Say You'll Be There

Infobox Single
Name = Say You'll Be There


Artist = Spice Girls
from Album = Spice
B-side = "Take Me Home"
Released = Flagicon|Japan 26 September 1996
Flagicon|UK 14 October 1996
Flagicon|Australia 6 January 1997
Flagicon|USA 25 March 1997
Format = Vinyl record (12"),
cassette, CD single
Recorded = 1995
Genre = Dance pop, teen pop
Length = 3:56 (album version)
Label = Virgin Records
Writer = Spice Girls, Elliot Kennedy
Producer = Absolute
Certification = Platinum (BPI)
Gold (ARIA, RIAA)
Artist = Spice Girls
Type = singles
Last single = "Wannabe"
(1996)
This single = "Say You'll Be There"
(1996)
Next single = "2 Become 1"
(1996)Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate covers
Type = Single


Lower caption = French 12" vinyl promo coverExtra album cover 2
Type = Single


Lower caption = Japanese CD coverExtra album cover 2
Type = Single


Lower caption = US CD cover

"Say You'll Be There" is a dance-pop song performed by the English girl group Spice Girls. The song was written by the Spice Girls, Jonathan Buck and Eliot Kennedy for their debut album "Spice" (see 1996 in music).

It was released in October 1996 as the album's second single in Australia and Europe, and became the group's second number-one single in the United Kingdom where it was certified platinum. It was also very popular across Europe where it reached the top ten in most of the charts.As a result of its popularity, the song was released in March 1997 in Canada and the United States, and it entered the top three on both charts.

The song's music video, an example of the solidarity of the all-female bond of the group, received positive reactions from critics and was nominated for numerous awards including the MTV Video Music Awards, and the BRIT Awards.

Writing and inspiration

"Say You'll Be There" was co-written by Jon B., Eliot Kennedy and the Spice Girls and was produced by Absolute. The harmonica solo is played by Judd Lander, who also played the harmonica on Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon". [ [http://www.kirstymaccoll.com/information/conn/l.htm Judd Lander] . Kirstymaccoll.com . Retrieved 18 September 2007.]

The mid-tempo, semi-R&B groove song, according to Mel B depicts about the group telling that it does not matter to say that you love them, the only thing that they care is that their lover give his promise that he will be there for them whenever they need him. [cite book | last = Spice Girls | title = Girl Power! | publisher = Zone/Chameleon Books | date = 1997 | pages = 36 | isbn =0-233-99165-4 ]

"Say You'll Be There" was one of the first songs that the group wrote after they left their former managers Chris and Bob Herbert, on 3 March 1995. The group stole the master recordings of their discography from the management offices in order to ensure they kept control of their own work. [cite book | last = Sinclair | first = David | title = Wannabe: How the Spice Girls Reinvented Pop Fame | publisher = Omnibus Press | date = 2004 | pages = 34 | isbn =0-7119-8643-6 ]

The next day the group went to Sheffield to meet with the producer Eliot Kennedy, a meeting that was arranged by the Herberts before their departure. The group persuaded him to work with them, and it became a very productive session; they composed two tracks that would eventually appear in their first album "Spice". Those tracks were "Love Thing" and "Say You'll Be There". [cite book | last = McGibbon | first = Rob | title = Spice Power: The Inside Story | publisher = Macmillan Publishers Ltd. | date = 1997 | pages = 100-103 | isbn =0-7522-1142-0 ] [ [http://www.robmcgibbon.com/index.php5?t=article&l=spice-power-the-inside-story Rob McGibbon book] . Robmcgibbon.com . Retrieved 11 October 2007.]

In December 1996 while topping the charts across Europe, "Say You'll be There" became the focus of a controversy when the Israeli soldier Idit Shechtman accused the Spice Girls of copying her song "Bo Aylai" ("Come to me"), a highly similar song released two years earlier in Israel. [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2992962.html Spice Girls song controversy] . Highbeam.com . Subscription Required . Retrieved 25 September 2007.]

Critical reception

The song received mixed reviews, some critics praised "Say You'll Be There" as a catchy song, others dubbed it as merely a bid for credibility. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic in a review of their debut album "Spice", said about the song that "what is surprising is how the sultry soul of 'Say You'll Be There' is more than just a guilty pleasure". [ [http://wc05.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:8oj4eay24xf7~T1 All Music Review] . Allmusic.com . Retrieved 8 October 2007.]

