27 December 1998
If the Spice Girls watched Saved By The Bell, they’d know the episode where Zack dreams of his band Zack Attack hitting the big time, only to fall apart fighting while on their—what irony—Friends Forever tour. Geri leaving the Spice Girls in 1998 and specifying in her statement that it was “because of differences between us” presented a real problem: the concept of friendship was central to Girl Power. This was always going to be a hostage to fortune. The remaining members were determined to carry on, so how would they square Geri’s departure and stay on brand? Simple: “Goodbye, my friend” goes the chorus of this, their first post-Geri single. Friendship never ends.
Geri had been the de facto mouthpiece and ideologue of the Spice Girls project, but you couldn’t say she likewise dominated their records with her presence. ‘Goodbye’ is the sort of breathy R&B-lite ballad to which most ’90s boy bands and girl groups invariably gravitated, catchy uptempo tunes being more unforgiving terrain than these pro forma slow ones. “We never dreamt you’d go your own sweet way” croons Victoria, now bumped up to brief lead vocal duty to cover the staffing shortage and blocking out the fact that both Mels had recently released their non-Spice singles even before Geri got around to it. Emma in the verse and Mel B in the pre-chorus sound well on this glossily-produced track, but as usual Mel C’s strong, clear voice is the bit where you prick up your ears. ‘Goodbye’ isn’t the final Spice Girls single, and it’s not bad, but now that our post-Geri curiosity has been addressed it’s the point where the world loses interest.
