Andy Jackson

M People Biography And Top 10 Songs



Posted: Tuesday, April 08, 2008

by
Wisdom_Mcr

Another one of those Manchester bands that I support are M People and I first heard of M People when the song How Can I Love You More? was released in 1991. The first time I heard the song I fell in love with Heather Small's voice and couldn't wait for the album to be released. I went to watch M People live a few years later and it was an amazing gig/experience and I would recommend anyone if they get the chance to go see them.

M People are a House band and formed in Manchester in 1990. The name came from the founding members initials, Mike Pickering and the rest of the band are Heather Small, Shovell and Paul Heard. I like to think of the name as representing Manchester People but thats just my loyalty to Manchester showing itself.

The debut album Northern Soul was released in 1992 and contains some of my favourite M People songs (Colour My Life, Excited and Someday). The album wasn't as commercially successful as hoped and it seems most of their fans were Manchester clubbers, as it only reached #53 in the UK album chart.

Things changed for M People in 1994 when they released their new album Elegant Slumming which saw them rise in popularity, mainly due to the singles One Night in Heaven, Don't Look Any Further and, Moving On Up which were all massive hits and all in the top 10 singles chart. The album went to #2 in the UK album chart and #12 in the US.

They further smashed the charts in 1995 with the release of their third album Bizzare Fruit which got positions of #4 in the UK and #17 in the US. The songs from the album Sight For Sore Eyes and Search For A Hero and were massive hits and Search For A Hero has been used on many movies and TV adverts.

Northern Soul was re-released in 1995 with a modified track listing and was more successful than the original release and topped the charts at #26. Continuing their success in 1995 they also released Bizzare Fruit Vol. 2 which is an expanded version of the original album and released as a limited edition which featured a live CD. The album also includes the cover of the Small Faces song Itchycoo Park (which is my favourite song off the CD) and peaked at #3 in the UK.

When Fresco was released in 1997 it went straight into the charts at #2 and has sold over 1.1 million copies and has gone 2x Platinum and performed a couple of songs on Later With Jools Holland which were Angel St. and Never mind Love. The Best Of M People was released in 1998 and also entered the chart at #2. The album contains 17 songs, of which 10 were top ten hits and three new songs. A limited edition was also released which included an 8 song bonus CD recorded live on Later With Jools Holland.

The album Testify was released in 1999 and was only available in the US and is a sort of compilation album of tracks from previous albums. Ultimate Collection was released in 2005 and is another compilation album but also with a couple of solo songs by Heather Small and a couple of new tracks that didn't appear on the Best Of album.

In 2007 M People went back on tour to support The Forestry Commission's social and environmental programmes which saw them perform in several different forests throughout the UK including: Delamere Forest (Cheshire), Westonbirt Arboretum (Wiltshire), Thetford Forest (Suffolk) and Dalby Forest (North Yorkshire Moors).

My Top 10 M People Songs are:

01. Itchycoo Park
02. How Can I Love You More
03. One Night In Heaven
04. Testify
05. Search For The Hero
06. Just For You
07. Moving On Up
08. Someday
09. Don't Look Any Further
10. Sight For Sore Eyes

Andy Jackson, 31 from Manchester, UK.  Likes to read a lot (Discworld, Sci-Fantasy) and listen to music (The Doors, Wu-Tang, Amy Winehouse, Kaiser Chiefs, Blondie, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix). Also tries to be a skateboarder when he gets time and dry weather.  

Web : www.knarecipes.com

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by sammielou 3 years 190 days ago.
i soooo hope u can help me because this is ruling my life now lol, did (im 99.9999 % certain they did) mpeople or heather small do a song which sounds irish or is irish in fact. its played at a lot of irish 'doo's' and i can NEVER get the name of it or if its deffinately heather small.....sounds uncannily like her if its not and its not like she has a voice easy to copy! id appreciate any info as this is killing me and everyone around me now, lol as its all i talk about and will be til i get it. i do also THINK it could be Colour my Life?????
» left by Andy Jackson 3 years 190 days ago.
5 fans.
Yeah you are right on both accounts it is M People and it's also called Colour My Life :) sleep peacefully lol
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