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Too Much (Spice Girls song)
Encyclopedia
"Too Much" is a song by the British pop
group Spice Girls
. Written by the group members with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriters and production duo known as Absolute
—at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World, it was produced by Wilson and Watkins for the group's second album Spiceworld, released in November 1997.
"Too Much" is a pop ballad with influences of R&B
. It features instrumentation from a guitar
, brass
and string instrument
s, and is structured using doo-wop
records as a template. The music video, directed by Howard Greenhalgh, features each Spice Girl in their own individual scene playing different characters, inspired by their own movie fantasies. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, with many of them criticizing the R&B-infused production.
Released as the album's second single in December 1997, it topped the UK Singles Chart
for two weeks, becoming the group's second consecutive Christmas number-one single, and their sixth consecutive chart-topper, which made them the first act to have its first six singles reach number one in the United Kingdom. It was moderately successful internationally, peaking inside the top twenty on the majority of the charts that it entered. Although in the United States "Too Much" did better than its predecessor, "Spice Up Your Life
"; peaking nine places higher on the Billboard Hot 100
and becoming their fourth top ten single on the chart; it failed to match the success of the group's previous singles from the Spice
album.
started the first marketing meetings for the Spiceworld album's promotional campaign, set to be released in November. No songs had been written for the album at this point, so the group had to do all the song-writing and recording at the same time as they were filming the movie. Between takes, and at the end of each filming day, the group usually went straight into a mobile recording studio set up in a Winnebago
, which followed them between film sets. The schedule was physically arduous with logistical difficulties, as Melanie Brown
commented in her autobiography: "doing the two full-time jobs at the same time took its toll and within a couple on weeks, exhaustion set in."
while the group was filming Spiceworld in a closed set besieged by fans and the media, in London's Docklands. While Halliwell left the set, sitting in the backseat of a car, she started scribbling a few lines in a notebook about "love being blind and how words that appear deep may be meaningless". The other members then helped to complete the song. Halliwell, inspired by a T-shirt that said "What part of no don't you understand?", wrote the song's middle eight with Melanie Chisholm
at Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins'—the songwriters and production duo known as Absolute
—studio in Richmond, London. Wilson commented about the song:
Absolute structured the song using doo-wop records as a template. The format was for Emma Bunton
to sing the high part, Melanie Brown
, Victoria Beckham
, and Halliwell singing the lower and middle parts, and Chisholm adding the ad-libs
. The song was recorded in a caravan in the middle of mayhem. Wilson and Watkins doggedly worked on it with whichever of the group's members were available from the filming set at any given point. A considerable amount of production
work was required afterward before the track reached its final form.
music and doo-wop
sounds. It is written in the key of F♯ minor, with a time signature set in compound quadruple meter, commonly used in doo-wop, and moves at a slow tempo of 80 beats per minute.
The song is constructed in a verse-chorus form
, with a bridge
before the third chorus, and its instrumentation comes from a guitar
, brass
and string instrument
s. It starts with an instrumental
introduction
, with a chord progression
of A–Faug–Dmaj7–G7 that is also used during the first part of the verses and the chorus. Brown and Bunton sing the first lines of the first verse; the progression then changes to Bm7–E–Dmaj7–C♯7 during the last part of the verse, which is sung by Chisholm. After the chorus, the same pattern occurs leading to the second chorus, with Halliwell, Beckham, and Chisholm singing the second verse. The progression changes to Bm7–C♯m7–Gmaj9–F♯7(♯9) as Chisholm sings the bridge, while the rest of the group adds the high harmony
. The group sing the chorus twice, and repeats the ad-lib as the song fades out
. The album version, which is forty seconds longer than the radio edit, features an instrumental section at the end of the track.
and in a standard CD single
format, included an exclusive PlayStation
postcard from the group's upcoming video game Spice World
. The track listing contained the radio edit of the track, a Soulshock & Karlin
remix, and the B-side "Outer Space Girls"—written by the group with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard. The second version, released on a standard CD single, contained the radio edit, an orchestral version, and "Walk of Life", a different B-side, written by the group with Absolute. The images on the single's cover were taken from a photoshoot the group did for the October 1997 issue of Elle
magazine.
