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Sight for Sore Eyes

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For the Aerosmith song, see Draw the Line (Aerosmith album).
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve
this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (June 2011)

"Sight For Sore Eyes"

Single by M People

from the album Bizarre Fruit

Released

7 November 1994

Format

7" single, 12" maxi

CD single, cassette

Recorded

1994

Genre

Dance , Techno

Length

3:57

Writer(s)

Mike Pickering, Paul Heard,Heather Small

Producer(s)

M People

Certification

Gold

M People singles chronology

"Renaissance"

"Sight for Sore

"Open Your

(1994)

Eyes"

Heart"

(1994)

(1995)

"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 7 November 1994. The
song peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart.
Contents
[hide]

1 Background
2 Composition
3 Chart performance
4 Airplay
5 Music video
6 Live performances
7 Remixes/B-sides
8 Track listings
9 Charts
10 References
11 External links

Background[edit]
The band had scored four consecutive Top 10 singles from the previous album Elegant
Slumming and toured the UK and Europe twice, but over the summer of 1994, worked quickly and
resolutely to continue their sizeable success, recording new album Bizarre Fruit, and the first fruits of
their labour were in the form of Sight for Sore Eyes.

Composition[edit]
This section possibly contains original research. Please improve
it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting
only of original research should be removed.(September 2011)
The song was recorded at the Roundhouse in Chalk Farm, London. The song starts with a gospelesque 'harmonised' warm-up by the backing vocalists accompanied with a building piano with lead
vocals by the unmistakable voice of Heather Small.
The key refrain #"Ain't love, ain't love, ain't love a surprise"# is bellowed by Heather and then other
key elements are introduced, most notably synths and a subtle allegro acenato (quick and
accentuated) piano movement during the verses with Small's vocals more prominent than on
previous singles. In the chorus breaks, an Italo house style chord progression and sequenced
bleeps granuliser synths[clarification needed] lead up to the verses. Like "One Night in Heaven", the melody
line is guided by the insistently infectious deep Moog bass line, programmed drumming, percussion
drumming and layered high hat synths and a four-to-the-floor house beat. This is underlined by
subtle strings and euphoric chords during the actual choruses. The Italo house style is most
punctuated during the middleeight piano-break.

Chart performance[edit]
Like previous single, Sight for Sore Eyes became the fifth consecutive single to enter the Top 10. It
also, for only the second time since One Night in Heaven seventeen months previous, promptly
climbed the next week. It is the only the second M People single to climb within the Top 10. It
entered the chart at number 8 and following huge club support and some major performances on
British television, most notably Top of the Pops saw a massive surge in sales to then peak in its
second week at number 6.
A lot of pressure was on the first single of the new album, to continue in the success of Renaissance
which peaked at 5, but in two weeks the single sold over 150,000 copies, to not only continue but
surpass previous successes and Sight for Sore Eyes became M People's third biggest selling single,
behind "Moving on Up" and "One Night in Heaven".
The single entered the chart at number 8 with sales of 79,000 copies in its first week and another
89,000 copies in its second week to rise and peak at number 6 and a further 63,000 in its third week
to chart at number 9. The single spent three weeks in the Top 10 and chart positions went from
number 8 to 6 to 9 to 17 to 20 to 26 to 27 to 43 to 71. This single spent nine weeks on the chart and
left in early January 1995.

Airplay[edit]
Sight for Sore Eyes was serviced to radio five weeks before physical release on Monday 1 October
as the eagerly awaited brand new song to continue the unbroken string of five consecutive top 5
Airplay hits. Radio was quick to play the single, with Top supporters in the being the Capital Radio
group, Galaxy and BBC Radio 1, who all placed the song on their A-List/Single if the Week. By the
end of week one on airplay, the single had become the highest new entry being played 539 times on
UK Radio placing it straight in at Number 45.
Growing anticipation of the new album and the very radio friendly sound propelled the single up the
airplay chart and received plaudits form DJs, as a result the single climbed from 45 to 31 to 19 to 9
to the week before release. At this point the song peaked at number 3 on airplay for two weeks and
stayed in the top 10 for another three weeks becoming a firm radio favourite. It then took another ten
weeks to leave the Airplay Top 75 which meant it was still being heavily played when its
successor Open Your Heart was released to radio. This had only happened once before with "One

Night in Heaven" and "Moving on Up" and would happen again with future singles Just for
You and Fantasy Island.

