M People
| M People | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Manchester, England |
| Genres | Dance-pop, house, soul |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels |
Deconstruction (1990–1997) M People Records (1997–1998) |
| Members |
Heather Small Mike Pickering Paul Heard Shovell |
M People are an English dance music band which formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is taken from the first letter of Pickering's first name, who formed the group. In December 2016, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 83rd most successful dance artists of all-time.
Pickering had been a member of Factory Records dance act Quando Quango, but became more noted as one of the original DJs at The Haçienda. Paul Heard was a member of acid jazz band, Ace of Clubs and Shovell had previously been in the collective Natural Life. The original plan had been to have a roster of different singers for different songs but having been spotted by Pickering and Heard, Heather Small became the distinctive vocalist of the group. She had been in the English Soul band Hot House, which had released a number of critically acclaimed records without scoring any major success.
Their first release came in the form of "Colour My Life", a limited white label pressing which got them some recognition, but it was the first official single "How Can I Love You More?" that gave them their first Top 30 hit and a following in and around the Manchester club scene, where Pickering was still DJ-ing. Their first album, Northern Soul, provided other singles, including a full release of "Colour My Life", "Someday" and "Excited", followed by a re-release and repackaging of the album.
1993 started with the re-released and remixed single from 1991's "How Can I Love You More?" which was released at the end of January and provided the band with their first Top 10 single, peaking at number 8. While this single was in the chart the band were working on new material for the second album to be released that autumn; a preliminary single, "One Night in Heaven" was released in the summer and peaked at number 6. It provided them with a dance/pop success that set up a bigger worldwide hit with the second single, "Moving on Up". The album Elegant Slumming went into the Top 5 on release and peaked at No. 2, remaining on the chart until the following summer and later winning the band a Mercury Music Prize. A further two Top 10 singles followed: "Don't Look Any Further" (a cover of the Dennis Edwards song) in December, and "Renaissance" which was used as the theme tune to the BBC 2 show, The Living Soap, sending the single to number 5 in the UK Singles Chart.
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