Mike Pickering

For the footballer, see Mick Pickering.

Mike Pickering
Pickering in 2007
Background information
Born	(1954-02-21) 21 February 1954 (age 71)[1] Manchester, England
Origin	Accrington, Lacanshire, United Kingdom
Occupation(s)	Disc jockey, record producer, A&R Executive, songwriter
Labels	Deconstruction, Sony Music
Spouse	Kate Shepherd. 2021-Present

Mike Pickering (born 21 February 1954), is an English musician, DJ, songwriter, A&R Executive from Manchester, UK.

Career

Pickering was a DJ at The Haçienda's Nude and Hot nights, and later Shine. He worked for Factory Records,^[2] where he signed Happy Mondays, To Hell with Burgundy and James, among others. With Hillegonda Rietveld, he was joint founder, writer and producer of Quando Quango,^[2] and he later founded M People,^[2] for whom he wrote and produced many songs and played saxophone live.^[3]

In 2002 Pickering was one of the curators of New Order's box set Retro compiling the Club disc and contributing sleeve notes to the release.

Pickering then worked for 20 years as A&R within the Columbia label of Sony BMG,^[4] where he worked with the Gossip, Calvin Harris, Kasabian, and the Ting Tings.

In other media

Pickering appeared as himself in the film 24 Hour Party People. He supports Manchester City Football Club, and appeared in the documentary film about the club, Blue Moon Rising in 2010 alongside Noel Gallagher.

References

1. "Mike Pickering on Apple Music". Apple Music - Web Player. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
2. Bush, John. "Biography: M People". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
3. "BBC News | ENTERTAINMENT | Haçienda mementos sold". News.bbc.co.uk. 25 November 2000. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
4. "The Attention Deficit Generation: interview with Mike Pickering". Fluxmagazine.com. 22 April 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2020.