The Spice Girls' 'Wannabe' is the catchiest song ever in the U.K., says science

The Spice Girls' 'Wannabe' is the catchiest song ever in the U.K., says science
(Image credit: Brenda Chase / Hulton Archive)

Zig-a-zig-what?

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have concluded that the Spice Girls' smash single 'Wannabe' is the catchiest pop song in the U.K. since the dawn of the genre in 1940. To reach that conclusion, they devised a simple online quiz in which participants were asked to identify songs as quickly as possible by listening to them. Participants recognized the quintet's anthem in an average of 2.3 seconds, while it took them an average of five seconds to name other songs.

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Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.