Spice Girls head for top

The Spice Girls' album is out on 6 November

Pop superstars the Spice Girls are heading for their ninth number one, according to early sales figures released on Tuesday.

Their single Holler Holler/Let Love Lead The Way shifted more then 31,000 copies during Monday, its first day on sale.

Martine McCutcheon's single I'm Over You is on target to be number two, on current sales of about 17,000 singles.

However, Who Let The Dogs Out? by Baha Men is doing surprisingly well.

The single is at number five according to midweek estimates, but some stores struggled to get hold of copies until Tuesday.

Gennaro Castaldo of HMV said: "It's picked up very strongly and has been a quite an underground hit and could pose a challenge if sales pick up again with more stock in the shops."

The sexy image adopted for Holler Holler

He added: "Although we may not still have the days of Spice mania, the girls are still a very powerful group and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. They still have that old magic."

A two-year break from recording looks in fact to have done the Spice Girls no harm at all as the double A-side single looks set to equal Abba's record for number one singles.

Their new, and third, album Forever is out on 6 November.

Holler Holler is their first single together since Goodbye in December 1998 when Mel C, Mel B, Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham went out in a blaze of collective glory.

It is expected to sell well all week, helped by the half-term holiday for many children, a popular time for young fans to shop for records.

A flier from record company Virgin describes the double A-sided single as a work of contrasts.

Holler Holler is a "funky and up-beat" dance track complete with contributions from a male rapper.

In Let Love Lead The Way the group reveals a maternal side, singing words of wisdom to their babies - although only "Posh" Spice Victoria and "Scary" Spice Mel B have actually given birth.

Holler Holler - which is expected to be the track to get most airplay - will be familiar to fans in the audience for the Spice Girls live Christmas shows last year.

Despite predicted success, the band still has a long way to go to beat The Beatles' record of 17 number one singles.