The Spice Girls were certainly something to listen for in the 90’s. The question is has the 00’s provided a worthy successor? Is there a girlband with enough celebrity and shine to be for the now what they were for the 90’s? The short answer is ‘yes’, and it comes in the form of U.K mega-success Girls Aloud.
Girls Aloud are a five-piece girlband who were formed in 2002 on the UK talent search Popstars: the Rivals, and who on the surface appeared quite similar to the Spice Girls. This was articulated in an article for The Independent, which suggested that: “In cherry-picking a redhead from Runcorn, two blondes from Ascot and Derry, and two similarly pretty brunettes from Newcastle and Bradford, Popstars' creators were mindful of the "catch-all" template that proved so fruitful for the Spice Girls. Give every boy his "type" and every young girl a look they might aspire to, runs the theory, and you've one hand on the prize.” (1)
In their early years especially, Girls Aloud were constantly subject to these comparisons. Both groups comprised of five young and different girls who made as many headlines as they did infectious pop songs. They represented a similar philosophy on friendship, stood tall as gay icons and placed just as much emphasis on spectacle as they did sound. Both were also hugely popular right away – with Girls Aloud debuting at #1 on the British charts like “a five headed Kylie Minogue”(2).
Despite Mel C’s claims that they’d “never be the next Spice Girls”(3), the girls were soon breaking music industry records and being branded as “the new Spice Girls”. However the comparison to, or adorations of, the Spice Girls has never been welcome in the Girls Aloud camp. In an interview with gay magazine Attitude, band member Cheryl Cole said:
“We recognize what the Spice Girls did …But it really annoys me when you meet girls who go, 'We wannabe the next Spice Girls’, I think 'piss off'. We've been around for six years, they were around 18 months. Yes, they had worldwide domination, but they fell out, bitched about each other and went their separate ways. We've been around for all this time, fighting to climb each step of the ladder, putting our hearts into everything, and you say you want to be the Spice Girls? Piss off! Six Years!” (November 2008, pg. 59)
These comments aren't without substance. It is difficult to compare the two groups, especially commercially, because of their vastly different contexts. The former were international stars in a pre-digital downloads world, whereas the latter are national treasures in the age of digital downloads. What can be said, I think, is that Girls Aloud have surpassed their predecessor in terms of creativity, maturity and longetivity. They have had 5 studio albums, a greatest hits, 20 consecutive top ten singles, won a BRIT award and are on their third sold-out arena tour. While the Spice Girls were more or less a guilty pleasure with vast amounts of fun-factor; Girls Aloud have managed to both entertain and build a credible reputation on top of that fun-factor. They’ve won praise from a whole host of industry figures including the Pet Shop Boys (who co-write their hit The Loving Kind); Bono, who tagged them as “the cutting edge of pop music”(4); and Coldplay frontman, Chris Martin, who described them quite accurately as “the ultimate form of life”(5). And have been covered by artists such as the Arctic Monkeys and Bloc Party. The Spice Girls got a long way on their own hype, media buzz and the 90’s “girl power” craze. Girls Aloud, on the other hand, have officially ‘made it’ through talent, dedication, charisma and group chemistry (as well as a little buzz admittedly).
Because of this they are the “Spice Girls of today”. Not because they are a carbon copy, or the next best thing. On the contrary, the only remaining link between the girlbands is the enormous contributions they have made to the pop music of their respective decades.
"The new Spice Girls": Girls Aloud
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