Creator of the Spice Girls reveals the legendary TV show that inspired band - and provided 'secret ingredient' to dominating the charts
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The creator of the Spice Girls has revealed the the legendary TV show that inspired the band - and also provided the 'secret ingredient' to dominating the charts.
Talent manager Chris Herbert, 54, who has managed the likes of Five, Hear'Say and Stephen Gately over the years, opened up about how the girl group came about in the new BBC Two documentary Girlbands Forever.
The three-part series follows the girl band fever throughout the 90s, with the likes of stars from Atomic Kitten, Eternal, Little Mix and the Sugababes appearing in interviews.
One group that gets brought up is the Spice Girls, arguably one of the most popular and well-known girl groups of all time.
The band, made up of Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Mel C, was created in 1994 by Chris - and are known for tunes such as Wannabe, Spice Up Your Life, Viva Forever and 2 Become 1.
While Chris was auditioning for who was going to become part of the Spice Girls, he had a certain American television show in mind that inspired him.
The creator of the Spice Girls has revealed the the legendary TV show that inspired the band - and also provided the 'secret ingredient' to dominating the charts
Talent manager Chris Herbert, 54, who has managed the likes of Five, Hear'Say and Stephen Gately over the years, opened up about how the girl group came about in the new BBC Two documentary Girlbands Forever
During the upcoming first episode of the show, band manager Chris Herbert says: 'Girl bands are a different science to boys.
'You've got to get it right on the nose with a girl band. My ambition was to put together a young bubblegum pop act and to have commercial success.
'But on a global scale.
'I was watching TV shows like Friends, they were so appealing because the audience could identify with at least one character, or aspire to be them.
'My idea was to take a band, and get every girl to identify with a member in that band, so you can appeal to every sector of the market.'
Speaking about the group, he continued: 'Mel B had a cool look about her, but she didn't really know it. That was a massive ingredient which we needed.
'Mel C was confident, her voice really cut through, Victoria didn't have a lot in her repertoire, but she had heir and grace, she could appeal to an older demographic.
'Emma had this naïve, kind of cuteness about her, she was really sweet.
While Chris was auditioning for who was going to become part of the Spice Girls, he had a certain American television show in mind that inspired him - Friends
'With Geri - the doors flung open - she went "Hi I'm Geri. I could be this 17 year old with big tits or I could be...
'You know, she made this entrance and you were like "Wow. What just happened?"
'I felt like we could achieve a real cross section of all the different characters that made up the female spectrum, really.'
Sitcom Friends, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, aired 236 episodes across 10 seasons on NBC between 1994 and 2004.
The show followed the lives and shenanigans of six friends who lived in New York.
It starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer.
But not everybody in the industry was positive about and their success.
All Saints star Melanie Blatt (pictured) appears on the upcoming episode and opens up about the Spice Girls
All Saints stars Shaznay Lewis Melanie Blatt Nicole Appleton and Natalie Appleton pictured back in 1999
All Saints star Melanie Blatt appears on the upcoming episode and opens up about the Spice Girls.
The pop band, made up of Natalie Appleton, Nicole Appleton, Melanie Blatt, Shaznay Lewis and Simone Rainford, was founded in 1993.
They were together until 2001 and reunited between 2001 and 2006. Then again between 2008 and 2022.
Some of their best songs include Never Ever, Black Coffee, Under The Bridge, All Hooked Up and Bootie Call.
Talking about the Spice Girls' success, she says: 'I genuinely had a problem with them, all the years of work we'd put in and then they just came out and blew up so quickly.
'And were obviously manufactured. The band was made for a purpose.'
A retro clip of Noel Gallagher giving his opinion the band is played out.
The singer, now 58, is best known for being lead guitarist of rock band Oasis - alongside his brother Liam, 53.
He says: 'There is a big they're a big money corporate machine, aren't they?
'Advertising crisps and cans of coke, and all that nonsense.
'They've got a single out now that you can only buy if you buy 20 cans of Pepsi.
A retro clip of Noel Gallagher (pictured) giving his opinion the band is played out
Not only that, another old clip of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood (pictured) saying: 'They're just cultivating this attitude, like push your way to the top'
'But good luck to them, they're young girls or are they are as young as they say, that's what I want to know.
'I'll tell you this right, if Geri spice is 24 then she's going to look f**ing rough when she's 30.'
Not only that, another old clip of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood saying: 'They're just cultivating this attitude, like push your way to the top.
'Doesn't matter if you've got talent, if you haven't got anything.
'Just go for it, look in the mirror every morning and get there. What in fact people are marketing is disgusting behaviour.'
Girlbands Forever airs on BBC Two and is available to stream on iPlayer.
