Retro Video of the Week: "Wannabe" by The Spice Girls

Tomorrow is not only the first anniversary of the most disgraceful display of sedition our young democracy has ever seen, but also the 25th anniversary of the U.S. release of one of the most popular songs ever, "Wannabe" by The Spice Girls.  Less than three weeks later, the video was released and it went into heavy rotation on MTV.

The song is ubiquitous now, but it's easy to forget how different it was at the time, as there just weren't a lot of straight pop songs, much less by a group of British vixens.  I have fond memories of the song, as it was a fixture at parties second semester of my freshman year of college.

To call it a massive success would be an understatement.  It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks, and it also went to #1 in 36 other countries.  The song came in at #35 on the Billboard end of the decade chart for the '90s, #581 on the all-time Billboard Hot 100, and #40 on the all-time UK pop chart.

"Wannabe" is the best-selling single by a female group ever, and it was ranked as the most recognizable pop song since the 1940s according a 2014 Dutch/English study, in which participants recognized the song on average in an astounding 2.3 seconds.  Among various other awards, the iconic video -- featuring the group crashing a fancy, apparently cold, London hotel and making a scene -- won Best Dance Video at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.  Slam your body down and wind it all around.