Tell me what you want..what you really really want
The year was 1997 and I was on a 12 hour bus trip to Washington D.C. My High School's Marching band was chosen to be a part of Bill Clinton's 2nd Inaugural Day Parade. I was in the midst of my first relationship at the time. She was in the color-guard and thus would be taking this trip as well. I was all too excited to spend this long trip with my girl in my seat with me. I had not even felt her up yet and hours in the dark on a bus seemed like just the right time to get some boob action! Long story short, they were fun and perky.
But another life changing moment would happen on that trip. When we arrived in D.C, we stopped at a mall/train station. I would love to say I remember the name of it but I just don't. There was a cd store in the mall and I was all too happy to check it out. Sadly I don't remember if I bought anything or not. I can usually remember where I bought every cd I have so I am guessing I did not purchase anything. However my girlfriend did. She purchased a cd single by a band I had never heard of. By the cover I saw they were a chick group. My girlfriend had been into artists like Alanis Morrisette and No Doubt so I could only assume this was more of the same. She said she happen to hear the song on the radio and really liked it. Then she had the nerve to try to make me listen to it. If you want me to hate a band, force me to listen to them. Many bands that I enjoy were introduced to me previously but i did not want to hear them at the time. I need to discover things on my own. So she popped this piece of pop drivel in my cd player and made me listen. It did not take long for me to reject it. I was an admitted pop fan, but this was just junk. Who wants to listen to a bunch of British chicks singing something called "Wannabe."
It turned out I did. My girlfriend at the time would go around singing the new anthem by the Spice Girls for the next 2 months. Now, the idea of "you gotta get with my friends" sounded kind of fun to me but I think i misinterpreted the message of the song. After we broke up, the Spice Girls only got bigger. And they were just not my thing. Until one fateful day while watching the VH1 series Pop Up Video. This show was amazing. You learned silly trivia while the videos played. You could sit through a song you didn't like just to learn some facts. This was true entertainment. Well, the video for "Wannabe" came on and I sat through it to learn some fun facts. Then it hit me. Listening to the redhead sing the line "So tell me what you want/what you really really want", I found myself drawn to that voice. Something about the tone just did it for me. All of a sudden I liked the Spice Girls. I don't think I had been a fan of the band with the number one album in the country since 1993 with Aerosmith's Get A Grip. Yet there I was enjoying what was "popular". I called my buddy Joe up and told him I had found a reason to enjoy the Spice Girls. he was impressed. Then I gave the other singles a chance.
Soon I was a Spice Girls fanatic. I grabbed the first album and then the second when it came out. I created a dance to the song "Spice Up Your Life". I bought all the magazines and silly memorabilia. Pictures in envelopes, Pop Rocks lollipops, I was hooked. The tunes were fun and catchy and the marketing was brilliant. And the redhead, Geri Halliwell aka Ginger/Sexy Spice, was yummy enough to put all over my walls. Then there we the movie. Spiceworld opened in January of 1998. It had been a year since my now ex girlfriend introduced me to the world of all things Spice and boobalicious. Now, I went to the movie opening night with a different girl(her boobs were bigger but not as fun). And I laughed my butt off. It was a great movie. Ok, was it really great? Not really but it was campy goodness and I approved.
Soon, they announced their first American tour! I had seen their live home video and was very excited to see them in concert. They announced a date for July. The same ex girlfriend who introduced me to the girls over a year ago was my partner for waiting in line outside a Strawberries retailer to buy tickets. She brought those same mammaries that filled my memories but there was no gratuitous groping this time. Unfortunately we ran into problems that i don't quite remember and we did not get tickets. We figured we would just get them later. A few weeks passed and the news broke that Geri, my favorite, had left the band. Well my interest in wanting to see the girls dwindled. Then, the first post-Ginger single was released. The song was "Goodbye" and I really enjoyed it. It seemed I would not be anti-Spice after all. So I got some free tickets to the show and I went. It was good. Entertaining. But without Geri, the spirit just wasn't the same.
I am reminded of something interesting at this show. That ex girlfriend of mine mentioned during the song "Viva Forever" that the song reminded her of she and I. From meeting on a bus to that awkward high school relationship to breaking up and then being friends, something about the lyrics made her think of me. She at one point tried to tell me that No Doubt's "Don't Speak" reminded her of us, but when I hear that song, I do not think of her. When I hear "Viva Forever", inevitably, her face crosses my mind. Not so much in a romantic aspect, but just the way she was and the way I was and that time in our lives. "Do you still remember/how it used to be?" indeed.
Soon Ms. Halliwell put out her solo cd in America and it did not light the world on fire. It would take the Spice Girls 2 more years to put out new material and it was lackluster. They broke up and then reunited in 2007. One of their final shows was to be in Hartford, CT in February of 2008. 11 years and 1 month after I was introduced to the Spice Girls, they were saying good bye. And I was in CT at that exact time. And right in time for my birthday.
The show was amazing The Girls had amazing choreography and cool costume changes and sounded amazing. It was a great way to end the love affair. Sadly I was snowed in about 30 miles away. Damn you Connecticut and your snowy weather! Damn you to hell. Thus my Spice Girls obsession continues. I have all the cds, vhs and such that I could. I have all of Geri Halliwell's solo albums, two of which were not released in America. I found all the import cd singles with all the bonus tracks and remixes. Yes, I have it all. Anything to keep my life spiced up. Touching my first boob was an amazing experience. However, I have much fonder and vivid memories of the Spice Girls than I do of those breasts. Damn you Father Time!
