Itchycoo Park (M People song)
Encyclopedia
Itchycoo Park
is the fifth and final single from the re-released Bizarre Fruit
: Bizarre Fruit II album by M People
. It is a cover version of the 1967 classic song of the same name by The Small Faces
and is M People
's fourteenth single overall, released on 13 November 1995. The song peaked at number eleven and marked the albums 12 month unbroken residency on the UK Album Chart.
, had remained in the UK album Top 40 for a year having peaked at number 4 on release and selling consistently with three UK top 10 singles and chart hits across Europe and Australasia and a US Dance No 1.
In January 1994, before the 2nd leg of the Elegant Slumming
Tour, Heather had walked into rehearsals singing The Small Faces
’ Itchycoo Park
which she had heard on the radio that day. Mike heard her humming it and they decided experiment and perform their version of the song, adding it to their encore, as the last song of their set list after Don't Look Any Further and Moving on Up
. It turned out to be a massive crowd pleaser for the fans, so after performing it for eighteen months they decided to record it in the Summer of 1995, whilst remixing Love Rendezvous
. Both tracks would feature on a revised and deluxe version of Bizarre Fruit
which would be released to mark exactly one year after original release. They decided to turn the mod psychedelic pop original into a gospel-tinged dance stomper.
took the song far away from its original mod 1967 psychedelic pop roots to a dance orientated modern psychedelic dance/gospel song.
After the gospel piano chords of the 10- man intro the M People
choir sings: “If you reach (on high)” sung three times, the song’s mood builds and builds through to a progressive electronic drum roll which then segues into a medium paced dance track led by gospel piano and layers of synths and rattles.
When lead singer, Heather Small
sings the opening lines, she is backed by swirling keyboards and echoed tapping in a styling very true to the four to floor dance beat that the band had become synonymous with.
The main gospel influence of the song alongside the gospel keyboard and piano is the choir who’s presence throughout the song. In the bridge of the song, they provide the lead to the call-and-response with: “What did you do there?”, “What did you feel/touch there?” and “But why the tears there?” to which Heather sings the reply “I got high”, “Well I cried/I touched the sky!” “Tell you why!”, respectively. In the second verse the choir’s strong support continues to Heather’s suggestions to: I’ll tell you what I’ll do?” with: “What will you do?” and “You can miss out school.”: “Won’t that be cool?”. The strength of the choir is underlined by their repetitive refrains of “Beauty”, Beautiful!” and “It’s all too beautiful” and “So Beautiful” at various points within the song.
The trippy effect produced by phasing (or flanging) in the middle eight of the Small Faces original version is replaced by a euphoric interjected chords and a trippy echo is layered on Heather’s vocals “I feel inclined to blow my mind...”
Heather really gets a chance to towards the latter stages of the song Heather really gets to belt out her booming vocals with various ad-libs and proclamations including “It’s so beautiful, yeah!! It’s beautiful. Beautiful, yeah”.
was greeted with overall praise from fans, but critics did slate them for this cover version of what was considered to be a 60’s classic. Chris Evans (presenter) who worked at BBC Radio 1
, at the time, claimed the song to be “sacrilege” after playing it on his Breakfast Show. After their previous covers of Someday
and Don't Look Any Further on previous albums had been applauded, Itchycoo Park
proved the most controversial, appearing in polls: ‘Worst Cover Songs’. The Observer Music Monthly had claimed that “the rowdy grandeur of the original had been replaced by the band’s faux soul”.
Steve Marriott
once said that The Small Faces
“(We) were a mix of R&B and music hall. The R&B came from Detroit, the music hall from Stepney. That’s what ‘Itchycoo Park’ is about…having a drink and a party.”
, despite marginally greater sales, peaking at that position in it's first week selling 64,500 copies. This was very healthy sales but there were new entries that week from Blur's The Universal (#5), Boyzone
's Father and Son
(#8), Bjork
's It's Oh So Quiet
(#9) and Bon Jovi
Lie to Me (#10) which sold just 450 more copies than Itchycoo Park
.
The single spent a total of eight weeks on the chart moving from 11 - 14 - 19 - 26 - 30 - 35 - 43 - 72 with total sales of 113,000 coopies making it the third biggest selling single from the Bizarre Fruit
/Bizarre Fruit II album.
peaked at number 32 on the UK Top, but gained another Airplay Top 10 to peak at number nine, Itchycoo Park
was given 4 weeks of airplay and distributed to radio hot on the heels of the previous single on Monday 18th October 1995.
