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Do NOT under any circumstances direct link or post direct links to any files on this site anywhere, if you want to use them on your own site upload them to your own server!!!  Please help Emma get to Number 1 in the UK by supporting the 'I'll Be There Campaign'. * One months access to the VIP section for each dollar donated (eg if $5 is donated they will get 5 months access), * Access to download the m2v's uploaded each week on the News Page through a normal download link (not protected by anti-leech plug-in), * Access to download the mp3's and wmv's listed on our Media Page through normal download links (not protected by anti-leech plug-in), * an email address (eg username@emmanews.com) with a 10mb inbox, * 20 MB of server space (eg www.yoursite.emmanews.com) with 500mb bandwidth a month to create your own site or upload your forum sigs and avatars etc, (Please note: the lenght of access to the privilages above is dependent on your donation) March 1, 2004 | Chart Updates for 'I'll Be There' and 'Free Me' album | -- In it's 5th week in the UK singles charts Emma's single 'I'll Be There' has dropped another 12 positions this week to #45. Also Emma's album 'Free Me' has in it's third week dropped 4 positions to #20 in the UK Charts. 'I'll Be There' Chart Run: Week 1: #7 Week 2: #10 Week 3: #20 Week 4: #33 Week 5: #45 'Free Me' Album Chart Run: Week 1: #7 Week 2: #16 Week 3: #20 February 29, 2004 | Emma on Lotto Screengrabs | -- [Thanks to Gavin* for posting] 
 February 29, 2004 | Emma @ Eurovision Screengrabs | -- [Thanks to Gavin* for posting] To download a mp3 of this performance please head over to Melanie C Online which ben encoded. 
 February 28, 2004 | Chart Updates for 'I'll Be There' and 'Free Me' album | -- In it's 4th week in the UK singles charts Emma's single 'I'll Be There' has dropped 13 positions this week to #33. Also Emma's new album 'Free Me' has in it's second week dropped 9 positions to #16. 'I'll Be There' Chart Run: Week 1: #7 Week 2: #10 Week 3: #20 Week 4: #33 'Free Me' Album Chart Run: Week 1: #7 Week 2: #16 February 28, 2004 | Download Emma's Free Me (John Daly Show 25-05-03) Performance | --  :: Download 'Free Me' (John Daly Show 25-05-03) -- HQ wmv (10.74 MB) :: Download 'Free Me' (John Daly Show 25-05-03) -- mpeg (41.04 MB) -= OFFLINE =- Please Note: Only 70 downloads will be allowed for the mpeg above and download slots will gradually be added over the next 48 hours at regular intervals by myself.. | Click here for download instructions | VIP Member Download :: Download Free Me (John Daly Show 25-05-03) -- M2v (83.62 MB) Please left click only on this link :: Download Clever Dick (T4 24-01-04) -- M2v (45.19 MB) Please left click only on this link :: Download I'll Be There (Ministry of Mayhem) -- MPG (31.04 MB) Please left click only on this link 
 February 25, 2004 | Emma on Eurovision – Making Your Mind Up on Saturday night. | -- [Thanks to timmers for posting] EMMA BUNTON will guest star on BBC1’s Eurovision – Making Your Mind Up on Saturday night. She is set to perform SANDIE SHAW’s 1967 Eurovision winner Puppet On A String on the show, which selects the UK’s entry for the gloriously naff song contest. February 21, 2004 | New Emma Scans | -- [Thanks to spiceman_bg for posting] (Just a reminder for everyone, if you want to use any of the files on this site on another site or forum upload them to your own server space so your not stealing our bandwidth) 
 February 20, 2004 | Download Emma's Clever Dick (T4 24-01-04 Interview) | --  :: Download Clever Dick (T4 24-01-04) -- LQ wmv (4.70 MB) :: Download Clever Dick (T4 24-01-04) -- HQ wmv (15.74 MB) | Click here for download instructions | VIP Member Download :: Download Clever Dick (T4 24-01-04) -- M2v (45.19 MB) Please left click only on this link :: Download I'll Be There (Blue Peter) -- MPG (31.24 MB) Right click and 'save target as' to d/l :: Download I'll Be There (Ministry of Mayhem) -- MPG (31.04 MB) Please left click only on this link (VIP Members when asked please enter the username and password i emailed you to download this video) February 20, 2004 | Steel City helps Emma toughen up her nice as Baby Spice image... | -- [Thanks to Tommy_SGB for posting] SHE'S come a long way since she was the sweet and innocent one in the Spice Girls. But Emma Bunton - the artist formerly known as Baby Spice - keeps coming back to Sheffield to find the spark which made her a million. The petite blonde has been back up the M1 to record for her latest solo album - the sexy '60s flavoured Free Me, which was released this week. Looking better than ever, the 28-year-old singer sought out the magic which helped get her to the top with the two Mels, Victoria and Geri in the first place. So she called up Tim Lever and Mike Percy at Steelworks, a suspender throw from the Spearmint Rhino gentlemen's club and the studio which grew out of success with 5ive, Take That and S Club 7 among others. Together they wrote and recorded You Are plus a b-side at the city centre complex in Brown Street