If you're going to go solo from a cultural powerhouse like the Spice Girls, you really do have to go big or go home.

Although not as quickly remembered by the mainstream as Geri's mixed bag, Mel B's opening solo outing, "I Want You Back", was the best of the lot, at least for our money. What's funny is, it sounds as if it wasn't even her plan, initially.

Back when the Spice Girls were on tour to promote Spice World in 1998, Mel was approached by Missy Elliott with an idea for a song. After squaring it with management, the label, and of course the rest of the band, Mel and Missy got to work. "Within a month I was out there," she explains. "I recorded it in a day, did the video, then came back. She's a genius!"

And as if having Missy produce and feature on your debut solo single wasn't enough, they roped in none other than Hype Williams to direct the video. Blanketed in a green hue with both artists wearing green contact lenses, it was the height of pre-millennium, Matrix-esque futurism.

Unfortunately, when Mel was invited to the Top Of The Pops studios to perform the track, Missy couldn't make it, but this performance was still a vibe if you were lucky enough to have caught at the time.