Ken Tucker from "Entertainment Weekly" called the song "a bid for street cred". [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,289571,00.html Entertainment Weekly Review-1] . Ew.com . Retrieved 8 October 2007.] David Browne also from "Entertainment Weekly" wrote about the confusing lyrics saying "modern relationships are confusing, wait until you spend time with the Spice Girls 'Say You'll Be There'. Let's see: She wants to be friends, he wants more, and yet she croons, 'I'm giving you everything/All that joy can bring'? She's as confused as I am", adding "better to revel in the delectably frothy girl-group melody". [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20199615,00.html Entertainment Weekly Review-2] . Ew.com . Retrieved 8 October 2007.]

Ben Thompson from Amazon.com referred to the song as "both catchy and sexy" and that it "is easily the greatest song on the album equaling the work of any pop artist of the last 20 years, including more respected ones like Madonna". [ [http://www.amazon.ca/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A39IBO345O4Q2S Amazon Review] . Amazon.ca . Retrieved 8 October 2007.] Sputnikmusic said that the song "continues the demanding bitch tendency of "Wannabe" adding "once again, there's a profoundly annoying synthesizer riff, and the whole song is as beyond redemption as it is catchy. It still tops 'Wannabe', though. But then again, what doesn't?" [ [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=3524 Sputnikmusic Review] . Sputnikmusic.com . Retrieved 8 October 2007.]

Music video

The music video for "Say You'll Be There" was directed by Vaughan Arnell, produced by Adam Saward and was filmed in the Mojave Desert, located primarily in California, United States. [ [http://www.bogodir.com/Director/Vaughan+Arnell/ Vaughan Arnell] . Bogodir.com . Retrieved 19 September 2007.] [ [http://www.mvdbase.com/tech.php?last=Saward&first=Adam Adam Saward] . Mvdbase.com . Retrieved 19 September 2007.] The selection for the video's milieu resulted in a very different setting from "Wannabe", which was filmed at the Midland Grand Hotel in St. Pancras, [cite book | last = McGibbon | first = Rob | title = Spice Power: The Inside Story | publisher = Macmillan Publishers Ltd. | date = 1997 | pages = 107 | isbn =0-7522-1142-0 ] an old district of London.

The video features the group as a band of female techno-warriors, who use martial arts and high-tech ninja influenced weapons to capture a hapless male who happens to appear in his Chevrolet Corvair Rampside pick-up truck. The clip is presented as a narrative, with movie credits at the start introducing the Spice Girls as fantastic characters.

The shots of male bondage are unexplained, and function as symbols of male disempowerment, just as the rest of the clip serves to assert the power and fighting abilities of the women, at the end the confused apparent pursuer is carried off on the roof of a car as a trophy. [ [http://www.chloe.uwa.edu.au/outskirts/archive/volume3/treagus Video description] . Chloe.uwa.edu.au. Retrieved 21 September 2007.]

The recording was largely inspired by the films "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" and "Pulp Fiction", the latter in which led the girls to adopt fictional identities, an idea that Halliwell came up with,cite book | last = Halliwell | first = Geraldine | title = If Only | publisher = Bantam Books Ltd. | date = 1999 | pages = 232 | isbn =0553815296 ] Melanie Chisholm played "Katrina Highkick", Geri Halliwell's alter-ego was "Trixie Firecracker", Emma Bunton took on the role of "Kung Fu Candy", Victoria Beckham played "Midnight Miss Suki", while "Blazin' Bad Zula" was Melanie Brown's alter-ego.

The making of this video is featured on the vhs: "One Hour Of Girl Power". Two versions of this video exist, there is the original, and a version that omits the scenes which include the man, played by Tony Ward, captured and tied down. [ [http://tony-ward.com/_private/1996SPICEGIRLSVideoSay.htm Tony Ward-Say You'll Be There Video] . Tony-Ward.com . Retrieved 18 September 2007.] The video won Best Pop Video at the 1996 Smash Hits! Awards, [ [http://www.spicegirls.co.uk/timeline.htm Smash Hits Awards] . Spicegirls.co.uk . Retrieved 21 September 2007.] Best Video at the 1997 BRIT Awards, [ [http://brits.co.uk/winners/1997/index.php BRIT Awards] . Brits.co.uk . Retrieved 18 September 2007.] and was nominated for Viewer's Choice at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. [ [http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1997/mtvvmas.htm MTV Video Music Awards] . Rockonthenet.com Retrieved 18 September 2007.]

