In 1996 pure-pop was dead in the water. Somewhat diluted versions of alternative rock and dance music dominated the charts. In the UK, Boy Bands like Take That and East 17 were the last vestiges of chart-pop’s once great kingdom, slowly being eroded by the Oasises and Blurs of Britpop. But then the Spice Girls barged their way in: a last hope and massive gamble. For the previous ten years, Bananarama and Eternal aside, girl groups didn’t sell. The accepted wisdom being that the main audience for chart-pop was little girls and they were only obsessed with boy bands. But kitschy, campy and fun compared to their straight-faced boy-band peers, the combination of Scary, Sporty, Baby, Posh, and Ginger were about to change everything. This is New British Canon and this is the story of “Wannabe.”