"Say You'll Be There" is a song by the English
girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...
from their debut studio album, ''
Spice
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
'' (1996). The Spice Girls co-wrote the song with
Eliot Kennedy after the group left Heart Management in 1995. Later,
Jonathan Buck also received a songwriting credit. Produced by production duo
Absolute
Absolute may refer to:
Companies
* Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher
* Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK
* Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk ma ...
, the song incorporates a mix of
dance-pop
Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...
and
R&B influences. It also includes a
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
solo
Solo or SOLO may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character
* Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity
* Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character
* Napoleon Solo, fr ...
played by
Judd Lander. Once considered by the group's record label
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
to be the group's debut single, it was released as the second single from ''Spice'' on 26 September 1996.
The lyrics provide a female-first perspective on relationships. The song received mixed reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
, many of whom praised it for its catchiness, while others were critical of its production. It was a commercial success worldwide, reaching the top ten in most of the charts that it entered. The song became the Spice Girls' second number one in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it debuted at number five on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, setting, at the time, a record for the highest entry by a British act on the chart; it later peaked at number three. It was certified
double platinum
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...
by the
British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) in the United Kingdom, platinum in New Zealand, and was further certified gold in five other countries.
The music video was inspired by the films ''
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' is a 1965 American exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer and co-written by Meyer and Jack Moran. It follows three go-go dancers who embark on a spree of kidnapping and murder in the California desert.
The ...
'' (1965) and ''
Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
'' (1994), and 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. It includes symbols of male ''disempowerment'', and serves as an example of solidarity and the group's bonding. It received positive reactions and was nominated for numerous awards including the 1996
''Smash Hits'' Poll Winners Party, the
1997 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1997, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1996, to June 16, 1997. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
American singer Beck took home the ...
, and the
1997 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 1997 was the 17th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 24 February 1997 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in Lo ...
.
Background
In March 1994, father-and-son team
Bob and
Chris Herbert
Chris Herbert is a British talent manager who has helped oversee the careers of the Spice Girls, Five, Stephen Gately and Hear'Say, B*Witched, The Honeyz, Ben's Brother. He is the son of talent manager Bob Herbert.
Career
With father Bob Herbert ...
, together with financer Chic Murphy, working under the business name of Heart Management, decided to create a
girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring two or more women in music, female singers who generally vocal harmony, harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female p ...
to compete with the
boy bands that dominated the British
pop music
Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
scene of the time. They placed an advertisement in ''
The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...
'', which asked the question: "Are you street smart, extrovert, ambitious, and able to sing and dance?" After receiving hundreds of replies, the management had narrowed their search to a group of five girls:
Victoria Adams,
Melanie Brown,
Melanie C
Melanie Jayne Chisholm (born 12 January 1974), commonly known as Melanie C or Mel C, is an English singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sporty Spice. W ...
hisholm,
Geri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle Halliwell-Horner (''née'' Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, television personality, author, and actress. She rose to fame in the mid-1990s as a member of the pop group the Spice Girls, in which ...
, and
Michelle Stephenson. The group moved to a house in
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...
and received the name Touch. Stephenson was eventually fired because she lacked the drive of the other group members. She was replaced by
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, media personality, and actress. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the Pop music, pop group the Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice, reflecting the ...
. In November, the group—now named Spice—persuaded their managers to set up a
showcase in front of industry writers, producers, and
A&R men at the Nomis Studios in
Shepherd's Bush
Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan.
Although primarily residential in character, its ...
, London, where they received an "overwhelmingly positive" reaction.
Due to the large interest in the group, the Herberts quickly set about creating a binding contract for them. Encouraged by the reaction they had received at the showcase, all five members delayed signing contracts on the legal advice from, amongst others, Victoria Adams' father, Anthony Adams.
In late March 1995,
because of the group's frustration at their management's unwillingness to listen to their visions and ideas, they parted from Heart Management. In order to ensure they kept control of their own work, the group retrieved the
master recording
Master recordings, or simply masters, are the original recordings—including post-recording mixes and production edits—of audio performances, from which all analog and digital copies of the audio are derived from. The term refers only to the r ...
s of their discography from the management offices.
The next week they were supposed to meet with
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
-based songwriter and record producer
Eliot Kennedy. Chris Herbert arranged the session weeks before the group's departure.
