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Black Text = Will Romano (New York Post)
Blue Text = Melanie C
Amid all the hype and hoopla at the height
of the Spice Girls' popularity, Melanie Jayne Chisholm (aka Sporty
Spice) was the one member of the group who didn't attract attention.
While other members of her beloved (and hated) band grabbed headlines,
she remained in the shadows, away from the glare of the spotlight.
Now, with the quartet on hiatus, Chisholm - or Melanie C, as she calls
herself these days - has ventured into solo territory.
"I wanted to be recognized as an individual, not just as part of a
band," she says.
Her diverse dance-rock debut, "Northern Star," proves what critics have
been saying for years: Sporty is the most talented of the ladies. Thanks to veteran producers Rick Nowels and William Orbit (Madonna's
collaborator for "Ray Of Light"), "Northern Star" is more sophisticated
than anything Melanie C has done in the past. The album, which was released last October, spawned the club hit "I Turn
to You." And another single, "Feels So Good," was a top-five hit on the
U.K. singles chart in February.
"Going solo has meant writing more mature material," explains Melanie C,
who has just embarked on her first North American tour and plays Irving
Plaza Saturday. Her success comes at a time when Spice mania has hit an all-time low.
The group's last effort, "Forever," the first without Geri Halliwell
(Ginger Spice, who left the group in 1998), was a commercial flop. It
sold a paltry 187,000 units, according to SoundScan, and the Girls did
not tour in support of the record.
"We were not given the proper time to promote it, and our priorities had
changed. We missed our friends and families. Two of the girls are mums."
Considering the Spice Girls' poor showing and Melanie C's successful
solo career, members of the press have been predicting that the girl
from Liverpool would part ways with the group that made her career. Last
month, it appeared they were right when she told Reuters, "I don't
intend to do any more work with the Spice Girls."
During her interview with The Post, however, Melanie C said it wasn't so
- that she wasn't going anywhere. "I'm not leaving the Spice Girls, we have no plans of not being a band anymore. We
spent so much time being the Spice Girls, we figured we wanted to dedicate time to ourselves."
Elizabeth Freund, Melanie C's publicist, offers: "[Melanie's] focus is
her solo career, but that does not mean she has left the band."
Her status with the Spice Girls aside, Melanie C has not always
communicated well with the media. When she canceled recent U.K. tour
dates, many presumed it was because of depression, a condition that
she's wrestled with for the last two years.
"I won't deny that I've suffered from depression, but the tabloids tried
to make a story of it. I canceled the shows because I got the flu."
Still, gossip persists. Always simmering under the surface are rumors
about her sexual orientation. "I'm not gay," she says matter-of-factly.
"My sexuality is nobody's business. Am I supposed to represent what a
lesbian looks like?"
In any case, this is not the same Melanie C who once made track suits a
fashion statement for her 12-year-old fans. Today's Melanie forgoes
athletic garb in favor of tight, midriff-baring clothes and frosts her
hair blond (she has even worn it in a short, spiked cut). Even her fans have changed. When she takes the stage at Irving Plaza
next weekend, the 27-year-old singer expects the audience will be a bit
different from the masses she looked out on in her concert days as a
Spice Girl.
"Spice Girls fans were quite young, but people my own age
and even couples are coming to my shows now."
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