So, Tell Me What You Want
What you really really want.
Howdy! It’s Joey, back with more Fun Fact Friyay. Today, we’re getting a little posh (and sporty, and scary, etc.)
The Spice Girls got their nicknames from a journalist who maybe couldn’t remember their real ones.
If you were a teenage girl in the 1990s or me in the 2020s, you probably enjoyed one or multiple jams from Spice Girls (and maybe did not realize they have no “The” in their name).
While everyone was going on about telling you what they want, perhaps even what they really really want with “Wannabe,” the group churned out plenty of other hits.
“Say You’ll Be There” is a catchy little ditty about friendship, “2 Become 1” has the most green screens and fans in a single music video, and “Stop” is a charming homage to Motown.
Most folks had a favorite Spice Girl. Perhaps you enjoyed one of the Mels, Mel B (Scary Spice) or Mel C (Sporty Spice). Maybe you gravitated toward Posh Spice (Victoria Adams) or Ginger Spice (Geri Halliwell) or were smitten by the bright blonde locks of Baby Spice (Emma Bunton).
Whatever your spice of choice, you have Top of the Pops, a UK magazine, to thank. The outlet started as a complementary magazine to the Top of the Pops show, typically featuring singers singing and the rest of the band pretending to play their instruments to a pre-recorded track. Here’s Nirvana not having one bit of that:
In 1996, Top of the Pops (the magazine) was interviewing the five Spice Girls for an article. According to Mel B, the nicknames were due to poor memory or perhaps apathy:
“It was actually a lazy journalist that couldn’t be bothered to remember all our names, so he just gave us nicknames,” she recalled.
Peter Loraine, the “lazy journalist” serving as the editor of Top of the Pops, remembers things a bit differently.
“I simply said it would be a good idea if they had some nicknames. The girls liked the idea, so I had an editorial meeting back at the office, and about four of us started thinking of names,” he said.
Loraine claimed Posh was the easiest because Victoria Adams (now Beckham) “looks pretty sophisticated.” Loraine also credits his colleague Jennifer Cawthron for coming up with Scary Spice for Mel B.
The others feel pretty obvious. Ginger Spice has vibrant red hair and that awesome Union Jack dress. The latter really has nothing to do with ginger. It’s just a cool look. Baby is the youngest of the crew, and Sporty Spice was the most athletic—she literally does a back handspring during the “Wannabe” music video. She’s also the most impressive singer in my book.
If you’re ever interviewed for anything, ask the interviewer to give you a nickname. Who knows? You just may become a global sensation.
P.S. You can click “Refer a friend” below and get so many fun goodies. And AS A BONUS, if you refer a friend to this particular newsletter, I’ll write a Spice Girls-inspired poem about you.
This was fun, Joey!