Writing and recording
Without access to Herbert's address book, the only information the group had about Kennedy was that he lived in Sheffield. Brown and Halliwell drove there the day after their departure from Heart Management, then looked for a phone book in a service station, and called recording studios in the area, Eliot was the third Kennedy they called. That evening they went to his house and persuaded him to work with them, the rest of the group travelled to Sheffield the next day.
Kennedy commented about the session:
None of them played instruments, so I was left to do the music and get that vibe together. What I said to them was, 'Look, I've got a chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in whic ...
—check this out.' And I'd sing them the chorus and the melody—no lyrics or anything—and straight away five pads and pencils came out and they were throwing lines at us. Ten minutes later, the song was written. Then you go through and refine it. Then later, as you were recording it you might change a few things here and there. But pretty much it was a real quick process. They were confident in what they were doing, throwing it out there.
The group stayed at Kennedy's house for the most part of the week.
He named his studio Spice, after the group, because it had never been used before.
Together, they composed their first two songs without Heart Management, "Love Thing", and "Say You'll Be There". The girls met with
artist manager Simon Fuller
Simon Robert Fuller (born 17 May 1960) is a British entrepreneur, artist manager, and film and television producer. He is the creator of the Idols (franchise), ''Idols'' TV format, including the British series ''Pop Idol'' and the American ser ...
, who signed them with
19 Entertainment
19 Entertainment Inc. is a producer of entertainment properties for television with a focus on music owned by Sony Pictures Television through its nonfiction division. Founded by Simon Fuller in London in 1985, the company co-produced '' Pop Ido ...
in May 1995. The group considered a variety of record labels, and signed a deal with
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...
in July.
Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriters and production duo known as
Absolute
Absolute may refer to:
Companies
* Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher
* Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK
* Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk ma ...
—would later produce the song and recorded it at
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...
in
Barnes, London. Fuller then sent the song, to audio engineer
Mark "Spike" Stent
Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...
to be remixed.
In December 1996, while charting across Europe, "Say You'll Be There" became the focus of a controversy when Israeli soldier Idit Shechtman accused the group of copying her song (, "Come to Me"), an alleged similar song released in 1995 in Israel. Shechtman hired lawyers and threatened to sue. A spokesman of the group later declared: "Where there's a hit, there's a writ. There's always someone who crawls out of the woodwork claiming to have written a hit song. We look forward to seeing her in court."
The chorus of "Say You'll Be There" uses a highly similar melody to the song "What U R 2 Me", performed by
R&B group
After 7
After 7 is an American R&B group founded in 1987 by brothers Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, and their friend Keith Mitchell. The Edmonds brothers are the older siblings of pop/R&B singer-songwriter and record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, ...
.
American singer-songwriter
Jonathan David Buck (Jon B.), wrote and produced the track for After 7's third album ''
Reflections'', released in July 1995. Buck was later added to the songwriting credits of the song in the group's ''
Greatest Hits
A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
'' album, and the reissue of ''
Girl Power! Live in Istanbul'' on DVD, both released in 2007. He is not credited in previous releases of the song, including the single and the ''
Spice
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
'' album.
[(1996) CD for '']Spice
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
'' by the Spice Girls, UK Edition D Booklet London: Virgin Records. (CDV 2812).
Composition and lyrics
"Say You'll Be There" is a midtempo
dance-pop
Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...
song, with influences from
R&B.
It is written in the key of
D major
D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...
, with a
time signature
A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...
set in common time, and moves at a moderate tempo of 108
beats per minute
Beat, beats, or beating may refer to:
Common uses
* Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact
* Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact
* Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of in ...
.
The song is constructed in
strophic form
Strophic form – also called verse-repeating form, chorus form, AAA song form, or one-part song form – is a song structure in which all verses or stanzas of the text are sung to the same music. Contrasting song forms include through-composed, ...
,
using the sequence Bm–E–Gm–D as its
chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...
during the
verses and the
chorus
Chorus may refer to:
Music
* Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse
* Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound
* Chorus form, song in whic ...
.
Musically, many critics noted the
West Coast hip hop
West Coast hip-hop is a regional genre of Hip-hop, hip-hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during th ...
inspired synth-sounds,
and the
G-funk
G-funk, short for gangsta funk, (or funk rap) is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre is heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic (aka P-F ...
-infused production.
The track incorporates sound effects from
turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more Phonograph, turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into ...
during the song's
introduction
Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to:
General use
* Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music
* Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and g ...
and the verses.