Chart performance

The song was initially released in the United Kingdom on 14 October 1996 once the popularity of "Wannabe" began to fade. [cite book | last = De Ribera Berenguer | first = Juan | title = Spice Girls | publisher = Editorial La Mascara | date = 1997 | pages = 37 | isbn =84-7974-236-4 ] It entered the charts at number one, the group's first single to debut at the top position, staying at the top for two weeks, twelve weeks in the Top 40, seventeen weeks inside the Top 75; [ [http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=24612 UK-Chart History] . Chartstats.com . Retrieved 12 October 2007.] and received a platinum certification by the British Phonographic Industry. It was a successful follow up single, selling 349,000 copies in its first week, [cite book | last = De Ribera Berenguer | first = Juan | title = Spice Girls | publisher = Editorial La Mascara | date = 1997 | pages = 27 | isbn =84-7974-236-4 ] 930,000 copies in total, [ [http://www.musicweek.com/charts/title.asp Sales figures sourced from Music Week] . Musicweek.com . Subscription Required ] and became the fourth biggest seller of 1996. [ [http://www.popreport.co.uk/chart_history/96_main.php Biggest sellers of 1996] . Popreport.com . Retrieved 25 September 2007.]

The song also proved successful across Continental Europe, where it reached number one in the Euro Hot 100 and Denmark, and the top ten throughout. In Finland it was their second number-one single, debuting at the sixth position reaching the top spot the next week, and staying in the chart for six weeks in total.In France the single debuted on 11 November 1996 at number forty-five, the next week it jumped to the fourth position (the highest jump that week), [ [http://lescharts.com/archive.asp?todo=show&day=07&month=12&year=1996&cat=s French debut] . Lescharts.com . Retrieved 25 September 2007.] reaching a peak position of two for three consecutive weeks, remaining on the chart for eighteen weeks. In Norway the single debuted at number four, when "Wannabe" still was in the top three, [ [http://norwegiancharts.com/archiv.asp?todo=show&woche=43&jahr=1996&sparte=s Norwegian debut] . Norwegiancharts.com . Retrieved 25 September 2007.] it reached a peak position two weeks later at number two, remaining seven weeks in the top five and fourteen weeks in total.

In New Zealand it debuted on 10 November 1996 at number two, being blocked off the number-one spot by "Wannabe", staying ten weeks in the top ten and twenty-three weeks in total.In Australia, the single debuted on 26 January 1997 at number twenty-three, and peaked at number twelve thirteen weeks later, remaining on the chart for over five months and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association.

"Say You'll Be There" was released on 6 May 1997 in North America. In the United States, the song set a still-standing record on the Billboard Hot 100, the main U.S. chart, when it debuted at number five, the highest-entry by a non-North American act. [cite book | last = Halliwell | first = Geraldine | title = If Only | publisher = Bantam Books Ltd. | date = 1999 | pages = 269 | isbn = 0553815296 ] "Say You'll Be There" reached number six on the Hot 100 Airplay and four on the Hot Singles Sales, [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=350&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+100+Airplay&ci=3027734&cdi=7216867&cid=08%2F09%2F1997 Hot 100 Airplay] . Billboard.com . Retrieved 18 September 2007.] [ [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=353&cfgn=Singles&cfn=Hot+Singles+Sales&ci=3027482&cdi=7208282&cid=07%2F05%2F1997 Hot Singles Sales] . Billboard.com . Retrieved 18 September 2007.] but was unable to top the Hot 100, where it reached a peak position of number three for three consecutive weeks. It peaked at number five on the United World Chart, staying sixteen weeks on the top ten. [ [http://www.mediatraffic.de/week23-1997.htm UWC Weeks on Chart] . Mediatraffic.de . Retrieved 17 November 2007.]

Live performances

The song was included in the set list for the Spiceworld Tour in 1998, [ [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/spice_girls_live_at_wembley_stadium/about.php Spiceworld-Set list] . Rottentomatoes.com . Retrieved 12 October 2007.] the Christmas in Spiceworld tour in 1999, [ [http://www.melanie-c-news.com/1999/Dec1999.html Christmas in Spiceworld-Set list] . Melanie-c-news.com . Retrieved 11 October 2007.] and The Return of the Spice Girls tour in 2007 – 2008, [cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=5fa15346-97fe-4477-bf2e-a84bfb1ce9d8|title=Spice Girls concert set list for Vancouver|publisher="The Vancouver Sun"|date=2007-12-02|accessdate=2008-07-29] and remained the in band's live set after Halliwell's departure. The second verse had originally been sung by Ginger Spice (Halliwell) with Sporty Spice (Chisholm) adding the harmonies. After Halliwell's departure, Sporty Spice sang lead and Baby Spice (Bunton) added the high harmony.

