Saturday, February 18, 2012

The La's - There She Goes

Astute readers may look at this post and think, "Isn't this song from the early 1990s?"  And they would be half-right (but let's say wrong for the purpose of this blog).

The story of The La's centers around Lee Mavers, your garden-variety perfectionist/musical genius.  Creatively, Mavers was The La's, although there have been a succession of musicians who worked with him over the years.  The band formed in Liverpool in the mid 1980s, and signed their first recording contract in 1987.

The first version of "There She Goes" was released in 1988, and hit #59 on the UK charts, hence my assertion that this song belongs on the blog.  However, work on their self-titled first album took two additional years, before finally being released in 1990.  The remixed version of the song (from the LP) reappeared on the UK charts (#14) and hit the U.S. charts in 1991 (#49).  With the success of their first album, Mavers was given additional autonomy to record his second album.  This turned out to be a disastrous decision.  Work on the follow up LP started in 1991, but was never completed (the project was apparently abandoned in the mid-1990s).  Sadly, aside from an occasional appearance, Mavers has disappeared from view.

In terms of the song, it is a catchy 60s-influenced pop song with an unusual structure.  The song has no verses -- just a chorus (repeated 4 times) and a bridge.  And yet, the unusual structure only seems to add to the appeal.  There are unconfirmed rumors that "There She Goes" is about heroin use or is an allusion to "There She Goes Again" (Velvet Underground).  Or perhaps it is just a simple, honest love song.  Regardless, it has aged well and is now something of a rock standard.

As befits a song with a complex, interesting history, there are two videos.  And what kind of lame blog would this be if we didn't show our (few) loyal readers both versions?

The first version was shot in 1988:



And the second version came out in 1990:


Cool trivia fact:  the La's version of "There She Goes" has charted 4 separate times in the UK -- in 1988 (#59), 1990 (#14), 1999 (#65), and 2008 (#181).

5 comments:

  1. Ahm, what's the name of the girl in the second video? she's pretty..

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  2. Candyboi, thanks for checking in. I do not know the name of the woman in the second video. If anyone reading this does know who she is, please leave a quick comment below.

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  3. Amazing band. Listen to Son of a Gun, and then their other three singles in Timeless Melody, Feelin' and Way Out. Then check out their only album, it's one of my favourites.

    Son of a Gun http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np4mAy-HlmQ

    Timeless Melody - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cveh8ycOgA

    Feelin' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBwU7cPcGn0

    Way Out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7PQh0ZgA_U

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  4. i can see why these are called rare, i can't find much info of this band could you possibly send me theses two videos
    my email is manny_07_ramz@hotmail.com
    if u can't could u please tell me where you found them
    i would really appreciate it

    thank you

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  5. Hey Manny, I think that I found them on YouTube. If any other users have comments, please send them to Manny at the email above.

    ReplyDelete