which they used to share with locally-raised producer and songwriter Eliot Kennedy. He went on to work with Bryan Adams and Celine Dion, among others, and currently has a partnership with former Take That man Gary Barlow. "With this album the sound is very different to anything that's out there at the moment," says Emma. "It has a real '60s influence and feel like I've captured my own sounds. I've worked really hard and I hope people enjoy it." Emma went to Spain and London, as well as Sheffield, to get the sound and feel right. And it has resulted in a record which has lots of string arrangements, retro-pop and even Brazilian flavours. Together with the very short shorts and figure-hugging dresses and knitwear of the artwork, the music is a long way from Emma's pig-tailed cutesy image as part of Britain's biggest girl band. As well as writing and recording with Eliot Kennedy, the Spicers returned to perform two of their career biggest concerts at Attercliffe's Don Valley Stadium. "I've grown up a lot since the Spice Girls," she says now. "I've learned how to be independent and had the best couple of years of my life. "Even though I'm lucky in what I do, I'm still the same as every other girl." Mike said: "We are signed to 19 management as songwriters and Emma is managed by them and Simon Fuller. "Obviously there was a bit of a connection with Eliot and Sheffield so she came up and we did a couple of days writing together." Tim and Mike, who have also worked with S Club Juniors, are currently writing for Sam Nixon, the Pop Idol finalist from Barnsley. February 18, 2004 | Heat Magazine Scan | -- [Thanks to Clair_W for posting]  February 16, 2004 | Chart Updates for 'I'll Be There' and 'Free Me' album | -- In it's 3rd week in the UK singles charts Emma's single 'I'll Be There' has dropped 10 positions this week to #20. Also Emma's new album 'Free Me' which was released last monday had debuted at #7 in the UK albums charts which is a really start. Once i find out the sales figures for the album and single this week i'll post them here 'I'll Be There' Chart Run: Week 1: #7 Week 2: #10 Week 3: #20 February 15, 2004 | Download I'll Be There (TOTP '£20 Making of video' and '£20 Pop Video') | -- Be thankful for this cos over the past 8 days i've been trying to d/l the m2v of this and have spent probably close to 100 hours in queues waiting to be able to download it, yesterday / today i spent over 26 hours (most of which i was sitting at my pc making sure it didnt stuff up or anything go wrong) queued for this video and finally got it so be happy with a wmv for now.  :: Download I'll Be There (Making of £20 Video TOTP Saturday) -- WMV (7.02mb) :: Download I'll Be There (£20 Pop Video TOTP Saturday) -- WMV (6.62mb) (Please Note: the error with the d/l links above has been fixed, so d/l them now and i hope you enjoy them) February 14, 2004 | Next Video Upload 'I'll Be There (Blue Peter 16.01.04) Performance | -- Head over to our 'Interactive Page' to vote on what video we should upload next, please only vote once to make this a fair vote but i'll go through all votes to make sure no abuse has occured and remove multiple votes by people.  :: Download I'll Be There [Live @ Blue Peter 16.01.04 ] -- wmv (7.60 MB) :: Download I'll Be There [Live @ Blue Peter 16.01.04 ] -- MPEG (29.7 MB) (-= OFFLINE =-) | Click here for download instructions | VIP Members Download :: I'll Be There [ live @ BLue Peter 16.01.04 ] -- m2v (59.5 MB) (Will be added Tonight) (To become a VIP Member read the info at the top of the page on how to become one) February 14, 2004 | Rave Reviews For Free Me | -- [From Emma Bunton Official] Emma’s album Free Me is finally here and has already been making a mark with the critics who are joined in unison in praising it. Here are a few of the great reviews Free Me has received so far:- ‘Co-written with the likes of Cathy Dennis and Zero 7’s Henry Binns, her second album is cute, sassy and, praise be, fun. All kinky boots (Maybe), James Bond (Free Me) and cheeky Latino lounge (Crickets Sing For Annamaria), it makes a gloriously refreshing change.’ – Q ‘Free Me blends bossa nova-lite with James Bondesque theatrics, and stars Emma as a sweetly seductive Bardot-styled babe. Thankfully devoid of rap/r’n’b experiments, this is cringe-free girl power at its best’ – Marie Claire ‘Very good… makes you wish you were floating on a lilo in Miami drinking dry martinis’ – The Telegraph ‘A ‘70s Bond girl look and a sultry, bossa nova-influenced sound… bound to make you really, really, really wanna zig-a-zig-ah’ – The Independent February 14, 2004 | 'I'll Be There' Sales | -- [Thanks to mel2vicem for posting] :: Week 1 -- #7 (14,615) :: Week 2 -- #10 (8,140) Also in the Midweek charts 'I'll Be There' is currently sitting at #21 and the 'Free Me' album is #6 in it's first week in the charts. February 10, 2004 | Sunday Express scans | -- [Thanks to Yorkshire and Simply Emma] 
