Who Do You Think You Are

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For other uses, see Who Do You Think You Are? (disambiguation).
“Who Do You Think You Are”
“Who Do You Think You Are” cover
Single by Spice Girls
from the album Spice
A-side "Mama"
Released March 3, 1997 (UK)
April 16, 1997 (Japan)
July 7, 1997 (Australia)
Format Vinyl record (12"),
cassette, CD single
Recorded 1996
Genre Pop, Dance, Dance-Pop, Disco
Length 3:59 (album version)
3:44 (radio version)
Label Virgin Records
Writer(s) Paul Wilson
Andy Watkins
Spice Girls
Producer Absolute
Certification Platinum (BPI)
Spice Girls singles chronology
"2 Become 1"
(1996)		 "Mama"/"Who Do You Think You Are"
(1997)		 "Spice Up Your Life
(1997)
Alternate covers
French CD cover
French CD cover
German CD cover
German CD cover
UK Promo CD cover
UK Promo CD cover
Audio sample
Info "Who Do You Think You Are" (help·info)

"Who Do You Think You Are" was the fourth and last single released from the Spice Girls' first album, Spice in March 1997 in the UK. Unlike the previous three singles, this single was not released in the US.

"Who Do You Think You Are" became the official Comic Relief song of 1997. Due to the Spice Girls' popularity at the time, with their debut album Spice having strong sales, the single was predicted to be a huge hit. Charities benefited greatly from the 2,200,000 copies sold worldwide .[1]

Contents

[edit] Music video

Spice Girls in Who Do You Think You Are music video
Spice Girls in Who Do You Think You Are music video

Two different versions of the music video exist. Both feature the Spice Girls singing and dancing solo in front of various colourful backgrounds, while other scenes show them performing in front of an energetic crowd. In addition, there are many background performers doing unusual tricks.

The second version (known as the Sugar Lumps version) adds the "Sugar Lumps" (a satirical version of the Spice Girls played by Kathy Burke, Lulu, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Llewella Gideon) dancing and lip-syncing behind the actual Spice Girls.

Part of the second version is featured in the One Hour of Girl Power VHS.

[edit] Chart performance

At the time of release, "Spice" was already eight times platinum in the UK with just over two million copies sold. Released on March 3, 1997, the single coincided with Mother's Day and Comic Relief - obviously a very good selling point. The single sold 672,600 copies in the UK going platinum.[2] It was the 15th best seller of 1997, and became the 75th best seller of the 1990s.

The song topped the UK charts for three weeks, making the Spice Girls the first ever act in UK Chart history to have their first four singles make number one, breaking the record set by Gerry & the Pacemakers three decades before.

The single was successful across Europe, peaking at number three in the Euro Hot 100.[3] In Ireland it was their third single to top the chart, staying at number one for four consecutive weeks, it also peak at number two in the Netherlands, five in Sweden, six in Switzerland and ten in Belgium.

In Australia the single did not perform as well as their previous releases, it debuted July 27, 1997 at number thirteen, but was unable to reach a higher position and dropped off the chart after fourteen weeks.[4] In New Zealand the song debuted March 23, 1997 at number ten when their three first singles were slowly descending from the chart.[5] It peaked at number six and stayed fifteen weeks in the charts.[6]

The song was never released officially in North America because the Spice Girls debuted late there, and 2 Become 1 was the current single in the US market. Instead of releasing more songs from Spice there, "Spice Up Your Life" became the next single instead.

[edit] Iconic

The song is known as the most iconic Spice Girls song in the UK as is was performed on the 1997 Brit Awards. It was during this performance that the girls first became their 'nicknames' and Geri Haliwell wore her iconic 'Union Jack dress'. When they performed this on their reunion tour, The Return Of The Spice Girls, Geri wore a new, updated version of her Union Jack dress.

[edit] Live performances

As one of their most popular songs, the song was prominent in all of their concerts. After Geri left, her parts were taken over by Melanie Chisholm.

