Spice Girls V Boyzone

Spice Girls Versus Boyzone... Who you chose to follow as a fan had a huge impact in the 90s. Personally I was all about the Girl Power myself (as were a huge proportion of my friends) but I still loved the Boyzone boys and their catchy tunes (again, as did all my friends). Howver, Spice Girls really started a whole new wave of feminism, eh, kinda. Whatever they stood for, their songs were catchy as hell! And the fact they all had different personas meant you could idolise any one of the girls and almost feel like they understood you. Spice Girls meant Girl Power and boy, did we love them.

The Spice Girls were an English girl-group formed in 1994 after a series of auditions to find the perfect mix of personalities for the group. 5 girls later and Spice Girls was formed and ready to take on the world.

They were signed to Virgin Records in 1996 and released their debut single, "Wannabe". This is a snippet of the girls singing "Wannabe" in their movie, Spice World.

"Wannabe" spent 7 weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart, becoming number 1 in over 30 countries and it helped to establish the group as a 'global phenomenon.
The girls gained their nicknames after a review in the Top of the Pops magazine and thus the Spice Girls were born; Ginger, Scary, Baby, Sporty and Posh.
The Spice Girls were hugely famous and had loads of number 1 and top 10 hits because their pop songs were catchy and got a lot of radio time. They became idols for girls everywhere with their slogan of "Girl Power" and their can-do attitudes. The Spice Girl image even became a franchise and they sold so much merchandising such as; a movie "Spice World", lollipops and chocolate, dolls, posters, tshirts and much much more. The Spice Girls essentially became a brand and according to the BBC they are the best-selling girl group of all time.
Alas all good things must come to an end and in May 1998, Geri Halliwell, aka Ginger Spice, left the group due to professional differences. The Spice Girls released their 3rd album after Geri left but it flopped and eventually the Spice Girls split and went their separate ways. Young girls and boys everywhere were heartbroken. It was the end of an era.
However the girls regrouped in 2007, released a Greatest Hits album and did a reunion tour in 2008, which was huge and although it was finished prematurely it gave alot of old fans the hope that they would maybe return to make some more songs in the future.

Here's the girls on Top of the Pops in 1997 singing "Who do you think you are".






Boyzone was the boyband that vied for our attention in the 90s. Boyzone is an Irish boyband and they were set up in 1993 by Louis Walsh. They had huge success in the early 90s and they famously made a comeback in 2007 and they haven't looked back since. The boys have released 6 #1 UK singles and 5 #1 albums.

Sadly one of the band members, Stephen Gately, passed away in October last year, shocking family, fans and band members.

Boyzone were a huge success (and since their comeback they have been continuing that success) in Ireland, the UK, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and they had varying levels of success across Europe. However, before they had even recorded any material the band made a, now infamous, appearance on RTEs the Late Late Show which included dungarees and impromptu dancing. Gaybo was shocked as was the audience. Must see TV!




'Nuff said about that the better eh?


Here's one of my fave songs by the band, "Love Me for a Reason".





However, as I mentioned already, I was a huge Spice Girls fan (and still am!) along with the majority of my friends at that age. Nothing like a bit of female empowerment when you're 7 years old! I had all their songs on tape and I'll still throw them onto my old cassette player if I'm feeling nostalgic. Although I am ashamed to admit I actually had the Spice Girls dolls...yeah looking back that's pretty uncool. Oh well, the Spice Girls were super cool, can't deny that!

B.I. - Before Internet...

Sometimes it's hard to imagine what life would be like without the Internet. The Internet has officially taken over the world and has changed so many aspects of life for people of all ages. Speaking from experience I know the Internet has taken over my own life since my early teen years, round the age of 13, so that would be around 2002/03. I use the Internet every day without fail; I actually couldn't live without it, I'm pretty sure Internet addiction should be a proper condition!

The Internet has everything we could ever want or need; it entertains us, informs us and with the advent of social networking sites such as Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and the like, the Internet basically means we can socialise and meet new people all from the comfort of the couch. To sum it all up in 2 words; it's great.

But think back to when it all started, I bet nobody could have guessed how big the 'Net could get.

Not everyone who goes online is aware of the history of the Internet. Here are some of the basic facts and it's a striking example of how technology that we now take for granted has evolved so much.

ARPA

It all began in the late 1950s during the Cold War when the US military devised the ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency). ARPA then set up the MIT (Massachusetts Intitute in Technology) in 1965 and the goaol was to create a network that could function in a place savaged by nuclear warfare.

ARPANET

The end product was ARPANET. It was a small network and in the 1970s ARPANET went global by linking with a London University. An important part of the history of the Internet happened in the 70s when UNIX was created and email became possible.

The 1980s

Alot of stuff that I don't quite understand happened in this decade. This period saw the establishment of the Internet's major protocols. These included the TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol). This was one of the earliest times that the word itself was used to describe the network.

The 1990s

By the 1990s the network had come to resemble the interface we have today. In 1991, Time Berners Lee created the World Wide Web. This invention changed the history of the Internet forever. With the hyperlinks it became easier to access information.

Mid to Late 1990s

Streaming software was introduced. Servers like America Online and CompuServe emerged. Along with these 2 servers came various service providers, offering access to the web and email. At this point Netscape and Internet Explorer would emerge as the leading web browsers. In the early days of the Internet only computer companies had web pages. However as it became more established business saw the Internet's potential and set up web pages. The open source nature of the Internet system guaranteed its success.

It has been estimated that during the 1990s the number of online users doubled or tripled every year.

The history of the Internet and its evolution has been amazing. There is no question that as the world become more connected, the 'Net will continue to have a huge impact on people and the world in general. Nowadays the Internet is everywhere and everyone surfs the web pretty regularly. It's amazing to think that less than 2 decades ago, in the early 1990s, it was basically unheard of and was still out of the reach of everyday homes and businesses.

Socialising would have been very different in the early 1990s as teens and young adults alike didn't have sites like Facebook, Bebo, Twitter and Youtube to socialise, share information and discover new things. For instance, before Facebook and Skype made it so much easier to see your friends all the time, people would have to agree well in advance of meeting up with mates and make alot of phone calls to organise get togethers. The Internet has brought us all closer at the touch of a few buttons and the flick of a mouse.

All hail the Internet! :)

90s Nostalgia...

Well the title of my blog pretty much speaks for itself really; this is a blog dedicated to that late, great decade - the 90s. The blog posts could probably be pretty cheesy at times but hopefully it'll put a smile on your face to read all about the last decade of the 20th century. I'm a 90s kid through and through and I love sitting with my friends and remembering all the old cartoons and games we had when we were younger. Things have changed so much since the 90s and in this blog I want to fondly remember everything that made the 90s great.

So just sit back, relax and take that trip down memory lane to a simpler time when mobile phones were the size of suitcases, when the Internet was only beginning and when silly phrases like 'Talk to the hand!' ran amok. Oh, remember the days...

For this very first post I've decided to write about just some of the toys that every kid or their sibling had in the 90s; mainly because when I think back to my own childhood I can distinctly remember all these games and toys that we played with as kids, as if it were only yesterday.

Remember how popular pogs were! :)

Pogs:

Ah pogs... Such a simple game that was loved by so many! These little discs kept us all entertained for hours and some people built up impressive collections. The game was simple yet entertaining, but for me and my friends, and many others, it was all about the designs on the pogs themselves and how many you had won from your own friends. Pogs rose in popularity at an incredible rate and then became old news just as quick. The game became very competitive amongst kids and eventually pogs were banned from many schools for being too distracting. It's amazing looking back that something so simple was so big in our lives. Personally, I don't think pogs would stand a chance in today's technological world. Shame.

Beanie Babies:

Much like the aforementioned pogs, these cute and cuddly, stuffed animals created a collecting frenzy in the early 90s that has lasted to this day. It seemed everyone, young and old, had a beanie baby or several. Although unlike the pogs that were collected by both boys and girls, beanie babies were mostly a girls toy. And some of the limited edition beanie babies can even fetch you a fair bit of money nowadays if found by an obsessive TY collector.

Pokémon Cards:

Don't worry, I'm not going to just cram Pokémon into this tiny little space in the first post and forget about it... Pokémon was HUGE! I just felt it really needed a mention here as a collectable toy along with pogs and beanie babies :)

As I already said, Pokémon was MASSIVE in the 90s. Thinking back Pokémon was a big portion of our childhood days. I remember watching the cartoon before school, trading Pokémon cards with friends at school and then watching more Pokémon cartoons after school. And there wasn't just cards to collect, you could collect actual Pokéballs too and pretend you were actually Ash, a Pokémon trainer, from the shows - very cool. There were Pokémon games too and everyone went crazy for them. I still have friends who are now 19 and 20 who still play Pokéon on their Nintendo Gameboy. It was the biggest craze of the 90s and I imagine everyone would agree with me on that one. But I'll write more about Pokémon in a later post, it needs its own post!

And now I think its time for abit of promotion :)

There's a 90s Night next week (Wednesday 24th March) in the Button Factory on Curve Street in Temple Bar in Dublin and it looks to be a great night out with great student drinks promos and free stuff like glow sticks and hats and sunglasses. It's over 18s and entry is €8 or €6 if you find a flyer round the city somewhere!!!

I heard about it on Facebook and it looks like it'll be a really fun night!

Ok well that's all for the first post, I'll be back soon with more memories from the 90s!