Real pop stars are more than just popular; they arebarometers for an era, providing the images for the world’s memories of aparticular time.  Look back to the 1960s and we see those Beatles smilesand monochrome suits. Cast you mind back to the late 1990s and it is those Girls, those songs, that dress. Music snobs might sniff at the comparison to the FabFour but all those Beatles dolls, Beatles annuals and movies that made John,Paul, George and Ringo such omnipotent beings in the 1960s were re-created inthe 1990s with just as much fervour around Emma, Geri, Mel B, Melanie C andVictoria. Real pop stars can do their stuff on stage and onrecord, but they are also unique, entertaining, fun and hold the attention ofthe whole world just by being themselves. There have not been many, but the The Spice Girlsqualify with ease. They were draped in the Union Jack colours as much asthe Swinging Sixties (literally in Geri’s case at the 1997 BRIT Awards) andwhat made the...