Somehow, Spice is turning 30.
Yes, the album that gave us Wannabe, launched Girl Power around the world and introduced the Spice Girls as a genuine pop phenomenon was released three decades ago. And they’re celebrating the anniversary by opening up the archives.
The Singles Collection arrives on 6 November and, for the first time, brings together every Spice Girls single alongside original B-sides and a selection of previously unreleased recordings.
And obviously this wasn’t going to arrive in a boring little box.
The collection will be available in two limited-edition 14-disc sets on 7” colour vinyl and CD, housed inside a handbag-inspired box finished with white holographic gloss and matt black foil.
Very Spice Girls.
Both versions span the group’s singles from Wannabe onwards, bringing back the original artwork and pairing the songs with material from across their career. There are also five new messages from the Spice Girls themselves created especially for the release.
But it’s the unreleased music that will probably have longtime fans digging into the collection first.
Among the tracks coming out of the archive is Do You Think About Me, one of the Spice Girls’ earliest demos and a recording that is finally receiving an official release 30 years after their debut album arrived.
The CD edition goes a little further, with an exclusive additional disc containing another four previously unreleased demos.
Meanwhile, the vinyl edition gives each of the group’s singles its own individually coloured 7” record for the first time, complete with its original sleeve and lead B-side.
That’s 14 different coloured records.
Collectors, we’re sorry in advance.
It’s a fitting way to celebrate an album whose impact went considerably further than its tracklist.
When Wannabe arrived in 1996, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell-Horner and Victoria Beckham weren’t simply launching another British pop group. The single reached number one in 37 countries and was quickly followed by Spice, which went on to become the best-selling album by a girl group.
Then came the singles that are now almost impossible to separate from ’90s pop culture.
Say You’ll Be There. 2 Become 1. Spice Up Your Life. Stop. Viva Forever. Goodbye. And eventually Holler.
Alongside the music was Girl Power, five very different personalities and a sense that being a Spice Girls fan meant you absolutely had to know which one you were. Friendships were tested. Important decisions were made.
Thirty years later, the group have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, while the songs have remained part of pop culture long after the original whirlwind of Spice Mania.
Which makes a complete singles collection feel particularly appropriate for this anniversary. Rather than simply revisiting Spice, it traces what happened after those first five women burst onto the scene and follows the singles that turned an enormous debut into a lasting pop legacy.
And for fans who thought they’d already heard everything from the Spice Girls, there are finally a few surprises waiting in the archive too.
The Singles Collection will be released on 7” colour vinyl and CD on 6 November — 30 years to the week since Spice was released. You can pre-order here!
