Watch The La’s play ‘There She Goes’ on Letterman in 1991
You can’t manufacture good timing. Being in the right place at the right time isn’t a skill – it’s a force of nature that requires luck, perseverance, and quite a bit of random chance. Rock and roll history is littered with bands who were just ahead of the curve (and plenty who were far behind it) in terms of what the public was willing to listen to. Few bands of the early 1990s epitomise that notion more than The La’s.
Part 1960s throwback and part glimpse into the explosion of Britpop, The La’s formed in the early 1980s but only began to truly find their sound when guitarist and singer Lee Mavers joined the band in 1984. For the next decade, members would come and go with astounding frequency, often leaving just Mavers and bassist John Powers to find new guitarists and drummers.
By 1990, Mavers brought in his brother Neil as drummer and guitarist Peter Camell to make a solid go at trying to record an album. Just like band members had, producers and engineers came and went at an alarming rate, with Mavers being nearly impossible to please. Famous names like John Leckie, known for his work with XTC, and Mike Hedges, who helped define the studio sound of The Cure, were brought in and promptly shown the door as the band continued to record and re-record Mavers’ material.
Eventually, Steve Lilywhite, most famous for his work on albums by U2 and Peter Gabriel, was brought in to try and finally bring the LP to its final stages. Lilywhite completed the album, but Mavers was vocally displeased with the final results. Still, after three years of attempts, The La’s finally saw the light of day in October of 1990, and The La’s dutifully embarked on a promotional tour and scattered television appearances.
One of those stops happened to be on Late Night with David Letterman, where the band showed up to play one of the few songs from the album that had already been released years prior as a single, ‘There She Goes’. The gig was their American television debut and wound up being one of their only major American appearances. Tellingly, only Mavers and Powers are playing with Letterman’s in-house band.
The La’s found critical acclaim upon release but only experienced moderate commercial success. Not long after their appearance on Letterman, Powers opted to leave The La’s, frustrated with the band’s lack of success and Mavers’ inability to move the band forward with new material. By 1992, The La’s were no longer an active band, but Mavers’ considerable debts required him to reform the group with various lineups for reunion shows, some of which found the band opening for a group who took a large amount of influence from them: Oasis.
Mavers never managed to pull together another set of songs for a second album, nor could he keep a solid lineup of The La’s together for long enough for any kind of substantial tour. In 2005, Mavers and Powers reunited for a full reunion tour and there were even rumours that this lineup would record the band’s long-delayed sophomore album. That never materialised, and without Powers, The La’s played their final shows as a band in 2011, with Mavers returning to his reclusive lifestyle since then.
Check out The La’s American television debut on Late Night with David Letterman down below.
