Who Do You Think You Are

"Who Do You Think You Are" is a song by the Spice Girls, released as the fourth and final single from their debut 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

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.

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 3 March 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 27 July 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 23 March 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 U.S. market. Instead of releasing more songs from Spice there, "Spice Up Your Life" became the next single instead.

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 Halliwell 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.

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 on the Spiceworld Tour, and by Melanie Brown on the Christmas In Spiceworld Tour.

Who Do You Think You Are opened the 1997 Brit Awards. It was in this performance, Geri wore the iconic Union Jack dress.

For The Return of the Spice Girls, the girls featured their original outfits from their beginning era. Each girl appeared on stage for their solo lines featuring their nicknames on the stage screens. Geri appeared first on the center of the stage with a new version of the Union Jack Dress, having her dancers waving British flags. Emma appeared next on the left platform (first shows upper, later shows lower) wearing a pink coat. Mel C appeared on the lower right platform wearing a purple sports outfit. Victoria appeared on the upper right platform wearing a long black dress. Mel B appeared on the front platform laying on a couch, wearing her signature outfit with leopard print.

Formats and track listings

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

Credits and personnel

Charts, peaks and certifications

Chart positions

Notes and references

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

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