SWTL.1995

In the beginning of 1995, that force of oestrogen and ambition was squeezed into a small room in Shoreditch. Not yet the Spice Girls, instead still going by the name of Touch.

The Contracts
The girls’ earlier enthusiasm for getting their relationship with Heart Management on to a legally binding footing had been replaced by a mysterious hesitance to sign on the dotted line. They took the contracts to their parents to look at. “Forget it,” was Tony Adam’s advice, presumably drawing on his experience of management deals from when he was singing in bands in the 1960’s. Then they sought independent legal advice and spent several weeks with various lawyers, tinkering with one clause after another."Chris Herbert: All sorts of yarns were being spun, and we kind of went along with that. I think Bob was more acute to it than I was."But the truth was that since the day of the showcase, the balance of power had shifted irrevocably, a fact which it took the management team with all its years of shared experience and financial clout longer to realise than five girls who less than a year before were just hopeful faces at a crowded audition.

The Name
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The Photoshoot
The FIRST EVER Spice Girls photoshoot was taken by photographer Richard Blower at his studio in London, on February 27th, 1995."Spice Girls: “This was our very first proper publicity photograph as the Spice Girls. When we saw this all seemed that much more real.” - Real Life Real Spice"

The Scape
INTRO

The Writers
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The Absolute Sessions
INTRO

The Blitz
INTRO

The Manager
INTRO

The Virgin
INTRO

The Start
INTRO

The Future
The Girls at Kempton racecourse where they first met Robert Sandall, chief pop critic of The Sunday Times who later became their press officer at Virgin Records."Robert Sandall: They took me into the gents toilets and sang to me. I can't remember what the song was, but I remember thinking they could certainly sing... It was an unusually bold thing for a group in their position to do."