It is the summer of 1997. All is quiet on the banks of the Thames and calm in Docklands backwaters. In Battersea Park, people snooze in the shade and children play; in Trafalgar Square, a road sweeper does his daily round and pigeons roost undisturbed atop Nelson’s Column. Suddenly, a faint rumble is heard in the distance and a gust of perfume rushes down the Mall… A double decker bus roars into view and hurtles toward us and then… In a dazzling explosion of music, color, clothes, and really big shoes, five fabulous girls emerge from popping flashbulbs and screaming fans to descend upon the capital with as much in-your-face fanfare as their phenomenal debut onto the international pop scene.