Viva Forever
| "Viva Forever" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Spice Girls | ||||
| from the album Spiceworld | ||||
| Released | 20 July 1998 | |||
| Format | 7", 12", cassette, CD single | |||
| Recorded | 1997 | |||
| Genre | Latin pop | |||
| Length | 5:09 (album version) 4:10 (radio edit) |
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| Label | Virgin Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard, Spice Girls | |||
| Producer | Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard | |||
| Spice Girls singles chronology | ||||
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"Viva Forever" is a song by the Spice Girls from their second album, Spiceworld. Originally set to be released alongside the track “Never Give Up on the Good Times” the B-Side was then pulled as member Geri Halliwell left the group. The song was released on July 20, 1998 in the United Kingdom and gained positive reviews from critics. The song also charted fairly well becoming the band’s eighth number one single gaining a Platinum certification whilst also topping the charts in New Zealand. The single failed to perform as well as previous singles due to the poor promotion after the departure of Halliwell.
An accompanying music video directed by Steve Box was released featuring the five band members as animated fairies that interact with two friends in a forest, the video featured no physical appearances by the band because of Halliwell’s departure. The four remaining members performed the track on shows ‘’Top of the Pops’’ and on the National Lottery television show. An adapted duet version was performed with Pavarotti at his annual charity event Pavarotti and Friends. The song was also performed live as a five-piece on their return concert tour The Return of the Spice Girls.
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[edit] Background and release
In late March, the single was finally revealed as "Never Give Up on the Good Times"/"Viva Forever". Smash Hits' famous "Bandwatch" section provided a close watch on the status of the single, and the first piece of news it gave was that one of the songs was to have a cartoon-based video.[1] Originally, the single was going to be released on 11 May 1998. Soon after, it was pushed back, in this first case to 25 May.[2] The release date was then pushed back to 8 June in late April, and at this point a promotional cassette for "Viva Forever" appeared on the internet with no sight of "Never Give Up on the Good Times". In early May the release date changed again to 29 June. A competition appeared in the Evening Mail (19 May 1998) saying the following:
"10 copies of the video to be won. Each prize winner will also receive a Spice Girls T-Shirt and a copy of the new double A-side single Viva Forever/Never Give Up On The Good Times, released on 29 June."[1]
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On 27 May the Spice Girls were due to appear on the National Lottery, and they were booked in to perform two songs on the show. Believed to be Viva Forever and Never Give Up On The Good Times. On that night, the Spice Girls performed "Viva Forever" and "Spice Up Your Life", without Geri, the excuse being that she was ill.[3] " Spice Up Your Life" was chosen to be performed because Geri Halliwell had no solo parts, only singing the chorus with the other four girls. "Stop" was also scraped for the performed also due to Geri Halliwell singing the opening lines. " You just walk in, I make you smile, It's cool but you don't even know me" The lines in the song where unable to be dished out between the four remaining girls because it wasn't a 'Live' performance. In early June, the single was confirmed to be "Viva Forever", with no explanation given for its missing partner on the double A-side front. Most believing that the single was dropped due to Halliwells' vocals in the opening lines to to the song. The single was to be released on 13 July, over two months after the original release date of 11 May. Even though posters were printed showcasing the 13 July release date, it was not long before the release dates started changing again.[1] On the day of release, stores around the United Kingdom received a notice saying that the single was not going to be released on 13 July, and it would be released in a week or two. After the constant delays, the single was finally released on 20 July.[4]
[edit] Reception
[edit] Critical reception
"Viva Forever" was well-received by music critics. Sputnikmusic called it "a genuinely great song" adding that it is "sincerely moving" and that "never would I have imagined the Spice Girls could pull off a song like this".[5] Rolling Stone called it "a big ballad that is about as convincing as the Spices' Spanish accents".[6] Yahoo! Music compared the song with "Mama", and add "a tear-jerking flamenco guitar and lush strings weave into this break-your-heart, 'I Will Always Love You' ballad with a touch of Madonna about it [...] inspired".[7]
[edit] Chart performance
"Viva Forever" was poorly promoted, due to the four remaining girls touring in America. Its only real driving promotional force behind the release was the hype from Geri's departure. The song was released on 20 July 1998, selling 100,000 in the first three days and 277,000 copies in its first week.[8][9] It stayed at number one for two weeks in the UK, spending nine weeks in the top 40, and thirteen weeks inside the top 75;[10] it went on to be certified platinum.[11] In Italy the single debuted at number three,[12] reaching number two for five non-consecutive weeks, being blocked from the first position by Des'ree's "Life" and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing",[13][14] and stayed sixteen weeks in the charts. In Switzerland the single debuted on 9 August 1998 at number six, reaching a peak position of three two weeks later. It stayed thirteen weeks in the top ten, twenty-two weeks in total,[15] and was eventually certified Gold by the IFPI.[16] In Austria the single debuted at number fifteen, reaching a peak position of four for two weeks (their highest peak position since May 1997 when "Mama" reached the top of the chart),[17] staying ten weeks in the top ten and fifteen weeks in total.[18] In New Zealand the song debuted at the top, staying at number-one for two weeks, and eleven weeks in total on the chart.[19] In Australia, it debuted at number eight, peaking at number two for two weeks (held off by "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing"), spending twenty-one weeks on the chart,[20] and receiving a Platinum certification by ARIA.[21]
[edit] Music video
[edit] Background and release
The music video, which featured stop motion animation of the Spice Girls (including Halliwell), as fairies, was directed by Oscar winner Steve Box of Aardman Animations.[22] Box was the key animator on Aardman's film Chicken Run, which also used stop motion animation. For the video, he created five, 12-inch-high Spice Girl tin puppets with wings who coax one of two astonished real-life teens into growing up, and took five months to make, considerably longer than it took to make Spiceworld: The Movie.[23] It was screened for the first time in the United Kingdom on 22 June 1998. The video includes scenes of Geri because it was commissioned months before her departure.[24] The video could be viewed as an interactive element on UK CD1, the first time this feature was available on a Spice Girls CD.[25]
[edit] Synopsis
The video starts off with a storybook about two boy's who are assumed to be best friends, running around the woods when they encounter a case (similar to the case that is inside a Kinder Surprise, but life-sized) that opens by itself which reveals a toy chicken. The two friends chase after the chicken until they see another case, which the toy chicken bounces on. It opens by itself, and five fairies, the Spice Girls, come out. While the boy runs away frightened, the other boy, presumably older, stays, and the fairies play with him, give him a kiss on the nose, whisper a secret, and other similar things. Then they fly him to another place in front of a huge Rubik's Cube. The fairies dance on the cube, to the song, until the middle on the top opens. The boy, assisted by the fairies, climbs inside. Meanwhile the other boy sees the fairies about to close the cube. By the time he gets to the cube, his friend is gone, the fairies disappear, and the cube becomes smaller (but still over-sized). He then walks in the woods by himself with the cube (which has shrunken to a normal size) until he sees a giant coin-vending machine which contains other cases. A blue light shines in front of him. He puts the now-solved Rubik's Cube inside a case, throws it in the coin-vending machine and walks away. It ends with the four out of the five fairies flying in the sky, following the boy.
