The La's

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The La's
Frontman Lee Mavers 1991
Frontman Lee Mavers 1991
General information
origin Liverpool , England
Genre (s) Indie pop , alternative rock , pop rock
founding 1984
resolution 1992
Website the-las.com
Founding members
Mike Badger (1984-1986)
Lee Mavers (1984-1992, 1994 / 95,2005,2011)
Sean Eddleston (1984)

The La’s were a British rock band from Liverpool led by singer and guitarist Lee Mavers . Various guitarists, bassists and drummers played with him. The band formed in 1984 and disbanded in 1992, followed by several short-lived re-foundations between 1994 and 2011 by Mavers. The La's are best known for their pop song There She Goes . It was featured in the UK charts in five different years - four times by The La's itself and once as the cover version of Sixpence None the Richer . First released in 1988, the song was used in several movie soundtracks , including So I Married an Ax Murderer and Fever Pitch . The La's played rock music from the 1960s -Jahre- garage rock , by the Troggs , but also of REM was inspired.

history

Several record labels became aware of the band when they gave several concerts in their hometown of Liverpool in 1986. Previously, bootleg recordings of demos a studio session in Flying Picket -Studio come in Liverpool already in circulation. After several record labels had heard these demos and offered contracts, the band signed with Go! Discs Records .

The first single ( "Way Out," October 1987) was mixed by producer Gavin MacKillop, but generated little interest. Morrissey , singer of the Smiths , praised the song in the music magazine Melody Maker , but otherwise the publication went pretty unnoticed. Five thousand singles were pressed and so the record later became a sought-after rarity by fans of The La's.

In 1988 "There She Goes" was released as a single for the first time . It actually entered the UK charts in January 1989, but at that point it didn't climb above number 59. The band (especially Mavers) took a long time to think about why their songs weren't big hits and didn't get higher in the charts. It was mainly Mavers' perfectionism (Lee Mavers supposedly wanted to throw original 60s dust on the mixer) that kept more material from being released. The third single, "Timeless Melody" , rose again to the lower regions of the hit parade. The band spent two years unsuccessfully in the studio recording their first album for Go! Discs. Various producers (including John Porter, John Leckie and Mike Hedges) tried the production - unsuccessfully, as Mavers was not satisfied with their work. The band's line-up changed constantly - Mavers and bassist John Power remained the only constants.

It wasn't until the end of 1989 that there was some stability in the band, with Neil Mavers (Lee's brother) on drums and Peter James "Cammy" Camell as lead guitarist. The group rented a room at Eden Studios in London, where they tried again in December 1989 to record their debut album. This time the producer was Steve Lillywhite , who could refer to his successes with U2 and Simple Minds . But Mavers and the band were not satisfied with these sessions either. The record company Go! Discs had invested some money in The La's and was getting impatient. Mavers and his bandmates were locked out. Lillywhite mixed an LP from what was available, which was then released as "The La's" . The band and Lee Mavers never approved of this decision.

On the album was a re-recorded version of "There She Goes" , which has now been released as a single. This time the song made it to number 13 on the UK charts. A short promotional tour and television appearances, including in Top of the Pops, followed, and the band toured Great Britain, Europe and the USA in 1991. But the discontent remained. The song There She Goes later became the title track of the RTL series Mein Leben und Ich and can be heard at the beginning of the first episode of the Warner Brothers series Gilmore Girls , a style of music that is apparently formative for GG.

John Power left the band in 1992, frustrated that he'd been playing the same song catalog since 1986, more than five years ago. He formed the band Cast the following year , which picked up where The La’s left off.

With the departure of Power, The La’s were de facto dissolved. Mavers had reportedly written tons of new songs, but there was no other material to publish. It wasn't until 1994 that a band called The La’s with Lee Mavers reappeared - they played a few concerts as supporting acts for acts like Dodgy , Paul Weller and Oasis .

After that, Mavers and The La’s were not heard from for more than ten years - until June 2005. An unpredictable reunion of Mavers and Power (with other musicians at their side) resulted in new The La’s. They played six concerts in the UK and Ireland, as well as several festivals in Japan and Europe that summer , including the Glastonbury Festival . However: the song repertoire was - with a few additional songs - still that of 1989.

occupation

  • Lee Mavers (born August 2, 1962) - vocals, guitar (1984-2011)
  • John Power (born September 14, 1967) - bass (1986-1992, 2005)
  • John Byrne - guitar (1986)
  • Paul Hemmings - guitar (1987–1990)
  • John Timson - Drums (1986–1988)
  • Chris Sharrock (Ex- The-Icicle-Works ) - drums (1988/89)
  • Neil Mavers (born July 8, 1971) - Drums (1989-1992)
  • James Joyce (born September 23, 1970) - bass
  • Cammy (Peter James Camell, born June 30, 1967) - guitar (1989–1992)
  • Jay Lewis - guitar (2005)
  • Nick Miniski - drums (2005)
  • Jasper - drums (2005)
  • Gary Murphy - bass (2011)

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1990 The La's UK30th
gold
gold

(26 weeks)UK 		US196 (1 week)
US
First published: October 1, 1990

Compilations

  • 2000: Breakloose: Lost La's 1984–1986
  • 2001: Callin 'All: Lost La's 1986–1987
  • 2001: Singles Collection
  • 2006: BBC in session
  • 2008: Lost Tunes
  • 2008: The La's - Deluxe Edition
  • 2010: De Freitas Sessions '87
  • 2010: Callin 'All (4 CD box)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK US US
1987 Way Out
The La’s 		UK86 (2 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: November 2, 1987
1988 There She Goes
The La’s 		UK13
platinum
platinum

(23 weeks)UK 		US49 (10 weeks)
US
First published: October 31, 1988
1990 Timeless Melody
The La’s 		UK57 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: September 3, 1990
1991 Feelin '
The La’s 		UK43 (3 weeks)
UK 		-
First published: February 4, 1991

literature

  • MW Macefield: In Search of the La's: A Secret Liverpool, Paperback, Helter Skelter Publishing, 2003; ISBN 1-900924-63-3 .
  • MC Strong (ed.): The Great Rock Discography, 3rd Ed., P. 474, Edinburgh / Ffm. 1996, ISBN 0-86241-604-3 .
  • J. Buckley / M. Ellingham (ed.): Rock - The Rough Guide, p. 491, London 1996, ISBN 1-85828-201-2 .
  • David Roberts (ed.): Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, 14th Ed., London 2001, ISBN 0-85112-156-X .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Süddeutsche Zeitung (ed.): "1988" The LA's (p. 47)
  2. ↑ a b Chart sources: UK US
  3. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK