Well here's a surprise!

We managed to catch the one and only Melanie C at the Manchester Academy last weekend and quite embarrassingly for the committed die-hard Spice Girls stans we are, we were appallingly unfamiliar with the wealth of her back catologue. We never really took her solo career very seriously - despite having always held a candle for masterpieces "I Turn to You" and "Never Be the Same Again" - which we can only express the deepest regret for with hindsight. Aside from being the exuberant charamsmatic perofrmer we always knew her to be, the material she performed had the sheer strength and pop sensibility of anything Dr. Luke has produced for Katy Perry or P!nk, with just the right amount of experimentation (Moroccan drums and haunting strings á la Craig Armstrong) intertwined throughout. We immediately got hold of her latest album, The Sea, post-gig, and were again pleasantly taken aback at the depth yet wealth of hooks in a record most have lauded as the best since her debut. Like we said, we wouldn't know. We were once bought her 2003 album Reason as a present for getting a good school report - we never listened. What the fuck? How could such dedicated Spice Girls fans be so blasé about the finest solo Spice career there was.

Anyway. All we have to say is that we're incredibly sorry. We didn't pay you the respect you deserved Mel, and you've got us in your gang of Sporty Stans forever.