From The Vault is back today with another classic jam. This week we take you journey to the 90’s with the ‘Spice Up Your Life’ from legendary Brit ensemble – The Spice Girls.
Serviced as the first single from the group’s sophomore set ‘Spiceworld’, ‘Life’ was written by all five members alongside Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard who also produced the track.
A Samba-meets-Salsa meets number, the rousing anthem urges the people of the world to get free, have some fun and remain positive in front of life’s hurdles… or as sassily put “slam it to the left and shake it to the right.”
The song didn’t go down that well with critics, but who cares when it’s 1997 and you are literally the biggest thing on the planet. On home soil, it became their fifth consecutive #1 and practically hit the Top 5 of every market it had been released in. Over in America, it only managed to peak at #18, still it was the ladies’ fourth Top 20 on the Billboard charts.
As they were recording the song’s housing album at the same time they were shooting their movie of the same name, the girls were too tired to argue with the record label about the cut’s video. Instead of the carnival party theme they were going for at first, they ended up with a futuristic, ostentatious, dark – but still very Pop – video directed by Marcus Nipsel. The clip was seen by many as a big metaphor for how Spice Mania had dominated the world – in under a year.
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We miss the kind of fun and carefreeness that the girls brought to the industry.
For all the digs the group have ensured in hindsight, who would have thought that this song would remain a pop culture landmark a whole 20 years after its release?
Sure, they were no Stevie Wonder or Marvin Gaye, but it’s important to point out that through their music, the Spice Girls were all about sisterhood, acceptance, fun and unity. All traits that wouldn’t go amiss in today’s era; one preoccupied with “coolness” and over-treaded topics such as baes and the bedroom.
In many ways, some of today’s acts and even those of tomorrow could learn a thing or two from Scary, Sporty, Posh, Baby, and Ginger.