Radio stations all over the country were quick to play the single, as it was a totally new track that wasn’t available on the Bizarre Fruit
album. It entered the chart at 42, but then scaled the chart to 25 to 14 and 10. When the single was released it climbed to peak at number 6 getting support from nationwide station: BBC Radio 2
.
The single became their 14th consecutive Top 40 Airplay hit and their 9th consecutive Top 10 Airplay Hit.
stations from 9th November 1995. The band performed the song with the choir on the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
on Sunday 6th December at Earls Court Exhibition Centre
in London, marking their third consecutive performance at the annual event.
The band also by 6 backing vocalists, while Mike, Paul and Shovel play behind her.
The next shot is of a dream sequence seen in a double vision of following Heather around the corridors of a grand hotel and subsequent scenes range from an overhead shot of Heather on the bed, and through camera trickery, she is made to look like she is levitating off the bed as she sings. This is intercut with shots of the rest of the band walking around both the corridors of the same hotel and a darkly lit corridor daubed in graffiti and spied from above with overhead CCTV camera footage.
singles, Open Your Heart
and Love Rendezvous
. Additionally, American DJ David Morales
serviced a ‘Classic Club Mix’ and ‘Beautiful Instrumental’, respectively. The Morales mix made it number 17 in the Pure Club Classics Top 30 list of the All Time Dance Club Classics and also gave M People a number 1 on the UK dance chart.
There have only been a few events when the band have performed the song with a full live choir, most notably this was at “The Crowd is on the Pitch”: The Euro 1996 finals at Manchester
’s Old Trafford
Stadium in June 1996.
Snake Davis
performs a sax riff alongside the drums during the instrumental middle eight and Shovell provides percussive support during the vocal middle eight and plays EWI
throughout the choruses.
CSS
12" Maxi
CD Maxi
Itchycoo Park
"Itchycoo Park" is a psychedelic pop song written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, first recorded by their group, the Small Faces. The song reached number three in the UK Singles Chart, 1967.-Song profile:...
is the fifth and final single from the re-released Bizarre Fruit
Bizarre Fruit
- Release history :...
: Bizarre Fruit II album 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 is a cover version of the 1967 classic song of the same name by The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
and is 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 fourteenth single overall, released on 13 November 1995. The song peaked at number eleven and marked the albums 12 month unbroken residency on the UK Album Chart.
Background
For most of 1995, the band had been on a World Tour that had taken them from Switzerland to Australia, Germany to Brazil and the parent album, Bizarre FruitBizarre Fruit
- Release history :...
, had remained in the UK album Top 40 for a year having peaked at number 4 on release and selling consistently with three UK top 10 singles and chart hits across Europe and Australasia and a US Dance No 1.
In January 1994, before the 2nd leg of the Elegant Slumming
Elegant Slumming
Elegant Slumming is the second album by British house music band M People. It was released on 4 October 1993 charting and peaking at number 2 on the UK Album Chart and spent 87 weeks in the Top 75...
Tour, Heather had walked into rehearsals singing The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
’ Itchycoo Park
Itchycoo Park
"Itchycoo Park" is a psychedelic pop song written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, first recorded by their group, the Small Faces. The song reached number three in the UK Singles Chart, 1967.-Song profile:...
which she had heard on the radio that day. Mike heard her humming it and they decided experiment and perform their version of the song, adding it to their encore, as the last song of their set list after Don't Look Any Further and Moving on Up
Moving on Up
Moving on Up is the seventh overall single from British band M People and the second single from their second album Elegant Slumming . Written by Mike Pickering and Paul Heard. Produced by M People. It was released on 13 September 1993...
. It turned out to be a massive crowd pleaser for the fans, so after performing it for eighteen months they decided to record it in the Summer of 1995, whilst remixing 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...
. Both tracks would feature on a revised and deluxe version of Bizarre Fruit
Bizarre Fruit
- Release history :...
which would be released to mark exactly one year after original release. They decided to turn the mod psychedelic pop original into a gospel-tinged dance stomper.
Composition
M PeopleM 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:...
took the song far away from its original mod 1967 psychedelic pop roots to a dance orientated modern psychedelic dance/gospel song.
After the gospel piano chords of the 10- man intro the 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:...
choir sings: “If you reach (on high)” sung three times, the song’s mood builds and builds through to a progressive electronic drum roll which then segues into a medium paced dance track led by gospel piano and layers of synths and rattles.
When 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...
sings the opening lines, she is backed by swirling keyboards and echoed tapping in a styling very true to the four to floor dance beat that the band had become synonymous with.
