We're back with another blog and we're looking
at this week in the summer of 1996 .
As usual we start off with the chart of this week
in July 1996 and we've chosen to put up the
top eleven songs so as to include the landmark single
of the year and that was the Spice Girls who arrived
with a bang at no 11 unleashing girl power on the world
No1 Song Mid July 1996
Because the video needed to be taken in one shot,
the group rehearsed the routine several times through
the night,while a steadycam operator followed them
About. Gerri Halliwell wrote: "The video I remember
as being very chaotic and cold.
It wasn't very controlled—we didn't want it to be.
We wanted the camera to capture the madness
of the Spice Girls".
Virgin's executives were horrified with the final result:
"the girls were freezing cold,
which showed itself in various different ways",
the video was later banned in some parts of Asia because of
Mel B's erect nipples.The lighting was considered too dark
and gloomy,the best takes showed the girls bumping with
the furniture and looking behind them.
and Gerri Halliwell's showgirl outfit would be considered
too threatening by music channels.
Virgin suggested a re-shoot of the video or creating an
alternate one for the US,but the group refused.
The video was sent for trial airing in its original form.
When the music video first appeared on the British cable
network The Box, it was selected so frequently
that it reached the top of the viewers' chart within two
hours of going on air,and stayed at number one for
thirteen weeks.
It was aired up to seventy times a week at its peak
and became the most requested track in the channel's history.
The video won Best Dance Video at the 1997
MTV Video Music Awards,and Best Video at the 1997
Comet Media Awards.
FRIENDS OF OUR MEMORY RADIO BLOG
TV 1996
A new series started on sunday evenings in 1996
Set in the small Irish mountain town of BallykissangelIt had various plots which revolved around the town regulars
and their romantic, dramatic and comedic adventures.
The show that Chris Evans quit the BBC over.
It was an anarchic, unscripted ramble through new-laddishness
and celebrity gossip with a supernatural ability to feature stars just as they were at their hottest. Jarvis Cocker appeared the night after his "mooning" of Michael Jackson at The Brits, Robbie Williams after his split from Take That, and Gazza after his axing from the England squad.
FILM 1996
Renton,(Ewan Mc Gregor) deeply immersed in,the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugsand influence of friends.
Woody, a pull-string cowboy, is little Andy's favourite toy.
That is until Buzz Lightyear, high-tech space ranger, comes
along, with his annoying catchphrase - To Infinity and Beyond.
This computer-animated film had the smallest animation staff ever used for a Disney feature.
But, because of the mindboggling scale of the project, each week of production produced only 3.5 minutes of film. It took 9 months just to shade Andy's hair!
This computer-animated film had the smallest animation staff ever used for a Disney feature.
But, because of the mindboggling scale of the project, each week of production produced only 3.5 minutes of film. It took 9 months just to shade Andy's hair!
WHAT WE BOUGHT
A new Magazine for 1996
T3 0r Tomorrow's Technology Today,was launched in 1996.
Basically a bible of gadgets, games and goodies,
It's still on sale today, alongside other hi-tech
toy mags for grown-up kids,
FASHION 1996
Blame it on the Spice GirlsShort men everywhere groaned as stilettos were
replaced with yet another height nightmare.
Trainers that girls couldn't possibly run in
(but which might have been helpful in a pole
vaulting competition) were to the Nineties what
Platform shoes were to the Seventies - but for women only.
They looked like orthopaedic aids and they were
everywhere in 1996.
Susan Greenfield 
