Fantasy Island (song)
Encyclopedia
Fantasy Island is the second single from British band M People
from their fourth album Fresco (1997). Written by Mike Pickering
, Paul Heard and Heather Small
. Produced by M People
. It was released on 24 November 1997. The song peaked at number thirty three on the UK Singles Chart
.
, had proved that despite a lengthy break, M People
were still very much in demand. Just for You had secured another Top 10 sales chart entry in the Uk and five other European countries and a number one Airplay hit for three weeks in the UK. Parent album Fresco had already gone platinum (with sales of over 850,000) and it had charted at number 2.
Ahead of their sold-out 18 date Fresco Tour, M People’s second single was a released. Fantasy Island
is a song relaying the virtues of living and wishing for a utopia. Heather sings of a various dream situations where the world gets along, politician speak the truth, there’s sunshine and laughter, Muslims are embracing Jews; Love being the message and the word. Very much a song that both proclaims the aspects of life that people dream of but are far removed from the reality, hence the ‘fantasy’. It also projects the constant M People
mottos of achieving and striving to survive.
The melody line is supported by programmed drumming, insistent synth effects, piano riffs (by the legendary pianist Terry Burrus
), strings and a strong wind section throughout, supported by a deep moog bass line and subtle ‘blowy’ synths throughout.
Critics of the song had stated that the piano and trumpet/saxophone riff used an uncredited sample or that the lyrical content was ‘benign and sickly’.
. The video had been also been shown on The Chart Show
and Live and Kicking
.
, The Verve
and Kylie, to name a few. In the week of release, the song surprised and disappointed most expectations to only chart and stall at number 33, their lowest chart entry since "Someday
", their third single six years previously. However, lead singer, Heather Small
had scored her first ever number one for the charity single Perfect Day as a prominent featured artist in a stella and varied line-up for Children in Need
.
Despite the relatively lower sales chart position, the single spent a total of nine weeks on the chart longer than any of the last five singles since Sight for Sore Eyes
in 1994. This nine week sojourn also included the first and only ever re-entry for an M People
single when it charted for one week at number 69 after a month being out of the Top 75, finally leaving at the end of February 1998. This was due to instrumental versions of the songs being widely used as soundtracks to promote everything from The Clothes Show
and Grandstand
to other sports review shows.
Fantasy Island number 33 sales chart placing had no massive effect on the fortunes of parent Album’s Fresco already sizeable sales which meant it hovered between numbers 15 and 20 on the UK Album Chart for eight weeks bring the album closer to 850,000 copies shipped, buoyed on by the sell-out UK Fresco Tour.
still had enormous support charting that week at number 8 following its three week sojourn atop the chart. Radio was quick to follow up on M People
’s return and the single soared to 21 the following week to 12 prior to release. It then peaked at number 8 while the single charted at 33, reflecting the same situation as Love Rendezvous
from Bizarre Fruit II (1995). Radio support for the song continued despite its lower chart position helping the single to consistently maintain its level of sales.
The single became their 16th consecutive Top 40 hit and their 11th consecutive Top 10 Airplay Hit.
on sax play and sing along to the song on a large rotating platform. Heather dressed in a long yellow dress is in the fore and the band perform around her. As the stage rotates, clouds move around the perimeter and various ethnic minorities and types act out the lyrical content of the song; children are playing, a punk communicates to the wider world on his laptop and various people jump into the clouds and the unknown, while all this goes on, M People
continue to rotate like the globe, surrounded by a sky-blue coloured effect and Heather sings with her arms outstretched dancing along to the happy vibe.
, the very soulful D Influence and UK dance duo Producers: M+S and their Epic Club Mix. Also included on the single are the radio edit and the album version.
CSS
12" Maxi
CD Maxi
M People
M People are a British house music act from Manchester, who formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.-Career:...
from their fourth album Fresco (1997). Written by Mike Pickering
Mike Pickering
Michael "Duncan" Pickering has DJed at The Haçienda's infamous "Nude" and "Hot" nights and later "Shine". He worked for Factory Records where he signed Happy Mondays, To Hell With Burgundy and James amongst others...
, Paul Heard and Heather Small
Heather Small
Heather Small is a British soul singer, best known for being the lead singer in the Manchester based band M People. Her debut solo album was Proud in 2000...