"Too Much" received mixed reviews from critics. Sylvia Patterson of the NME
characterized the song as a "lavish, harmonised spree of New Orleans loveliness with strings and Spanish guitar", adding that it is "the absolute tops!". Ian Hyland
of The Daily Mirror enjoyed the track, but felt that Chisholm sounded "daft", and added that she needs to "calm down on the scouse
front". David Browne
of Entertainment Weekly
called it a "sultry slow jam", while The Miami Herald
described it as a "silky pop ode", and called it "irresistible". The Virginian-Pilot said that the strings on the song are "classic soul
with a 90s tweak". Larry Flick of Billboard
magazine praised the song, describing it as a "swishy classic-pop ballad that tickles the ear with tasty doo-wop flavors", and added that the arrangement
and the group's harmonies "work extremely well together". Sputnikmusic
's Amanda Murray also complimented the track, calling it a "genuinely great song". Murray also felt that the group's voices had improved so that they could "pull off more difficult passages with at least an iota of conviction".
Some reviewers criticized the R&B-infused production. In a review of Spiceworld, the Contra Costa Times
said that the album's ballads such as "Too Much" and "Viva Forever
" are "both treacly and deadly dull". Conversely, Gina Arnold
of Salon.com
said that the ballads are "blander but still appealing". South Florida Sun-Sentinel' s Sean Picolli said that the song is "a sincere stab at instructional R&B". Richard Harrington of The Washington Post
described it as a "lugubrious ballad", while Scott Schinder of Newsday
said that "the contempo-R&B
schmaltz of 'Too Much' [...] mires the group in middle-of-the-road mediocrity". J.D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun
was not convinced by the song's "attempts at deep emotional expression", and Anthony Violanti of The Buffalo News
said that it is "supposed to be a heart tugging ballad that may even make the Spice Girls fan base of 10 year olds overdose on sugar".
, becoming the Spice Girls' second consecutive Christmas number-one single. It made the group the first to reach number one with their first six singles, and the first to debut at the top of the chart five times in a row. It stayed at number one for two weeks, remaining inside the top forty for seven weeks and the top seventy-five for fifteen weeks, and was certified platinum
by the British Phonographic Industry
(BPI) in December 1997.
"Too Much" was moderately successful in Europe. It reached number three on the Eurochart Hot 100, peaked inside the top ten in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and Spain, and inside the top twenty in Austria, Belgium (both the Flemish and French charts), France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. The song was also a moderate success in Oceania. In New Zealand, it debuted on 21 December 1997 at number twenty, peaked at number nine for two weeks, and stayed on the chart for twelve weeks. In Australia, it debuted on the ARIA Charts
at number twenty-nine, peaking at number nine in its sixth week. It remained on the chart for fifteen weeks, and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association
(ARIA).
In the US, "Too Much" did better than its predecessor, "Spice Up Your Life
", but was not as successful as Spice
s singles had been. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
on 14 February 1998, at number twenty-two, selling 30,000 copies. The next week, "Too Much" peaked at number nine, becoming the group's fourth and final top ten hit. It peaked at thirty-six on the Hot 100 Airplay
, at eleven on the Hot 100 Singles Sales
chart, and sold 600,000 copies by January 1999. It had moderate success in other formats, peaking at twenty-one on the Mainstream Top 40
, and at twenty-three on the Rhythmic Top 40
and the Adult Contemporary chart. "Too Much" peaked at nine on the Canadian Singles Chart
.
is shown singing on top of a tank strapped with ammunition in an industrial post-apocalyptic war scene in a segment based on the film Mad Max
. Emma Bunton
is shown in a bedroom dressed in white pyjamas while objects float around her on their own; her scene is based on Poltergeist. Melanie Chisholm
is shown in a Chinatown
, dressed in a red cheongsam and black pants with her hair in a long ponytail with red streaks; her scene is based upon Year of the Dragon
. Geri Halliwell
is featured in a black-and-white
scene based on Rita Hayworth
's performance in Gilda
. She is shown performing on a smoky stage in a long, white sequined gown with a group of sailors dancing around her. Victoria Beckham
is shown in a missile silo next to a smoking rocket, clad in a black catsuit
and with a long ponytail; she is portraying Catwoman
from Batman Returns
.
The "Too Much" music video premiered on 2 December 1997, on the American television network UPN
, in a special titled "Too Much Is Never Enough". Two versions of the music video exist: the original one, and a version that include scenes from the group's 1997 film Spice World; the latter was included on the DVD release of their greatest hits album
.
