How time flies! It’s been 20 years (already) since the legendary Britney Spears stepped onto the scene.
Two decades of controversial headlines and public scrutiny, but above all, two decades of countless bops and iconic imagery.
Today’s From The Vault pick tributes Spears’ start – the undeniable, incomparable ‘… Baby One More Time.’
Join us below…
The smash was helmed by the ever-sought-after Max Martin. Originally submitted to TLC and UK group Five, the tune was recorded by Spears and released as her very first offering.
A global hit, the track peaked at #1 in the US, the UK, France, Canada, and Australia just to name a few.
Undoubtedly, a huge facet of the song’s success (and legendary status) is its now-classic music video.
Directed by Nigel Dick, the visual was set in a high-school with the singer and her friends impatiently waiting for class to end so that they could go dance in the hallway, the gym, the anywhere and the everywhere.
Spears’ schoolgirl outfit stirred a storm of controversy, which in turn helped elevate the song and video to seismic status – both commercially and culturally.
It’s interesting to note that original idea was to feature Britney in a cartoon-like environment. A fact which begs the question of whether the release would have amassed the significance it did.
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In the pages of history, few debuts can boast the impact of Britney’s. From the song’s sonics and lyrics to the iconography and choreography, absolutely everything about this release defines a pivotal moment in Pop Culture.
Whether enjoyed or loathed, to witness ‘…Baby One More Time’ was to witness the birth of a mega star.
Fast forward to the present and most would concur that the track and its visual have aged like a fine wine.
More than anything, it’s mesmerizing seeing young Britney perform with such seasoning… on her first music video ever.
An eternal salute.