The song was performed several times on television, including "Top Of The Pops", [ [http://www.themusicvaults.net/videos/dvd/spicegirls/spice%20vol1.htm Top Of The Pops-Performance] . Themusicvaults.net . Retrieved 11 October 2007.] "Much Music", the 1997 "Prince's Trust Gala", "Saturday Night Live", [ [http://www.tv.com/saturday-night-live/rob-lowe-spice-girls/episode/101898/summary.html Saturday Night Live-Performance] . Tv.com . Retrieved 11 October 2007.] and many television programs across Europe."Say You'll Be There" was also performed in the 1996 Smash Hits! Awards and the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. [cite book | last = McGibbon | first = Rob | title = Spice Power: The Inside Story | publisher = Macmillan Publishers Ltd. | date = 1997 | pages = 117 | isbn =0-7522-1142-0 ] [ [http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/past-vmas/1997/ MTV Video Music Awards-Performance] . Mtv.com . Retrieved 11 October 2007.]

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Say You'll Be There". [ [http://www.spicediscography.tk/ Formats and track listings] . Spicediscography.tk . Retrieved 29 September 2007.]
*UK CD1/Australian CD1/Brazilian CD/Japanese CD
#"Say You'll Be There" (Single Mix) – 3:56
#"Take Me Home" – 4:07
#"Say You'll Be There" (Junior Vasquez Main Pass) – 8:33
#"Say You'll Be There" (Instrumental) – 3:56

*UK CD2/Australian CD2
#"Say You'll Be There" [Single Mix] – 3:56
#"Say You'll Be There" [Spice Of Life Mix] – 7:01
#"Say You'll Be There" [Linslee's Extended Mix] – 4:09
#"Say You'll Be There" [Junior Vasquez Dub Girls] – 8:29

*European CD
#"Say You'll Be There" [Single Mix] – 3:56
#"Say You'll Be There" [Junior Vasquez Main Pass] – 8:33

*US CD
#"Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
#"Take Me Home" – 4:07

*Italian 12" Vinyl single
# A1:"Say You'll Be There" [Single Mix] – 3:56
# A2:"Say You'll Be There" [Junior Vasquez Dub Girls] – 8:29
# B1:"Say You'll Be There" [Linslee's Extended Mix] – 4:09
# B2:"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's X-Beats] – 8:30

*US 12" Vinyl single
# A1:"Say You'll Be There" [Album Version] – 3:56
# A2:"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's Main Pass] – 8:33
# A3:"Say You'll Be There" [Linslee's Extended Mix] – 4:09
# B1:"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's Dub Girls] – 8:29
# B2:"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's X-Beats] – 8:30

*Canadian Promo CD
#"Say You'll Be There" [Single Mix] – 3:56
#"Say You'll Be There" [Junior Vasquez Main Pass] – 8:33
#"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's Dub Girls] – 8:29
#"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's X-Beats] – 8:30
#"Say You'll Be There" [Kurt's Dub] – 4:25
#"Wannabe" [Junior Vasquez Remix] – 6:30
#"Wannabe" [Junior Vasquez Gomis Dub] – 6:36

*Japanese Promo CD
#"Say You'll Be There" [Single Mix] – 3:56
#"Say You'll Be There" [Instrumental] – 3:56
#"Say You'll Be There" [Spice Of Life Mix] – 7:01
#"Say You'll Be There" [Linslee's Extended Mix] – 4:09
#"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's Dub Girls] – 8:29
#"Say You'll Be There" [Junior Vasquez Main Pass] – 8:33
#"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's X-Beats] – 8:30
#"Say You'll Be There" [Kurt's Dub] – 4:25

Credits and personnel

*Spice Girls – lead vocals
*Absolute – production, all instruments
*Curt Frasca and Mark Stent – audio mixing
*Joe Moskowitz – keyboards, programming
*Jeremy Wheatley – recording engineer
*Adam Brown – assistant
*Junior Vasquez – remixing, post production
*Judd Lander – harmonicaPublished by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd/Sony ATV Music Publishing

Charts, peaks and certifications

Chart positions

Notes and references

External links

* [http://www.thespicegirls.com/en/index.html Spice Girls official site]
* [http://www.thespicegirlsgreatesthits.com/ "Say You'll Be There" audio]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynBtZqurKaQ "Say You'll Be There" music video - Official Spice Channel on Youtube]