Sing it with me: Can Bob the Builder upstage one of the world’s biggest girl groups? Yes he can!
Bob the Builder has been revealed as a surprising chart-topper, with statistics unveiling the animated tradesman’s success in outselling the Spice Girls in the 21st century. According to LadBible, Bob the Builder has released more number singles in the UK since the year 2000 than Posh, Sporty and the rest of the Spice Girls cohort combined — a surprising feat for a character usually more suited to a construction site than the studio.
Much of Bob’s success is attributed to the Christmas 2000 single Can We Fix It?, which would go on to become the theme song of the beloved character’s namesake BBC children’s series. The track became the UK’s best-selling single of 2000, beating out the likes of Westlife on the UK Singles Charts. As it stands, Can We Fix It? ranks within the top 200 of the UK’s all-time top-selling singles, joining a coveted list that also includes Elton John, Aerosmith and many more.
Granted, the theme song’s outperformance of the Spice Girls within the 21st century can be explained by the girl group’s absence within that decade, given that most of their success happened within the ten years prior. However, Bob’s modern chart dominance also comes thanks to his 2001 cover of Mambo No. 5. The builder’s take on the 1949 Lou Bega original formed part of the series’ debut soundtrack album, Bob the Builder: The Album.
While it remains to be seen whether Bob can maintain his place ahead of iconic musical acts, the tradesman has nonetheless enjoyed a 30-year run on television screens since the debut of Bob the Builder’s first season in 1999. The Spice Girls, meanwhile, have sparked rumours of a reunion (and potential Bob-dethroning) following the release of an updated video for their smash hit Spice Up Your Life late last year.
Perhaps the only way forward is for both Bob the Builder and the Spice Girls to combine their efforts and release a collaborative album, with with lyrics that could read something to the effect of: “if you wanna be my lover, you gotta fix it with your hands.” In other bizarre music chart entries, an album of Australian frog sounds last month attempted to dethrone Taylor Swift‘s Midnights on the ARIA Charts (unfortunately to no avail).