The verses are divided in two sections, the first one is sung in a declamatory-style by Bunton and Brown in the first verse and by Halliwell during the second verse. Adams sings the lyrical half of each verse with a "more seductive" and
"breathy" vocal
timbre
In music, timbre (), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound of a musical note, sound or tone. Timbre distinguishes sounds according to their source, such as choir voices and musical instrument ...
.
A
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
follows after the second chorus.
It includes an
instrumental
An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
interlude from a
harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
, which some critics compared it to the work of
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
,
and a two-bar
rapped section.
The song closes with a
coda, which consists of the group singing the chorus repeatedly until the song gradually
fades out, while Chisholm adds the
ad libs between the other girls'
harmonies
In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
.
The unreleased demo version of the song features a rap in the bridge.
The
instrumentation
Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...
includes a
drum kit
A drum kit or drum set (also known as a trap set, or simply drums in popular music and jazz contexts) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and sometimes other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one p ...
with
syncopated
In music, syncopation is a variety of rhythms played together to make a piece of music, making part or all of a tune or piece of music off-beat (music), off-beat. More simply, syncopation is "a disturbance or interruption of the regular flow of ...
handclaps and a prominent
synthesizer
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
sound, sparse use of
rhythm guitar
In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...
and
funk bass, string
glissando
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a wikt:glide, glide from one pitch (music), pitch to another (). It is an Italianized Musical terminology, musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In ...
s and a
vibraphone
The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...
.
Production duo Absolute played all the instruments,
except for the harmonica, which was played by
Judd Lander, who also played it on
Culture Club
Culture Club are an English new wave music, new wave band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (musician), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), and Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and formerly included Jon Moss ( ...
's "
Karma Chameleon
"Karma Chameleon" is a song by English band Culture Club, featured on the group's 1983 album '' Colour by Numbers''. The single was released in the United Kingdom in September 1983 and became the second Culture Club single to reach the top of t ...
" (1983).
The main
melody
A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of Pitch (music), pitch and rhythm, while more figurativel ...
and lyrical rhythm of the song is highly similar to After 7's song "What U R 2 Me".
As a result, Jon B—the song's composer and producer, later received songwriting credits on "Say You'll be There".
The lyrics of the song, according to Brown, are about relationships—whether friendship or romantic—and to be there for each other.
She commented, "you don't have to give them all the 'I love you' bit, because what's important is if you're there for each other".
Chisholm commented that the inspiration for the song came from their own experiences as a group, and how they have been there for each other.
According to musicologist
Sheila Whiteley, the group presented an image that "exuded a brash confidence that was attractive to their teenage fans" and added that they made "an emphasis on stating where they come from and what they stand for". She commented that in the song's narrative, the Spice Girls opted for friendship over love, and the clear message is that "the relationship can be channelled and controlled by the girl".
Author Juan de Ribera Berenguer, said that "love was a constant theme" in the group's songs, but added that "Say You'll Be There" holds a different approach to the subject, as it "highlights the female perspective". Tom Ewing from the
e-zine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...
''
Freaky Trigger
''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2 ...
'', believed that "Say You'll be There" has a common theme with other pop songs, but pointed out the opening lines "Last time that we had this conversation / I decided we should be friends", as what sets it apart from their counterparts, as the song's main idea is that the choice is made by the female.
Anna Louise Golden wrote in her book ''The Spice Girls'', that the lyrics were another example of the group's
Girl Power
Girl power is a slogan that encourages and celebrates women's empowerment, independence, confidence and strength. The slogan's invention is credited to the US punk band Bikini Kill, who published a zine called ''Bikini Kill #2: Girl Power'' in ...
philosophy, as it mixed "interpersonal romance and personal strength".
Release and promotion
Virgin Records planned a major campaign for the group's debut to promote them as their new high-profile act.
Ashley Newton, the label's head of A&R and other executives preferred "Say You'll Be There" to be released as the first single, as they considered it a "much cooler" track than the group's choice, "
Wannabe
"Wannabe" is the debut single by the British girl group the Spice Girls, released on 26 June 1996. It was written by the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard "Biff" Stannard and produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album, ''Spice ...
".
