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One more night in heaven with Heather
Paul R Taylor6/10/2005
WHEN those nostalgic TV shows look back at the 90s, it will be
the unmistakable voice of Heather Small heard in the
background.
The Manchester band M People achieved worldwide fame in that decade
with their uplifting dance tracks such as Movin' On Up, One Night
in Heaven and How Can I Love You More.
They sold more than 11 million records worldwide, winning Brit
Awards and a Mercury Music Prize along the way.
But, after releasing The Best of M People in 1998 they took a long
break, and their performance at the MEN Arena tomorrow night
(Saturday) will be their first UK live show in more than six
years.
A lot has changed since then.
The Hacienda, where several of the band's members cut their musical
teeth, is gone; mainstream dance music is all but gone; and the
nation's youthful saviour Tony Blair, who used Movin' On Up as his
campaign tune, says he's going.
I'm not sure M People have changed though. The tour is called
Another Night in Heaven 2005, so it seems the performance will be a
best-of with little new material. Not that that's a bad thing as
the majority of tracks from the best-of album will be sure to raise
the roof.
Small, Paul Heard and Mike Pickering - the M standing for his first
name, formed the band in 1990 and released their first album
Northern Soul in 1992, with touring percussionist Shovell joining
before their stadium tour.
Songwriter, keyboardist, programmer and Lancashire lad Pickering is
undoubtedly the key component. He was a member of the Factory
Records dance act Quando Quango and one of the original DJs at The
Hacienda.
Heather Small had been a member of the British soul band HotHouse,
which released a number of critically acclaimed records without any
major chart success.
With Small's soaring vocals and Pickering's songwriting ability the
band won the Brit Award for the Best British Dance Act in both 1994
and 1995, and in `94 also won the Mercury Music Prize for the album
Elegant Slumming (the title taken from a Tom Wolfe book). The
victory sparked controversy though, as they beat the hotly tipped
Blur who critics believed were more worthy of the award than a mere
dance band.
It didn't seem to affect sales though. The next album Bizarre Fruit
(1995) stayed in the UK charts for two years and with ten Top Ten
UK singles they were one of the most consistent bands of the
decade. Another album Fresco followed 1997, before the best of in
1998 and the Ultimate Collection this year.
During the break Heather recorded her solo album Proud, the title
song of which represented London's successful 2012 Olympic bid.
Arena, Saturday
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