Spice Girls – “Too Much”

I was watching hockey videos on YouTube when I somehow came across this blast from the past. I started to watch it and realized that it just turned 20 years old. I had flashbacks to the 1997 holiday season when the Spice Girls were probably at the height of their popularity; in their home country, “Too Much” was the top single and Spice World was the top movie at the end of the year. I was obsessed with them and in love with Posh Spice.

This song and video are my favorite from the Spice Girls. The song has a romantic melody, some memorable lyrics, and consistently good singing. Besides showing clips from Spice World, the video has a matinee concept in which each Spice Girl is the star in a movie from a different genre. “Too Much” has stood the test of time (unlike most of their songs, to be honest), and the Spice Girls are at their hottest in this video.

My younger sister got the second album, Spiceworld, that Christmas to go with whatever licensed products that she had at the time. I vaguely remember lollipops, pencils, posters, and possibly one or more dolls. I borrowed her Spice and Spiceworld CDs without shame, and I even read and re-read the satirical articles in the November 1997 issue of Mad, which depicted caricatures of the Girls with Alfred E Neuman.

The accessibility and quality of digital technology has exponentially improved over the past 20 years; people can now control their consumption of multimedia. A manufactured musical act with all-out marketing and shameless merchandising like the Spice Girls wouldn’t be as successful these days. So, the Spice Girls are probably the last pop-group to be household names.

I’m glad that I’m not the only one who still appreciates them, though. I can listen and watch this music video and be an infatuated teen again.