M People are a British house music act from Manchester formed in 1990 which achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.
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 British soul band Hot House, who 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.
Band members
* Heather Small - vocals (born 20 January 1965, London)
* Mike Pickering - keyboards/programming (born 1954, Manchester)
* Paul Heard - keyboards/programming (born 1960)
* Shovell - percussion (born Andrew Lovell, 11 February 1969, Jamaica)
Albums
* 1992 - Northern Soul
* 1994 - Elegant Slumming
* 1995 - Bizarre Fruit
* 1995 - Northern Soul (re-issue)
* 1995 - Bizarre Fruit II
* 1997 - Fresco
* 1998 - The Best of M People
* 1999 - Testify
* 2005 - Ultimate Collection (remixes)
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