, Top of the Pops
, and the 1997 Royal Variety Performance
. The group also performed it at the 1997 Smash Hits! Awards
, and at the 25th Annual American Music Awards
. The Spice Girls debut film, Spice World, features "Too Much". During the opening credits, the group performs "Too Much" on Top of the Pops, surrounded by media
and photographers from various television programmes and magazines. Also present are hundreds of fans. When the performance is complete, the audience applauds and cheers the girls, and the film progresses into the first official scene. In October 1997, the group performed it as the tenth song of their first live concert at the Abdi Ipekçi Arena
in Istanbul
, Turkey. The performance was broadcast on Showtime in a pay-per-view event titled Spice Girls In Concert Wild! However, the VHS and DVD release of the concert, Girl Power! Live in Istanbul
, does not include the "Too Much" performance.
The group have performed the song on their three tours, the Spiceworld Tour
, the Christmas In Spiceworld Tour
, and the Return of the Spice Girls. It remained in the group's live set after Halliwell's departure at the end of the European leg of the Spiceworld Tour; her parts were taken by Bunton. The performance at the tour's final concert can be found on the video: Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium
, filmed in London, on 20 September 1998. During the Return of the Spice Girls tour, the group dressed in tuxedos and performed an up-tempo jazz
y version of the song, while doing a striptease behind neon pink-colored, heart-shaped doors.
Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd/19 Music/BMG Music Publishing Ltd.
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
group Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
. Written by the group members with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriters and production duo known as Absolute
Absolute (production team)
Absolute are a music production team responsible for a number of hits in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century.-History:Absolute was formed in 1988, by Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins after they met at university and decided to pursue a career in music...
—at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World, it was produced by Wilson and Watkins for the group's second album Spiceworld, released in November 1997.
"Too Much" is a pop ballad with influences of R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
. It features instrumentation from a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
and string instrument
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s, and is structured using doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
records as a template. The music video, directed by Howard Greenhalgh, features each Spice Girl in their own individual scene playing different characters, inspired by their own movie fantasies. The song received mixed reviews from music critics, with many of them criticizing the R&B-infused production.
Released as the album's second single in December 1997, it topped the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
for two weeks, becoming the group's second consecutive Christmas number-one single, and their sixth consecutive chart-topper, which made them the first act to have its first six singles reach number one in the United Kingdom. It was moderately successful internationally, peaking inside the top twenty on the majority of the charts that it entered. Although in the United States "Too Much" did better than its predecessor, "Spice Up Your Life
Spice Up Your Life
"Spice Up Your Life" is a song by the British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members, with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World...
"; peaking nine places higher on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and becoming their fourth top ten single on the chart; it failed to match the success of the group's previous singles from the Spice
Spice (album)
Spice is the debut album by British pop group Spice Girls. Released on November 4, 1996 by Virgin Records, the album was recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London between 1995 and 1996, by producers Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard, Eliot Kennedy and the production duo Absolute...
album.
Background
In June 1997, the group began filming scenes for their movie Spice World. At the same time, Virgin RecordsVirgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
started the first marketing meetings for the Spiceworld album's promotional campaign, set to be released in November. No songs had been written for the album at this point, so the group had to do all the song-writing and recording at the same time as they were filming the movie. Between takes, and at the end of each filming day, the group usually went straight into a mobile recording studio set up in a Winnebago
Winnebago Industries
Winnebago Industries Inc., , is a manufacturer of motor homes, a type of recreational vehicle or RV, in the United States. It is based in Forest City, Iowa.-Corporate history:...
, which followed them between film sets. The schedule was physically arduous with logistical difficulties, as Melanie Brown
Melanie Brown
Melanie Janine "Scary Spice" Brown , often better known as Mel B, is an English pop singer-songwriter, actress, author and television presenter...
commented in her autobiography: "doing the two full-time jobs at the same time took its toll and within a couple on weeks, exhaustion set in."
Writing and recording
The concept of "Too Much" was mainly penned by Geri HalliwellGeri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...
while the group was filming Spiceworld in a closed set besieged by fans and the media, in London's Docklands. While Halliwell left the set, sitting in the backseat of a car, she started scribbling a few lines in a notebook about "love being blind and how words that appear deep may be meaningless". The other members then helped to complete the song. Halliwell, inspired by a T-shirt that said "What part of no don't you understand?", wrote the song's middle eight with Melanie Chisholm
Melanie Chisholm
Melanie Jayne Chisholm is an English singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman professionally known simply as Melanie C . She is best known as one of the five members of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice"...
at Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins'—the songwriters and production duo known as Absolute
Absolute (production team)
Absolute are a music production team responsible for a number of hits in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century.-History:Absolute was formed in 1988, by Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins after they met at university and decided to pursue a career in music...
