Background and Release
In late March, the single was finally revealed as "Never Give Up on the Good Times"/"Viva Forever". Smash Hits' famous "Bandwatch" section provided a close watch on the status of the single, and the first piece of news it gave was that one of the songs was to have a cartoon-based video. Originally, the single was going to be released on 11 May 1998. Soon after, it was pushed back, in this first case to 25 May. The release date was then pushed back to 8 June in late April, and at this point a promotional cassette for "Viva Forever" appeared on the internet with no sight of "Never Give Up on the Good Times". In early May the release date changed again to 29 June. A competition appeared in the Evening Mail (19 May 1998) saying the following:
"10 copies of the video to be won. Each prize winner will also receive a Spice Girls T-Shirt and a copy of the new double A-side single Viva Forever/Never Give Up On The Good Times, released on 29 June."
On 27 May, the Spice Girls were due to appear on the National Lottery, and they were due to perform two songs on the show, believed to be "Viva Forever" and "Never Give Up on the Good Times". On that night, the Spice Girls performed "Viva Forever" and "Spice Up Your Life" without Geri, the excuse being that she was ill. "Spice Up Your Life" was chosen to be performed because the original version did not feature a solo vocal by Geri Halliwell. "Stop" was scrapped from the performance due to Geri Halliwell singing the opening lines: "You just walk in, I make you smile, It's cool but you don't even know me". The lines in the song were impossible to be covered by any of the other four girls because it wasn't a 'live' performance. In early June, the single was confirmed to be "Viva Forever", with no explanation given for its missing partner on the double A-side front. Most believing that the single was dropped due to Halliwell's vocals in the opening lines to the song. The single was to be released on 13 July, over two months after the original release date of 11 May. Even though posters were printed showcasing the 13 July release date, it was not long before the release dates started changing again. On the day of release, stores around the United Kingdom received a notice saying that the single was not going to be released on 13 July, and it would be released in a week or two. After the constant delays, the single was finally released on 20 July.
Read more about this topic: Viva Forever
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