Fresh from not giving up, we’re now bagging it up…
Bag It Up, by Geri Halliwell (her 3rd of four solo #1s)
1 week, from 19th – 26th March 2000
I overused the c-word in my post on Geri’s previous number one ‘Lift Me Up’, so I will endeavour to describe this record as anything but ‘camp’. Problem is, ‘Bag It Up’ opens with what may be the gayest line ever recorded: I like chocolate and controversy… Don’t we all, Geri.
What is this silly slice of disco-cheese about? Why is she treating her man ‘like a lady’? What the hell does I don’t take sugar on my colour TV mean?? It’s clearly some extension of the ‘Girl Power’ message, about how women don’t have to take crap from men. But like ‘Girl Power’ it falls apart under close inspection, and turns into the aural equivalent of a rowdy hen party entering a pub, even if the line Just a bad case of opposite sex… is wonderful.
Not that this record was ever meant to be closely inspected. It’s complete fluff. The video is even gayer, if such a thing was possible, as Geri advertises ‘Girl Powder’, which she uses to spike her boyfriend’s drink and turn him into a topless servant. She then dances around her factory with lots of pink-haired, six-packed oompah loompahs. Meanwhile, at that year’s Brit Awards, she performed the song after emerging from between a giant pair of legs.
Musically it sounds much like the Spice Girls’ ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, in its poppy, nu-disco beats. In fairness, all three #1s from Geri’s debut solo album have brought something a bit different to the party, while remaining utterly disposable pop. I don’t mean that to be rude, either: I love Geri, and I love disposable pop.
What I might have questioned, had I been a bit older in 2000, was Geri’s relentless pursuit of gay icon status. It’s fun and all, but if anything it’s a little too much. She’d secured it anyway, what with being a literal Spice Girl, and so didn’t have to try so hard. I wonder if in the end it cost her some longevity. (As I write this I’m just remembering that her final chart-topper will be a cover of ‘It’s Raining Men’…)
Still, ‘Bag It Up’ is fun, and Geri was admirably serious about not taking herself seriously. Compared to self-obsessed modern pop, it’s been very refreshing to revisit the time when she was the biggest female pop star in the land.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
There’s disposable and there’s disposable. This is as disposable as one of those betting shop pencils. I don’t remember it from back in the day at all. Maolsheachlann.
I hadn’t heard this before, but it’s pretty good. Enough Geri personality to stop it being generic.
I’d admit to a soft spot for it. Silly, throwaway fun.
Not heard this in 25 years, I’m guessing, it’s certainly not as memorable as earlier singles, for both good and bad reasons, but I liked the camp disco vibes. Shame the song isn’t as strong as it might have been, but the production is decent enough. One of her better records for me!
Well…at least it had some horns in it lol. I agree with another comment…pretty disposable.
‘Express Yourself’ carbon copy before Lady Garden or whatever her name was had ever even heard Madonna, let alone ‘conceived’ Born This Way. You can literally transpose the words in the verses and chorus. Fun though.