. Produced by M People
M People
M People are a British house music act from Manchester, who formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.-Career:...
. It was released on 24 November 1997. The song peaked at number thirty three on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
Background
Previous single Just for YouJust for You (M People song)
Just for You is the fifteenth overall single from British band M People. It is the lead single single from their fourth album Fresco . Written by Mike Pickering, Paul Heard and Heather Small. Produced by M People. It was released on 22 September 1997...
, had proved that despite a lengthy break, M People
M People
M People are a British house music act from Manchester, who formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.-Career:...
were still very much in demand. Just for You had secured another Top 10 sales chart entry in the Uk and five other European countries and a number one Airplay hit for three weeks in the UK. Parent album Fresco had already gone platinum (with sales of over 850,000) and it had charted at number 2.
Ahead of their sold-out 18 date Fresco Tour, M People’s second single was a released. Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island
Fantasy Island is the title of two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network.-Original series:...
is a song relaying the virtues of living and wishing for a utopia. Heather sings of a various dream situations where the world gets along, politician speak the truth, there’s sunshine and laughter, Muslims are embracing Jews; Love being the message and the word. Very much a song that both proclaims the aspects of life that people dream of but are far removed from the reality, hence the ‘fantasy’. It also projects the constant M People
M People
M People are a British house music act from Manchester, who formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.-Career:...
mottos of achieving and striving to survive.
The melody line is supported by programmed drumming, insistent synth effects, piano riffs (by the legendary pianist Terry Burrus
Terry Burrus
Terrance Corley Burrus is an American keyboardist and composer.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he started touring as a teenager playing with jazz fusion violinist Michał Urbaniak, singer Jean Carne, while still in High school in New York...
), strings and a strong wind section throughout, supported by a deep moog bass line and subtle ‘blowy’ synths throughout.
Critics of the song had stated that the piano and trumpet/saxophone riff used an uncredited sample or that the lyrical content was ‘benign and sickly’.
Promotion
Due to tour commitments, the single only received national promotion by the band in the actual week of release, with them appearing on The National Lottery Live Show where Heather first revealed that the big hair (that she had become synonymous with) had disappeared after five years and they also appeared on Philip Schofield’s Talking Telephone NumbersTalking Telephone Numbers
Talking Telephone Numbers was a British game show that was produced by Celador and Carlton Television and aired on ITV from 28 February 1994 to 22 December 1997, hosted by Phillip Schofield and Emma Forbes, then later Claudia Winkleman, with Cash Peters appearing in filmed inserts .The programme...
. The video had been also been shown on The Chart Show
The Chart Show
The Chart Show is a music video programme which ran in the UK on Channel 4 between 1986 and 1988, then on ITV between 1989 and 1998. The production company was Video Visuals, and was credited as "A Yorkshire Television Presentation" from 1993 and 1998...
and Live and Kicking
Live & Kicking
Live & Kicking was a BBC Saturday morning children's magazine programme, running from 1993 to 2001. The fourth in a succession of Saturday morning shows, it was the replacement for Going Live!, and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, comedy, competitions and the showing of...
.
Chart Performance
Fantasy Island was released in one of the busiest release weeks of the year with 15 of the top 40 songs being new releases competing with BoyzoneBoyzone
Boyzone are an Irish boy band comprising Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Ronan Keating,Shane Lynch, and formerly Stephen Gately. Boyzone have 19 singles in the top 40 UK charts and 21 singles in the Ire charts. The group currently have 6 UK number one singles and 9 number one singles in Ireland with 12...
, The Verve
The Verve
The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...
and Kylie, to name a few. In the week of release, the song surprised and disappointed most expectations to only chart and stall at number 33, their lowest chart entry since "Someday
Someday (M People song)
"Someday" is the third single from British band M People from their first album Northern Soul. It was written by Marshall Jefferson. The single was a cover version of the original song of the same name sung by CeCe Rogers in 1987...
", their third single six years previously. However, lead singer, Heather Small
Heather Small
Heather Small is a British soul singer, best known for being the lead singer in the Manchester based band M People. Her debut solo album was Proud in 2000...
had scored her first ever number one for the charity single Perfect Day as a prominent featured artist in a stella and varied line-up for Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
.
