Sock Free Hideaway

SONGS THEY NEVER PLAY ON THE RADIO 

  3. IF? & INTASTELLA: not catching the zeitgeist.

PART 1

IF? AND Intastella were 2 MCA signed bands whose magical debuts need re-evaluating. What stopped these bands becoming huge wasn't a lack of ambition on their part, but on the music press. A Face feature in March 1991 shone a much needed light on the club-land posses prevalent at the time. E-Bloc, including a young Tom Rowlands. were just ravers,  albeit with nice hats, whereas the Brain Club in comparison looked edgy and much more style conscious.

Brain promoters; the devilishly impish Sean McLuskey, and Mark Wigan Williams attracted a truly eclectic crowd. You never saw Matt Dillon at the Hacienda. However, the club affiliated band Dub Federation, featuring E-Bloc's Andy Ellison, released 2 singles on McLuskey's Brainiak label and Tom's first band Ariel performed at his legendary club. The idea of a countrywide network was important despite differences as it let these acts escape the Madchester label. Sadly, Intastella couldn't as they were signed to MCA on the strength of it.     

Formed from the remnants of Laugh with fresh additions vocalist Stella Grundy and dancing man Lil' Anthony, like lots of Manchester acts of the era, their debut Dream Some Paradise was awarded NME single of the week. The pulsating throb and sultry vocals still have my head in a tail-spin. By this point, I was in a crushed velvet shirt and learning to control myself a little better, so the idea that I could leave the house and go to the Boardwalk and see my favourite pop-stars was too alluring. A little while earlier I'm stood transfixed at the Ritz watching them support the mighty Word Of Twist. Fast forward a few months later and we're on a coach to see them headline the Powerhaus in that there London, only they didn't.

That was my introduction to Baldie as he was non-perturbed and happy to dance to Dave Haslam's tunes with a coachload of Mancunian. Whereas I on the other hand, was a bit pissed off. They more than made up for it by playing a blistering set during Beautiful 2000, Haslam's own attempt at recreating Temperance, later that summer. For a few short weeks, he succeeded.  

If? by contrast took the capital's hot-spot club by storm but struggled to translate outside. What instantly drew me toward the band was the Fila F, as it was the same as our HCF (High Crompton Firm) insignia. Saturday's Angels is a perfect debut single: euphoric, zoned out and sparkling with show-biz style. Too knowing and cock-sure for its own good. With McLuskey a part of the trio, it couldn't fail to be. Manchester was a bit tribal, to say the least, in 1990. Unlike the WOT, they got better results out of the Grid who stripped away the follow up single If to produce a gem of a tune. 

Intastella was also mindful of the dance-floor, stating, 'we want to bring a bit of dancing back. I know people say you can dance to anything but you can't really do any cool moves to acid.' Watching first hand how the Grid diluted the potency of the distinctive WOT sound, they instead hired Craig Leon of Suicide, Blondie, and Bangles, fame. A seemingly inspired move.

not an all-dayer 

One of the most memorable days in the summer of 91' was their Southport Beach all-dayer. I vividly recall the look of puzzlement on the townsfolk's faces as we descended on their pubs and public spaces. This was a happening, and the band were in their element. A dressy group not quite resonating their sound around a beach, 'but' nevertheless, attracting a crowd. I was still in the sand-dunes after the JAM MCs wound up and woke up believing the revolution had happened. Obviously it hadn't coz this blog piece would be titled Pop's Golden Age. 

Whilst Intastella were good to go, If? Were fine tuning their sound at McLuskey's Love Ranch. His latest nightclub phenomenon The fact both bands could now cut the mustard live meant their TOTP appearances wouldn't in any way be hindered by the 1991 miming ban.

PART 2

INTASTELLA AND the Family of People LP finally hit the shops and largely stayed in them. I've just bought an old stock copy for a fiver as a spare. The cover takes me right back to Southport Beach, deluded on the sand-dune. Heaven. Let's not kid ourselves This is cod-psychedelia, but replace inauthentic with stylistic borrowings that steal from one generation to address another in a wholly unique way. 

This is also post-club music before the term post-club music had been invented, made by people actually out clubbing as a way of life. When the NME journo's called, they were probably all still in bed, so Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine got on their cover instead. A few short years later, this band would've been massive after the NME finally learned how to stay up late.

Opener, Overdrive is a groove laden affair with a coda that would really get Floyd fans back up given half the chance. Nothing like a knowing pun to set them off. If WOT's album was a dalliance with Their Satanic Majesties best bits, then this is a dalliance with Yellow Submarines worst bits and all the better for it. People make that explicit but thankfully replace all the Eastern mysticism with plain speak and enough quirky synths to send you to the strange place. Bendy is lyrical genius; 'I have a friend, a very special kind of person, spends all his town up a tower, doing heads, blowing mind. He'll probably make it.' I'm guessing Noel was listening. Its driving rhythms persist and keep the album fizzing with lots of banal but perfectly affected words breathing out. 

France is my personal favourite and makes me dance like a train. 'Keep your love around' is the instruction and that is what I do, always. Century should've been top 20. Thanks to the internet I now know that Stella's dazzling dress was made and designed by Candida Moriarty. Now you do too. Closer Arrival showcases the astral fretwork of a time served group hitherto played down on this atmosphere infused album. Craig Leon deserves credit for producing an album that endures brilliantly.

Before Leftfield became a household name, they created dance-floor dynamite remixing If?. Open Up Your Head was a staple at Venus and its arresting opening stabs always drew an eager crowd and Everything and More is given more bounce by the duo. When the Love Ranch came to town, their live renditions sounded much more beefed up and anthemic. These are what open their long forgotten album English Boys on the Love Ranch. MCA, by indulging them with studio time, possibly let the boat sail, as the atmospheric rush, sun kissed deviancy, hedonistic adrenaline, rolling piano, and, wide-eyed optimism, that form its basis, all stir together in a box called 1991. Nothing epitomizes this more than Everything's a Groove. Unfortunately, the album finally surfaced in 1992, so it sounded like a frenzied paean to a bygone era upon its release. A bloody good one, mind.

What still resonates is a pop fervour that was largely taken for granted at the time. Pony Girl and On A Day Like This are hidden gems and still glisten brightly with every single play. Saturday's Angels is a magnificent closer and were given a fresh dance-floor potency on Justin Robertson's Most Excellent Vocal Remix. One of his best, in fact. Tragically, you can now buy their entire back catalogue, NM vinyl, for a tenner, including postage. 

MCA sure recognized post club classics when they heard them, but a music press struggling to embrace club culture and even realize that post-clubbing was where it was at, was still of the mind that bands had to be wordy and authentic. This meant more often than not being tied to some mythology that a legendary music journalist had described better than anyone else, ever decades earlier. The music press was basically by 1991 chained to its own historical significance and was largely opposed to pop in all its forms and latterly of major labels. A shame coz Intastella and If? With a devilish twinkle in their eye and a nod to the heavens, released brilliant albums. Both evoke their time and still stand up strong now. 

Like the lying performer always says, 'if just one person connects with my music, my work here is done.'