Search for the Hero

There had been a four-and-a-half-month gap between their previous single "Open Your Heart" and this single's release.

Originally planned to be the second single, but delayed for a more radio-friendly single remix, "Search for the Hero" became one of the most familiar M People songs, responsible for propelling the parent album Bizarre Fruit back into the Top 10 in 1995 after having first charted at No. 4 from November 1994.

In June 1995, "Search for the Hero" continued the band's unbroken run of eight consecutive Top 10 singles, entering the chart and peaking at number 9. It had been expected to chart much higher due to very strong radio support, but it stayed in the Top 20 for three weeks like predecessor single: "Open Your Heart". The single dropped out of the top 40 after just five weeks. The two Bizarre Fruit singles "Open Your Heart" and "Search for the Hero" had been swapped by the record company because of the demand for dance music in 1995, so "Search for the Hero" was pushed to be the middle single scheduled for the summer as a precursor to their world tour.

The single sold 88,700 copies in its first week, almost as much as "Renaissance", which a year previously had sold 89,000 in its first week after charting higher at number 5 in February 1994.

This single also got to number 2 on the UK R'n'B Chart behind Bobby Brown's "Two Can Play That Game".

AllMusic editor William Cooper described the song as "jazzy" and noted it as one of the highlights from the Bizarre Fruit album.[1] Another editor, Jon O'Brien called it an "uplifting" anthem.[2] Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that it is an "optimistic pop/hip-hop number" and stated that Heather Small "continues to be a uniquely enchanting front woman, while her partners, Mike Pickering and Paul Heard, prove their mettle as tunesmiths who require attention beyond the parameters of nightclubs".[3] Jeremy Biser from The Day said the track can "cure whatever ails the soul."[4] Music & Media stated that "water and fire can be friends after all. Musically big-voiced Ms Small does something inconceivable for many others, namely singing a soulful ballad on quite a heavy rhythm track."[5] People noted the "feel-good mantra" of "Search for the Hero" and said that Small's "booming alto is hard to shake and, like her pineapple-shaped coif, impossible to ignore."[6]

Airplay for the single began five weeks before retail release, entering at number 45 and moving to 31 to 23 to 18 and then to number 15 in its first retail week. Unlike its sales, "Search for the Hero"'s airplay peaked at number 5, where it stayed for two weeks and did not leave the Airplay Top 40 for 13 weeks.

In May 1996, almost a year after release "Search for the Hero" re-entered the airplay chart at number 33 and climbed for five consecutive weeks to peak at number 20. This is therefore one of two singles in the '90s apart from Robbie Williams's "Angels" and Ultra Naté's "Free" to do so , possibly prompted by the songs use in a Peugeot 406 advert that same year.[7]

The music video for "Search for the Hero" was directed by Matthew Amos.[8] The video was shot in early May 1995 in and around the iconic Battersea Power Station in South London on the still disused site with special flame effects and Heather at the forefront with the band playing behind her. A triptych of images are detailed with DNA formulae, people in busy places and body statistics make up this image and foundation of life. Children are also seen running free and playing in the desecration and dilapidation of broken down cars, bricks, mortar, fire and flames.

The whole line up of the band are seen as well as, on drums Andy Gangadeen, Lynieve Austin and Paul Johnson performing on backing vocals within the shell of the Power Station drums. The other images seen are of exploding cars, kids playing on wasteland, smashing glasses bottles and CCTV footage. There are two poignant images in the video are the dolls head falling to the ground and the child swing from the hanging rope noose.

Unusually for an M People single, mixes of the single were heavily R&B and not dance-orientated and were provided by Smith & Mighty. They serviced two mixes of the single in the form of a laid back RnB groove "Searchin mix" and a dub of the same remix. The other mix is from producers Blacksmith with their "Mellow Flava mix". The final track on the single is a live performance recorded in Germany on the Bizarre Fruit Tour earlier in 1995.

Cassette

12" Maxi

1. "Search for the Hero" (Smith & Mighty Searchin Mix)
2. "Search for the Hero" (Smith & Mighty Searchin Dub)
3. "Search for the Hero" (Blacksmith Mellow Flava Mix)
4. "Search for the Hero" (Master Mix)

CD Maxi

1. "Search for the Hero" (Radio mix)
2. "Search for the Hero" (Smith & Mighty Searchin Mix)
3. "Search for the Hero" (Smith & Mighty Searchin Dub)
4. "Search for the Hero" (Blacksmith Mellow Flava Mix)
5. "Search for the Hero" (Live Mix)

In 1996, "Search for the Hero" was used as the background music in a Peugeot 406 television advert. The television advert debuted during ITV’s News at Ten, taking up the entire three minute advert break. The commercial combined the song with a series surreal and controversial images, from a wildlife photographer interacting with an elephant to a child narrowly avoiding being hit by a car, and saw the brand replace its former tagline: "The lion goes from strength to strength" to "The drive of your life".[7]

The song appears in the Father Ted episode "Chirpy Burpy Cheap Sheep". It is played during a training montage where Ted and Dougal try to get Chris the sheep ready for a competition.

The song also appears in the second season of the comedy Derry Girls, in episode 2 when the girls are inspired by their mysterious new English teacher, Ms De Brún.

During the 2020 Conservative Party Conference, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people to "search for hero inside yourself" when discussing the need to maintain a healthy weight during the coronavirus pandemic.[14][15]

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics