m people & heather small
m people - biography
mike's people
By the early ‘90s Mike Pickering was already a veteran of the ‘Madchester’ Manchester music scene. He had been in two groups during the ‘80s - Quando Quango and T-Coy, signed artists such as James and the Happy Mondays to Factory Records and was a DJ at the legendary Hacienda nightclub. However, he had become disillusioned with the club scene.
“I’d been doing a lot of underground stuff and remixes and I was totally sick of it. Then I started writing songs with verses and choruses and hooks which I never really thought I could do”.
He was introduced to Londoner Paul Heard, who knew Mike’s manager from a wind-surfing holiday, and they began writing together. Paul had grown up with gospel music and played the organ at the Pentecostal church where his father was the Pastor. He had worked with and co-produced the band Working Week, played bass for two years in the group Orange Juice and also had his own band Ace Of Clubs.
Mike’s initial idea was to head a band with Paul and create a loose collective of musicians using a variety of different singers. One of these singers was Heather Small, a shy girl from a West London council estate and a fan of gospel, soul, reggae and blues music, who they had heard fronting the band Hot!House.
“We weren’t going anywhere (Hot!House) and I was originally asked to do two songs. The first time I met Mike I thought he had a real sense of fun. He was witty and charming so I jumped at the chance of working with him. I’m not very extrovert and he and Paul made me feel very safe and comfortable.”
Heather fitted so perfectly that it became immediately apparent that she had to become a permanent member of one of ‘Mike’s People’.
“I saw Hot!House support Barry White at the Royal Albert Hall and Heather just looked at the floor all the time but I was like, what a fantastic voice. I wanted to work with her, but she was a much rougher diamond then. She said she had only ever sung ballads before. She’d never done an up-tempo number and it gave a totally different texture to her voice. I wrote Colour My Life and How Can I Love you More? specifically for her. That was the start of M People. It was like a loose collective at the beginning, like a Soul II Soul kind of thing. Yeah! Mike's People. But straight away, Me, Paul and Heather became really close; you could just tell it was working.”
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shovell
elegant slumming
northern soul
1991 saw the release of M People’s first single Colour My Life and their debut album Northern Soul on the record label Deconstruction. The title of the album was named after the Mancunian style of music that found fame in the Wigan Casino which Mike often visited. Later that year the band achieved their first UK chart hit in the October with the release of their second single How Can I Love You More? reaching number 29. The single also saw the band’s debut performance on the TV show Top Of The Pops.
After the success of How Can I Love You More?, Colour My Life was re-released and entered the UK chart in March 1992, peaking at number 35. The next single was a cover of Marshall Jefferson’s Someday which entered the charts in the April and peaked at number 38.
On Saturday 25th April 1992, M People played at the Brixton Academy along with the Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai and Natural Life. During the soundcheck for the gig, M People’s percussionist was delayed so Shovell (Andrew Lovell), the percussionist for Natural Life, stood in.
“So, one of the last gigs with Natural Life was at the Brixton Academy. It was Jamiroquai’s second ever gig, Brand New Heavies, M People were the penultimate band and then Natural Life. So when M People were trying to soundcheck, we were the next band on to soundcheck, my percussion was all set up. One of their guys came over and said ‘Look, our percussionist has broken down on the motorway down from Manchester, you’ve got all your gear set up; do you mind standing in for the soundcheck?’. So, being South East London, I says ‘Tell you what I’ll do for you, son: if the geezer don’t turn up, give us fifty quid and I’ll do the lot for you’. ‘You’re on!’ Well, I sent two of the lads out front, told them if he does turn up tell him the gig’s been moved to Earl’s Court. But the guy does turn up, we swap numbers and about three months later they phone and say “M People’s got this gig in Middlesbrough; do you want to do it?” There was myself, Mike, Paul, Heather and a DAT machine, and we went on at three in the morning did a proper PA: Heather was live, I was live, and it went off. And then Natural Life folded and M People really started and I jumped at the right time!”
top 10
The band’s next single, Excited, was a new track that did not feature on the 1991 album Northern Soul. The single entered the UK charts in October 1992 and peaked at number 29, matching the success of their first chart entry How Can I Love You More? The album itself was then repackaged with a different cover which featured Heather and also a new track list which included Excited.
In 1993 saw yet another re-release from the album in the form of a remixed version of How Can I Love You More? by Manchester DJ Sasha. The remix provided the band with their first UK top ten hit, entering the chart in the February and peaking at number 8. The success of the single saw the album chart a week later for the very first time, peaking at number 53.
In June 1993, the band’s top ten success continued with the single One Night in Heaven which peaked at number 6 in the UK, staying in the charts for 11 weeks. The track made it on to BBC Radio 1’s A-List and became M People's first Airplay Chart number 1 in the UK where it remained for two weeks. The song also went top ten in Germany, France and Holland and the following year it reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart!
The next single Moving On Up is the band’s biggest selling single and also highest chart position to date. It entered the chart in the September and peaked at number 2 staying in the top ten for five weeks. It was one of the top 40 best-selling singles of 1993. It was also a success across the globe making the top 5 in Australia, France, Ireland and New Zealand. The single also reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart and even reached number 34 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song has also featured in films such as The Full Monty, The Next Karate Kid and The First Wives Club.