The main gospel influence of the song alongside the gospel keyboard and piano is the choir who’s presence throughout the song. In the bridge of the song, they provide the lead to the call-and-response with: “What did you do there?”, “What did you feel/touch there?” and “But why the tears there?” to which Heather sings the reply “I got high”, “Well I cried/I touched the sky!” “Tell you why!”, respectively. In the second verse the choir’s strong support continues to Heather’s suggestions to: I’ll tell you what I’ll do?” with: “What will you do?” and “You can miss out school.”: “Won’t that be cool?”. The strength of the choir is underlined by their repetitive refrains of “Beauty”, Beautiful!” and “It’s all too beautiful” and “So Beautiful” at various points within the song.
The trippy effect produced by phasing (or flanging) in the middle eight of the Small Faces original version is replaced by a euphoric interjected chords and a trippy echo is layered on Heather’s vocals “I feel inclined to blow my mind...”
Heather really gets a chance to towards the latter stages of the song Heather really gets to belt out her booming vocals with various ad-libs and proclamations including “It’s so beautiful, yeah!! It’s beautiful. Beautiful, yeah”.
Reception
Itchycoo ParkItchycoo Park (M People song)
Itchycoo Park is the fifth and final single from the re-released Bizarre Fruit: Bizarre Fruit II album by M People. It is a cover version of the 1967 classic song of the same name by The Small Faces and is M People's fourteenth single overall, released on 13 November 1995...
was greeted with overall praise from fans, but critics did slate them for this cover version of what was considered to be a 60’s classic. Chris Evans (presenter) who worked at BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
, at the time, claimed the song to be “sacrilege” after playing it on his Breakfast Show. After their previous covers of 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...
and Don't Look Any Further on previous albums had been applauded, Itchycoo Park
Itchycoo Park (M People song)
Itchycoo Park is the fifth and final single from the re-released Bizarre Fruit: Bizarre Fruit II album by M People. It is a cover version of the 1967 classic song of the same name by The Small Faces and is M People's fourteenth single overall, released on 13 November 1995...
proved the most controversial, appearing in polls: ‘Worst Cover Songs’. The Observer Music Monthly had claimed that “the rowdy grandeur of the original had been replaced by the band’s faux soul”.
Steve Marriott
Steve Marriott
Stephen Peter Marriott , popularly known as Steve Marriott, was an English musician, songwriter, and frontman of several notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades...
once said that The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
“(We) were a mix of R&B and music hall. The R&B came from Detroit, the music hall from Stepney. That’s what ‘Itchycoo Park’ is about…having a drink and a party.”
Chart Performance
The single entered the chart at number 11, like Open Your HeartOpen Your Heart (M People song)
"Open Your Heart" is the eleventh overall single from British band M People. It is the second single from their third album Bizarre Fruit . Written by Mike Pickering, Paul Heard and Heather Small. Produced by M People. It was released on 23 January 1995...
, despite marginally greater sales, peaking at that position in it's first week selling 64,500 copies. This was very healthy sales but there were new entries that week from Blur's The Universal (#5), Boyzone
Boyzone
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...
's Father and Son
Father and Son
Father and Son is a memoir by poet and critic Edmund Gosse, which he subtitled "a study of two temperaments."Edmund had previously published a biography of his father,originally published anonymously....
(#8), Bjork
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
's It's Oh So Quiet
It's Oh So Quiet
"It's Oh, So Quiet" is a song by American singer Betty Hutton, released in 1951 as the B-side to the single "Murder, He Says". It is a cover of the German song "Und Jetzt ist es Still", performed by Horst Winter in 1948, written by Austrian composer Hans Lang and Erich Meder...
(#9) and Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
Lie to Me (#10) which sold just 450 more copies than Itchycoo Park
Itchycoo Park (M People song)
Itchycoo Park is the fifth and final single from the re-released Bizarre Fruit: Bizarre Fruit II album by M People. It is a cover version of the 1967 classic song of the same name by The Small Faces and is M People's fourteenth single overall, released on 13 November 1995...
.
The single spent a total of eight weeks on the chart moving from 11 - 14 - 19 - 26 - 30 - 35 - 43 - 72 with total sales of 113,000 coopies making it the third biggest selling single from the Bizarre Fruit
Bizarre Fruit
- Release history :...
/Bizarre Fruit II album.
Airplay
After Love RendezvousLove 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...
peaked at number 32 on the UK Top, but gained another Airplay Top 10 to peak at number nine, Itchycoo Park
Itchycoo Park (M People song)
Itchycoo Park is the fifth and final single from the re-released Bizarre Fruit: Bizarre Fruit II album by M People. It is a cover version of the 1967 classic song of the same name by The Small Faces and is M People's fourteenth single overall, released on 13 November 1995...
was given 4 weeks of airplay and distributed to radio hot on the heels of the previous single on Monday 18th October 1995.
