|
Biography
The history of M People starts in 1991 in Manchester, the city in northern England that has
produced bands like Simply Red and New Order. Mike Pickering (to the right), a DJ at the
legendary Hacienda nightclub and a former member of Quando Quango and T-Coy, wanted to do
a studioproject. He teamed up with Paul Heard (second from the left), who had been a member of
bands like Orange Juice and Working Week. Mike and Paul worked together in the studio and composed a few songs,
but they didn't have anyone to sing the songs. That's when Heather Small, a singer in Hot!House,
entered the scene. M People was formed.
The first single from M People,
Color My life, was released in 1991 (re-released in 1992) and it was a success on the
charts in England. M People's first album
Northern Soul got its name from the music genre, a mixture of styles with
ingredients from dance and soul. Northern Soul was acclaimed one of the best dance
albums in 1992. It was re-released with a slightly different tracklisting after the re-release
of their second single,
How Can I Love You More?.
Northern Soul's follow-up album,
Elegant Slumming (1993), contained hits like
Moving On Up,
One Night In Heaven and Dennis Edwards' classic
Don't Look Any Further. Now was the time for M People to be introduced in the USA.
In the USA, Elegant Slumming got a different tracklisting than in the UK, the hits from Northern
Soul was added for the american audience. Shovel, a former percussionist in Natural Life,
became a permanent member of the band after been playing the drums in M People for a while.
Bizarre Fruit, their third album released in 1994, stayed on the UK-chart for two and a half
year. The album featured hits like
Sight For Sore Eyes,
Open Your Heart and
Search For The Hero.
In 1995 Bizarre Fruit was re-released as a limited edition double CD called
Bizarre Fruit II. The main CD had a new track, a cover of Small Faces'
Itchycoo Park, which also was released as a single. The extra CD contained live and remixed
versions of some of their songs.
After being fairly quiet around M People, they released
Fresco in 1997. The album contains a variety of music, from
Just For You's acoustic guitars to the pulsating rhythms of
Fantasy Island and Angel St and to the
experimenting drum'n'base sounds of Roxy Music's Avalon.
M People headed out on a tour in the UK in late 1997 and Europe in the spring of 1998. After the tour they
went back to the studio and recorded three new songs, Testify,
Dreaming, and Doobie Brother's What A Fool Believes, for the upcoming best
of compilation. The Best Of M People was released in November 1998 and
the group supported the release with an UK/Ireland tour. A similar "best of" compilation,
Testify, was released in the US in 1999.
The new millenium started off with a solo album by Heather Small. The album,
Proud produced two singels, Proud
and Holding On. Heather also sang a duett with Tom Jones,
You Need Love Like I Do.
© T.Ivarsson
This is just a crash course in the history of M People. If you want more
details and information, please visit the
Library.
|
