A marketing man's dream, Spice Girls could have been created specifically for the tabloid press to sniff around. Like The Monkees, they were a cartoon band - right down to the Smurf-like nicknames. Things looked pretty dire. But like The Monkees, they grasped the thing that is Pop with both hands, held it to ransom, and did not let it go until it had given up some of its best tunes. What could so easily have been a contrived embarrassment morphed into Britain's most vital chart band of the moment - and just in time. No sooner had the likes of Oasis hijacked the charts with their oh-so-serious retro-rock, than the Spice Girls burst on the scene, leaving it up to their music to flick a v-sign at everyone, having a party and inviting the nation's youth to join their club. And it worked.

First "Wannabe" stormed into number one. The unconverted (me included) were sceptical. Here was a female East 17. One hit wonders surely. Then "Say You'll Be There" had those not already convinced rubbing their chins and saying "not bad...". And now this - "2 Become 1" - hammers home the simple, unavoidable message: Spice Girls are good.

Although not specifically a Christmas song, it has the same mood as some of the modern classics (Slade, Wizzard, even Cliff), virtually assuring its place in "The Best Christmas Album...Ever...Again" style compilations. Mellower than Nescafe and dripping style like a Christmas tree decorated by Harrods, it slinks and shimmies along wonderfully. Each Spice is given equal rein to seductively bill and coo, before a huge - and I mean huge - lush chorus appears that sticks in the mind and refuses to budge. All around, synths and strings swell and ring: the production has made this a shiny thing of beauty indeed. A surefire Christmas number one, "2 Become 1" has made the Spice Girls more important then ever. Even when the inevitable split happens - maybe next year, maybe the year after - and the dire solo albums ("Sporty Sings Sinatra") follow, Spice Girls will have deservedly zig-a-zig-ah'd into the pages of Pop's history book, perhaps even writing their own chapter.

And me? I like the Posh one.

Rating: 10/10