 February 09, 2004 | 'Free Me' album released today | -- Emma's new album 'Free Me' was released today in the UK, if you haven't got or ordered it yet please make sure you do. It can be ordered at a good price at HMV UK -- www.hmv.co.uk for £9.99, Amazon UK -- www.amazon.co.uk currently have it for £8.99. btw if there are still any Australians wanting to get the 'I'll Be There' singles or 'Free Me' album let me know cos i am able to get them, just email me if your interested and i'll get back to you with a price February 09, 2004 | 'I'll Be There' at #10 | -- In it's second week Emma's new single 'I'll Be There' drops 3 positions this week t0 #10 in the UK singles charts. Chart Run: Week 1: #7 Week 2: #10 February 09, 2004 | Emma @ Wellington Club Pictures | -- [Thanks to tiagohm for posting] 
 February 07, 2004 | 2 new 'I'll Be There' wmv's and MPEG | -- Below you can download 2 recent performances of 'I'll Be There' that Emma had done a couple of weeks ago, they are currently both in wmv format but later on tonight i will upload one of them in m2v or mpg format (i haven't decided which video or format yet) but in the mean time feel free to download the wmv's posted below. Also i'd like to again thank Giuseppe and the other guy (can't remember his name) who made donations via paypal to this site, becasue of you 2 i've been able to purchase additional bandwidth for this site and are currently waiting for it to be setup.  * Download I'll Be There (Ministry Of Mayhem (31-01-04) -- 8.10MB WMV * Download I'll Be There (Ministry Of Mayhem 31-01-04) -- MPEG 31.04MB (ZIP) -= OFFLINE =- (Please note: the mpeg file is zipped, please remember to unzip it to get and play the file, do not rename the downloaded files extension and try and play it, it won't work) NEW VIP SECTION -- I have decided that for every $1.00 (US) that is donated i will give the person making the donation the following privilages and access to the VIP Section: * One months access to the VIP section for each dollar donated (eg if $5 is donated they will get 5 months access), * Access to download the m2v's and mpeg's uploaded each week on the News Page through a normal download link (not protected by anti-leech plug-in), * Access to download the mp3's and wmv's listed on our Media Page through normal download links (not protected by anti-leech plug-in), * an email address (eg username@emmanews.com) with a 10mb inbox, * 20 MB of server space (eg www.yoursite.emmanews.com) with 500mb bandwidth a month to create your own site or upload your forum sigs and avatars etc, (Please note: the lenght of access to the privilages above is dependent on your donation)  * Download I'll Be There (CD:UK 24-01-04) -- 8.72MB WMV | Click here for download instructions | [Please do not direct link to these files under any circumstances or they will be deleted ] February 07, 2004 | 'Free ME' ALbum Book Scans | -- [Thanks to Norman for scanning and posting] Click on the pictures below to view a larger version of them: 
 February 03, 2004 | Q Magazine Article + New Promo Picture! | -- [Thanks to rimmers and Emma Generation] 
 February 03, 2004 | NOTW -Emma Interview 01/02 | -- [Thanks to robmacca for scanning and posting] 
 February 02, 2004 | 'I'll Be There' Debuts at #7 | -- Emma's new single 'I'll Be There' debuted this week at #7 in the UK singles charts. Also apparently Emma sold around 19,000 copies of IBT this past week, hopefully sales will pickup abit this week February 02, 2004 | *Baby Boom ~ pics from The Independent On Sunday 01/02/04* | -- [Thanks to Naimee_Fan for scanning and posting these pictures and Rimmers for posting the text] 
 It's the time of year when critics and disgruntled fans sharpen their knives - the release of yet another album from a former Spice Girl. Just one problem, Emma Bunton's latest mature pop offering truly rocks. She talks to Paul Sexton about backstabbers and stalkers, deals and disappointments - and, shock!, making music 01 February 2004 Emma Bunton was never posh, her hair wasn't ginger and she certainly wasn't scary. She could be sporty, but that vacancy was taken. So Bunton played her appointed role as Baby Spice, the young innocent who smiled a lot, looked virginal but potentially naughty, and wore Topshop even though we knew she could afford Prada. The ensuing story of five wannabes who turned girl power into 45 million record sales, was the defining showbusiness fantasy of the 1990s. Now, however, Bunton is about to find out whether she is to be allowed back into the playground of pop on her own. And it's a playground that, seven and a half years since that worldwide explosion, looks very different. Two years ago, Bunton realised that her record label, Virgin, the company that launched both the Spice Girls and her own first stab at a solo career, had gone lukewarm on her future prospects. Despite the number-one success of her 2001 single "What Took You So Long", Bunton and Virgin decided it was time to part company; just as Mel B, Victoria Beckham and Mel C all had, despite also notching up numerous hits, including several number ones. "They [Virgin] came to me and said, 'Let's do a demo thing for the second album.' And I thought, 'Hold on a minute.' Not