Fuller agreed with the label, but the group was adamant with their decision and refused. After a period of indecision about the release, Fuller and the executives at Virgin relented, and "Wannabe" was chosen as their first single. Brown mentions in her autobiography that the group was also indecisive about the choice for the second single; as "Love Thing" was considered at one point to be released instead.
At the end of September 1996, "Say You'll Be There" was sent to British radio, and the accompanying music video added to the programming of
MTV
MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
and
The Box,
while the Spice Girls were in Hong Kong doing a promotional tour in the Far East.
At the beginning of October, the song started to receive intensive airplay across the UK, appearing on the playlists of 46
ILR stations—including
Capital FM,
and
Radio 1 A-list.
On 11 October 1996, the group performed the song on ''
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' and during the following week, did interviews and appeared on British television programmes that included ''
The Chart Show
''The Chart Show'' (also known as ''The ITV Chart Show'' between 1989 and 1998) is a weekly syndicated music video programme, which ran in the United Kingdom from April 1986 until August 1998, with revivals in 2003 and 2008–2009.
''The Char ...
'', ''
The Big Breakfast
''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4 from 1992 to 2002, and as a revival from 2021 to 2022. The show had various presenters, starting with Chris Evans (presenter), ...
'', ''
The Noise'', ''
Live & Kicking
''Live & Kicking'' was a British children's television series that originally aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1993 to 15 September 2001. It was the replacement for '' Going Live!'', and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, ...
'', ''
The O-Zone
''The O Zone'' was a weekly music magazine show broadcast on BBC from 1989 to 2000 made by BBC Children's Presentation. The first series was presented by Andy Crane on BBC One as a ten-minute filler each weekday morning during the summer sc ...
'', ''
Newsround'', ''
The Disney Club'', ''After 5'', ''
WOW!'', and ''
GMTV
GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...
''.
The single was commercially released in the UK on 14 October 1996 in three single versions.
The first one, a
CD maxi single included the single mix of the track, a remix by record producer
Junior Vasquez, an instrumental take, and the B-side "Take Me Home", written by the group with Absolute. The second version, released in a
digipak
Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage.
Jewel case
A ...
, came with a signed poster and included the single mix, and three club remixes of the track produced by Vasquez,
D Mob, and Linslee Campbell. The third version was a
cassette single
A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...
, featuring the single mix, the B-side "Take Me Home", and the Junior's Main Pass remix.
Following the physical release of the single, the group did a promotional tour across Europe for both, the song and their debut album ''Spice'', set to be released at the beginning of November.
During the last week of the month, they recorded two additional performances for ''Top of the Pops'' on 23 and 30 October,
and visited France, Italy, Norway, and Sweden, where they did a series of interviews and appearances on television shows.
The first week of November, the group did a televised performance in Germany, and a photo shoot for teen magazine ''
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
* Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
* Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing compa ...
''.
For the US release of the single, which occurred on 6 May 1997,
the group did a week of promotion in North America. They made televised appearances on the ''
Late Show with David Letterman
''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by Letterman's production com ...
'', ''
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'' is an American daytime variety show, variety television talk show created, hosted, and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It premiered on June 10, 1996, and concluded after six seasons on June 27, 200 ...
'' and ''
Live with Regis and Kathie Lee'', and then traveled to
Acapulco, Mexico
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco has been a port since the ear ...
, to perform on the television show ''
Siempre en Domingo''.
Critical reception
The song received mixed reviews from
music critics
Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
; many of whom praised "Say You'll Be There" for its catchiness, while others were critical of its production. Kristy Barker from ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...
'' named it Single of the Week, saying, "Less instant/insistent than 'Wannabe', 'Say You'll Be There' is nevertheless this year's Glorious Pop Rush Number Three, behind their debut and
Livin' Joy's '
Don't Stop Movin''." Alan Jones from ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...
'' wrote, "After a tinkly cocktail bar piano intro, it moves through a
Zapp-like phase right into
Eternal territory. It's somewhat more sophisticated than 'Wannabe' and is likely to further their career, though some who liked the quirkiness of the first hit may pass."
Dele Fadele of ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'' dubbed it as a "monstrously catchy tune", and lauded it as "state-of-the-art pop music for '96". ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine's
Christopher John Farley was mixed on the track, although he called the song's
groove
Groove or Grooves may refer to:
Music
* Groove (music)
* Groove (drumming)
* The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s
* The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station
* Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station
...
"penetrating", he believed that it resembled too close to the work of
Earth, Wind and Fire. ''
Richmond Times-Dispatch
The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia.
