Wannabe: How the Spice Girls Reinvented Pop Fame

by David Sinclair

The Spice Girls became the most famous pop trademark of the 1990s, and for a while they were the biggest-selling act on planet pop. This is the first book to examine the life and times of the Spice Girls in a way that puts the group and its music into a broader social and historical context.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published December 1, 2004

Reviews

[Caseen Gaines · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Sinclair's serious, comprehensive, and definitive book on the Spice Girls is a genuine page-turner and an obvious labor of love. The book is quite sizable, but any doubts I had that an author could fill those pages with substance and interesting anecdotes were quickly dashed as I finished the book in less than 24 hours. The book covers ALMOST everything -- it unfortunately concludes in 2004, before the Spice Girls critically-acclaimed "The Return of the Spice Girls" tour and Greatest Hits album -- and it includes the good, the bad, the myths, and the legends of one of the biggest pop acts in recent history. Simply put, Sinclair wrote a book I wish I had written! It's a must read for any fan of the group and, more importantly, anyone interested in a good pop tale.

[Maura Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a shamelessly proud fan of the Spice Girls. They’re loud and brash and in your face. They turned pop music on its head in a way the U.K., nay, the world hadn’t seen coming. They were (and still are) polarizing, targets of paparazzi and tabloid media alike, revered by girls (and boys) the world over who wanted to meet them and be them, and trolled by music snobs and critics who sought to marginalize them and minimize their contributions. But they were groundbreaking. They broke records. They wrote and co-wrote their music, had creative control, and didn’t accept the boundaries others tried to draw for them. And their legacy should be even bigger than it is.

This well-written and well-researched bio doesn’t overemphasize their success and doesn’t gloss over their mistakes and mis steps. It’s a it’s a fantastic book for any fan, but it’s also a great read for anyone who has the doubts about the Spice Girls’ place in contemporary pop music history.

[F.K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really informative, fair and critical analysis of The Spice Girls and their contribution to music, pop culture and the general nineties world. It also examines their treatment in the media in comparison to their contemporaries, how the public influence the media and vice versa and takes a quick look at misogyny in news reporting.
It's the only unbiased assessment I've ever read that gives the band their due and looks at their achievements objectively, with the use of sales figures and conversations with the people involved at the time.
It's also hilarious in parts and written in a way that's very easy to read.

[Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The one and only good Spice Girls biography. Real insight.