a lot of people know this, but I actually walked away from it. We put so much into it, and when they don't give you that support anymore, it's quite heartbreaking," says Bunton. "I said, 'Thank you very much for the demo idea, but I want to take this where I know people are going to be right behind me and work as hard as I do.'" No longer wanted by the label, Bunton was determined to fight for her place at the pop table. But in the short time that she had been gone, someone had rearranged the place settings in favour of a younger brigade of stars created entirely by television. That someone was the very man who made the Spice Girls their first million, Simon Fuller, emperor of 19 Entertainment and latterly the creator of the global Pop Idol franchise. And also, ironically, the very man who would come to her rescue with a new record deal within weeks of her divorce from Virgin. The media has not always been kind to the Spice Girls; but even if their media profile went downhill from "Spice Girls Made My Boy Walk" (Daily Star, 1996) to "She has crow's feet and a bum like an old couch" (Arena, 1998), Emma Lee Bunton has only just turned 28, and she's not about to give in because of her critics. After two hits in 2003 and a new single, "I'll Be There", due to land in the charts today, next week she will release Free Me, her second solo album, and her first under Fuller's guidance. With the close attention of A-list co-writers - most famous of which is Cathy Dennis (Kylie), but also Mike Peden (Liberty X), Ray Hedges (Cher, Boyzone) and Henry Binns of the ice-cool group Zero 7 - Free Me is an album shot through with real instruments, real tunes and a sensibility that gleefully staples the sound and spirit of the 1960s to the 21st century. Judging by early reviews, Free Me will surprise people. It's certainly one of the strongest British pop albums of recent years. Something has gone seriously right here. "If you read interviews I did years back, when people asked me what music I liked, I would always say 1960s, Motown, that's what I was brought up with," she says. "When we did 'Stop', with the Spice Girls, I had a big influence in that. For this album, I kept saying, 'I love Motown and the 1960s feel and the liveness; I'm going to bloody do it.' It was a bit of a risk. The producers were like, 'Oh, OK, now we've got to get musicians in here and do it all live.'" We meet in Hampstead - close to her current home and not far from her birthplace in Finchley - at Bunton's favourite, subtly lit, upmarket restaurant-bar. She is seated in the corner on a leather sofa; she's casually dressed and wearing little make-up. It's two days before her birthday. "Doesn't mean anything, 28, does it? Not an important one," she says. What's tonight's plan, then? "Just go and get drunk, I expect." On her nights out on extended play, there are still plenty of photo-opportunities for Emma and her pre-fame girlfriends (though how drunk she would get is questionable: she told one magazine last year, "As soon as I feel myself losing control, I switch to water. My friends say I'm a bit of a control freak." Unattached now - she had a long on/off relationship with Jade Jones of pop group Damaged - she seems confident in her sexiness, full of life, a young veteran catching up for the years spent making her fortune. She is quoted in one of the endless flimsy books that accompanied Spice mania as saying she lost her virginity at 16, but her mother still came along to her first-ever meeting with Victoria, Geri and the Mels. Indeed, she was still living with her mum and driving a beaten-up Metro when the unknown five-piece started going for auditions with record labels. Soon our conversation is straying away from the past and into unusual territory for a Bunton interview: her music. It's a topic she admits she rarely gets to discuss with journalists. Most of the time, there'll be the starters about the sexy new look, the boyfriends and the boozy nights. A main course of Mrs Beckham, here own appearance in Ab Fab, and a quick nudge-nudge about her mate Justin Timberlake. And to finish with, that old favourite - a Spice Girls reunion. * But Bunton's surprise at hearing someone asking her questions specifically about her album is probably the same as mine at wanting to ask them. "It's been so nice talking about this," she says, sounding as if she means that if she carried on giving interviews long enough, eventually the subject of music might crop up. She tells me: "People basically talk in interviews about me being pictured out one night. But music's why I'm here. I would say I'm quite different from a lot of artists out there, because I'm on the creative side." It's a featherweight jab, and about as controversial as she gets. "The going out and getting pictured, if it happens, fine, because I know that's part of it. But I don't quite understand why people want to know so much about that when there's so much to talk about on the other side." Unlike many media-savvy celebrities, with Bunton you get the distinct feeling that what you see has