—studio in Richmond, London. Wilson commented about the song:
Geri came in and sang: 'Too much of something/Da-da-da-da-da...Right. OK. You got that?' We started working on it and we wanted to do some sort of doo-wopDoo-wopThe name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
vocal thing. So we constructed this backing trackBacking trackA backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
and then more of the girls started to come in—this was quite a good day—and gradually they started to add on their little bits.
Absolute structured the song using doo-wop records as a template. The format was for Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...
to sing the high part, Melanie Brown
Melanie Brown
Melanie Janine "Scary Spice" Brown , often better known as Mel B, is an English pop singer-songwriter, actress, author and television presenter...
, Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
, and Halliwell singing the lower and middle parts, and Chisholm adding the ad-libs
Ad-Libs
Ad-Libs is an improvisational comedy troupe based in Dallas, Texas. Combining improvisation along with video segments, Ad-Libs was conceived by Phil Larsson in 1986...
. The song was recorded in a caravan in the middle of mayhem. Wilson and Watkins doggedly worked on it with whichever of the group's members were available from the filming set at any given point. A considerable amount of production
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
work was required afterward before the track reached its final form.
Composition
"Too Much" is a pop ballad, with influences of R&BContemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
music and doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
sounds. It is written in the key of F♯ minor, with a time signature set in compound quadruple meter, commonly used in doo-wop, and moves at a slow tempo of 80 beats per minute.
The song is constructed in a verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form
Verse-chorus form is a musical form common in popular music and predominant in rock since the 1960s. In contrast to AABA form, which is focused on the verse , in verse-chorus form the chorus is highlighted...
, with a bridge
Bridge (music)
In music, especially western popular music, a bridge is a contrasting section which also prepares for the return of the original material section...
before the third chorus, and its instrumentation comes from a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
and string instrument
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
s. It starts with an instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
introduction
Introduction (music)
In music, the introduction is a passage or section which opens a movement or a separate piece. In popular music this is often abbreviated as intro...
, with a chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
of A–Faug–Dmaj7–G7 that is also used during the first part of the verses and the chorus. Brown and Bunton sing the first lines of the first verse; the progression then changes to Bm7–E–Dmaj7–C♯7 during the last part of the verse, which is sung by Chisholm. After the chorus, the same pattern occurs leading to the second chorus, with Halliwell, Beckham, and Chisholm singing the second verse. The progression changes to Bm7–C♯m7–Gmaj9–F♯7(♯9) as Chisholm sings the bridge, while the rest of the group adds the high harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
. The group sing the chorus twice, and repeats the ad-lib as the song fades out
Fade (audio engineering)
In audio engineering, a fade is a gradual increase or decrease in the level of an audio signal. The term can also be used for film cinematography or theater lighting, in much the same way ....
. The album version, which is forty seconds longer than the radio edit, features an instrumental section at the end of the track.
Release and reception
"Too Much" was released in the United Kingdom on 15 December 1997, in two single versions. The first, released on cassetteCassette single
A cassette single is a music single in the form of a Compact Cassette.- History :...
and in a standard CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
format, included an exclusive PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
postcard from the group's upcoming video game Spice World
Spice World (video game)
Spice World is a music video game created by SCE London Studio for Sony PlayStation released in July 1998.-Content:With tracks like "Wannabe,", "Who Do You Think You Are", "Move Over", "Spice Up Your Life," and "Say You'll Be There," each animated Spice Girl will offer a few comments as they tour...
. The track listing contained the radio edit of the track, a Soulshock & Karlin
Soulshock & Karlin
Soulshock & Karlin is a duo of Danish record producers and songwriters, Carsten Schack and Kenneth Karlin. They have produced a large number of successful songs, including Monica's "Before You Walk out of My Life", Whitney Houston's "Heartbreak Hotel", JoJo's "Leave ", and Fantasia's "Truth Is"...
remix, and the B-side "Outer Space Girls"—written by the group with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard. The second version, released on a standard CD single, contained the radio edit, an orchestral version, and "Walk of Life", a different B-side, written by the group with Absolute. The images on the single's cover were taken from a photoshoot the group did for the October 1997 issue of Elle
Elle (magazine)
Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...
magazine.
