On July 8, 1996 the Spice Girls released their debut single “Wannabe” in the United Kingdom. In the weeks leading up to the release, the video for “Wannabe,” (directed by Johan Camitz and shot in April at St Pancras Chambers in London), had dominated the music channels. In July 1996 the group conducted their first interview with Paul Gorman, the contributing editor of music industry paper Music Week, at Virgin Records’ London headquarters. His piece recognised that the Spice Girls were about to institute a change in the charts away from Britpop and towards out-and-out pop. He wrote: “Just when boys with guitars threaten to rule pop life, an all-girl, in-yer-face pop group has arrived with enough sass to burst that rockist bubble!!” The song entered the charts at number 3 before moving up to number 1 the following week and staying there for seven weeks. The song proved to be a global hit, hitting number 1 in 31 countries and becoming not only the biggest selling single by an all-female group but also the biggest-selling debut single of all time.  “Wannabe” also proved to be a catalyst in helping the Spice Girls break the notoriously difficult U.S. market when it debuted on the Hot 100 Chart at number 11. At the time this was the highest-ever debut by a British (or non-American) act in the US, beating the record previously held by The Beatles for “I Want to Hold Your Hand” at number 12.  “Wannabe” reached Number 1 in the US four weeks later.