Music video[edit]
It features the four main members of the band who are performing to the song throughout,
accompanied by Andy Gangadeen on drums, Paul Johnson and Lynieve Austin on backing vocals.
Within the studio, there are two main colour themes, red and blue. And the starting shot of empty
cars leaned up against each other and twelve people dressed in dark mechanic overalls with their
backs facing the camera all dancing up against the cars in the background. To the fore, is Heather
dancing on the spot and very much reflecting the general happy mood of the video, surrounded by
her band mates: Mike Pickering on guitar, Paul Heard on first and second keyboard and Shovell on
Bongos.
To incorporate the overall metal theme of the new album there are cutaways of sparks flying as
metalwork is carried out mechanics and close ups of booted-feet dancing to the music.
The video was filmed entirely in a North London studio, by the legendary British photographer and
film director Terence Donovan, and filmed in one day on 29 September 1994. Donovan had taken
several promotional photos of the band for merchandise and tours between 19941996 and was
considered[by whom?] a very good friend of the band. They dedicated their next album Fresco (1997) to
him following his untimely death.

Live performances[edit]
When performed live, Sight for Sore Eyes gets arguably one of the largest rapturous audience
responses, alongside "One Night in Heaven", "Moving on Up" and "Search for the Hero". During
the Bizarre Fruit, Bizarre Fruit II tours as well as T in the Park in 1995 proved to be an enormous
crowd pleaser played with additional Percussion obligato by Shovell in the middle eight break to add
to the Italo house style. Some additional rhythm guitar and saxophone ad-libs are also played
throughout and during the Italo house break towards the latter half of the song is greeted by
audience whoops.

Remixes/B-sides[edit]
At the time of release only one remix of the single was readily available by the Hed Boys and their
'Post Op' Mix, a much sought after E-Smoove Mix was being heavily rotated on the dance floor but
was not made available for general issue until it featured on CD2 of successor single Open Your
Heart nearly three months later.
The B-side was album track 'Sugartown' providing people with a sampler as to what the album may
sound like showing that M People could also do a funk Soul song with a melodic groove.

Track listings[edit]
CSS
1. "Sight for Sore Eyes" (Radio Edit) 3.57
2. "Sugartown" 4.36
7" Mini
1. "Sight for Sore Eyes" (Radio edit) 3.44
2. "Sugartown" 4.36
12" Maxi

1.
2.
3.
4.

"Sight for Sore Eyes" (Radio Edit) 3.57

"Sight for Sore Eyes" (Master Mix) 6.13
"Sight for Sore Eyes" (Hed Boys Post Op Mix) 10.12
"Sugartown" 4.36

1.
2.
3.
4.

"Sight for Sore Eyes" (Radio Edit) 3.57

"Sight for Sore Eyes" (Master Mix) 6.13
"Sight for Sore Eyes" (Hed Boys Post Op Mix) 10.12
"Sugartown" 4.36

CD Maxi

Charts[edit]
Peak
position

Chart (1994)

Australia (ARIA)

20

Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[1]

24

Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[2]

New Zealand (RIANZ)

17

United Kingdom (The Official Charts Company)[3]

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Belgian peak
2. Jump up^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sislt hitin - levyt ja esittjt
Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.).
Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
3. Jump up^ UK Singles Chart [1] (Retrieved 28 March 2009)

External links[edit]

Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[hide]

M People

Heather Small
Mike Pickering
Paul Heard
Shovell

Studio albums

Northern Soul
Elegant Slumming
Bizarre Fruit
Bizarre Fruit II
Fresco

Compilations

The Best of M People

Testify
Ultimate Collection
One Night in Heaven: The Best of M People

Remix albums

Ultimate Collection: The Remixes

Singles

"How Can I Love You More?"

"Colour My Life"
"Someday"
"Excited"
"One Night in Heaven"
"Moving On Up"
"Don't Look Any Further"
"Renaissance"
"Sight for Sore Eyes"
"Open Your Heart"
"Search for the Hero"
"Love Rendezvous"
"Itchycoo Park "
"Just for You"
"Fantasy Island"
"Angel St"
"Testify"
"Dreaming"

Related articles

Discography
Deconstruction Records

Categories:

M People songs

1994 singles

Songs written by Mike Pickering

Songs written by Heather Small

Songs written by Paul Heard

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This page was last modified on 9 December 2014 at 22:10.

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