Sunday, November 2, 1997

Spice Girls lacking flavor

Ever since Spice, the 1996 debut from this noisy all-girl quintet from England, went on to sell 19 million albums worldwide, they've become strictly a love-or-hate proposition.

Doubts about whether they have any real talent are due to the overwhelming marketing blitz that has accompanied their rambunctious arrival, combined with the lack of a tour. A road trip finally happens next February.

In the meantime, the Girls' scarce live TV performances have been pretty underwhelming, with Ginger Spice (Geri) and Posh Spice (Victoria) sadly off-key.

One thing is for sure, they've wasted no time in making as much money as they can while they still can. Just this past week, Baby, Ginger, Scary, Sporty and Posh entered a survey of pop wealth by BusinessAge magazine at No. 42, with each of the five "Spices" reportedly worth $34 million.

And there's more where that came from.

On the heels of last week's release of SPICE: Official Video Vol. 1 comes Spice World, in stores Tuesday, a 10-song collection that precedes their first film of the same name. It's scheduled to hit theatres Jan. 23.

Despite regrouping with Spice producers Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe on five tracks, and Absolute on five others, the pickings are incredibly slim.

On the plus side, there are nifty Latin influences on the first single, Spice Up Your Life, and the ballad Viva Forever, while funky, Hanson-like beats improve Do It and Move Over -- I believe we've already heard snippets of that in a soft drink commercial.

The remainder is frighteningly thin pop in the form of Stop, Never Give Up On The Good Times and Denying, and scary ballads like Too Much -- "What part of no don't you understand, I want a man, not a boy who thinks he can" -- and Saturday Night Divas -- "Get down, get deeper and down, get down, get deeper and down."

How about getting deeper for starters?

Track Listing Spice Up Your Life Stop Too Much Saturday Night Divas Never Give Up On The Good Times Move Over Do It Denying Viva Forever The Lady Is A Vamp