Circulation
The ''Times-Dispatch'' has the second-highest circul ...
'' critic Melissa Ruggieri, considered the song "a harmless, mid-tempo foot-tapper" that was made for
Top 40 radio.
Edna Gundersen of the ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' dismissed the group's
debut as "assembly-line
dance-pop
Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...
", but singled out "Say You'll Be There" as one of the album's highlights. ''
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...
'' writer Steve Dollar criticized the song, describing it as "pure confection more sugar really than spice", he also noted influences of Stevie Wonder in the harmonica solo.
Greg Kot
Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...
of the ''
Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' was unimpressed with their debut album, he considered the song's "
G-funk
G-funk, short for gangsta funk, (or funk rap) is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre is heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic (aka P-F ...
synth" as simply part of "a compendium of slick secondhand
urban pop".
When comparing the song to "Wannabe", ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''s critic
Larry Flick
Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...
thought it was as "immediately infectious" but "not nearly as silly and novelty-driven".
Barry Walters of ''
The Village Voice
''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' also compared the two songs. He found "Say You'll Be There" to be "even catchier" than "Wannabe". Reviewing the single,
David Browne of ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' rated it a B+, describing the melody as "delectably frothy", but was at the same time confused by the song's lyrical content.
Ken Tucker
Kenneth Tucker is an American arts, music and television critic, magazine editor, and nonfiction book author.
Early life and education
Tucker was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York, and raised in Stamford, Connecticut. He earned a ...
from the same publication, was more negative calling its
P-Funk
Parliament-Funkadelic (abbreviated as P-Funk) is an American musical collective, music collective of rotating musicians headed by George Clinton (funk musician), George Clinton, primarily consisting of the funk bands Parliament (band), Parliame ...
production "a bid for street cred".
Retrospective reviews from critics have been generally positive. Reviewing their debut album ''Spice'',
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
from
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
was surprised at how the song's "sultry soul" was "more than just a guilty pleasure", while Brian Grosz from Albumism called it a "a great
disco
Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
track". In a review of the group's 2007 compilation album ''Greatest Hits'', ''NME'' said that it is a "fine song in any age".
Alexis Petridis
Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...
of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' felt it was more polished than "Wannabe" and described the melody as "instantly memorable".
The ''
Evening Standard
The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
'' reviewer Jessie Thompson deemed the song as one of the group's best, praising the song's lyrical content and the harmonica solo. Writing for ''Billboard'', Jason Lipshutz complimented the song's production, calling the
hook
A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...
"enormously catchy" and the instrumental arrangement "smart-but-simple". Anne T. Donahue of
Vulture.com depicted it as "the perfect middle-ground" between the group's slower ballads and their upbeat singles, she added that "over 20 years later, we still remember the words to 'Say You'll Be There'". On a 2018 ranking of the group's songs, the ''NME'' writer El Hunt placed it at the top of the group's whole catalog, and characterized it as the "essence of everything that
girl power
Girl power is a slogan that encourages and celebrates women's empowerment, independence, confidence and strength. The slogan's invention is credited to the US punk band Bikini Kill, who published a zine called ''Bikini Kill #2: Girl Power'' in ...
stood for". ''
Q magazine
''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...
'' ranked "Say You'll Be There" at number 93 in their 2003 list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". ''
Time Out'' placed the song at number 39 on their 2015 list of "The 50 Best '90s Songs". Laura Richards felt that the song epitomized the group's musical style of blending pop with
R&B, considering it "pure genius". On ''Billboard''s 2017 list of the "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time", it ranked at number 25.
Commercial performance

"Say You'll Be There" was released in the UK once the popularity of "Wannabe" began to fade. The high anticipation for their second single assured its commercial success. A week before the release, reports gave the single advanced sales of 334,000 copies—the highest Virgin Records had ever recorded for a single, while the song entered the top ten of the UK Airplay Chart. It debuted on the
UK Singles Chart at number one,
selling 349,000 copies.
It was the group's first single to debut at number one, staying at the top position for two weeks, 12 weeks inside the top 40, and 17 weeks inside the top 75.
By the end of October 1996, the single had sold 750,000 copies, receiving a double platinum certification from the
British Phonographic Industry
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...
(BPI) for sales and streams exceeding 1,200,000 units in the UK as of June 2023.