Critical response
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
characterized the song as a "lavish, harmonised spree of New Orleans loveliness with strings and Spanish guitar", adding that it is "the absolute tops!". Ian Hyland
Ian Hyland
Ian Hyland is an English television critic.-Journalism career:Hyland wrote a column for the Sunday Mirror from 2000 to 2005. Until 2011 closure of the newspaper, he wrote for the News of the World. He currently writes for the Daily Mail...
of The Daily Mirror enjoyed the track, but felt that Chisholm sounded "daft", and added that she needs to "calm down on the scouse
Scouse
Scouse is an accent and dialect of English found primarily in the Metropolitan county of Merseyside, and closely associated with the city of Liverpool and the adjoining urban areas such as the boroughs of south Sefton, Knowsley and the Wirral...
front". David Browne
David Browne
David Browne is an American journalist and author. He was the resident music critic at Entertainment Weekly between 1990 and 2006. He was an editor at Music & Sound Output magazine and a music critic at the New York Daily News before EW...
of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
called it a "sultry slow jam", while The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
described it as a "silky pop ode", and called it "irresistible". The Virginian-Pilot said that the strings on the song are "classic soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
with a 90s tweak". Larry Flick of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine praised the song, describing it as a "swishy classic-pop ballad that tickles the ear with tasty doo-wop flavors", and added that the arrangement
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
and the group's harmonies "work extremely well together". Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
's Amanda Murray also complimented the track, calling it a "genuinely great song". Murray also felt that the group's voices had improved so that they could "pull off more difficult passages with at least an iota of conviction".
Some reviewers criticized the R&B-infused production. In a review of Spiceworld, the Contra Costa Times
Contra Costa Times
The Contra Costa Times is a daily newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, U.S.. The paper serves Contra Costa and eastern Alameda counties, in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area...
said that the album's ballads such as "Too Much" and "Viva Forever
Viva Forever
"Viva Forever" is a song by the Spice Girls from their second album, Spiceworld. Originally set to be released alongside the track “Never Give Up on the Good Times” the B-Side was then pulled as member Geri Halliwell left the group. The song was released on July 20, 1998 in the United Kingdom and...
" are "both treacly and deadly dull". Conversely, Gina Arnold
Gina arnold
Gina Arnold is a rock critic whose articles have appeared in Spin, Rolling Stone and various free weeklies.She grew up in Palo Alto, California...
of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
said that the ballads are "blander but still appealing". South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
described it as a "lugubrious ballad", while Scott Schinder of Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
said that "the contempo-R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
schmaltz of 'Too Much' [...] mires the group in middle-of-the-road mediocrity". J.D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....
was not convinced by the song's "attempts at deep emotional expression", and Anthony Violanti of The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area, and the area's only daily newspaper. It is the only newspaper owned by Berkshire Hathaway.-History:...
said that it is "supposed to be a heart tugging ballad that may even make the Spice Girls fan base of 10 year olds overdose on sugar".
Chart performance
"Too Much" was released in the UK in December 1997. It debuted at the top of the UK Singles ChartUK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, becoming the Spice Girls' second consecutive Christmas number-one single. It made the group the first to reach number one with their first six singles, and the first to debut at the top of the chart five times in a row. It stayed at number one for two weeks, remaining inside the top forty for seven weeks and the top seventy-five for fifteen weeks, and was certified platinum
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the British Phonographic Industry
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
(BPI) in December 1997.
"Too Much" was moderately successful in Europe. It reached number three on the Eurochart Hot 100, peaked inside the top ten in Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and Spain, and inside the top twenty in Austria, Belgium (both the Flemish and French charts), France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. The song was also a moderate success in Oceania. In New Zealand, it debuted on 21 December 1997 at number twenty, peaked at number nine for two weeks, and stayed on the chart for twelve weeks. In Australia, it debuted on the ARIA Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
at number twenty-nine, peaking at number nine in its sixth week. It remained on the chart for fifteen weeks, and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
(ARIA).
In the US, "Too Much" did better than its predecessor, "Spice Up Your Life
Spice Up Your Life
"Spice Up Your Life" is a song by the British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members, with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World...
