Spice Girls

Spice Girls’ ‘Wannabe’ Named Catchiest Song Ever By New Study

From Huffington Post

In a finding that’s sure to ignite debates among music lovers around the world, researchers say they’ve identified the catchiest song of all time.

The winner: the 1996 Spice Girls hit “Wannabe.” (Try getting that out of your head now.)

Researchers from the University of Amsterdam worked with the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, U.K., to figure out why some songs are catchy and others are not.

“You may only hear something a couple of times yet 10 years later you immediately realize that you have heard it before,” Ashley Burgoyne, a computational musicologist from the University of Amsterdam, told the BBC. “Yet other songs, even if you have heard them a lot, do not have this effect.”

So what makes a song catchy? It’s not simply your ability to know it and recognize it. It’s how the song stays in your head even when it stops playing — the so-called earworm effect.

To measure this, the researchers developed a game. Because they’re measuring “catchiness,” it’s not your typical name-that-tune type of arrangement. Instead, you hit the stop button the moment you recognize a tune, and then the game tests the ability of the song to keep playing inside your head.

It’s called Hooked on Music, which you can actually play for yourself right here. Warning: Your productivity for the day will plummet the moment you click on that link. Then again, how often do you get to participate in real science?

The game used the top 40 songs from each decade over the past 70 years. Of the 12,000 people who played during the yearlong study period, the Spice Girls track was tops, recognized in an average of 2.29 seconds.

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And while the game may seem silly, there is a very serious purpose behind the study. The researchers wrote on the game’s website that they hope to use the results to further research into dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Here’s the full list of the top 20 catchiest songs, at least as determined by the study:

  1. Spice Girls, “Wannabe”
  2. Lou Bega, “Mambo No. 5”
  3. Survivor, “Eye Of The Tiger”
  4. Lady Gaga, “Just Dance”
  5. ABBA, “SOS”
  6. Roy Orbison, “Pretty Woman”
  7. Michael Jackson, “Beat It”
  8. Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You”
  9. The Human League, “Don’t You Want Me”
  10. Aerosmith, “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing”
  11. Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
  12. Hanson, “Mmmmbop
  13. Elvis Presley, “It’s Now Or Never
  14. Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”
  15. Michael Jackson, “Billie Jean”
  16. Culture Club, “Karma Chameleon
  17. Britney Spears, “Baby One More Time”
  18. Elvis Presley, “Devil in Disguise
  19. Boney M., “Rivers of Babylon”
  20. Elton John, “Candle in the Wind”

Empowering ’90s songs that made you love being a girl

written by Sara Altschule for Hellogiggles.com

The era of flannel, platform shoes, and Tamagotchis may be long gone—but the best music from that era lives on. We’ve noticed, in fact, that some of those super-empowering, female-driven ’90s songs are still influencing female musicians today—see the rad band Juce, or even T-Swift’s new album for proof. That’s because the ’90s was kind of an important moment for women in music. Female vocalists found their voices and made sure we’d all sing along with them. They had (and still have) us feeling our feelings and our feelings cannot be stopped. So let’s bring back some of the classic songs from that decade and rock out one more time.

1. Alanis Morissette – “You Oughta Know” (1995)

Alanis understood us and how it feels after a heart-wrenching breakup. She took us from sad to angry, and we needed that. Now, girls around the world are singing this song at karaoke while thinking about that man or woman who broke them. Thank you for giving us this emotional release, Alanis.

2. TLC – “No Scrubs” (1999)
Sing it, ladies. We don’t want ‘no scrubs’ because we are better than that, and TLC made us realize our worth. They also brought us unforgettably awesome attire in their video.
3. Natalie Imbruglia – “Torn” (1997)
What’s powerful about this song is that she’s ‘wide awake’ now about the reality of her relationship and making us realize the same thing. It’s empowering to express your true emotions and become fully aware, even when everything is just the worst.
4. Destiny’s Child – “Jumpin‘, Jumpin‘” (1999)
“Ladies, leave your man at home,” go out and blast this Destiny’s Child song. This one is for the girl who wants to have a good time with her besties, leaving all that dude-drama behind. Here’s to a night of shaking it off.
5. Spice Girls – “Wannabe” (1996)
You didn’t think I would make a ’90s playlist without adding the girl group who CREATED girl power, did you? This song is all about loving your girlfriends, making it known to your significant other that they matter, and we love that. They were saying “ovaries before brovaries,” long before we did.
6. No Doubt – “Just a Girl” (1995)
Gwen Stefani was seriously on point with this 1995 song. She gets how the world views being a woman and how frustrating it can be being “just a girl.” Society can limit us as women by stereotypes and viewpoints. Stefani “had it up to here” with that outlook and so have we.

7. Meredith Brooks – “Bitch” (1997)

Women around the world were immediately singing along with Brooks about how we can’t be defined as just one thing. We are many things “all rolled into one.” Brooks spoke of needing a strong man who can handle all her different and unique sides. AMEN, SISTA.

8. Shania Twain – “Man! I Feel Like A Woman” (1997)
This woman really showed us how to love being a woman. Sometimes we forget how amazing it is to be a woman and all the things we get to enjoy about it.
9. Des’ree – “You Gotta Be” (1994)
If you ever need a boost of self-confidence, just listen to this ’90s hit by Des’ree. In this song, she is telling us we’ve got to take an active role in our lives and be all things we want to be. Positive affirmations are the way to go and Des’ree gives us an advanced lesson in that. So if you’re feeling down and need a little push in the right direction, push play on this one.