1. “Wannabe”, the Spice Girls' debut single, was written in just 20 minutes.
2. It was nearly an R&B song.
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Geri described the R&B version as "bloody awful" in her second autobiography.
3. The song entered the UK charts at No. 3. The group celebrated with a bottle of champagne in Geri’s sister’s garden.
4. It was the Fugees’ "Killing Me Softly" and Gary Barlow’s first solo single, "Forever Love", that initially kept it off the top spot.
5. And then the track climbed up to No. 1 when the group were in Japan on a tour.
6. As a result, Top of the Pops flew a crew over to Japan so the group could film a performance for the show.
7. The girls were in Japan at the time because "Wannabe" was actually released in Tokyo two weeks before the UK.
8. The band asked Tony Blair to appear in the music video for “Wannabe”. But sadly he declined.
9. The video for it was almost filmed in Barcelona, Spain.
10. But after logistical issues, it ended up being at the Midland Grand Hotel in St. Pancras, London, instead. And the stairs have been iconic as a result to this day.
11. The whole video was filmed in one shot.
12. Music bosses hated the video and wanted to totally redo it for numerous reasons.
13. It was pretty damn cold in the hotel, resulting in Mel B's, um, nipples showing (another reason execs wanted to retake it). As a result the video was banned in several Asian countries.
14. "Wannabe" almost wasn't their debut single. Virgin's executives apparently wanted "Say You'll Be There" or "Love Thing" to be the first introduction to the Girl Power group.
15. But the girls were adamant it should be "Wannabe", so Geri Halliwell acted as their spokesperson and refused to budge.
16. Johan Camitz, a little-known Swedish director who had worked on commercials, took charge of the video and it was shot two months before the single was released.
17. Their first TV appearance performing the song was pretty average to say the least. They appeared on Surprise Surprise and lip-synched along to it in an underground car park.
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18. It went on to beat a record set by the Beatles.
19. The song has appeared in The Simpsons, among other shows.
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Other TV programmes its appeared on include Glee, Melrose Place, and Small Soldiers.
20. Victoria was the only Spice Girl who didn't have her own line in "Wannabe".
21. But when Geri left in 1998 she got her chance by taking her lines in the song.
22. And the song was released 20 years ago today. So now we feel insanely old. Happy birthday to the Spice Girls' debut track!
