Wannabe, the song that defined your tweenage years, is 18 years old today

It seems like once a week that we’re surprised, shocked and slightly disturbed by the passing of time, whether it’s 10 years since Friends ended or 30 years since The Breakfast Club (admittedly most of the office wasn’t even born at the time of this one, so it was less shocking).

Well today we’ve got another pop culture gem for you, and we think this one will be the most shocking of them all: it’s 18 years since Wannabe was released on the 8th July 1996. (Yep, do the maths yourself if you’d like to double check. But we promise you it is.)

Yep that’s right, EIGHTEEN WHOLE YEARS since the Spice Girls first shook up the world with their unique brand of sugary pop and girl power. I was nine at the time, so it was the soundtrack to some of the most important years of my life.

In the months that followed girls all over the nation (and the globe) put more time into learning the moves, shouting “zig-a-zig-ah” and taking part in the pain-staking task of figuring out which Spice Girl to emulate (I was a mix of Baby and Ginger, FYI) than ANYTHING else.

Thanks girls! As much as some of your career choices confuse us a little in the present day, your songs, kick-ass attitude and (very questionable) movie certainly had a lasting impact on our younger selves!