It’s 1996 in a wet and windy Britain. Terry Venables announces his resignation as football manager of England's team, Prince Charles and Princess Diana are finalising their divorce and even pop group Take That won’t be back for good.
But just when all seems lost, there’s a clattering of heels, a throaty laugh and a hotel rampage, and the whole country breathes a collective zig-a-zig ahhh. Girl power has arrived and, with a few high kicks and some less-than-polished dance moves around a derelict London hotel, the entire nation has something to get excited about.
The Spice Girls landed as five refreshingly mouthy, unapologetically in-your-face young women, and they’re still heralded for giving 90s girls around the world a voice.
This year, the band’s debut studio album Spice celebrates its 25th anniversary and Friday will mark the release of Spice 25, featuring much-loved original anthems as well as some previously unheard tracks.
And with the UK now welcoming fully vaccinated passengers from the UAE, there’s never been a better time to don your Union Jack mini dress and join the festivities.
Spice Girls fans can head to St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London, where the hit music video for Wannabe was filmed. You can indulge in a relaxing spa day or just slam your body down and wind it all around by recreating the band’s dance moves on the hotel steps made famous in the video.
For Sam Jones, director of sales and marketing at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London, the legacy from the Wannabe video lives on. “We have been dubbed the Spice Girls hotel, or the hotel with the Spice Girls staircase,” he says.
“This year more than ever, we are constantly receiving enquiries for photoshoots, wedding ceremonies or social media collaboration requests to include the staircase. We continue to have fans visiting the hotel daily, reenacting the signature group pose and we often hear fans playing the music video to get the setup just right.”
Although today’s reenactments are painstakingly put together, the original was far more chaotic. “The shoot was originally meant to be in Barcelona, however they were not able to get permission to use their location, so it was relocated to Midland Grand Hotel,” says Jones.
“The building was still undergoing major restoration at the time of the music video so there was no heating. The girls were freezing and it was so cold that the video ended up being filmed in one take.”
In spite of this shaky start, Wannabe was hugely successful around the world, reaching No 1 in 37 countries. Geri Halliwell, Mel B and Mel C, Emma Bunton and Victoria Adams, later Beckham, changed the world as young girls fought endlessly over who was Posh, Baby, Sporty, Scary or Ginger.
In the UK, their first hit notched two million chart sales, including 1.32 million pure sales, making it the seventh best-selling debut single of all time, as well as 84.2 million streams, according to Official Charts figures. Smash hit singles that followed in 1996 included Say You’ll Be There, Who Do You Think You Are, Mama and 2 Become 1.
The band’s success soared to new heights the following year with the release of the Spice World movie, featuring the legendary Spice Bus, on which fans can now spend a night on the Isle of Wight. The unique double decker travelled around the UK as part of the SpiceUp exhibition in 2018 and was parked outside Wembley Park when the band embarked on a reunion tour in 2019.
Since then, it has been moved to Island Harbour Marina campsite in Newport, where it is available for private bookings. Although the exterior of the bus maintains its original Union Jack paint job from the film, the inside was refurbished by a team of designers who fitted pink Union Jack cinema chairs, a girl power neon light installation, animal print and disco balls. Christian Hewison, marina administrator at Island Harbour, says: “The bus is the genuine article from the Spice World film and it’s extremely popular.
“Spice fever is definitely ramping up. We usually have guests every single night, with fans coming from as far as the US to stay onboard. People visit to relive their youth and it’s not uncommon to see Spice Girls costumes – we’ve had a lot of Union Jack dresses around these parts,” Hewison says.
“The bus is still road legal so if we needed to, we could take it on tour and it did make a journey up to Manchester once for a Spice Girls exhibition. A couple of years ago, we even had Geri Halliwell visit and film a short video for her YouTube channel. She arrived by boat and brought us a great chocolate cake.
“There’s always people standing outside for pictures – it’s a real pop culture icon.”
Back in London, Spice fever continues at Abbey Road Studios, made famous by The Beatles and cemented in history when the girls recorded their Forever (2000) album there. The studio in St John’s Wood was originally a nine-bedroom house built in 1829, before being converted into the world’s first purpose-built recording studio by Gramophone Company in 1928.
As well as the Spice Girls and The Beatles, globally celebrated artists including Pink Floyd, Shirley Bassey, Oasis, Kate Bush, Adele, Ed Sheeran and Kanye West have recorded here, and tourists come from far and wide to snap a picture on the iconic zebra crossing just outside.
This November, the studio is opening its doors to the public for its 90th anniversary celebrations and lectures covering its past, present and future. Tickets are available on the Abbey Road website with lectures beginning on Friday, November 12. You can also snap up your Spice 25 album from the onsite shop while you’re there.
About three kilometres away from the studios lies the most integral stop on the Spice tour, because though we may be a quarter of a century too late to join the Spice Girls, we’re never too old to look the part. The band were renowned for their experimental fashion choices and fans can recreate some of their iconic looks at Camden Market, where the band sourced many of their original costumes.
