Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell was the subject of some discussion earlier this week, as she joined the judging panel of The X Factor, original UK flavor, replacing Kelly Rowland, original Child of Destiny.

On Twitter, the talk quickly turned to the solo musical adventures of the no-longer Ginger Spice, a run of recordings from 1999-2005. While the Spice Girls had done rather well on this side of the pond, Halliwell’s own pop oeuvre barely made a ripple here. “Some of it is as deep as a puddle, some of it is a bottomless pit, like a well,” she once keenly observed (and wrongly too, as wells very much have a bottom).

Halliwell has released three albums to date, though only her debut, the amazingly titled Schizophonic, received a U.S. release in the pre-digital era. First single, “Look At Me,” debuted 13 years ago this month and never dented the pop charts, though Schizophonic did reach #42 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 40,000 copies (helped by appearances on Letterman and Rosie). Amazing to think that today such a small haul could score Halliwell a top 10 showing, if not a #1.

The music video for “Look At Me,” proved prophetic, regularly screened at the Chicago bars I frequented back in 1999. And Halliwell did have a decent club hit on her hands with the song. “Look At Me” scored a #12 showing on the Billboard Dance chart, thanks to a most-excellent remix by one of my all-time faves, Mark Picchiotti. He, not Halliwell, is the reason I sought out the import single in the first place.

Forgive the poor quality of the video. Was surprised to discover this isn’t up on YouTube:

Though she’s kept busy with book deals, yoga DVDs, and clothing lines since her last album in 2005, Halliwell is planning a return to music. She’s recorded a fourth album, the terribly titled Putting On The Bling, expected sometime this year. Now Halliwell’s desire for the X Factor gig makes perfect sense: “I can even do reality!”

Purchase Geri Halliwell – “Look At Me” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.