an uncommonly close resemblance to what you get. She's pugnacious to a degree; as she has been since her days of bouncing back from failed auditions for EastEnders and inglorious early work in commercials - one for toothpaste and another for a building society where she was a bridesmaid on a giant wedding cake. But ultimately, there's an instinctive breeziness about her that's more than just an interview tactic. Even when she tells a dark story about a stalker who found out where she lived, she does it with the ever-attendant smile. "He always seemed very polite, then one day I got this call from security. He said, 'She's expecting me, you've got to let me in.' It all kicked off, we got the police, and he had a knife on him. It was so scary. My friend was with me, she said, 'Don't worry, it's fine.' Then I caught her locking all the bloody doors." There is a woman-child blend of steel and innocence here. When Bunton met the other four future Spice Girls for the first time that day, she wore a white dress, white knee-socks and trainers. "She was the youngest, said Victoria Beckham in her book Learning To Fly, "but she had more working experience than the rest of us put together." "All of them were so hard-working," says Paul Conroy, boss at Virgin Records during the girls' triumphant years. "But Emma's not so fixed in musical areas, she's more flexible. I couldn't say anything to put any of them down, but you can see first hand how we suffered from people who just didn't want them to succeed. And it's very hard when you've been in such a big outfit to then be taken seriously. "Emma is radio-friendly, but it's transferring that to album sales," adds Conroy, who left Virgin shortly before Bunton. "We're pretty brutal in our industry, these acts are expensive to market and you've got to feed the machine. If you don't get the album sales, all the goodwill and all the radio-friendliness and all the singles success is pretty much a waste of time." It may have been seeing her parents separate when she was 11, or watching over a younger brother, but during her adolescence Bunton's innate determination was supplemented by a deceptively tough hide. "When I think about us and what we did," says Bunton, "we got up on stage not knowing what the hell we were doing, we wore Topshop stuff and we were loving it. We never said that we were soul divas, but we all had fun. "The difference with today's pop music is everything is very controlled. If they haven't got the new Gucci dress on or they're not a number one, they're failures. Sometimes I watch the telly and think, 'Where's your spark? You're not enjoying it.' I still get so nervous and really excited, that whole adrenalin rush still kicks in as soon as I get on stage. It's frustrating when I can't see that passion in some people." Many would lay some of the blame for this state of affairs at the feet of Simon Fuller. But Bunton sees things differently. "He really looks after every artist he works with. He's always on the end of the phone, we're always talking about the next step. I know he does that with all the others. I'm good friends with Will Young [another Fuller signing] now and he's writing, he's come a long way as well. "The good thing with Will is people saw on the show [Pop Idol] that he was an intelligent young man, he wanted to get on. When he sings, I just see passion flowing out of him, he's still so excited about it, which I love." And yet, always there in the shadowy background is the feeling that all of this - the 6am photoshoots, endless interviews and elaborate video storyboards to further the solo career - won't ward off the inevitable: the reunion. "All of the girls have been very definite about their solo careers," says Conroy, "but everyone sees this as an in-between before the Spice Girls reform again. I must admit I always thought there was an inevitability of them getting back together at some stage. It's one of those things, money and circumstances usually make those things happen." Should Free Me be the success it deserves to be, however, Bunton may not be as willing to rejoin the Spice Girls circus as Conroy thinks. "Even the other day," she leans over and whispers, "someone said, 'I can't believe it, it wasn't until I looked on the back of the new CD and saw your name on every song...' But you can't sit there and shout at everyone, 'I bloody write the songs!, And also," she adds, "I love being in the studio... no make-up, in your trackies, eating like a pig. Bottles of wine come in about six o'clock. Love it." Emma Bunton's single 'I'll Be There' is out now on 19/Universal. Her album, 'Free Me', is released on 9 February February 01, 2004 | Hard Candy -- New Article / Picture | -- [ Thanks to *Rob for posting ]  Hard Candy Catherine Deveney Scottish Feature Writer of the Year You know those heart-sinking moments when you suddenly realise that life is about to deliver a bummer? Alarm bells ring along with the telephone before my "in-depth" interview with Emma Bunton. "Emma feels she can say everything she has to say in half an