[edit] Formats and track listings

These are the format and track listing of major single releases of "Who Do You Think You Are".[7]

  • UK CD2/Australian CD/Brazilian CD/European CD/South African CD
  1. "Who Do You Think You Are" [Radio Version] – 3:44
  2. "Mama" – 3:40
  3. "Who Do You Think You Are" [Morales Club Mix] – 9:30
  4. "Who Do You Think You Are" [Morales Club Dub] – 7:00
  • French CD
  1. "Who Do You Think You Are" [Radio Version] – 3:44
  2. "Who Do You Think You Are" [Instrumental] – 3:44
  • UK 12" Promo Vinyl single
  1. A1: "Who Do You Think You Are" [Morales Club Mix] – 9:30
  2. B1: "Who Do You Think You Are" [Morales Club Dub] – 7:00
  3. B2: "Who Do You Think You Are" [Morales Bonus Mix] – 4:40
  • Italian 12" Vinyl single
  1. A1: "Who Do You Think You Are" [Morales Club Mix] – 9:30
  2. A2: "Who Do You Think You Are" [Morales Bonus Mix] – 4:40
  3. B1: "Mama" [Album Version] – 5:03
  4. B2: "Who Do You Think You Are" [Morales Club Dub] – 7:00

[edit] Credits and personnel

Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd/19 Music/BMG Music Publishing Ltd

[edit] Charts, peaks and certifications

[edit] Chart positions

Chart (1997) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[4] 13
Belgian Singles Chart[8] 10
Danish Singles Chart[9] 10
Dutch Mega Singles Top 100[10] 3
Dutch Top 40[11] 2
Euro Hot 100[3] 3
French Singles Chart[12] 16
German Singles Chart[13] 22
Irish Singles Chart[14] 1
Italian Singles Chart[15] 26
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart[6] 6
Norwegian Singles Chart[16] 12
Swedish Singles Chart[17] 5
Swiss Singles Chart[18] 6
UK Singles Chart[19] 1

[edit] Certifications

Country Provider Certification Sales/shipments
France SNEP Silver[20] 100,000+
Germany Media Control Gold[21] 150,000+
Netherlands NVPI Gold[22] 40,000+
United Kingdom BPI Platinum[2] 672,000+
Worldwide 2,200,000+
Preceded by
"Don't Speak" by No Doubt		 UK Singles Chart number-one single
March 9, 1997 – March 23, 1997		 Succeeded by
"Block Rockin' Beats" by Chemical Brothers
Irish Singles Chart number-one single
March 15, 1997 - April 5, 1997		 Succeeded by
"Encore Une Fois" by Sash! featuring Sabine Ohmes

[edit] Notes and References

  1. ^ [1]. Charts.org.nz . Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  2. ^ a b UK Certification. BPI.co.uk . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  3. ^ a b Euro Hot 100. Jove.prohosting.com . Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  4. ^ a b Australian ARIA Top 50 Singles Charts. Australian-charts.com . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  5. ^ New Zealand debut. Charts.org.nz . Retrieved September 23, 2007.
  6. ^ a b New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 Singles Chart. Charts.org.nz . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  7. ^ Formats and track listings. Spicediscography.tk . Retrieved September 29, 2007.
  8. ^ Belgian Ultratop 50 Singles Chart. Radio2.be . Retrieved October 7, 2007.
  9. ^ Danish Top 20 Singles Chart. Ukmix.org . Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  10. ^ Dutch Mega Singles Top 100 Chart. Dutchcharts.nl . Retrieved November 4, 2007.
  11. ^ Dutch Top 40 Singles Chart. Top4000.nl . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  12. ^ French Top 100 Singles Chart. Lescharts.com . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  13. ^ German Top 100 Singles Chart. Charts-surfer.de . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  14. ^ Irish Top 50 Singles Chart. Irishcharts.ie . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  15. ^ Italian Charts. Hitparadeitalia.it . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  16. ^ Norwegian Top 20 Singles Chart. Norwegiancharts.com . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  17. ^ Swedish Top 60 Singles Chart. Swedishcharts.com . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  18. ^ Swiss Top 100 Singles Chart. Hitparade.ch . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  19. ^ UK Top 75 Singles Chart. Theofficialcharts.com . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  20. ^ French Certification. Disqueenfrance.com . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  21. ^ German Certification. IFPI.de . Retrieved September 18, 2007.
  22. ^ Dutch Certification. Npvi.nl . Retrieved September 18, 2007.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Spice Girls
Scary Spice : Melanie Brown · Baby Spice : Emma Bunton · Ginger Spice : Geri Halliwell  · Posh Spice : Victoria Beckham · Sporty Spice : Melanie Chisholm
Albums
Singles
"Wannabe" · "Say You'll Be There" · "2 Become 1" · "Who Do You Think You Are" / "Mama" · "Spice Up Your Life" · "Too Much" · "Stop" · "Viva Forever" · "Goodbye" ·

"Holler" / "Let Love Lead the Way" · "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)"
Unreleased Singles
Tours
Related articles