Forever Spice Book

Forever Spice presents a glamorous photographic account of theSpice Girls' tumultuous 1998 World Tour. Dean Freeman's stunning work mixes black and white and colour full page photographs to reveal a unique portrait of the girls at the height of their global success. The photos are fantastic; funny, affectionate, eminently flattering, capturing the spiciness of five (then four) twenty-something, popstar millionairesses with the world at their fingertips. Geri appears only in the first five pages of the book, her departure signified by the photo of the mike box with hers poignantly missing. We see the girls rehearsing, preparing backstage, shopping, hugging (lots of hugging) partying and having a laugh in the boisterous way we have come to expect. The then-boyfriends (now husbands) also feature highly with almost as many pictures of David Beckham as Baby Spice--leaving no doubt as to the prettier of the two.Words from the girls are reserved for the end of the book with soundbites on everything from Geri's departure and the sacking of their manager, to keeping fit, homesickness, music and inevitably, marriage and babies. Unfortunately written quotes from the Spice Girls only serve to highlight a kind of fame-induced arrested development with some very non-rock and roll statements: Victoria on motherhood: "The washing you get through if you've got a sickly baby is incredible--you use up 10 outfits a day and you're washing all the time." Or Emma on South Africa: "We were in South Africa and we took over the whole place and started playing all the bongos. And I think we ate crocodile there as well. It tasted like chicken."But snipes aside--much of this girlie chat is the essence of the Spice Girls' appeal. The photographs show them playing the role of diva to stunning effect, living out every girls' pop star dream whilst the text shows a desire to prove they are as ordinary as anyone else. Ginger's presence is missed here; the showiest and most exuberant Spice, she seemed most aware of exactly how incredible it was that five such ordinary girls had created such a phenomenally successful girl super-power--and enjoyed the fame all the more. But despite this and the adult encroachment of boyfriends and babies on the girl power scene, there is enough life in Posh, Scary, Sport and Baby to indicate their success will be long lived and the title of Forever Spice may well prove true. Millions of fans certainly hope so. --Rachel O'ConnorRead More