My first recollection of the Spice Girls vaguely pre-dates Easter 1995, because that year at the Eastercon Masquerade they were spoofed as "Spice Girls of Dune", and I got the joke, but I could believe they didn't get a CD out until later. I think it's just the name, myself. IIRC right, the Spice Girls were one of those engineered groups, recruiting people with the "right" look who can sing. Not that they're in "Queen of the Night" territory.