In the October of 1993, the band’s second album Elegant Slumming was released, containing the already two smash hits One Night In Heaven and Moving On Up. The album peaked at number 2 and spent a total of 87 weeks in the UK album charts! The album's title was taken from a description of New York City nightlife by the US pioneer of New Journalism, Tom Wolfe. For Mike Pickering, who'd spent plenty of time exploring club life and culture on both sides of the Atlantic, the term 'elegant slumming' struck a chord.
"Youth culture has always been England's greatest contribution to the world, 'elegant slumming' seemed to sum it all up for me: that cross between the night life and the economic realities of England."
At the end of November 1993 the band released a cover of Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett’s Don’t Look Any Further. The male vocal on the duet was sung by Mark Bell who previously sung vocals on some of the Northern Soul album tracks. Don't Look Any Further was selected for the album by Mike Pickering.
"That was always my last song of the set when I would DJ. It's one of those timeless, powerful tracks."
The single became the band’s fourth consecutive top ten hit and the third from the album, peaking at number 9 in the UK. The song also reached number 4 in New Zealand.
Elegant TV was also released in the November on VHS. It included a collection of videos and films, featuring songs from the albums Northern Soul and 'Elegant Slumming together with live footage from their sell out UK tour of October 1993.
brit awards 1994
On the 14th February 1994, M People won the first ever 'Best British Dance Act' Brit Award! The other nominees were Apache Indian, Jamiroquai, Stereo MCs and The Shamen. Seal presented the group with the award and Heather Small briefly spoke to the audience.
"I'd just like to say thank you very much, to everyone who has aided M People, thanks for a great year, thank you."
glastonbury festival
On the 28th February 1994, the fourth and final single from the Elegant Slumming album was released. Renaissance was released when the band were on the second leg of their 15 date Elegant Slumming UK Tour. The song peaked at number 5 on the UK charts and was also used as the theme tune to the BBC2 show The Living Soap.
M People performed live on the NME Stage at the Glastonbury Festival on Saturday 25th June 1994!
In September 1994 a limited edition EP, Elegantly American, was released. It included U.S. remixes by Morales and MK of One Night In Heaven and Moving On Up. The EP peaked at number 31 on the UK chart.
mercury music prize 1994
M People won the Mercury Music Prize, along with the £20,000 prize money, for the album Elegant Slumming on the 13th September 1994. The other nominees were Blur – Parklife, Ian McNabb – Head Like A Rock, Shara Nelson – What Silence Knows, Michael Nyman – The Piano Concerto/MGV, The Prodigy – Music For The Jilted Generation, Pulp – His 'n' Hers, Take That – Everything Changes, Therapy? – Troublegum and Paul Weller – Wild Wood.
"We'd spent that day putting the finishing touches to the follow-up to Elegant Slumming. We got changed at the studio and headed for the Savoy in the mood for a celebration. We had no sense of expectation - we didn't care about winning a prize we knew very little about. In those days it was a much smaller event - each of the nominees had a table for friends and it wasn't the big scrum it has become.
We were on the table next to Blur, who were nominated for Parklife, and I remember Jarvis Cocker making a very funny speech - a hard act to follow. The alcohol meant that when it was announced we'd won, I wasn't paying much attention. I just remember people jumping up and hugging me. As I got up to walk to the stage, Elastica's Justine Frischmann, who was Damon Albarn's girlfriend at the time, leant over and said: 'Ah well, there goes my new fridge freezer.
At the after-party a drunk Phil Daniels complained bitterly about our win; being a true northerner I put him in his place, asking why he'd done nothing good since Quadrophenia. It wasn't till the following day that we realised we had upset all the broadsheets by winning. They thought the Mercury was the property of "indie" bands, who, by the way, were all signed to majors. But at least it did open a big debate on anti-dance snobbery."
bizarre fruit
November 1994 saw the release of the single Sight For Sore Eyes and the band's third album Bizarre Fruit. Sight For Sore Eyes entered the UK Singles Chart at number 8 and peaked a week later at number 6. It was the first M People song to have Heather Small credited as a co-writer. The album peaked at number 4 on the UK Album Chart and was to remain in the chart for a whole year before a second version of the album was released.
At the end of 1994 the band went on holiday together over the New Year break to Grenada. They returned to the charts towards the end of January 1995 with the single Open Your Heart which peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart. This was the first M People single to be available on two CD formats, with CD2 being released the week after CD1. CD2 was only available in the UK and contained the E-Smoove remix of Sight For Sore Eyes. Open Your Heart became M People's second single to top the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Chart.
brit awards 1995
On the 20th February 1995, M People won the 'Best British Dance Act' Brit Award for the second year running! The other nominees were The Brand New Heavies, Eternal, Massive Attack and The Prodigy. Isaac Hayes presented the group with the award and Paul Heard gave a short acceptance speech.
"Hello, we'd like to thank everyone who works with us, BMG, Deconstruction, our friends and family, but most of all we'd like to thank our fantastic fans who have followed us for the last few years, thanks a lot."
M People performed live at the 1995 Brit Awards with Sting. Together they performed his song 'If You Love Somebody (Set Them Free)' which was given the dance treatment by the band who were also backed by a 100-strong Gospel Choir.
Of course, they didn't just peak there and leave it at that. This was merely the launch-pad for further triumphs throughout the '90s: hit singles like Just For You and Angel St and the top 3 album Fresco (1997).
In 1998 the band released a Greatest Hits album and in 2005, 2007 and 2012, Heather, Paul and Shovell toured as M People, performing in venues across the UK, at festivals in Europe and also in Dubai. They will be touring the UK in October 2013 with the 20th Anniversary Greatest Hits Tour!
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