Dear Poptastic Readers,
Yesterday, the Spice Girls released "Step To Me" on digital outlets everywhere. Normski gives us a fabulous history lesson of the song. Enjoy!
In the summer of 1997, we were truly living in Spiceworld. Ginger, Sporty, Scary, Baby, and Posh had stormed the charts across the globe with their record-breaking debut album Spice. The four singles from their debut album: “Wannabe”, “Say You’ll Be There”, “2 Become 1”, and “Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are” all went to No. 1 on the UK charts. They were in the middle of filming their movie Spiceworld, as well as recording their second album of the same name, and their faces were pretty much on any merchandise you could think of.
28th July 1997 saw the release of the Spice Girls’ brand-new single “Step To Me” in the UK – although this wasn’t a regular single release. The girls had already launched a campaign with Pepsi in the spring with an iconic TV commercial (watch it below) filmed in New York, which was soundtracked by the song “Move Over” (which would later feature on the Spiceworld album) and their faces were all over specially-branded cans of Pepsi across the UK.
The only way for Spice Girls fans to hear “Step To Me” was to collect 20 pink Pepsi ring pulls and send these off to receive an exclusive 4-track CD single in the post. Despite not being eligible for the charts, and therefore not a hit single for the girls, “Step To Me” remained a staple in live shows – performed at the girls’ first live concert in Istanbul, some US dates of the Spiceworld Tour 1998 and on the Christmas in Spiceworld Tour 1999. It was also featured as an exclusive bonus track on the Japanese edition of Spiceworld.
As we moved into the digital age, “Step To Me” remained elusive on music streaming platforms. It wasn’t featured on the Greatest Hits album in 2007 (even though “Move Over” was, despite not actually being a single) and fans were aching for the song to be added to Spotify, Apple Music, etc – many contacting the Twitter account Pop Music Activism (@Pop_Activism), which works to get pop hits from yesteryear online.
Yesterday, the Spice Girls announced the release of Spiceworld 25 on 4th November 2022 – including a 2CD and hardback book, double vinyl, coloured vinyl, picture disc and cassette, plus lots of merch. Excitingly, Spiceworld 25 will feature “Step To Me”, as well as the Extended Mix and demo (fun fact – this was on the girls’ original demo tape and was intended for Spice, but didn’t make the album).
Even more excitingly, the 7” mix of “Step To Me” is now available to stream on music platforms for the first time ever! The girls have also released a fantastic lyric video – with lots of nostalgic touches. See if you can spot the pink ring-pulls and the actual “Step To Me” CD which flies past the screen! It’s a small victory for Spice fans – and it’s great to say that, 25 years later, “Step To Me” has finally been officially released in the UK, as well as worldwide. What are you waiting for? Go stream it now!
"Step To Me" was written by Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Adams (Beckham), and Eliot Kennedy. It was produced by Absolute. It is available on digital outlets everywhere. Buy your copy today. We've added it to our 2022 Poptastic Confessions Playlist on Spotify.
