Spice up your life

It is time for the resurgence of our pre-pubescent pop, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

This December, the Spice Girls are returning to the music circuit with a comeback world tour. Demand for tickets have been so high that Scary, Posh, Ginger, Baby and Sporty had to add many additional dates to the tour and raffle off reservations for tickets.

As soon as the tour was announced, an international frenzy to purchase tickets began. The girls sold out in London in 38 seconds.

So why is the world going ga-ga for a group that left the music scene abruptly almost 10 years ago?

Looking back, their pop sounds and shallow lyrics failed to truly amaze music critics, but for some reason, a generation attached themselves to their songs and the group’s fame has proven to stand the test of time.

As a preteen I worshiped everything the Spice Girls stood for. Like any other bright-faced, pink-shoelaced tween, “Girl Power” was my motto and I idolized the five women who sang about it.

I still remember the first time I heard the Spice Girls. Naturally I was in a car full of gangly, neon-nailpolished, screaming girls on our way to swim practice. The mom of the carpool slipped in a little something special into the CD player and, like a drug, we were hooked.

But what I remember most from the Spice adoration era was the summer of their success. During those long, hot days, my friends and I rotated from backyard to backyard, methodically choreographing and perfecting our lip-synching skills in front of crowds of shrubs, gardening tools and the occasional parent.

Now that they are back, I feel the urge to break out the pigtails and Union Jack apparel and start rehearsing the steps to “Wannabe,” “Stop” and “Spice Up Your Life.” What better way to celebrate our childhood than bring back the very anthems that represent it.

It is difficult to try to think of the bands that have made a mark on our generation. I would never try to compare the Spice Girls to mega-groups from other eras, but in some sense, they were monumental. For our parents and our parents’ parents, a different type of musician ruled the airwaves. But for us, when we were young, the Spice Girls reigned.

They may not have the deepest lyrics or the smoothest sounds, but they are colorful, their melodies addicting, and the effect they had on our generation is everlasting. Evidence of that are the millions of tickets requested within the days following the ticket sale announcements.

I have never regretted my short summer serenades of Spice Girls beats; they are part of my childhood. I only regret not purchasing comeback tickets while they were available. Even if I decided not to go, I could have made a cool profit reselling them to someone else.

Taylor Moore is a journalism senior and a Mustang Daily columnist.