Wannabe by Spice Girls

About

“Wannabe” is a hit song by the British pop group Spice Girls. It was a single from their debut album Spice, released in 1996. The girls wrote the song with the help of Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe, who the band met at an industry showcase. In Wannabe: How the Spice Girls Reinvented Pop Fame, Rowe remembers the impression they left on him that day: I loved them. Immediately. The studio was pretty small, and they all sat on one chair on each other’s laps in a line. I don’t know how they managed it…They were like no one I’d met before, really. The song was written and recorded quickly. Victoria missed the writing session for the track, though tried to pitch in over the phone. The song’s divvied up among the girls equally, except for Victoria, who contributed only backing vocals to the track. She regretted missing out. In her 2004 autobiography Learning to Fly, she recalled: I just couldn’t bear not being there. Because whatever they said about how it didn’t matter, it did matter. The label did not like the first outcome of the song, and got producer Dave Way to give the track an R&B influenced backing track. The group didn’t think this was the right vibe, and eventually sent it to be mixed by Mark Stent. This became the final version of the song. Their label, Virgin Records, wanted “Say You’ll Be There” to be the band’s debut single, however the group fought for this song. Eventually got their way. “Wannabe” lyrics addresses the value of female friendship over a female-male bond. It soon after became an iconic symbol of female empowerment and one of the group’s most popular songs.