FEATURE:
Groovelines
Spice Girls – Say You’ll Be There
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I normally wouldn’t…
return to the Spice Girls so soon after a previous feature or record them twice in Groovelines. I have looked at their debut single Wannabe, before. As their debut album, Spice, turns twenty-five on 4th November, I wanted to look at another song from the album. Say You’ll Be There is one of the best-loved songs from Spice Girls. Written by Spice Girls, Eliot Kennedy and Jon B., it was the second single from the album. Say You'll Be There was released in the U.K. when Wannabe’s popularity began to wane. There was gigantic expectation and anticipation around the release of their second single. A week before the release, reports gave the single advanced sales of 334,000 copies - the highest Virgin Records had ever recorded for a single. I think that Say You’ll Be There is one of the key Spice Girls cuts. Many polls have placed it in the top-five songs from the five-piece. There are a few things that I want to say about a single from an album which is celebrating a big anniversary tomorrow (4th November). This Wikipedia article discusses and highlights the critical reception to Say You’ll Be There:
“The song received mixed reviews from music critics; many of whom praised "Say You'll Be There" for its catchiness, while others were critical of its production. Alan Jones from Music Week wrote, "After a tinkly cocktail bar piano intro, it moves through a Zapp-like phase right into Eternal territory. It's somewhat more sophisticated than Wannabe and is likely to further their career, though some who liked the quirkiness of the first hit may pass.” Dele Fadele of NME dubbed it as a "monstrously catchy tune", and lauded it as "state-of-the-art pop music for '96".
Time magazine's Christopher John Farley was mixed on the track, although he called the song's groove "penetrating", he believed that it resembled too close to the work of Earth, Wind and Fire. Richmond Times-Dispatch critic Melissa Ruggieri, considered the song "a harmless, mid-tempo foot-tapper" that was made for Top 40 radio. Edna Gundersen of the USA Today dismissed the group's debut as "assembly-line dance-pop", but singled out "Say You'll Be There" as one of the album's highlights.The Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Steve Dollar criticized the song, describing it as "pure confection more sugar really than spice", he also noted influences of Stevie Wonder in the harmonica solo. Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune was unimpressed with their debut album, he considered the song's "G-funk synth" as simply part of "a compendium of slick secondhand urban pop". When comparing the song to "Wannabe", Billboard's critic Larry Flick thought it was as "immediately infectious" but "not nearly as silly and novelty-driven". Barry Walters of The Village Voice also compared the two songs. He found "Say You'll Be There" to be "even catchier" than "Wannabe". Reviewing the single, David Browne of Entertainment Weekly rated it a B+, describing the melody as "delectably frothy", but was at the same time confused by the song's lyrical content. Ken Tucker from the same publication, was more negative calling its P-Funk production "a bid for street cred".
Retrospective reviews from critics, have been generally positive. Reviewing their debut album Spice, Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic was surprised at how the song's "sultry soul" was "more than just a guilty pleasure", while Brian Grosz from Albumism called it a "a great disco track". In a review of the group's 2007 compilation album Greatest Hits, the NME said that it is a "fine song in any age".[66] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian felt it was more polished than "Wannabe" and described the melody as "instantly memorable". The Evening Standard reviewer Jessie Thompson deemed the song as one of the group's best, praising the song's lyrical content and the harmonica solo.[67] Writing for Billboard, Jason Lipshutz complimented the song's production, calling the hook "enormously catchy" and the instrumental arrangement "smart-but-simple". Anne T. Donahue of Vulture.com depicted it as "the perfect middle-ground" between the group's slower ballads and their upbeat singles, she added that "over 20 years later, we still remember the words to 'Say You'll Be There'". On a 2018 ranking of the group's songs, the NME writer El Hunt placed it at the top of the group's whole catalog, and characterized it as the "essence of everything that girl power stood for". Q magazine ranked "Say You'll Be There" at number 93 in their 2003 list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". Time Out placed the song at number 39 on their 2015 list of "The 50 best '90s songs". Laura Richards felt that the song epitomized the group's musical style of blending pop with R&B, considering it "pure genius". On Billboard's 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time", it ranked at number 25”.
I think one reason why Spice Girls stood out in 1996 and were such a sensation is their visual imagery and how they represented themselves in videos. Sporty, Posh, Ginger, Baby and Scary had their own personalities and traits. Wannabe showed them as cheeky, confident and fun! For Say You’ll Be There, the group adopted martial arts personas for a video that is bolder and more exotic than that for Wannabe. This interesting article salutes a fantastic video for one of the most important singles of the 1990s:
“Are you ready to feel old? “Say You’ll Be There” by the Spice Girls was released 20 years ago today. I know, I’ll let that sink in for a minute — how can it be possible that the best girl group ever has been spicing up our lives for a solid two decades now? Every ’90s child has their favorite Spice Girls song — maybe you’re strictly here for the classics like “Wannabe,” or perhaps you like some of their more soulful stuff, like “Something Kinda Funny,” but either way, these five ladies taught us all the importance of girl power and equalization between the sexes, and we’re forever indebted to them for it.
“Say You’ll Be There” quickly became one of their biggest hits upon its release back in October 1996, and was only their second single ever — yet it shot to the top of the charts in their native United Kingdom, before becoming a global hit in early 1997. The song itself is catchy as hell, of course, and in true Spice Girls fashion, the music video is the most badass, feminist video ever… even 20 years later.
It takes place in the Mojave Desert, and the ladies are rocking some seriously sexy outfits — can we please admire Victoria Beckham’s all-black leather ensemble and Geri Horner’s thigh high red leather boots? YAS, GURLS.
Plus, each girl has a ninja alter-ego and the fivesome they’re part of is on a mission — to take down a hapless dude who simply wouldn’t promise he would be there. Come on, now. These ladies don’t have time for that nonsense!”.
I am going to wrap up in a minute. There is a simplicity to Say You’ll Be There. In terms of its lyrics, it is about the unity within the group and what they have been though. They pledge that there’ll be there for each other. One can read it more widely as a song about romantic relationships and staying together. I think the big strength of the song is the infectious vocals and spirit. Spice Girls give it their all! They all get brief moments in the vocal spotlight, though I always associate the strongest turn with Mel C (Sporty). Maybe it is a song that is very much a product of the 1990s. It has aged quite well, but I always link Say You’ll Be There with the ‘90s. Before Spice turns twenty-five, I wanted to do a final feature around the album. It remains, to me, one of the most important debuts ever. That is in no small part due to singles like Say You’ll Be There. After twenty-five years, it remains so…
FUN and memorable.