"The People in Me" is a song by the American

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock and roll that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The sty ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

The Music Machine The Music Machine was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1966. Fronted by chief songwriter and lead vocalist Sean Bonniwell, the band cultivated a characteristically dark and rebellious image reflected in an untamed mus ...

, written by

Sean Bonniwell Thomas Harvey "Sean" Bonniwell (August 16, 1940 – December 20, 2011) was an American singer-songwriter/guitarist, who was known as the creative force behind the 1960s garage rock band, The Music Machine. Bonniwell was quoted in Richie Unterb ...

, and was first released as a track on their debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

(Turn On) The Music Machine ''(Turn On) The Music Machine'' is the debut album by the American garage rock band the Music Machine, and was released on Original Sound Records on December 31, 1966. It arrived just months after the group's hit single, "Talk Talk", propelled t ...

'' in December 1966 on

Original Sound Records Original Sound is a Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States afte ...

Background

The song was also released as the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

to the group's second

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, which was distributed on January 21, 1967. Like many of Bonniwell's compositions, "The People in Me"'s lyrical content featured a gloomy rebellious mood, with eerie

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

by Bonniwell, and it explored with a hard-edged variation of

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

. It also featured guitarist Mark Landon's wiry distorted guitar melodies, joined by

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

near the conclusion of the song. Though it was considered a strong follow-up to their debut release "

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drummer), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles "Talk Talk (Talk Talk s ...

", the song suffered from inadequate airplay when the band's management angered radio producers for exclusively airing the single on a rival station. Bonniwell would pen much more experimental compositions, but the dispute damaged The Music Machine's prospects for another charting hit.

Personnel

* Mark Landon -

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

Keith Olsen Keith Alan Olsen (May 12, 1945 – March 9, 2020) was an American record producer and sound engineer, who worked with Magnum, Rick Springfield, Fleetwood Mac, Ozzy Osbourne, the Grateful Dead, Whitesnake, Pat Benatar, Heart, Santana, Saga, ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals * Ron Edgar -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Doug Rhodes Doug Rhodes, (born May 28, 1945) is an American multi-instrumentalist, who performed with 1960s rock bands the Music Machine and the Millennium. Growing up in Garden Grove, California, Rhodes began his music career as a jazz saxophonist at the ...

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Chart performance

"The People in Me", with the flip side "Masculine Intutition", was the final Music Machine single to chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it peaked at number 66.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:People in Me 1966 songs The Music Machine songs Songs written by Sean Bonniwell