hour," I’m told. Gordon Bennett. Since I have a book about her on my desk from the Spice Girls days, with little gems such as "I like cuddles and candyfloss!", I have the awful feeling Emma might be right. In fact, I have the awful feeling that maybe she’s over-estimating by a good 20 minutes. Half an hour is a soap-opera episode, the length of time you need to work out the character of Les Battersby or Billy Mitchell. Does Bunton really have nothing more to say than Kat down the Queen Vic? True, her public image has relied heavily on a blonde and ditzy image. Bunton was Baby Spice, the pretty, coquettish one of the Spice Girls. Men adore her, but then how weird are men. Everyone knows the way to a man’s mind is through the body and the way to a woman’s body is through the mind. Ginger and Scary were too gobby by far for most male tastes. Sporty was talented but insisted on wearing trackies and wouldn’t flutter her eyelashes. And Posh, well, David Beckham fancied her and that cleared the pitch a bit. Which left cute and adorable Baby. I want an hour. She wants half. We compromise on 45 minutes. A TINY LITTLE figure in blue jeans and a poncho comes through the doors of a restaurant bar in posh Hampstead, an area of affluent housing where a constant stream of four-wheel-drives negotiate the tricky terrain of London suburbia. You can tell a lot from the way a person says hello and Bunton grins warmly. My jumper and shoes match her poncho. "Everyone’s wearing marine blue," she says. And I laugh and say, really, I only bought the shoes out of rebellion because when I was examining them, some snooty dame at my shoulder said sniffily to her friend, "Ooh, I don’t go for those kinds of colours, do you?" Bunton gasps in horror. Interestingly, it’s not that she can’t conceive of that level of colour dysfunction. It’s that she can’t conceive of that level of rudeness. She is unfailingly polite. She waves her hand dismissively, says comfortingly, "Oh, ignore her. She knows nothing." Contrast this easy conviviality with the look of startled horror later when I ask if she’s political. She looks like Bambi hearing the shot that killed his mum. Bunton doesn’t do talk about Blair. Instead, she talks like a girl out of Jackie magazine: how her girlfriends mean everything to her and when she has a broken heart they come over with ice-cream and pizza to mend it. It sounds like the teenage sleepover scene in the musical Grease - Bunton would make a terrific Sandy - and I would bet my last pound that she would not be in a silk nightdress but brushed-cotton jim-jams, possibly with a cutesie-wootsie picture on the front. But there’s another side to Bunton. One of the most revealing stories about her comes from the ex-editor of Smash Hits magazine. The magazine interviewed the Spice Girls just before they became famous and came up with the sheer marketing genius of giving the girls their own Posh, Sporty and Baby identities. But what the editor remembers is that one of the Spices was more forceful than the others about drumming up publicity. It wasn’t mega-mouth Geri, or mad Mel B, nor even Posh, who was later regarded as the most publicity-hungry woman in the universe. It was Baby. No doubt she managed to do it without seeming pushy or offensive. She was Nice Spice, but was she as uncomplicated as she seemed? "No," she says definitely. "I think there are lots of different sides to me. But journalists often ask the same questions instead of getting to know me." What people don’t realise is that she is not just a puppet on a string. She has, she says, a creative hand in every aspect of her career. The dancing. The videos. The song-writing. A control freak, then? "Yeah, I think a little bit." That extends to her personal life, too. "People say, ‘Oh, don’t you ever get wildly drunk?’ But I like to be able to walk out of a club and be in control of myself. Being in the business a long time you know that if you come out of a club stinking drunk and with a little skirt on... well, you’ve got to be careful. If I go home and decide to be a bit… well, that’s different!" It always looked like Bunton was the glue that held the other, more volatile members of the group together. No, she corrects, it was Mel C who fulfilled that role. "There would always be two and two in any argument. Victoria and I would be on one side and Geri and Mel B would be on the other. And Mel C would be saying, ‘Calm down! Calm down!’" Everyone assumed a row prompted Geri Halliwell’s departure but Bunton insists she left too suddenly for that. "I really didn’t know she was leaving. Honestly. The day before Geri left, we were on this private jet coming back from somewhere, and we were like, ‘See ya!’ In fact, sometimes we didn’t say goodbye to each other because we’d be seeing each other again in three hours’ time. So it was, ‘See you in the morning…’ And then she didn’t come the next day. It was all out of the blue for everyone. Very out of the blue." Bunton was having a ball at the time. She thought they all were. So the lack of discussion shocked her. "The one thing I would say about myself is that I am a very loyal person." She has known her best friend since she was four and neither would let the other down. She expected the same from Halliwell. "Obviously, we were all working really hard. I think we were tired. But, for me, personally, I did feel very let down when Geri left. I think I was quite hurt." Later, I ask her if she found it hard to forgive Halliwell. She says no. People change. Priorities change. And, anyway, she doesn’t find forgiveness hard. She has even forgiven boyfriends who have sold stories about her to the tabloids. "I’ve been hurt and angry but in the end I’ve always forgiven them and thought... if that’s what they have to do..." she says with a shrug. But she doesn’t remain friends, which is probably the key. Bunton bears no malice; she might even still care about those who cross her, but I doubt she ever trusts them again. Interestingly, when asked which single word would be more apt for each Spice Girl than the Smash Hits names, she can answer for everyone except Halliwell. Bunton herself would be Naughty Spice because she loves pranks. Mel B would be Mad Spice because she was unpredictable. Mel C would be Adorable Spice because she is just so honest and lovely. Victoria would be Comedian Spice because although people don’t know it, she has the driest, funniest sense of humour in the world. And Geri? Silence. Ooh, she doesn’t know. It’s so long since she’s seen her. The easy assumption about Bunton’s need for loyalty and security would be that it is connected to the divorce of her parents. But she always insists that it was no great trauma. Is that possible when she was only 11? "I know, I know," she says. "I don’t always like to say, ‘Oh, it was fine,’ because I know there are people out there who have gone through hard times. But I had so much love from both my parents, and when they broke up, my dad still lived just up the road. He would come for lunch. I’d see my dad every Sunday for dinner. I still do - I was there yesterday. They made it easy for me and my brother because there was still so much love there." Maybe it was so unhappy before that it was a relief when they split? "I don’t remember. Obviously, there were times… but I just think they went their separate ways. People can drift apart. It wasn’t anything in a bad way." Even then she showed a surprising maturity about the situation. "My mum always said I was a bit of an old soul because I felt that if they weren’t happy together, splitting up was what was right for them." She and her mother have always been exceptionally close. "We always used to talk about things when I was growing up. And she always had brilliant ideas because she’s a kid herself at heart. She organised a birthday party for me once where we had an American diner in the kitchen with hot dogs, and she talked in an American accent. The kids just thought this was great. She still does lots of silly things, like treasure hunts, and she’s such a family-orientated person. She kind of looks after everyone." She also gave Bunton her first real understanding of the "Girl Power" that became the Spice Girls’ mantra. "When I was older she went off to college to study reflexology and I remember looking out the window at her and she’d wave up at me. It really inspired me that she was going back to learn. She didn’t care that she was an older woman, she just went and did it. And you know at that stage, when you are 15 or 16, you just think, ‘I can’t learn any more, I’ve done it all…’ But I thought it was amazing that my mum was going back to learn more. It changed me a lot, actually." Her mother can’t sing to save her life but the music did come from her side of the family. Her mother’s father and his brothers had a band in Ireland. "They all used to play instruments and every time I went out there we’d jam and they’d get me up to sing." Bunton loved performing from an early age. She was always dancing, always playing at being a DJ in her room. "Hi, I’m Emma, you’re listening to..." But she ended up making the records rather than playing them. She won a place at the Sylvia Young theatre school, but in her teens, family financial difficulties forced her to leave. Someone spotted talent in her, though: a few weeks later, the school phoned and offered her a scholarship. She loved school, acting in commercials and winning small parts in The Bill and EastEnders. She was confident enough never to feel rejected when she didn’t get parts. "I just thought I was learning." Just before joining the Spice Girls, she was down to the final two for the part of Bianca in EastEnders. But music was always her first love. "I’m so passionate about music. For me, it’s definitely all about in here," she says, tapping her head. "It’s kind of the diary of my life. I remember the first song I danced to with a boy. It was Janet Jackson’s ‘Let’s Wait a While’." She co-wrote the songs on Free Me, her new album, and wants to make writing her career when her performing days are over. Her songs reflect her own emotional life. "I’ve had my heart