September 1988-February 1989
Three’s a Crowd was formed in September 1988 by Peter Crowther (ex-Workshop Band), Simon Heywood (ex-Waggonload of Monkeys) and Jenny Smith (ex-Smith Square). It was originally formed to provide music for the Manchester University Folk (Music and) Dance Society. Hence, the band had a repertoire ranging from standard Irish session tunes to Playford, Morris and American.
February 1989 - May 1989
By February 1989 the band had expanded to a five piece, adding Simon Dew and Carolyn Higson, and changed the name to Melandra, after the old Roman fortress near Glossop.
May 1989 - May 1991
In the summer of 1989, Martin Keates (ex-Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot and Twisted Flax member) joined the band on drums. Simon Dew switched to playing woodwinds and mandolin. This line-up remained fairly stable for 2 years.
Jenny Smith was occasionally unavailable; on these dates Richard Pickwick stood in for her on fiddle and hurdy gurdy. At first the line-up with Richard Pickwick played under the name Ad Hoc. However, as Richard stood in more and more frequently, this name was eventually abandoned. On some occasions, Rich and Jenny played together, making the band into a septet.
The band also experimented with adding a singer, Sarah Woods. Other people also stood in for the band in 1991: Alistair on fiddle and Rob Hall (from his eponymous Jazz Convention) on bass.
At the end of May 1991, Jenny, Simon Dew, Martin and Simon Heywood left the sextet line-up: Simon Dew to form a jazz folk duo with Rob Hall, Martin Keates and Simon Heywood to form a new ceilidh band. Jenny concentrated on her medical studies.
May 1991 - May 1992
Melandra continued to work. Peter and Carolyn recruited Steve Fotios, Paul Cliff and Paul Murphy to form a new line-up. Dara Cogan joined them for about half of their gigs.
May 1992 - 1994
1994 - 1996