"Say You'll Be There" was commercially successful in the rest of Europe. On 16 November 1996 it reached the top of the
Eurochart Hot 100
The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...
, remaining there for two weeks.
It topped the singles chart in Finland,
peaked inside the top ten in Austria, Belgium (both the Flemish and Walloon charts), Denmark, France, Ireland,
the Netherlands,
Norway, Spain,
Sweden, and Switzerland,
and the top 20 in Germany and Iceland.
The song was also a radio hit across the continent, reaching the top position of the European Hit Radio Top 40 for six weeks, topping the airplay charts in the
Benelux
The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...
region, France, and
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
, peaking inside the top five in the German-speaking countries, Hungary, and the UK, and inside the top 20 in Italy, Poland, and Spain.
The song debuted on the
Official New Zealand Music Chart
The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...
at number two on 10 November 1996 (the same week "Wannabe" reached the top spot), stayed 10 weeks inside the top 10, and spent 23 weeks on the chart in total.
In Australia, the single debuted in January 1997 on the
ARIA Singles Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
at number 23, peaking 13 weeks later at number 12. It remained on the chart for five months,
and was certified gold by the
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...
(ARIA) for selling 35,000 units in 1997.
In March 1997, "Say You'll Be There" debuted on the Canadian ''
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines.
One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...
'' 100 Hit Tracks chart at number 90, reaching a peak of number five in its 12th week.
It was ranked at number 35 position on the year-end chart.
In the United States, the song started to receive airplay from 15 radio stations in March 1997, when "Wannabe" was topping the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song set a record on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 when it debuted at number five on 24 May 1997, with sales of nearly 60,000 copies. At the time, this was the highest entry by a British act on the Hot 100. "Say You'll Be There" peaked at number three on the Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks. It ended 1997 at the number 28 on the year-end chart,
selling 900,000 copies by December 1997,
and was
certified gold by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA).
The song peaked at number two on the
Top 40/Mainstream chart and had
crossover success, reaching number three on the
Top 40/Rhythm-Crossover chart and number nine on the
Maxi-Singles Sales chart.
Music video
The music video for "Say You'll Be There" was directed by
Vaughan Arnell, produced by Adam Saward and filmed on 7–8 September 1996, in the
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...
, located in
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.
It was inspired by the films ''
Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
'' and ''
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
''Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!'' is a 1965 American exploitation film directed by Russ Meyer and co-written by Meyer and Jack Moran. It follows three go-go dancers who embark on a spree of kidnapping and murder in the California desert.
The ...
'',
the latter in which led the girls to adopt fictional identities, an idea that Halliwell came up with.
The video features the group as a band of female
techno
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
-warriors, who use martial arts and
high-tech
High technology (high tech or high-tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or ...
ninja
A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...
influenced weapons to capture a hapless male, played by American model
Tony Ward, who happens to appear in a
Petty Blue Dodge Charger Daytona. The clip is presented as a narrative, with movie credits at the start introducing the Spice Girls as fantastic characters.
Chisholm played "Katrina Highkick", Halliwell's
alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...
was "Trixie Firecracker", Bunton took on the role of "Kung Fu Candy", Adams played "Midnight Miss Suki" (wearing a black PVC
catsuit
A catsuit is a one-piece form-fitting garment that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. They are usually made from stretchable material, such as lycra, Chiffon (fabric), chiffon, spandex (after 1959), latex, or velour, but may u ...
which would attract the attention of her future husband,
David Beckham
Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...
),
and "Blazin' Bad Zula" was Brown's alter ego.
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 group captures a confused ice cream man who appears in his pick-up truck. He is carried off on the roof of the car as a trophy.
An alternate version of the video exists that removes the male bondage scenes and replaces them with other shots of the girls.
The video won for Best Pop Video at the 1996
''Smash Hits'' Poll Winners Party,
for
British Video of the Year at the
1997 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 1997 was the 17th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. It was organised by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 24 February 1997 at Earls Court Exhibition Centre in Lo ...
, and was nominated for the
Viewer's Choice at the
1997 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1997 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 4, 1997, honoring the best music videos from June 17, 1996, to June 16, 1997. The show was hosted by Chris Rock at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
American singer Beck took home the ...
.
