Heather Small has opened up on the backlash she received following M People’s 1994 Mercury Prize win for their second album ‘Elegant Slumming’.
The group’s sophomore effort beat tough competition from Blur, The Prodigy, Pulp and Paul Weller, but Heather recalls their victory didn’t go down well with all of their competitors.
“It was real tough competition and there were even people who were in the running who thought that we shouldn’t have won,” she tells Retro Pop’s October 2022 issue. “The reaction from some of the music press really was that they were outraged.
“‘How dare this pop dance band take this prize,’ because at first it was won by an indie band [Primal Scream] and people just had the idea that it was an indie prize. But it wasn’t, it was about music.”
She adds: “It was an honour to be in that line-up. I didn’t think that we would win, so it was a refreshing change that we were given the award.
“But at the end of the day, what does it mean? It doesn’t mean much if you don’t have an audience. If you have an audience, you can still do what you love to do and that’s the biggest reward of all.”
It’s a mindset that helped the musician overcome obstacles throughout her life and rise to the top and, following the release of her celebratory solo album ‘Colour My Life’ – feature reworkings of classics from her three-decade career, along with new recordings – she remains defiant.
“I’m a Black, female, working class immigrant – there’s lots of things that people think I should be ashamed of and would like to hurl stones at me for,” she candidly admits. “Whatever I do, the first thing people see is my colour and I have been made to feel ashamed of that.
“In my youth and growing up, at the time, I didn’t know any better, because you’re a child and you want to fit in. I accept myself and I’m not embarrassed by it – and you shouldn’t be. Gender, sexuality, colour, race, religion – because the minute that you are, people see it as your Achilles heel and they will torture you.”
The Moving On Up hitmaker insists: “I don’t want to be tolerated. I want to be accepted. I want to be celebrated. So I found friends, and people that were like my family, that accepted me the way that I am, and I could progress and move forward and do that for others.”
And looking to the future, Heather hints she plans to release another new album sooner rather than later, teasing: “I do have one bubbling. I don’t think it will be as long as 16 years for new music now that I’ve seen that people have an appetite for it and they’re willing to support me. That means everything.”
‘Colour My Life’ is available now.
Read the full interview in the October 2022 edition of Retro Pop, out now. Order yours or subscribe via our Online Store, use our Store Finder to locate your nearest stockist, or get Digital Copies delivered direct to your devices.
