Throwback Thursday - Spice Girls 'Spice Up Your Life' (1997)

Recently at Zumba, one of the instructors busted out a workout to this song and I got to thinking, "I don't think I've done a Spice Girls song yet!"

So I had to remedy that situation.

"Spice Up Your Life" was the first single off of the Spice Girls second studio album, Spice World.

The song and album were written and recorded while the girls simultaneously were filming their movie, Spice World.

"Spice Up Your Life" was written by all the Spice Girls as well as the producers, Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard.

With the release of this song, the Spice Girls set records in their native UK. According to Wikipedia:

Released as the album's lead single in October 1997, it topped the UK Singles Chart on 19 October 1997 for one week, becoming the group's fifth consecutive chart-topper. This made the Spice Girls the first act to have its first five singles reach number one in the United Kingdom.

The single didn't quite do as well here in America, but the single sales were still through the roof.

"Spice Up Your Life" had mediocre success in North America. In the US, the single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100on 8 November 1997 at number thirty-two.^[47]It peaked at eighteen in its fourth week, becoming their fourth consecutive top twenty on the chart.^[48] The song barely broke the Hot 100 Airplay, peaking at number seventy-two,^[49] but despite the track's weak airplay, the CD single sold well, peaking at number eleven on the Hot 100 Singles Sales chart.^[50] It received a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in January 1998.^[51]

Upon reading this information I was shocked because I remember seeing this video and hearing this song all the time! I also have the CD. Notice that wasn't past tense, I still own Spice World. Don't judge me.

The video has a Blade Runner feel and depicts the girls controlling everything in a dystopian future. At the time it really was a Spice World.