Spice Girls' debut hit 'Wannabe' is catchiest UK single

London: Pop group Spice Girls' first song 'Wannabe' has been declared as the catchiest UK hit single.

An online experiment called 'Hooked on Music' suggested that people recognised the song in 2.3 seconds, compared with an average of five seconds for other popular hits, reported BBC.

Researchers developed this interactive game, as part of a scientific study to unlock the secrets of what makes music memorable.

Data from more than 12,000 participants was collected from the experiment, which was developed by the Museum of Science and Industry (Mosi).

People who played the game were asked if they recognised a song, which was randomly selected from more than 1,000 clips of best-selling songs, dating from the 1940s until the present day.

Second catchiest song was Lou Bega's 'Mambo No 5', which was identified in an average of 2.48 seconds. Survivor's 'Eye of the Tiger' was third, with an average time of 2.62 seconds.

Overall, it took people an average of five seconds to recognise a clip from one of the UK's best-selling records.