", but was not as successful as Spice
Spice (album)
Spice is the debut album by British pop group Spice Girls. Released on November 4, 1996 by Virgin Records, the album was recorded at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London between 1995 and 1996, by producers Matt Rowe, Richard Stannard, Eliot Kennedy and the production duo Absolute...
s singles had been. It debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
on 14 February 1998, at number twenty-two, selling 30,000 copies. The next week, "Too Much" peaked at number nine, becoming the group's fourth and final top ten hit. It peaked at thirty-six on the Hot 100 Airplay
Hot 100 Airplay
The Hot 100 Airplay chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures radio airplay, and is one of the three component charts, along with the Hot Singles Sales and the Hot Digital Songs charts, that determine the chart positions of singles on the Billboard...
, at eleven on the Hot 100 Singles Sales
Hot 100 Singles Sales
The Hot Singles Sales chart is a chart released weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It measures sales of commercial singles and is one of three component charts, along with the Hot 100 Airplay and the Hot Digital Songs, that determine the chart positions of singles on the...
chart, and sold 600,000 copies by January 1999. It had moderate success in other formats, peaking at twenty-one on the Mainstream Top 40
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)
The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...
, and at twenty-three on the Rhythmic Top 40
Rhythmic Airplay Chart
The Rhythmic Airplay Chart is an airplay chart that is featured weekly in Billboard Magazine. The chart tracks and measures the airplay of songs played on Rhythmic stations, whose playlist includes mostly hit-driven R&B/Hip-Hop, Rhythmic pop, and some Dance tracks...
and the Adult Contemporary chart. "Too Much" peaked at nine on the Canadian Singles Chart
Canadian Singles Chart
The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
.
Music video
The music video was filmed and directed by Howard Greenhalgh on 10 November 1997 in a studio located in London. The video features each Spice Girl in their own individual scene, inspired by their own movie fantasies. Melanie BrownMelanie Brown
Melanie Janine "Scary Spice" Brown , often better known as Mel B, is an English pop singer-songwriter, actress, author and television presenter...
is shown singing on top of a tank strapped with ammunition in an industrial post-apocalyptic war scene in a segment based on the film Mad Max
Mad Max
Mad Max is a 1979 Australian dystopian action film directed by George Miller and revised by Miller and Byron Kennedy over the original script by James McCausland. The film stars Mel Gibson, who was unknown at the time. Its narrative based around the traditional western genre, Mad Max tells a story...
. Emma Bunton
Emma Bunton
Emma Lee Bunton is an English pop singer/songwriter and TV and radio presenter. She was a member of the 1990s girl group, the Spice Girls, in which she was known as Baby Spice as she was the youngest member. In 2010, she joined the judging panel on ITV's Dancing on Ice...
is shown in a bedroom dressed in white pyjamas while objects float around her on their own; her scene is based on Poltergeist. Melanie Chisholm
Melanie Chisholm
Melanie Jayne Chisholm is an English singer-songwriter, actress and businesswoman professionally known simply as Melanie C . She is best known as one of the five members of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed "Sporty Spice"...
is shown in a Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
, dressed in a red cheongsam and black pants with her hair in a long ponytail with red streaks; her scene is based upon Year of the Dragon
Year of the Dragon (film)
Year of the Dragon is a 1985 film directed by Michael Cimino, starring Mickey Rourke, Ariane Koizumi and John Lone. The screenplay was written by Cimino and Oliver Stone and adapted from the novel by Robert Daley....
. Geri Halliwell
Geri Halliwell
Geraldine Estelle "Geri" Halliwell is an English pop singer-songwriter, author and actress. After coming to international prominence in the late 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, Halliwell launched her solo career in 1998 and released her album Schizophonic...
is featured in a black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
scene based on Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth was an American film actress and dancer who attained fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars...
's performance in Gilda
Gilda
Gilda is a 1946 American black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. It stars Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth in her signature role as the ultimate femme fatale. The film was noted for cinematographer Rudolph Mate's lush photography, costume designer Jean Louis' wardrobe for Hayworth , and...
. She is shown performing on a smoky stage in a long, white sequined gown with a group of sailors dancing around her. Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham is an English singer-songwriter, dancer, model, actress, fashion designer and businesswoman. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops...
is shown in a missile silo next to a smoking rocket, clad in a black catsuit
Catsuit
A catsuit is a close-fitting one-piece garment that covers the torso and the legs, and frequently the arms. They are usually made from stretchable material, such as lycra, chiffon, spandex , leather, latex, PVC, or velour, and frequently close using a zipper at the front or back.Catsuits, which...
and with a long ponytail; she is portraying Catwoman
Catwoman
Catwoman is a fictional character associated with DC Comics' Batman franchise. Historically a supervillain, the character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, partially inspired by Kane's cousin, Ruth Steel...
from Batman Returns
Batman Returns
Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
.