It won the Fan.tastic Video honour—given by online ''Billboard'' readers—at the
1997 ''Billboard'' Music Video Awards, and was also nominated for
Best New Artist in a Video and Best Pop/Rock Clip. In January 1999, the music video was ranked number eight in
VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
's "All-Time Greatest Music Videos in History".
Live performances

The song was performed many times on television programmes, in both Europe and North America, such as ''Top of the Pops'', ''Live & Kicking'', ''The Noise'',
''
An Audience with...'', MTV's ''
The Grind'', ''The Rosie O'Donnell Show'', and
MuchMusic
Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...
s ''
Intimate and Interactive''. Their appearance at ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...
'' on 12 April 1997, was the first time "Say You'll Be There" was performed with a live band—their previous performances have all been either
lip-synched or sung to a recorded
backing track
A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live m ...
. The group have performed the song at the 1996 ''Smash Hits'' Poll Winners Party,
the 1997
Prince's Trust Gala, the
1997 San Remo Festival, and the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards.
In October 1997, the group performed it as the fifth song of the Spice Girls' first live concert at the
Abdi İpekçi Arena in
Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population over , it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in th ...
. The performance was broadcast on
Showtime in a pay-per-view event titled ''Spice Girls in Concert Wild!'', and was later included in the VHS and DVD release ''Girl Power! Live in Istanbul''. The Spice Girls performed the song in November 1997, as part of their setlist for the ''Two Nations in Concert'' charity event held in
Johannesburg, South Africa
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
, presented by the Nations Trust foundation. At the
2000 Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2000 was the 20th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are run by the British Phonographic Industry and took place on 3 March 2000 at Earls Court in London.
Performances
W ...
, the group performed "Say You'll Be There" at the end of the show as part of their setlist for winning the award for
Outstanding Contribution to Music.
The Spice Girls have performed the song on their four tours, the
Spiceworld Tour
The Spiceworld Tour (also known as Spice Girls in Concert and the Girl Power Tour '98) was the debut concert tour by English girl group the Spice Girls. It was launched in support of their first two studio albums, ''Spice'' (1996) and '' Spicewor ...
, the
Christmas in Spiceworld Tour, the
Return of the Spice Girls Tour, and the
Spice World – 2019 Tour. For the Spiceworld Tour, during their performance of "Say You'll Be There", the group dressed in costumes with
tailcoat
A tailcoat is a knee-length coat (clothing), coat characterised by a rear section of the skirt (known as the ''tails''), with the front of the skirt cut away.
The tailcoat shares its historical origins in clothes cut for convenient horse-riding ...
shapes designed by British stylist
Kenny Ho. They danced using walking sticks, in a segment inspired by
Liza Minnelli
Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...
's performance in the 1972 movie ''
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
''. The performance at the Spiceworld Tour's final concert can be found on the video: ''
Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium'', filmed in London, on 20 September 1998, and released on
VHS
VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s.
Ma ...
around two months later. For the Return of the Spice Girls Tour, it was performed as the third song from the show's opening segment. The group dressed in tight bronze and copper-coloured outfits made by Italian fashion designer
Roberto Cavalli. For the Spice World – 2019 Tour, the group performed the song dressed in gold and silver outfits designed by
Gabriella Slade.
Legacy
Victoria Adams' appearance in her black PVC catsuit first attracted the attention of David Beckham; the pair would eventually marry in July 1999.
Formats and track listings
* UK CD1; Australian, Brazilian, European, Japanese, South African, and Thai CD; digital EP 1
[Citations regarding the CD single releases of "Say You'll Be There":
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (UK CD single 1) Printed in the UK. EMI Swindon. VSCDT1601.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (UK CD single 2) Printed in the UK. EMI Swindon. VSCDG1601.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (Australian CD single) Printed in Australia. EMI Music Group Australasia. VSCDT1601.
* Spice Girls (2000) "Say You'll Be There" (Brazilian CD single) Printed in Brazil. ]Sonopress
Sonopress GmbH is an internationally active media service provider headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany. The company specializes in the production and distribution of physical and digital storage media and is part of the Bertelsmann Marketing Ser ...
. 3108938102.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (European CD single) Printed in Holland. EMI Uden. VSCDT1601.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (European 2-track CD) Printed in the EU. EMI Uden. VSCDE1601.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (French CD single) Printed in the EU. SNA. VSCDE1601.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (Japanese CD single) Printed in Japan. Toshiba EMI. VJCP-12044.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (South African CD single) Printed in RSA. EMI Music South Africa. CDVIS (WS) 67.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (Thai CD single) Printed in Asia. Virgin Records. VSCDT1601.
