Spice Girls will take on London’s West End in December. Photo by Emile Wamsteker, AP.
Here’s a challenge: Sing as much of Spice Girls’ “Wannabe” as you can off the top of your head. Go ahead. No one is going to judge you.
So, you probably got at least to the first verse before giving up, or before you felt like an idiot sitting alone and singing Spice Girls. Well, you’re not the only one who can do that, because a new study shows that “Wannabe” is the catchiest song of all time.
For the past year, researches from the had people play an online game called that had users identify 1,000 hit songs from the past 70 years,
The game collected data from more than 12,000 people to see how quickly the user could identify a song. “Wannabe” was identified in an average of 2.29 seconds. Coming in second was Lou Bega’s “Mambo No 5,” which users got in 2.48 seconds and third was Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” with 2.62 seconds.
But, what makes a song memorable? Is it something to do with the beat? Maybe the melody? Perhaps it’s the lyrics? Well, they don’t know for sure, but one researcher that it’s the hook.
The top 20 catchiest songs and the speed they were identified:
1. Spice Girls – Wannabe: 2.29 seconds
2. Lou Bega – Mambo No 5: 2.48 seconds
3. Survivor – Eye of the Tiger: 2.62 seconds
4. Lady Gaga – Just Dance: 2.66 seconds
5. ABBA – SOS: 2.73 seconds
6. Roy Orbison – Pretty Woman: 2.73 seconds
7. Michael Jackson – Beat It: 2.80 seconds
8. Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You: 2.83 seconds
9. The Human League – Don’t You Want Me: 2.83 seconds
10. Aerosmith – I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing: 2.84 seconds
11. Lady Gaga – Poker Face: 2.88 seconds
12. Hanson – MMMbop: 2.89 seconds
13. Elvis Presley – It’s Now Or Never: 2.91 seconds
14. Bachman-Turner Overdrive – You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet: 2.94 seconds
15. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean: 2.97 seconds
16. Culture Club – Karma Chameleon: 2.99 seconds
17. Britney Spears – Baby One More Time: 2.99 seconds
18. Elvis Presley – Devil in Disguise: 3.01 seconds
19. Boney M – Rivers of Babylon: 3.03 seconds
20. Elton John – Candle in the Wind: 3.04 seconds
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