Say You'll Be There

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"Say You'll Be There"

Single by Spice Girls
from the album Spice
B-side(s)	"Take Me Home"
Released	October 14, 1996 (Non-NA) May 6, 1997 (North America)
Format	CD single (Worldwide)
Recorded	1996
Genre	Pop/Dance/R&B
Length	3:56
Label	Virgin
Writer(s)	Spice Girls Jonathan Buck Eliot Kennedy
Producer(s)	Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard
Certification	Platinum (OCC) Gold (RIAA)
Chart positions
#1 (Canada, UK) #2 (France, Ireland) #3 (U.S.) #5 (Japan) #10 (Australia)
Spice Girls singles chronology
"Wannabe" (1996/1997)	"Say You'll Be There" (1996/1997)	"2 Become 1" (1996/1997)
Alternate cover

US CD cover
Audio sample
Play "Say You'll Be There" (in browser) (help·info)

"Say You'll Be There" is a pop–Dance song performed by the girl group the Spice Girls. The song was written by the Spice Girls, Jonathan Buck and Eliot Kennedy for the Spice Girls debut album Spice (1996). It was released in 1996 as the album's second single in Australia and Europe, and became the group's second number-one single in the UK. As a result of its popularity, the song was released in 1997 (see 1997 in music) in Canada and the U.S., and it entered the top three on both charts.

1 Writing and inspiration
2 Music video
3 Chart performance
4 Live performances
5 Trivia
6 Track listing and formats
7 Charts
8 Notes
9 References
10 External links

[edit] Writing and inspiration

"Say You'll Be There" was co-written by Jon B., Eliot Kennedy and the Spice Girls and was co-produced by Richard Stannard and Matt Rowe. The mid-tempo, semi-R&B groove song depicts the girls telling their lover to give his promise that he will be there for them whenever they need him. A memorable point from this song is the verse that Melanie Brown has a short rap on. The song has also been pock marked with accusations of grammatical errors, the most infamous being the second line in the second verse: "throwing far too much emotions at me". Several industry pundits, such as Shirley D have used this as an example to illlustrate the further reaching effects that the Spice Girls had on composing a song.

[edit] Music video

An image from the song's music video.

The music video for "Say You'll Be There" was directed by Vaughan Arnell and was filmed in the Mojave Desert, located primarily in California, United States. The selection for the video's milieu resulted in a very different setting from its predecessor, which was filmed at a hotel. The recording was largely inspired by the films Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) and Pulp Fiction (1994),^[1] the latter in which led the girls to adopt fictional identities, an idea that Halliwell came up with.^[1] Melanie C. played "Katrina Highkick", Geri Halliwell's alter-ego was "Trixie Firecracker", Emma Bunton took on the role of "Kung Fu Candy", Victoria Beckham played "Midnight Miss Suki", while "Blazin' Bad Zula" was Melanie B.'s alter-ego. The video won Best Video at the 1997's Brit Awards and was nominated for Viewer's Choice at the 1997' MTV Video Music Awards.

[edit] Chart performance

The song was initially released in the United Kingdom on October 14, 1996 once the popularity of "Wannabe" began to fade. It was a successful follow up single, selling 200,000 copies in its first week and entering the charts at number one. It was the group's first single to debut at the top position. The song also proved successful across Continental Europe, where it reached number one in Finland and the top ten throughout. In Australia, it reached number ten.

"Say You'll Be There" was released on May 6, 1997 in North America. It was the second single from the Spice Girls to debut at number one in Canada, and it spent two weeks at the top and a total of fifteen weeks in the top forty. In the United States, the song set a still-standing record on the Billboard Hot 100, the main U.S. chart, when it debuted at number five, the highest-entry by a non-North American act.^[2] Although "Say You'll Be There" reached number one on the Hot 100 Airplay for two weeks, it was unable to top the Hot 100, where it reached a peak position of number three for three weeks. The song also became the Spice Girls only single to make a short appearance on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, where it reached number ten.

[edit] Live performances

After Geri left the band, the song continued to be included on the live sets. The second verse had originally been sung by Ginger Spice (Geri) with Sporty Spice (Mel C.) adding the harmonies. After Geri's departure, Mel C. sang lead and Emma added the high harmony.

[edit] Trivia

David Beckham claims that he first saw Victoria Adams (Beckham) in the video and fell in love with her.

[edit] Track listing and formats

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Say You'll Be There".

UK CD1 single

"Say You'll Be There" (Single Mix)
"Take Me Home"
"Say You'll Be There" (Junior's Main Pass)
"Say You'll Be There" (Instrumental)

UK CD2 single

"Say You'll Be There" [Single Mix] - 3:56
"Say You'll Be There" [Spice Of Life Mix] - 7:01
"Say You'll Be There" [Linslee's Extended Mix] - 4:09
"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's Dub Girls] - 8:29

European CD single

"Say You'll Be There" [Single Mix] - 3:56
"Say You'll Be There" [Junior's Main Pass] - 8:33

USA CD single

"Say You'll Be There"
"Take Me Home"

[edit] Charts

Chart (1996)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	1 (2 weeks)
Finnish Singles Chart	1 (1 week)
Philippine Singles Chart	1
French Singles Chart	2
Irish Singles Chart	2
Norwegian Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	4
Japanese Singles Chart	5
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	10
German Singles Chart	16
Chart (1997)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	1 (2 weeks)
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	3
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Airplay	1 (2 weeks)
U.S. Billboard Rhythmic Top 40	2
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	2
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Maxi-Singles Sales	9
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	10
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play	12
U.S. Billboard Latin Pop Airplay	12
U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40	24
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	1 (3 weeks)