Studio Album · No. 1
Spice
Produced by Richard Stannard, Matt Rowe, Andy Watkins, Paul Wilson, Eliot Kennedy · Engineered by Mark "Spike" Stent, Dave Way, Adrian Bushby, Al Stone
Spice Girls wrote 10 of 10 documented tracks
Authorship Breakdown 10 / 10 documented
Scored across the 10 tracks with documented writers, by whether Spice Girls carries a lyricist or composer credit.
Share of the 10 tracks where a band member is credited, by role.
By the Numbers
Awards & Recognition 1
Every one of Spice's ten tracks credits all five Spice Girls as co-writers alongside their production teams, an unusually high level of involvement for a group widely assumed to be purely manufactured. The members built the material with Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe and with the Absolute duo of Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson, with Eliot Kennedy added on 'Say You'll Be There' and 'Love Thing.' No song on the album was written without the group involved, which is the core reason the Spice Girls score far higher on self-authorship than their bubblegum image suggests.
Spice is the debut studio album by the Spice Girls, released in November 1996 on Virgin Records and produced by Richard Stannard, Matt Rowe, Andy Watkins, Paul Wilson, and Eliot Kennedy. The album was a global phenomenon, becoming the best-selling album of 1997 worldwide and spawning four consecutive number-one singles in the UK, 'Wannabe,' '2 Become 1,' 'Mama,' and 'Who Do You Think You Are', a record-equaling achievement. 'Wannabe' reached number one in thirty-seven countries, becoming one of the best-selling debut singles in history, and introduced 'girl power' as both a commercial slogan and a genuine pop cultural moment. The album's mix of bubblegum pop, R&B, and carefully crafted individual personas for each member created a brand that transcended music into fashion, advertising, and global celebrity. Spice sold over twenty-three million copies worldwide and launched one of the most successful pop groups of the 1990s.