M People

M People is an English group formed by Mike Pickering (Feb 24). He was the keyboardist/programmer, songwriter and founder member. Naturally, the M comes from his first name. Also in the band was formed by former Hot House vocalist Heather Small (Jan 20) and keyboardist/programmer Paul Heard (October 5), formerly of Orange Juice and Working Week. Andrew Lovell (Shovell) later joined in 1994 on percussion. They are best known for UK Top 10 hits, "Movin on up" and "One night in Heaven" from the album, "Elegant Slumming" and "Sight for Sore eyes" and "Open your heart" from the album, "Bizarre Fruit". They had 4 US Dance #1s with "Moving on up" (also a Canada Dance #1), "One night in Heaven", "Excited" and "Open your heart". They had 10 UK Top 10 hits in the 90s.

90 Hits (Discography):

Date	   UK	Song
Oct 1991   29	How Can I Love You More
Mar 1992   35	Colour My Life
Apr 1992   38	Someday
Oct 1992   29	Excited
Jun 1993    6	One Night In Heaven
Sep 1993    2	Moving On Up
Dec 1993    9	Don't Look Any Further
Mar 1994    5	Renaissance
Sep 1994   31	Elegantly American (remix)
Nov 1994    6	Sight For Sore Eyes
Feb 1995    9	Open Your Heart
Jun 1995    9	Search For The Hero
Oct 1995   32	Love Rendezvous
Nov 1995   11	Itchycoo Park
Feb 1996    8	How Can I Love You More (remix)
Oct 1997    8	Just For You
Dec 1997   33	Fantasy Island
Mar 1998    8	Angel Street
Nov 1998   12	Testify
Feb 1999   13	Dreaming

What happened next?
Heather Small launched a solo career and released a couple of albums of which her most notable song was "Proud" as it was also used as the official theme for the London 2012 Olympic bid (in 2007).
In December 2016, Billboard magazine listed M People among the 100 Top Dance Club Artists of All Time (as 83th). In 2019, it was announced that a box set of the M People catalogue was scheduled to be released. The box set, titled Renaissance, was released in March 2020 and included all five of the group's albums, as well as a large selection of bonus remixes and two DVDs that presented the group's music videos and live performances from the Come Again tour. Also included was a book with notes from the band, rare photos and a handwritten copy of the lyrics to "Search for the Hero".