sour very quickly. Posh decided to do fashion instead and now she’s rolling in money like a pig in sh*t”.
So, the Spice Girl bubble seemed to have well and truly burst by 2003. The 2 Mels had to spend their own money and release music on their own labels, Mel B’s 2nd solo album sold just enough to make the top 500 in 2005, Geri released one last album with EMI shortly afterwards called “Passion”, which flopped as well. Victoria didn’t even bother after her new label Telstar folded and not even a hit TV show with Goldenballs Beckham in 2003 could help her to the top. But, Emma, good old Emma (even though she is the youngest Spice Girl), kept going with the solo material.
“Free Me” was released under the guidance of her reinstated manager Simon Fuller and his label 19 Records. The album spawned 3 top 20 hits, “Free Me”, “I’ll Be There”, her best solo single “Maybe” and, “Crickets Sing For Anamaria” and the album sold more than her Virgin Records debut. She had adapted a 60s girl-next-door vibe, similar to Sandie Shaw and Cilla Black. The formula worked so well, the label brought out another successful single, a cover of Petula Clark’s “Downtown” in 2006. But that was it. Its parent album “Life in Mono” barely hit the top 75, much like the 2nd single “All I Need To Know”.
It didn’t seem to hurt Emma too much though as, just several months later the unthinkable happened and all 5 Spice Girls announced their reunion tour. The money came in, Baby had a baby and then another one. Next thing she’s on Heart FM presenting with Jamie Theakston, her Top of the Pops pal from their heyday.
Fast forward to 2019. Emma has released her first single in 13 years called “Baby Please Don’t Stop”. The song is reminiscent of the 60s Bond music she was doing before, while also managing to sound a bit like her sole chart-topper to date. So far she has appeared back on Heart to promote the single and, the track has helped generate pre-orders of her 4th solo album “My Happy Place” out in April. At the time of writing, the album is #445 on Amazon’s pop chart, which may not sound very impressive but, it’s not out for another 5 weeks! The album will feature duets with Will Young, Robbie Williams and her fiancé/the father of her children, Jade Jones, formerly of boyband Damage.
Meanwhile, Melanie C has been releasing songs and albums, with diminishing success each time. You know the sort of act where someone will say “I haven’t heard anything from her for ages” although they’ve remained active. Geri has joined a panel of 100 industry insiders to help make singers rich on the BBC show “All Together Now” and married a billionaire motor racing bigwig. Her single “Half of Me”, which she promoted during her stint on the Australian X Factor, sold just a handful of copies in that country, while her George Michael tribute song a couple of years later called “Angels In Chains” flopped just as hard…(a tribute to one of the biggest artists of all time…GEORGE EFFING MICHAEL!!!) Melanie B has been relying on her appearances on Simon Cowell’s talent show panels around the world and her book about her life with that positively vile-sounding ex-husband of her’s to pay her creditors. Her amazing single “For Once In My Life” was a banger and even had a Desperate Housewives-esque video but even this wasn’t enough for the single to register on anyone’s radar.
Victoria…well, we don’t talk about her anymore…JUDAS!
So, what is it Emma Bunton is doing that has people interested in her 2nd comeback attempt, when nobody has been particularly bothered by the others’ music of late? I asked 100 people to name a possible reason for this anomaly (well, about 3 people, including my fellow WordPresser Hannah Brown whose amusing blog A Diary Of A Fat Bird is viewable via this link)…
Emma’s public relationship has always been impeccable. She’s unarguably the least offensive Spice Girl. She’s stayed in the limelight for the right reasons and allowed herself to be humiliated just enough through her appearances on Celebrity Juice, appearing with her celeb pals Keith Lemon/Avid Merrion/Leigh Francis and Holly Willoughby. She’s been successful with her radio stint. Emma has never come across like the fame and fortune has gone to her head and she just seems like a genuinely nice, girl next door type. You’d be happy to take her home to your mother if you were of the right persuasion, she was interested and she wasn’t about to marry Jade. After 20 years being together, that in itself must be a sign she’s not a complete cow.
One other small matter…there’s another Spice Girls tour of the UK this summer. Demand for tickets was that great they increased the number of dates from a cautious 6 to 13, including 3 nights at Wembley Stadium, a venue they last stopped off at on their Spiceworld tour in 1998.
Whatever the reason Emma Bunton has managed to stay relatively successful in music for 23 years, when her bandmates have spectacularly flopped, one thing I can confirm is I’m a 30-something gay who is naturally super excited for a Spicy 2019 and will be investing in the whole shebang!
I know what you’re all wondering now, don’t I?…
….WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BOMB ON THE BUS?!
“Baby Please Don’t Stop” is out to download and stream now.
The album “My Happy Place”, featuring 2 new songs and 8 covers of some of Emma’s favourite songs, is to be released 12 April 2019.
Spice Girls kick off their tour in Dublin in May! Hold tight!
DJTim:E's Pop Music Journal 