Glorious dance sound of the "Best of M People"
British dance band M People have carved out a niche for themselves on the world dance scene.
Their singles have been hits in Europe, the US and South Africa. Now they have collected them together in "The Best of M People".
After having been together for seven years, released seventeen singles, four albums, won two BRIT awards and a Mercury Music Prize, M People have released their first ever Greatest Hits album.
The album contains seventeen tracks. Ten have been Top 10 hits in the UK and three are brand new songs. The three new songs are "Testify", "Dreaming" and an M People version of the Doobie Brothers classic "What A Fool Believes".
M People is made up of Michael Pickering, Heather Small and Paul Heard, and together they create the new breed of dance music: classy, funky and real.
The group started out in Manchest, England. As a DJ at the legendary nightclub Hacienda, Michael Pickering spun the latest and coolest records. When the Northern House scene began to bubble under, Michael was there, helping to
usher in the revival and re-invention of classic soul music.
"I'm an old Northern Soul boy," Michael remarks, "and I always thought that the Northern House scene was the modern equivalent of the old Northern Soul scene." Michael's skills weren't limited to the wheels of steel. He played sax with Factory Records' Quando Quango and with T-Coy, one of the first UK house outfits.
M-People started in 1990 when Michael started writing. He soon realized that he needed a partner with more concrete musical training to help him translate his ideas into actual tunes. Enter Paul Heard, who had served as bassist for the UK groups Working Week and Orange Juice. One of the tracks they composed was written with one particular chanteuse in mind, Heather Small. Heather had gained a substantial following as the singer in Hot! House, a London-based soul band.
Heather, Paul and Michael entered the studio and began to lay down the tracks that would eventually emerge as the group's debut Northern Soul. "It was obvious as we were recording that what we had musically was much more than just a one off thing," Michael says. "It had turned into something really coherent. It jelled. From then on we were M People."
Ask Michael Pickering to describe the vibe behind M People, and he thinks for a bit. "Our music is there to inspire some hope and to pay respect to the power of soul." And what is soul? Simple, he answers. "Any music that you feel and that you deliver with emotion."