The "Too Much" music video premiered on 2 December 1997, on the American television network UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
, in a special titled "Too Much Is Never Enough". Two versions of the music video exist: the original one, and a version that include scenes from the group's 1997 film Spice World; the latter was included on the DVD release of their greatest hits album
Greatest Hits (Spice Girls album)
-Background:The plan to reform and release a greatest hits had long been speculated by the media, but its planned release was first confirmed by Melanie Brown in June 2005. Speaking just before a planned reunion for Live 8 , she stated: "We'll get back together because we all want to. I know...
.
Live performances
The song was performed many times on television, including An Audience with...An Audience with...
An Audience with... is a British entertainment television show produced by ITV Studios, in which a host, usually a singer or comedian, performs for an invited audience of celebrity guests, interspersed with questions from the audience, in a light hearted revue/tribute style.The show began as An...
, Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops
Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly from 1 January 1964 to 30 July 2006. After 25 December 2006 it became a radio program, now hosted by Tony Blackburn...
, and the 1997 Royal Variety Performance
Royal Variety Performance
The Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening held annually in the United Kingdom, which is attended by senior members of the British Royal Family, usually the reigning monarch. In more recent years Queen Elizabeth II and The Prince of Wales have alternately attended the performance...
. The group also performed it at the 1997 Smash Hits! Awards
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
, and at the 25th Annual American Music Awards
American Music Awards of 1998
The 25th Annual American Music Awards were held on January 26, 1998....
. The Spice Girls debut film, Spice World, features "Too Much". During the opening credits, the group performs "Too Much" on Top of the Pops, surrounded by media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and photographers from various television programmes and magazines. Also present are hundreds of fans. When the performance is complete, the audience applauds and cheers the girls, and the film progresses into the first official scene. In October 1997, the group performed it as the tenth song of their first live concert at the Abdi Ipekçi Arena
Abdi Ipekçi Arena
Abdi İpekçi Arena, formerly known as Abdi İpekçi Sports Complex, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Zeytinburnu district of Istanbul, Turkey, situated just outside of the ancient city walls in Yedikule. Opened in 1986 after many years of interrupted construction, it is named after the...
in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey. The performance was broadcast on Showtime in a pay-per-view event titled Spice Girls In Concert Wild! However, the VHS and DVD release of the concert, Girl Power! Live in Istanbul
Girl Power! Live in Istanbul
Girl Power! Live In Istanbul was the first set of major concerts by the British pop group, The Spice Girls, in 1997. The concerts, organised by Pepsi as part of the group's sponsorship deal, were performed at the Abdi İpekçi Arena on October 12 and 13 in Istanbul, Turkey.The VHS release does not...
, does not include the "Too Much" performance.
The group have performed the song on their three tours, the Spiceworld Tour
Spiceworld Tour
The Spiceworld Tour was a concert tour performed by the British Europop group the Spice Girls in support of their second album Spiceworld which was the soundtrack to their feature film Spiceworld: The Movie. The sell-out European/North American tour ran from February to August 1998, after which it...
, the Christmas In Spiceworld Tour
Christmas In Spiceworld Tour
The Christmas in Spiceworld Tour was a concert tour performed by the British pop group the Spice Girls. It came after the Spiceworld Tour and before the Return of the Spice Girls World Tour .-History and general information:...
, and the Return of the Spice Girls. It remained in the group's live set after Halliwell's departure at the end of the European leg of the Spiceworld Tour; her parts were taken by Bunton. The performance at the tour's final concert can be found on the video: Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium
Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium
Spice Girls Live at Wembley Stadium is the DVD of pop band Spice Girls' tour, Spiceworld Tour, in 1998. The show was recorded at Wembley Stadium on the 20th of September and was released on the 24th of November, 1998. The show was recorded after Geri Halliwell left the band...
, filmed in London, on 20 September 1998. During the Return of the Spice Girls tour, the group dressed in tuxedos and performed an up-tempo jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
y version of the song, while doing a striptease behind neon pink-colored, heart-shaped doors.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "Too Much":- UK CD1/Brazilian CD/European CD
- "Too Much" (radio edit) – 3:51
- "Outer Space Girls" – 3:58
- "Too Much" (Soulshock & KarlinSoulshock & KarlinSoulshock & Karlin is a duo of Danish record producers and songwriters, Carsten Schack and Kenneth Karlin. They have produced a large number of successful songs, including Monica's "Before You Walk out of My Life", Whitney Houston's "Heartbreak Hotel", JoJo's "Leave ", and Fantasia's "Truth Is"...