Audio version with Bonus Insights below:
Tell%20me%20what%20you%20want.mp3
But another life changing moment would happen on that trip. When we arrived in D.C, we stopped at a mall/train station. I would love to say I remember the name of it but I just don't. There was a cd store in the mall and I was all too happy to check it out. Sadly I don't remember if I bought anything or not. I can usually remember where I bought every cd I have so I am guessing I did not purchase anything. However my girlfriend did. She purchased a cd single by a band I had never heard of. By the cover I saw they were a chick group. My girlfriend had been into artists like Alanis Morrisette and No Doubt so I could only assume this was more of the same. She said she happen to hear the song on the radio and really liked it. Then she had the nerve to try to make me listen to it. If you want me to hate a band, force me to listen to them. Many bands that I enjoy were introduced to me previously but i did not want to hear them at the time. I need to discover things on my own. So she popped this piece of pop drivel in my cd player and made me listen. It did not take long for me to reject it. I was an admitted pop fan, but this was just junk. Who wants to listen to a bunch of British chicks singing something called "Wannabe."
It turned out I did. My girlfriend at the time would go around singing the new anthem by the Spice Girls for the next 2 months. Now, the idea of "you gotta get with my friends" sounded kind of fun to me but I think i misinterpreted the message of the song. After we broke up, the Spice Girls only got bigger. And they were just not my thing. Until one fateful day while watching the VH1 series Pop Up Video. This show was amazing. You learned silly trivia while the videos played. You could sit through a song you didn't like just to learn some facts. This was true entertainment. Well, the video for "Wannabe" came on and I sat through it to learn some fun facts. Then it hit me. Listening to the redhead sing the line "So tell me what you want/what you really really want", I found myself drawn to that voice. Something about the tone just did it for me. All of a sudden I liked the Spice Girls. I don't think I had been a fan of the band with the number one album in the country since 1993 with Aerosmith's Get A Grip. Yet there I was enjoying what was "popular". I called my buddy Joe up and told him I had found a reason to enjoy the Spice Girls. he was impressed. Then I gave the other singles a chance.
Soon I was a Spice Girls fanatic. I grabbed the first album and then the second when it came out. I created a dance to the song "Spice Up Your Life". I bought all the magazines and silly memorabilia. Pictures in envelopes, Pop Rocks lollipops, I was hooked. The tunes were fun and catchy and the marketing was brilliant. And the redhead, Geri Halliwell aka Ginger/Sexy Spice, was yummy enough to put all over my walls. Then there we the movie. Spiceworld opened in January of 1998. It had been a year since my now ex girlfriend introduced me to the world of all things Spice and boobalicious. Now, I went to the movie opening night with a different girl(her boobs were bigger but not as fun). And I laughed my butt off. It was a great movie. Ok, was it really great? Not really but it was campy goodness and I approved.
Soon, they announced their first American tour! I had seen their live home video and was very excited to see them in concert. They announced a date for July. The same ex girlfriend who introduced me to the girls over a year ago was my partner for waiting in line outside a Strawberries retailer to buy tickets. She brought those same mammaries that filled my memories but there was no gratuitous groping this time. Unfortunately we ran into problems that i don't quite remember and we did not get tickets. We figured we would just get them later. A few weeks passed and the news broke that Geri, my favorite, had left the band. Well my interest in wanting to see the girls dwindled. Then, the first post-Ginger single was released. The song was "Goodbye" and I really enjoyed it. It seemed I would not be anti-Spice after all. So I got some free tickets to the show and I went. It was good. Entertaining. But without Geri, the spirit just wasn't the same.
I am reminded of something interesting at this show. That ex girlfriend of mine mentioned during the song "Viva Forever" that the song reminded her of she and I. From meeting on a bus to that awkward high school relationship to breaking up and then being friends, something about the lyrics made her think of me. She at one point tried to tell me that No Doubt's "Don't Speak" reminded her of us, but when I hear that song, I do not think of her. When I hear "Viva Forever", inevitably, her face crosses my mind. Not so much in a romantic aspect, but just the way she was and the way I was and that time in our lives. "Do you still remember/how it used to be?" indeed.
Soon Ms. Halliwell put out her solo cd in America and it did not light the world on fire. It would take the Spice Girls 2 more years to put out new material and it was lackluster. They broke up and then reunited in 2007. One of their final shows was to be in Hartford, CT in February of 2008. 11 years and 1 month after I was introduced to the Spice Girls, they were saying good bye. And I was in CT at that exact time. And right in time for my birthday.
The show was amazing The Girls had amazing choreography and cool costume changes and sounded amazing. It was a great way to end the love affair. Sadly I was snowed in about 30 miles away. Damn you Connecticut and your snowy weather! Damn you to hell. Thus my Spice Girls obsession continues. I have all the cds, vhs and such that I could. I have all of Geri Halliwell's solo albums, two of which were not released in America. I found all the import cd singles with all the bonus tracks and remixes. Yes, I have it all. Anything to keep my life spiced up. Touching my first boob was an amazing experience. However, I have much fonder and vivid memories of the Spice Girls than I do of those breasts. Damn you Father Time!
Audio version with Bonus Insights below:
Tell%20me%20what%20you%20want.mp3
Labels: spice girls washington bill clinton geri halliwell spice world
posted by Jon M Hyde at
3:32 PM
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