Intastella were an alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band from Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 who evolved from the earlier band Laugh. They had four top-75 hits in the UK during the 1990s.

History

Laugh formed in 1985 with a line-up of Martin Wright (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Ian Bendelow (guitar), Martin Mittler (bass guitar), and Spencer Birtwistle (drums, later a member of The Fall). Their debut release was "Take Your Time Yeah!", a flexi-disc included with Debris magazine in December 1985, with three further singles following prior to their only album, Sensation No. 1 (1988). The band had two placings on the UK Independent Chart with "Paul McCartney" (which featured Smiths

The Smiths

The Smiths were an English alternative rock band, formed in Manchester in 1982. Based on the song writing partnership of Morrissey and Johnny Marr , the band also included Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce...

 guitarist Craig Gannon

Craig Gannon

Craig Gannon , is an English guitar player. Previously best known for being the second guitarist in The Smiths, he is now a composer for film and television.-Career:...

) (#44) and "Time to Lose It" (#19), and recorded two sessions for John Peel

John Peel

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...

's BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

 show.

In 1990 the band parted ways with guitarist Bendelow and discovered singer Stella Grundy and dancer Lil' Anthony, changing their sound to a more dance-oriented style and changing their name to Intastella. They signed to MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

 and hit the lower reaches of the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 with their first release, "Dream Some Paradise". Two follow-up singles fared similarly, and in late 1991 the band's debut album, Intastella and the Family of People was issued. The band's momentum was lost after Grundy broke her arm in a motorcycle accident, and they were dropped by MCA, returning in 1993 on the Planet-3 label with the Drifter EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, on which they worked with Shaun Ryder

Shaun Ryder

Shaun William Ryder, aka X, is an English musician, occasional newspaper columnist, actor, author, singer-songwriter and television personality, best known as lead singer for Happy Mondays and Black Grape – and more recently as the runner-up of the 2010 version of the British TV Show I'm a...

. The band's biggest hit came in 1995, with "The Night" reaching #60 in the UK, preceding their second album, What You Gonna Do. Further singles followed during 1996 and 1997 but none repeated their earlier success. One of these, "Grandmaster", was used on the soundtrack of the 1997 film Love in Paris

Love in Paris

Love in Paris is a romance/drama film released in 1997, a sequel to 1986's 9½ Weeks. In the United States, it was released as Another 9½ Weeks.Mickey Rourke stars, reprising his original role as John Gray. Angie Everhart co-stars...

. A final album, Nuphonia, was released in 1997.

Grundy later emerged with a new band, Stella & the Doggs.

Singles, EPs

• "Take Your Time Yeah!" (1985), Debris (flexi-disc)
• "Take Your Time Yeah!" (1986), Remorse (12")
• "Paul McCartney" (1987), Remorse (7") - UK Indie #44
• "Time To Lose It" (1988), Remorse (7") - UK Indie #19
• "Sensation No.1 EP (1988), Sub Aqua (7"/12")

Albums

• Intastella and the Family of People (1991), MCA
• What You Gonna Do (1995), Planet-3
• Nuphonia (1997), Planet-3
• Intastella Overdrive (2002), Castle Music - compilation

Singles, EPs

• "Dream Some Paradise" (1991), MCA - (UK
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
  #69)
• "People" (1991), MCA - UK #74
• "Century" (1991), MCA - UK #70
• Drifter EP (1993), Planet-3
• "Point Hope" (1994), Planet-3
• "The Night" (1995), Planet-3 - UK #60
• "Grandmaster" (1996), Planet-3
• "Past" (1996), Planet-3
• "Skyscraper Koolaid" (1997), Planet-3
• "Soon We'll Fly" (1997), Planet-3