Remix) – 3:52
- UK CD2/Dutch CD2/South African CD/Taiwanese CD2/Thai CD2
- "Too Much" (radio edit) – 3:51
- "Too Much" (orchestral version) – 4:38
- "Walk of Life" – 4:16
- Australian CD/Dutch CD1/Taiwanese CD1/Thai CD1
- "Too Much" (radio edit) – 3:51
- "Outer Space Girls" – 3:58
- "Spice Up Your LifeSpice Up Your Life"Spice Up Your Life" is a song by the British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members, with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World...
" (MurkMurk (band)Murk is a house music production team composed of Ralph Falcón and Oscar Gaetan). They formed in Miami in 1991...
Havana FM Radio Mix) – 3:39
- European 2-track CD/French CD
- "Too Much" (radio edit) – 3:51
- "Outer Space Girls" – 3:58
- Japanese CD
- "Too Much" (radio edit) – 3:51
- "Too Much" (orchestral version) – 4:38
- "Walk of Life" – 4:16
- "Outer Space Girls" – 3:58
- US CD
- "Too Much" (radio edit) – 3:51
- "Too Much" (orchestral version) – 4:38
- "Too Much" (Soulshock & Karlin Remix) – 3:52
- "Outer Space Girls" – 3:58
Credits and personnel
- Spice Girls – lyricsLyricistA lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
, vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - AbsoluteAbsolute (production team)Absolute are a music production team responsible for a number of hits in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century.-History:Absolute was formed in 1988, by Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins after they met at university and decided to pursue a career in music...
– all instruments, lyrics, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Paul Hicks – recording engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Robbie Kazandjian – assistant
- Mark "Spike" StentMark StentMark 'Spike' Stent is a British record producer, and audio engineer who has worked with The KLF, Björk, Keane, Depeche Mode, Muse, Erasure, Hard-Fi, Massive Attack, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Marilyn Manson, Pet Shop Boys, Dave Matthews, No Doubt/Gwen Stefani, CSS, Beth Orton,...
– audio mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Jan Kybert – assistant
- Kick Horns – brassBrass instrumentA brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
- Milton McDonald – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Stephen Hussey – string arrangementString sectionThe string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
- "Pure Stringz" – string performance
- Mike Higham – additional programming
Published by Windswept Pacific Music Ltd/19 Music/BMG Music Publishing Ltd.
Chart positions
| Chart (1997) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Ultratop 50 (Flanders) Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
12 |
| Belgian Ultratop 40 (Wallonia) Ultratop 40 Ultratop 40 singles, often just Ultratop 40, is the weekly chart of best-selling singles in Wallonia and Brussels Capital Region, the french-speaking parts of Belgium. Its equivalent covering the Flanders region is Ultratop 50. Both charts are produced and published by the Ultratop organization... |
16 |
| Dutch Top 40 Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 is a weekly music chart, which started as the "Veronica Top 40", because the offshore radio station Radio Veronica was the first to introduce it. It remained "The Veronica Top 40" until 1974, when the station was forced to stop broadcasting... |
15 |
| Danish Singles Chart Tracklisten Tracklisten is a Danish top 40 record chart that is presented every Thursday midnight at .The weekly Danish Singles Chart also known as Track Top-40 combines the 40 best selling tracks from legal music downloads and the sales of music singles on either CD or vinyl... |
7 |
| European Hot 100 Singles | 3 |
| Finnish Singles Chart | 3 |
| German Singles Chart Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
21 |
| Irish Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
4 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
9 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 9 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 18 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
1 |
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
9 |
| Austrian Singles Chart Ö3 Austria Top 40 Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann... |
15 |
| Canadian Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays.... |
9 |
| French Singles Chart Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
20 |
| Italian Singles Chart Federation of the Italian Music Industry The Federation of the Italian Music Industry is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy.... |
16 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
18 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
9 |
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary | 23 |
| US Billboard Mainstream Top 40 Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart... |
21 |
Certifications
| Country | Provider | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... |
Gold |
| France | SNEP | Silver |
| United Kingdom | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Platinum |