Friday, May 9, 2014

Spice Girls -- "Wannabe" (1997)


I'll tell you what I want, 
What I really, really want

I've just returned to 2 or 3 lines headquarters after jetting off a couple of weeks ago on a whirlwind tour of two states -- three states if you count my connecting airports -- so I am waaayyy behind when it comes to writing posts.

(Such mishegoss at 2 or 3 lines headquarters right now.  Also shpilkes -- don't forget the shpilkes!)  

I have several fabulous ideas for posts from my recent travels -- not to mention a zillion photos and videos that you are going to love.  I intend to take enough time to do my usual first-class job on each of those ideas, which means that I need to do a couple of half-assed posts to buy me some time.

Sounds like a job for . . .the Spice Girls!

Posh Spice!
(Those may be the phoniest-looking implants I've ever seen.  Just sayin'!)

As I was casting about desperately for a song that was suited to one of my patented 2 or 3 lines phone-it-in jobs, I came across a series of Youtube videos from "Jason Likes Trees," a 17-year-old boy from the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia (you can look it up) whose first name is Jason and who likes trees.

Meet Jason:



Jason's videos, which have titles like "Top 30 Catchy (Stuck in your Head) Songs," "40 Songs that Make You Happy," and "Top Catchy (Stuck in Your Head) Songs 2," consist of short snippets of lighter-than-air pop songs accompanied by slides that state the name of the song and the name of the artist.

Scary Spice!
Occasionally Jason adds a humorous comment to his slides.  For example, his slide for Eiffel 65's "Blue" -- which is colored blue -- also states "(haha the backgrounds blue get it?)" [sic].  

And his slide for Salt-n-Pepa's "Push It" says "(Play this on the Toilet)," which is a very crude and unsophisticated joke even by the standards of a 17-year-old Australian boy.

Baby Spice!
Jason's favorites include several songs that have been featured previously on 2 or 3 lines (such as Plastic Bertrand's unforgettable "Ça Plane Pour Moi" and "Right Round" by Flo Rida).  But most of his favorites were new to me -- for example, "Barbara Streisand" by the inimitable Duck Sauce and "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" by Las Ketchup.

Here's one of Jason's videos:



Jason's Youtube videos contain dozens of songs that would be perfect for a throwaway post like this one, but I've chosen to feature "Wannabe," which was a huge worldwide hit for the Spice Girls.

"Wannabe" topped the UK singles chart for seven chart, topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, reached #1 in 29 other countries, and sold over six million copies worldwide.

Sporty Spice!
The Spice Girls -- Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, and Geri Halliwell -- were the best-selling female pop group of all time.  

They are better known by the aliases given to them by Top of the Pops magazine -- Posh Spice, Scary Spice, Baby Spice, Sporty Spice, and Ginger Spice (respectively).

Ginger Spice!
As a Rolling Stone writer once wrote, "Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh and Sporty were the most widely recognized group of individuals since John, Paul, George, and Ringo."

Here's "Wannabe":



Click below to buy the song from Amazon:

2 comments:

  1. I loved jumping (since I can't dance to save my life) to this song! And you're right, this 17yr old Australian kid is so funny.

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  2. Always nice to hear from the blog's biggest Nigerian fan!

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