* Spice Girls (1997) "Say You'll Be There" (US CD single) Printed in the USA. Virgin Records America. V25D-38592.
# "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
# "Take Me Home" – 4:07
# "Say You'll Be There" – 8:33
# "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
* UK CD2
# "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
# "Say You'll Be There" – 7:01
# "Say You'll Be There" – 4:09
# "Say You'll Be There" – 8:29
* European and French 2-track CD
# "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
# "Say You'll Be There" – 8:33
* US CD
# "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
# "Take Me Home" – 4:07
* Digital EP 2
# "Say You'll Be There" – 7:01
# "Say You'll Be There" – 4:09
# "Say You'll Be There" – 8:29
* Italian 12-inch
[Citations regarding the Vinyl Single releases of "Say You'll Be There":
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (Italian 12" Vinyl Single) Printed in the EU. Virgin Records. 8938116.
* Spice Girls (1997) "Say You'll Be There" (US 12" Vinyl Single) Printed in the USA. Virgin Records America. Y-38592.
]
:A1. "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
:A2. "Say You'll Be There" – 8:29
:B1. "Say You'll Be There" – 4:09
:B2. "Say You'll Be There" – 8:30
* US 12-inch
:A1. "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
:A2. "Say You'll Be There" – 8:33
:A3. "Say You'll Be There" – 4:09
:B1. "Say You'll Be There" – 8:29
:B2. "Say You'll Be There" – 8:30
* UK and Australian cassette
[Citations regarding the Cassette single releases of "Say You'll Be There":
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (UK Cassette single) Printed in the UK. Virgin Records. VSC1601.
* Spice Girls (1996) "Say You'll Be There" (Australian Cassette single) Printed in Australia. EMI Music Group Australasia. 8938104.
* Spice Girls (1997) "Say You'll Be There" (US Cassette single) Printed in the USA. Virgin Records America. 4KM-38592.
]
# "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
# "Take Me Home" – 4:07
# "Say You'll Be There" – 8:33
* US cassette
# "Say You'll Be There" – 3:56
# "Take Me Home" – 4:07
Credits and personnel
Credits of "Say You'll Be There" adapted from the booklet of ''Spice'':
*
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...
lyrics
Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...
,
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
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Eliot Kennedy lyrics
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Jon B. lyrics
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Absolute
Absolute may refer to:
Companies
* Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher
* Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK
* Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk ma ...
all instruments,
production
*
Judd Lander harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...
*
Mark "Spike" Stent
Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & the Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sheeran, ...
audio mixing
Audio mixing is the process by which multiple sounds are combined into one or more audio channels. In the process, a source's volume level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated or enhanced. This practical, aest ...
*Jeremy Wheatley
recording engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproducti ...
*Adam Brown assistant
Credits of the B-side and the remixes adapted from the
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards.
Origin
Liner notes are descended from the prog ...
of the "Say You'll Be There"
CD single
A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...
s UK CD1 and UK CD2:
"Take Me Home"
*Spice Girls lyrics, vocals
*Absolute lyrics, production, audio mixing
"Junior's Main Pass", "Junior's Dub Girls" , and "Junior's X-Beats"
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Junior Vasquez remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
ing,
post-production
Post-production, also known simply as post, is part of the process of filmmaking, video production, audio production, and photography. Post-production includes all stages of production occurring after principal photography or recording indivi ...
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Curt Frasca audio mixing
*Joe Moskowitz
keyboards,
programming
"Spice of Life Mix"
*
Dancin' Danny D remixing, additional production
*Roger King programming
*Dave Burnham recording engineer
"Linslee's Extended Mix"
*Linslee Campbell remixing, additional production
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Release history
References
Citations
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
1996 singles
1996 songs
European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
MØ songs
Music videos directed by Vaughan Arnell
Number-one singles in Finland
Number-one singles in Scotland
Song recordings produced by Absolute (production team)
Songs about friendship
Songs with feminist themes
Songs written by Eliot Kennedy
Songs written by Emma Bunton
Songs written by Geri Halliwell
Songs written by Jon B.
Songs written by Mel B
Songs written by Melanie C
Songs written by Victoria Beckham
Spice Girls songs
UK singles chart number-one singles
Virgin Records singles