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"Victoria Beckham is the girl who has everything except a solo number one hit," says one critic. It seems the prize will elude her again. "Early sales show that the single is likely to get into the top five but won't be a number one," says HMV. Making the record a double A-sided one - offering two top tracks for the price of one - means it is effectively an each- way bet for the record company. "Let Your Head Go" is a pop staple to please the singer's existing fan base while "Groove" has a hip-hop flavour, designed to appeal to a new, trendier market. R'n'B though it may be, it hardly lives up to early claims that Victoria was becoming the "female Eminem". And Mary J Blige blithely quashed her hopes of hip-hop cred with "Victoria Beckham?
The diva formerly known as Posh Spice will eagerly be watching the singles charts today. Her new disc, "This Groove/Let Your Head Go", was released last week and is expected to make the top three. La Beckham has earned a hit, having worked the circuit hard over Christmas, including Parkinson and TOTP, plus a fly-on-the-wall documentary featuring the whole family. The PR blizzard includes a video in which Victoria simulates phone-sex (presumably, long distance to Madrid). But she's once again going head to head with Sophie Ellis-Bextor who (with Spiller) kept her off the top three years ago. The other issue is talent. Her last album, which sold only 50,000 copies, was described as "desperately forgettable audio slurry".
"Victoria Beckham is the girl who has everything except a solo number one hit," says one critic. It seems the prize will elude her again. "Early sales show that the single is likely to get into the top five but won't be a number one," says HMV. Making the record a double A-sided one - offering two top tracks for the price of one - means it is effectively an each- way bet for the record company. "Let Your Head Go" is a pop staple to please the singer's existing fan base while "Groove" has a hip-hop flavour, designed to appeal to a new, trendier market. R'n'B though it may be, it hardly lives up to early claims that Victoria was becoming the "female Eminem". And Mary J Blige blithely quashed her hopes of hip-hop cred with "Victoria Beckham? Who's she?"
Victoria's singing career rests on this single, and a forthcoming album, Free Me, released in February. If these were to bomb, future musical releases would be mere vanity. Already celebrity first and singer second, she earns pounds 6m a year through Japanese ad campaigns and topped the bestseller lists with her autobiography Learning To Fly. La Becks summarised this ruefully: "I can sell anything except records." In recent publicity she has appeared sharply self-aware. And what better milieu for this edgy new Beckham than the film of London Fields - executives are trying to tempt her to "a pivotal role" in Martin Amis's adaptation of his novel. Meantime, she strives to draw attention to her music and away from her hair extensions. Hermione Eyre
(Copyright 2004 Independent Newspapers (UK) Limited)