Despite the relatively lower sales chart position, the single spent a total of nine weeks on the chart longer than any of the last five singles since Sight for Sore Eyes
Sight for Sore Eyes
"Sight For Sore Eyes" is the tenth overall single from the British band M People released as the lead single from multi-platinum album Bizarre Fruit.Written by Mike Pickering, Paul Heard and Heather Small and Produced by M People. It was released on 5 November 1994...
in 1994. This nine week sojourn also included the first and only ever re-entry for an M People
M People
M People are a British house music act from Manchester, who formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.-Career:...
single when it charted for one week at number 69 after a month being out of the Top 75, finally leaving at the end of February 1998. This was due to instrumental versions of the songs being widely used as soundtracks to promote everything from The Clothes Show
The Clothes Show
The Clothes Show is a British television show about fashion that can currently be seen weeknights on Really. It was formerly broadcast on BBC One from 1986 to 2000.-BBC series :...
and Grandstand
Grandstand
A grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
to other sports review shows.
Fantasy Island number 33 sales chart placing had no massive effect on the fortunes of parent Album’s Fresco already sizeable sales which meant it hovered between numbers 15 and 20 on the UK Album Chart for eight weeks bring the album closer to 850,000 copies shipped, buoyed on by the sell-out UK Fresco Tour.
Airplay
The single was serviced to radio 1st November 1997, three weeks before physical release., half the length of time that Just for you was serviced to radio. It entered the Airplay chart at number 55 while previous single Just for YouJust for You (M People song)
Just for You is the fifteenth overall single from British band M People. It is the lead single single from their fourth album Fresco . Written by Mike Pickering, Paul Heard and Heather Small. Produced by M People. It was released on 22 September 1997...
still had enormous support charting that week at number 8 following its three week sojourn atop the chart. Radio was quick to follow up on M People
M People
M People are a British house music act from Manchester, who formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.-Career:...
’s return and the single soared to 21 the following week to 12 prior to release. It then peaked at number 8 while the single charted at 33, reflecting the same situation as Love Rendezvous
Love Rendezvous
Love Rendezvous is the fourth single from the album Bizarre Fruit/Bizarre Fruit II by British band M People. Written by Mike Pickering and Paul Heard and Heather Small. Produced by M People. It was released on 14 October 1995, after the band’s World Tour...
from Bizarre Fruit II (1995). Radio support for the song continued despite its lower chart position helping the single to consistently maintain its level of sales.
The single became their 16th consecutive Top 40 hit and their 11th consecutive Top 10 Airplay Hit.
Music Video
The four main members of the band plus, Sarah Brown and Paul Johnson on backing vocals, and Snake DavisSnake Davis
Snake Davis is a session musician who has played with some of the worlds biggest artists. In the 1980s he fronted York band Zoot and the Roots....
on sax play and sing along to the song on a large rotating platform. Heather dressed in a long yellow dress is in the fore and the band perform around her. As the stage rotates, clouds move around the perimeter and various ethnic minorities and types act out the lyrical content of the song; children are playing, a punk communicates to the wider world on his laptop and various people jump into the clouds and the unknown, while all this goes on, M People
M People
M People are a British house music act from Manchester, who formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is from the initials of Mike Pickering, who formed the group.-Career:...
continue to rotate like the globe, surrounded by a sky-blue coloured effect and Heather sings with her arms outstretched dancing along to the happy vibe.
Remixes
There were three main remixes that appeared on the single. Firstly by New York legend David MoralesDavid Morales
David Morales is an internationally acclaimed Grammy-winning house music DJ and producer. In addition to his production and DJ work, Morales is one of the most prolific remixers of all time, transforming many pop music songs into club-friendly dance tracks...
, the very soulful D Influence and UK dance duo Producers: M+S and their Epic Club Mix. Also included on the single are the radio edit and the album version.
Track listings
CSS
- Fantasy Island (Radio Edit) 4.00
- Fantasy Island (Def Club Mix) 10.33
12" Maxi
CD Maxi
- Fantasy Island (Radio Edit) 4.00
- Fantasy Island (Def Club Mix) 10.33
- Fantasy Island (M+S Epic Club Mix) 8.00
- Fantasy Island (D’Influence Dimensional Club Mix) 6.54
- Fantasy Island (Album Version) 5.41