m people - biography

mike's people

m 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.

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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.”

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.

shovell

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.

elegant slumming

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 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 album charts!

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. 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.

the brit awards

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 Renaissance, Sight For Sore Eyes, Just For You and Angel St and top 3 albums such as Bizarre Fruit (1994) and Fresco (1997). The band also won two BRIT Awards and the Mercury Music Prize.

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.