Robbed hit of the week 12/26/17 - The La's' "There She Goes"...
from the album The La's (1990)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #49
This week's "robbed hit" comes from the British alternative rock band the La's, who got their start in Liverpool in the early 80's under guitarist and singer, Mike Badger, who was originally joined by Lee Mavers, who in no time took over the band entirely, with Badger exiting by 1986. Their first single, "Way Out", got them a minor British hit at #86 and critical buzz. Two years later, their second release, "There She Goes", climbed a little higher, at #57, but conflict between the band, which had been shuffling members like cards (only bassist John Power was a relative standby), and an assortment of producers, dragged the recording of their first album all the way to 1990. And even those sessions, with Steve Lillywhite, weren't what Mavers wanted to put out, but the record company, who had shelled out a ton on these, simply forced their debut and only album The La's out. The original version of "There She Goes" was produced by Bob Andrews (Graham Parker & The Rumour, Brinsley Schwarz), and had a lo-fi indie edge to it..
Lillywhite punched up the arrangement a bit, and fleshed out a song that was all chorus and no verse...
While the 1990 version of the single finally reached the British top-40 at #13, and spent a week at #2 on Billboard's Modern Rock radio chart, it stalled right above the halfway mark on the pop Hot 100 list in America in August of 1991. The single also reached #18 in Ireland and was a minor hit in the Netherlands at #57. A follow-up, "Timeless Melody", climbed to #12 on the American Modern Rock chart and peaked at #57 in the UK. A final release from the album, "Feelin'", just missed the British top-40 at #43.
Because of the nature of the release of the album, and Mavers' general instability, the band disintegrated after touring in 1992. He continued under the name, with the label releasing archival music and various repackages through the 90s. Mavers and Powers occasionally have reunited to tour as well, but in general The La's were one of those shine bright then fade away one-offs whose big moment should've been a top-40 hit here in the States.
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Here's the band appearing live on TV in 1990...
And again on the Letterman Show to promote the album in America...
In 1999, American alternative rock band Sixpence None The Richer covered the song, and it finally became a mainstream hit here, reaching #32 on the pop Hot 100, #7 on Billboard's Adult Top-40 format list, and #19 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In the UK it peaked one notch below the La's version, at #14.
Finally, here's the La's reunited for a spot in the Glastonbury Festival in 2005...
Comments