After the whirlwind success of Wannabe, there was little doubt that whatever the Spice Girls released next would be a hit in the UK. Say You’ll Be There thus delivered on the hype in every regard, confirming that girl power wasn’t going anywhere.
In principle, Say You’ll Be There should have been the epitome of a difficult second single, such was the scale and enduring impact of Wannabe (it remained in the top 75 until December 1996 – six months after entering the chart – and didn’t reach #1 in America until February 1997). Yet, the Spice Girls launched with such a clear vision of what they wanted to achieve and how they’d do it that Say You’ll Be There was a perfectly judged follow-up. Indeed, if Simon Fuller and Virgin Records had their way, this would’ve been the group’s debut single (Love Thing was also mooted). However, the Spice Girls were adamant that Wannabe had to the song that launched them, and their instinct was entirely correct.
Yet, it’s easy to see why the label initially favoured Say You’ll Be There since they were tasked with trying to pitch the Spice Girls in what was – at the time – a mostly male-dominated music industry. The track has a slightly more R&B/funk-leaning edge, and though it doesn’t sound like a song Eternal would’ve recorded, it could conceivably have been marketed as a poppier spin on the sort of material they’d enjoyed success with. But part of what made Wannabe so impactful is the Spice Girls didn’t try to be a version of something that already existed. They were doing things on their own terms, and Say You’ll Be There continues that ethos.
The track was co-written with Eliot Kennedy and produced by Absolute (Andy Watkins and Paul Wilson), showcasing the counterpart creative team to Richard “Biff” Stannard and Matt Rowe, who – between them – shaped the Spice Girls’ debut album, Spice. On their 2007 Greatest Hits compilation, Say You’ll Be There was also credited to Jonathan Buck (Jon B.) due to melodic similarities with the song What U R 2 Me, which he wrote and produced for US R&B group After 7’s third album – Reflections – in 1995. There’s a fleeting resemblance in the chorus between: “Baby, what you are to me, no one else can be…” and: “I’m giving you everything, all that joy you bring…” in Say You’ll Be There but the two songs are very different overall. It’s certainly not among the most egregious instances of unintentional plagiarism. When Spice was reissued for its 25th anniversary, the liner notes made no reference to Jonathan Buck, so it’s unclear what the official stance is now.
