The 90's Most Iconic Music Moments

A countdown of nine iconic 90's music moments; that is iconic artists, songs, videos, interviews and performances.

Note: I use the word 'iconic' loosely and subjectively. So, no, there will be no Nirvana.

#9 Sinead O'Connor

'Nothing Compares to You'. With a music video every bit as intense and iconic as the track itself, this is one nineties song that will stand the test of time (as a killer breakup song if nothing else).

#8 Hit Me Baby One More Time

The birth of a monster, and of one of the most hyped-up and torn-down celebrities of my lifetime at least - Britney Spears. The success story (if you could dream to call it that) starts here, when she was first presented to the world as an innocent schoolgirl. What a difference a decade can make. (still brilliant though)

#7 The Cranberries

Though a far cry from most of the hardcore pop I listen too, I'm wildly enthusiastic about the Cranberries. They are in fact the only band I would describe as pop/rock that I would rank amongst my favourites. Icons of the 90's for their hits - 'Zombie', 'Salvation', 'Dreams' and so on. I could have easily done a top 9 list just comprised of Cranberries songs.

#6 Early-Mid 90's Club Songs

Ace of Base, I'm looking squarely at you. So many wonderful beats - 'Be My Lover,' '100% Pure Love,' 'I've Been Thinking About You' and 'I've Got the Power', to name but a few. Dance music had never been better. Sometimes I wonder how I can be so nostalgic for something I never really experienced. It absolutely kills me that I'll never walk into a club and hear 'Rhythm is a Dancer' playing. And if you don't know that song you have no right to be reading a 90's music blog.

#5 Cher introduces herself to Generation X

'Believe' was the first song of Cher's to land in the ARIA Top 10 since 'The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)' charted at #4 in 1990! So in many ways this was my introduction to Cher, and what an introduction! 'Believe' was a pop masterpiece and the biggest selling hit of her four decade career. Amazing. Thankyou Cher. Thankyou 90's.

#4 90's TV Themes



It might sound silly, but some of the most memorable tunes from the 90's are the tv theme songs we sung (or hummed) along to every week. Buffy, Charmed, Melrose Place, Friends, Ally McBeal, The X-Files and especially 90210.

#3 Courtney Love Crashes a Madonna Interview



God bless Courtney Love. I won't spoil too much, just that crashing an interview with the control-freak Queen of pop is must see youtube, and an iconic 90's music moment.

#2 Kylie Minogue does Barbarella



For most, Kylie's most iconic music video would that for 'Spinning Around'. The gold hotpants seal the deal. However, for me, it was her music video for 'Put Yourself In My Place' that is her most iconic 90's effort. A pink spacesuit? Genius. Floating around naked in a spaceship? Double genius. It may not sound like the most compatible video for a song called "Put Yourself In My Place", but it works.

#1 Spice Girls perform at the BRITS 1997



Yes. The Spice Girls 1997 BRITS performance. The most iconic moment of 90's British pop culture. Geri's Union Jack outfit gave birth to 'Cool Britannia' right there on the stage. On top of that, they are my childhood. So double iconic points for them.

Note: Songs that are hugely iconic but were too abhorrent for my list include 'Jackie', 'Two Times 'and 'No Way, No Way'. Songs that are hugely iconic but I realized were in fact not released in the 90's include 'Push It' and 'Murder on the Dancefloor'.

Nineties to Now: the Spice Girls to Girls Aloud

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

Spice Girls and Gay Guys

For many people growing up in the 90’s, music will be remembered as one super group – the Spice Girls. During their prime they were just about the coolest and most popular starlets on the planet. If you don’t believe me, just check the July 1997 cover of Rolling Stone magazine, headlined “Pop Tarts: Spice Girls Conquer the Planet”. Wherever the girls went, ‘Spicemania’ ensued. They were so inescapable and so influential to 90’s pop that even people who hated them would still be able to rattle off more than a few of their lyrics. Brilliantly packaged, the Spice Girls managed nine British #1 singles and sold upwards of 60 million records worldwide before dissolving in 2000. The girls became “Brit pop” icons, “girl power” icons, and enormous gay icons.

The Spice Girls nineties fandom could be segregated into three groups: teenybopper girls, gay men, and boys who would later come out as gay men. In his book Wannabe, David Sinclair writes: “It is said that as ABBA’s core fan base grew into adulthood, a disproportionate number of them turned out to be gay men. Could the same be true for the Spice Girls? A lot of the kids who loved the girls at the beginning are now in their late teens or early twenties and would be able to see a certain irony in still loving them.” (1)

And would it be any wonder?

All five girls—‘Scary’, ‘Ginger’, ‘Baby’, ‘Posh’ and ‘Sporty’—were larger than life characters. Their clothing, interactions, stage antics and film (they had a film, remember?) were all undeniably, unashamedly camp. Given that camp is often equated with “gay sensibility”, their gay icon status was inevitable. Their flamboyant theatricality and kitsch aesthetic style was bound to land them in gay terrain.

Importantly, the Spice Girls weren’t just all of these things on the surface. They didn’t just parade queerness, they preached it. They were consistently feisty and outspoken about expressing yourself, whoever you may be. With their mantra ‘Girl Power!” the group stood against the hegemony of the heterosexual man. “Girl power is giving yourself that little bit of liberation… You decide what kind of life you want to lead. Whether you’re black, white, gay, single parent, whatever. Just go for it.”, said ‘Scary’ Mel B (2). This gained them favor not only with young women, but with a gay audience as well. During an interview, Emma Bunton commented on their enthusiastic gay following: "We were really flattered with having such a huge gay fan base because they know about fashion and they know about songs ... I'm so flattered that we've got such a huge gay following, it's amazing.” (3) Their use of camp and celebration of liberty (regardless of gender, race of sexual orientation) go toward explaining the mass adulation they have won from the gay community.

Even after they split, each girl remained a gay icon in her own right, especially Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham, who said: “I love women. I like them as friends, as interesting people to speak with. But I love gay men. I always say it. Inside me there is a gay man who wants to come out!” (4) This would explain why more than half the time the girls looked so over-the-top and costumed that they could be confused for drag queens. Everything the girls said, sung, wore and represented could be read from a queer perspective. If nineties music taught us one thing, it’s that Spice Girls and gay guys go hand in hand.

For more Spice Girls visit http://www.thespicegirls.com/