[edit] Live performances
The song was included on the set list of the Spiceworld Tour. After Geri left during the North American leg, on the Back to Britain portion of the tour, Melanie C sang "... Spice Girls forever" rather than the original lyrics "... viva forever" near the end of the song. The song was also performed on the Christmas in Spiceworld tour.[26] "Viva Forever" was the group last performance on television as a quintet, on Top of the Pops.[27] It was also the first song they performed on television without Geri, on 27 May 1998 at the National Lottery.[3] The Spice Girls (4 girl line-up) performed this song in 1998 with Pavarotti on the annually hosted Pavarotti and Friends (friends for the children of Liberia) charity concerts.[28] The Pavarotti version is featured on Pavarotti's album entitled Pavarotti and Friends.[29] The song was re-imagined on the Return of the Spice Girls world tour in 2007. At the end of the song, Geri makes a platform exit off the stage, symbolizing her leaving the group. It is easily noticed because all spotlights go on her.
[edit] Formats and track listing
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Viva Forever":
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[edit] Credits and personnel
- Lead vocals: Spice Girls
- Producer: Richard Stannard, Matt Rowe
- Audio mixing: Mark Stent
- Recording engineer: Adrian Bushby
- Assistant: Paul Walton
- Keyboards, programming: Matt Rowe
- Additional programming: Pete Davis
- Additional engineering: Jake Davies
- Acoustic guitar: John Themis
- String arrangement: Anne Dudley
Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd/Polygram Music Publishing Ltd
[edit] Charts, peaks and certifications
[edit] Chart positions
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[edit] Certification
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| Preceded by "Deeper Underground" by Jamiroquai |
UK Singles Chart number-one single 26 July 1998 – 9 August 1998 |
Succeeded by "No Matter What" by Boyzone |
| Preceded by "Lost in Love" by Deep Obsession |
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single 23 August 1998 – 30 August 1998 |
Succeeded by "Ghetto Supastar" by the Pras, Mýa and ODB |
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ a b c Double-A side. Foreverspice.com . Retrieved 29 September 2007.
- ^ Original Release Date. News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ a b Geri Halliwell on the National Lottery. News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ Viva Forever reached number-one. News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2007
- ^ Sputnikmusic Review. Sputnikmusic.com . Retrieved 29 September 2007.
- ^ Rolling Stone Review. Rollingstone.com . Retrieved 29 September 2007.
- ^ Yahoo! Music Review. Uk.launch.yahoo.com . Retrieved 29 September 2007.
- ^ UK Sales in three days. News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ UK Sales first week. Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
- ^ UK Chart-History. Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ a b UK Certification. BPI.co.uk . Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Italian debut. Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Des'ree-Life. Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Aerosmith-I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. Hitparadeitalia.it . Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ a b Swiss Charts. Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ a b Swiss Certification. Swisscharts.com . Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Mama-Austrian Charts. Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ a b Austrian Charts. Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ a b New Zealand Charts. Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ a b Australian Charts. Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ a b Australian Certification. ARIA.com.au . Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Steve Box. Screenonline.org.uk . Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Viva Forever video. News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
- ^ Video Release. Highbeam.com. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
- ^ Enhaced-Cd. Soundonsound.com. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ Christmas in Spiceworld-Set list. Melanie-c-news.com. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ Last performance as a quintet. News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ Viva Forever with Pavarotti. News.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ Pavarotti and Friends. Shopping.yahoo.com. Retrieved 22 September 2007.
- ^ Belgian Ultratop 50 Chart. Radio2.be. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
- ^ Dutch Charts. Radio538.nl. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ French Charts. Lescharts.com. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ German Charts. Charts-Surfer.de. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Irish Charts. Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Italian Charts. Hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Norwegian Charts. Norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Swedish Charts. Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ UK Charts. Theofficialcharts.com. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ French Certification. Disqueenfrance.com . Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ German Certification. IFPI.de . Retrieved 18 September 2007.
- ^ Swedish Certification. IFPI.se Retrieved 1 February 2009.
[edit] External links
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