Elegant Slumming

Elegant Slumming
Studio album by
M People
Released4 October 1993
RecordedJanuary – May 1993
Studio
Genre
Length55:04
LabelDeconstruction
ProducerM People
M People chronology
Northern Soul
(1991) 		Elegant Slumming
(1993) 		Bizarre Fruit
(1994)
Singles from Elegant Slumming
  1. "One Night in Heaven"
    Released: 14 June 1993
  2. "Moving on Up"
    Released: 13 September 1993
  3. "Don't Look Any Further"
    Released: 22 November 1993
  4. "Renaissance"
    Released: 28 February 1994
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Entertainment WeeklyA[3]
The Independent(favorable)[4]
Music Week[5]
NME7/10[6]
The Observer(favorable)[7]
Smash Hits[8]
Spin(favorable)[9]
The Village VoiceA[10]

Elegant Slumming is the second album by the British dance 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. It re-entered the chart three times in October 1996 and March and September 1997. Its overall sales stand at 759,000 as of September 2020.[11]

The four singles released from the album were all UK Top 10 hits: "One Night in Heaven" (#6) and "Moving on Up" (#2), as well as a cover version of the Dennis Edwards and Siedah Garrett song "Don't Look Any Further", which reached No. 9 in the UK. A fourth hit, "Renaissance", reached No. 5 in the same chart.

The US version was released in 1994 in a separate deal on the Epic label, and replaces 3 tracks with 3 hits from their debut album Northern Soul, which did not have a US release. The album was well received, and "One Night in Heaven" and "Moving on Up" were Billboard No. 1 hits on Hot Dance Club Play.

The original British album won the 1994 UK Mercury Music Prize.

  1. ^ Farley, Keith. "Elegant Slumming – M People". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press.
  3. ^ Jones, Anderson (15 July 1994). "Elegant Slumming". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  4. ^ Thompson, Ben (31 October 1993). "Records". The Independent.
  5. ^ Jones, Alan (9 October 1993). "Market Preview: Mainstream - Albums — Pick of the Week" (PDF). Music Week. p. 19. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  6. ^ George, Iestyn (23 October 1993). "Long Play". NME. p. 35. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Pop Releases". The Observer. 10 October 1993.
  8. ^ Stanton, Pete (29 September 1993). "New Albums: Best New Album". Smash Hits. p. 56. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  9. ^ Bernstein, Jonathan (July 1994). "Heavy Rotation". Spin. p. 16. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  10. ^ Christgau, Robert (17 January 1995). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  11. ^ Copsey, Rob (22 September 2020). "Mercury Prize: The best-selling winning albums". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 September 2020.