Radio stations all over the country were quick to play the single, as it was a totally new track that wasn’t available on the Bizarre Fruit
Bizarre Fruit
- Release history :...
album. It entered the chart at 42, but then scaled the chart to 25 to 14 and 10. When the single was released it climbed to peak at number 6 getting support from nationwide station: BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
.
The single became their 14th consecutive Top 40 Airplay hit and their 9th consecutive Top 10 Airplay Hit.
Promotion
The video started rotation on MTVMTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
stations from 9th November 1995. The band performed the song with the choir on the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
Smash Hits Poll Winners Party
The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party was an awards ceremony which ran from 1988 to 2005. Each award winner was voted by readers of the Smash Hits magazine. It ended with the closure of the magazine in February 2006....
on Sunday 6th December at Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Earls Court Exhibition Centre
The Earls Court Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre, conference and event venue located in west London, United Kingdom in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea . It is the largest exhibition venue in central London. It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West...
in London, marking their third consecutive performance at the annual event.
The band also by 6 backing vocalists, while Mike, Paul and Shovel play behind her.
Music Video
The video was shot at a London hotel on 23 October 1995 by Director, Maria Mochancz for 'DreamChaser Productions'. The introductory shot is of Heather in a darkened room lying on a bed in a blue svelte dress and high heels with a spotlight flickering directly on while she wakes up, meanwhile the camera moves over her.The next shot is of a dream sequence seen in a double vision of following Heather around the corridors of a grand hotel and subsequent scenes range from an overhead shot of Heather on the bed, and through camera trickery, she is made to look like she is levitating off the bed as she sings. This is intercut with shots of the rest of the band walking around both the corridors of the same hotel and a darkly lit corridor daubed in graffiti and spied from above with overhead CCTV camera footage.
Remixes
The Hed Boys and Junior Vasquez remixed the single for both promotional and mainstream distribution following their remixes of both previous Bizarre FruitBizarre Fruit
- Release history :...
singles, Open Your Heart
Open Your Heart
Open Your Heart may refer to:* "Open Your Heart" * "Open Your Heart" * "Open Your Heart" * "Open Your Heart" , the Icelandic entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2003, by Birgitta Haukdal...
and 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...
. Additionally, American DJ David Morales
David 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...
serviced a ‘Classic Club Mix’ and ‘Beautiful Instrumental’, respectively. The Morales mix made it number 17 in the Pure Club Classics Top 30 list of the All Time Dance Club Classics and also gave M People a number 1 on the UK dance chart.
Live
The live backing vocalists sing the obligatory gospel intro to the song and Paul plays the gospel piano riffs throughout. The guitar riff supports the euphoric build up alongside the progressively faster drum roll, which break into the dance tempo of the song.There have only been a few events when the band have performed the song with a full live choir, most notably this was at “The Crowd is on the Pitch”: The Euro 1996 finals at Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
’s Old Trafford
Old Trafford
Old Trafford commonly refers to two sporting arenas:* Old Trafford, home of Manchester United F.C.* Old Trafford Cricket Ground, home of Lancashire County Cricket ClubOld Trafford can also refer to:...
Stadium in June 1996.
Snake Davis
Snake 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....
performs a sax riff alongside the drums during the instrumental middle eight and Shovell provides percussive support during the vocal middle eight and plays EWI
EWI
EWI is the name of AKAI's wind controller, an electronic musical instrument invented by Nyle Steiner. The early models consisted of two parts: a wind controller and a synthesizer. The current model, EWI4000S, combines the two parts into one, placing the synthesizer in the lower section of the...
throughout the choruses.
Track listings
CSS
- Itchycoo Park (Radio Edit) 3:50
- Itchycoo Park (Morales Classic Club Mix) 7:52
12" Maxi
- Itchycoo Park (M People Master Mix) 5:53
- Itchycoo Park (Hed Boys Post Op Mix) 9:01
- Itchycoo Park (Morales Classic Club Mix) 7:52
- Padlock (Junior Vasquez Classic Club Dub) 6:59
CD Maxi
- Itchycoo Park (Radio Edit) 3:50
- Itchycoo Park (M People Master Mix) 6:40
- Itchycoo Park (Morales Classic Club Mix) 7:52
- Itchycoo Park (Hed Boys Post Op Mix) 9:01
- Itchycoo Park (Morales Beautiful Instrumental) 6:22
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| 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 ... |
11 |
| Australian ARIA ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... Singles Chart |
21 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 27 |