Keep an eye out for Buffalo trainers, baby-dolls and Union Jack tea towels, which was the actual basis of Geri’s renowned mini-dress. The market is open every day from 10am until late and has more than 1,000 places to shop, eat, drink and dance at its historic central London location.
It’s time to Spice up your life all over again.
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Geri Halliwell's Union Jack dress from the Spice Girls' performance of 'Who Do You Think You Are?' at the Brits in 1997 became one of fashion's most famous and emulated moments. Shutterstock -
More than 400 women answered an advertisement to form the group which went on to become The Spice Girls. The group later parted ways with Heart Management and signed with Richard Branson's Virgin label. Instagram -
The Spice Girls have UK journalist Peter Loraine to thank for their world-famous nicknames Sporty, Baby, Posh, Scary and Ginger. As the then-editor of British pop music magazine 'Top of the Pops', Loraine came up with the nicknames for a July 1996 feature on the group. Instagram -
The Spice Girls released three albums altogether. Their debut 'Spice' in 1996, 'Spice World' in 1997, and 'Forever', which was released in 2000 as a foursome after Halliwell left the group. Getty Images -
The Spice Girls' debut album, 'Spice', was certified multi-platinum in 27 countries and spawned the singles 'Wannabe', 'Say You'll Be There', '2 Become 1' and 'Mama'. Instagram -
The group met Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Command Performance at the Victoria Palace Theatre on December 1, 1997. That same year they released 'Spice Up Your Life', the first single from 'Spice World'. It went straight to number one on the UK singles chart, becoming the group's fifth consecutive number one single. Getty Images -
On May 31, 1998, Halliwell announced she was leaving The Spice Girls after missing two concerts in Norway. 'I need to say something I should have said a long time ago,' she told Wembley Stadium during the Spice World 2019 tour. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I left. I was just being a brat. It is so good to be back with the girls that I love.' Getty Images -
Bunton and Jade Jones, who used to be in the British boyband Damage, share two children. Instagram -
Mel C has had the most prolific solo career, releasing eight studio albums. Revealing that Madonna is her biggest life and musical influence, she told 'The Sun': 'I've always admired how hard she works and what a strong lady she is, so she's always inspired me in that way.' AFP -
The Spice Girls promoted their film 'Spice World: The Movie' at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997. The film featured cameos from the likes of Richard E Grant, Meat Loaf, Elton John, Bob Geldof and Stephen Fry. Rex -
The group reunited in 2012 to perform at the closing ceremony of the London Olympics. The five-piece were driven into the arena atop black London taxis and sang a medley of their hits. Getty Images -
Melanie Brown aka Mel B has released two solo albums, 2000's 'Hot' and 'LA State of Mind' in 2005. Instagram -
Their debut song 'Wannabe' stayed at number one in the UK charts for seven weeks, and hit the number one spot in 37 countries, including four weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It remains the biggest-selling single by an all-female group. Reuters -
The then-Victoria Adams married David Beckham in July 1999, and the pair have four children: Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz and Harper. Instagram -
Mel C told 'Music Week' that The Spice Girls' message of girl power was unintentional to begin with. 'Girl power was something that we never intended," she said. "As soon as we were heading into the music industry, we started to be faced with some sexism. We were told girls don't sell." Getty Images -
Halliwell and Bunton on the set of The Spice Girls' music video for 'Say You'll Be There'. David Beckham told friends that Victoria would be his future wife after seeing her in the video. Instagram -
The Spice Girls' management team helped make them multimillionaires by setting up a range of endorsement deals with brands including Pepsi, Walkers, Impulse, Cadbury and Polaroid. Getty Images -
The Spice Girls' third and final studio album 'Forever' was their least successful, selling just four million copies compared to 23 million for 'Spice' and the 14 million clocked up by 'Spice World'. Reuters -
Post-Spice Girls, Beckham's eponymous debut album was released in October 2001 and reached number 10 in the UK album chart, selling 50,000 copies. Beckham quit her solo music career in 2004 to focus on fashion. Instagram -
The group's Spice World 2019 tour won the Billboard Live Music Award for the highest-grossing engagement of the year. The UK tour comprised 13 dates in cities including London, Edinburgh and Manchester. Instagram -
After the Spice Girls split, Mel C launched her solo career in 1998 with the track 'When You're Gone', a duet with Canadian singer Bryan Adams. Her solo debut album 'Northern Star' sold more than four million copies worldwide, and is the best-selling solo album of all the Spice Girls. Instagram -
Mel C and Bunton share a hug onstage during the Spice World 2019 tour. Instagram -
Among the many accolades the group has won are five Brit Awards, three American Music Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, three MTV Europe Music Awards and one MTV Video Music Award. Instagram -
Halliwell married Christian Horner, the team principal of the Red Bull Racing Formula One team, in May 2015, and the pair share a son, Montague. Instagram -
Before they became famous, the five women shared a house in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Bunton told 'The Guardian': 'I used to make beans on toast for everyone, while Mel B used to cook corned beef and rice. We used to make Victoria clean the bathroom.' Shutterstock