broken; I’ve been in love. People who listen to my records will probably get to know me a little bit better." The Spice Girls wrote their own material, but while they achieved success, they never earned respect. "But we never said we were soul divas," protests Bunton. "We were entertaining. We were fun. The difference between what was going on then and what’s happening today is that it wasn’t contrived in any way. We went on stage not knowing what the hell we were doing sometimes. We wore Top Shop clothes. It wasn’t about having the latest Gucci clothes or were we at number one. It was just so exciting to be in the business." In a television interview recently, Jonathan Ross asked Victoria Beckham why, since she didn’t have the best voice in the world, she didn’t think of doing something else. What would Bunton feel if someone said that to her? "I think I’d work harder if someone said it to me. I think I’d be a little bit offended because I know we all work really hard." Beckham’s answer was that being a star isn’t just about the voice. "It’s definitely a whole package," agrees Bunton. "I like to think it’s about being creative, and that’s exactly what I do. I love my videos to be right. I have been so pleased with the last two because I think they have been different from anything that’s out there. I have had new choreographers, new dancers. I think music is about being creative, being a performer, being passionate about it… and, of course, being able to sing." Asked to review her new single recently, ex-Boyzone singer Ronan Keating insisted Bunton was "a good singer". But it was her work ethic he praised most. "She works so hard," he said, shaking his head - which is significant coming from someone reputedly as driven as Keating. Bunton admits that with her first solo album, she was still learning a lot. "I think with Free Me, the new one, I know where I’m at. I’m much more confident." From the back pocket of her jeans, she takes a smooth polished stone, shades of pale green swirled inside it like ocean waves. A crystal, she explains. She places it in the palm of her hand. "I just picked this out when I was coming out today. It’s a beautiful stone." But what does she think it will do? "It takes nervousness away. For me it’s just about energy. It’s about me wanting to be as positive as possible." She was brought up a Catholic but is interested in all religions now. "I wouldn’t want to go down one road. My mum does spiritual healing and I’ve been told I have healing hands. I’m still learning but I hope I take that from her - she’s a very spiritual person." The biggest test to her positive nature came when she was 20 and was diagnosed with endometritis. "I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to have children. The nurse said 50% of women do go on to have children, and I was devastated. It really got me thinking. I got very scared. It’s very exciting going to premières and things and I love it, but at the end of the day my priority is definitely family and friends. That’s where my heart lies. I’m a family person and there’s never even been a question there - I’m going to have children. It would devastate me if I couldn’t, absolutely devastate me." Nowadays a test tube will do, but Bunton is conservative enough to prefer a man for the job. Who, though? For the last few months, the tabloids have been full of tales that she is back with her long-term partner, Damage singer Jade Jones. "It’s because we’re such good friends. We are part of each other’s lives and we do go out now and again and hang out. He asks for my advice, I ask his." She gives the impression even she doesn’t know how the relationship will turn out. "At the end of the day, I don’t know. I know we care about each other a lot and we have things in common. But at the moment I am working so hard I’m not even at that stage. But I would say if anything happened," she insists, "I would say." She hopes the next relationship - whoever it is with - will be the one that lasts forever. But it’s hard to meet genuine men. "There’s this great thing men do," she says drily, "where they come over and say, ‘Hi, what’s your name?’ Some genuinely don’t know and that’s quite nice, but you can always tell the ones who do. It’s another thing I get from my mum - we’re quite good at sussing character." In the end she talks for nearly an hour. I’d expected Bunton to be like the candyfloss she said she loved: pink and fluffy and sweet, though more than a mouthful induces nausea. But every so often you meet someone who makes you a bit ashamed of your own jaundice. Bunton is warm and unpretentious and good company, and very clued up about what she wants in her life. "I know in years to come I do want a family and to be with somebody," she says. If it’s so important, this love thing, how would she define it? What does being in love actually mean to her? She thinks carefully for a minute. "It means," she says, "not having to shave your legs." Emma Bunton’s album Free Me is released next Monday on 19 Recordings. The single ‘I’ll Be There’ is out now. |
