The La's - The Record is Bad - 1990 interview
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- Опубліковано 20 лис 2023
- The La's - interviewed for German Television 1990. Part of this interview is heavily overdubbed in German, which perhaps explains why it has never appeared on UA-cam, until now. Taken from my own VHS tape, which I received as part of a tape trade with a friend in Germany over 30 years ago.
The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single "There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike Badger in 1983 and Mavers joined the next year, although for most of the group's history, the frequently changing line-up revolved around the core duo of Lee Mavers (vocals, guitar) and John Power (bass, backing vocals) along with numerous other guitarists and drummers including Paul Hemmings, John "Timmo" Timson, Peter "Cammy" Cammell, Iain Templeton, John "Boo" Byrne, Chris Sharrock, Barry Sutton and Neil Mavers.
After the departure of Badger in late 1986, the band signed to Go! Discs in 1987 and commenced recording of their debut album. Following the release of singles "Way Out" (1987), "There She Goes" (1988) and "Timeless Melody" (1990) and having aborted several recording sessions with different producers, the band released their debut album The La's in 1990 to critical acclaim and modest commercial success. John Power left The La's to form Cast and the group entered a prolonged hiatus in 1992 which lasted almost two decades. The group later reformed briefly in the mid-1990s, 2005 and 2011. However, no new recordings have been released.
#thelas #cast #johnpower
Yes it is very short & some partly overdubbed in German, but if I don't release it, no-one might ever do so.
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the blinking mannequin strategically placed next to lee was a master stroke
🤣
😂😂😂😂😂
How could they make that album better, its sounds ace as it is! Classic!
In my opinion he wanted it to sound rawer, like early Rockabilly recordings from the '50s. No overdubs or extra effect / modern production treatments to make it smoother, just a few well-positioned microphones. If you watch live footage of them you can hear the band had it down without needing studio gloss applied. The songs and performances were strong enough on their own. Having said that I love the album too but can understand if you suddenly hear even little changes being applied without your consent it might disconcert or even horrify the artist.
in short, the truth of it is Mavers took damaging amounts of Acid during the early 90s which made him become obsessed with and chase a sound in his head that never actually existed. Shame because some of those songs for the follow up album are absolutely breath taking.
@@selfempower3960 like skiffle?
@@factoryfactory7142 yeah course, bit of washboard, spoon playing, jug bass...
Just record a live gig and clean it up a bit. Simple
Thank you ‘la! Superb quality deserved for a band like The La’s. Hope there is more of this group in your archives! 🤞
There's lots more already uploaded to this channel, I hope you find it🙂
A Scouser named Lee. Very good. I love the album. I adore the album. But if Lee wasn't happy with it then fair enough cos they were his songs.
Beautiful sentiment from Lee
But...but...but. I love the La's and I love their album. Am I wrong? Just love it.
Lee Mavers is what ever there is beyond a perfectionist. Made one album, hated it, then never made another. So many of us love that album, but after many recordings, he was never happy with it.
yep, I love that album!
You are not wrong - however, if you picked up all the archive material that has been released in the years since and created a playlist of the songs on the album using different versions you will find an even greater album in there. Start with the “BBC Sessions” and you will know what I mean.
Absolutely love The La's, they do indeed walk alone!
Wow! Very hard words!
The released version is the most “produced/poppiest/radio-friendly/pro” sounding-which I guess bugged him and I get that. Then again, everything bugged him. I wonder if they would’ve been as successful had one of the other less “stripped down” versions been released. I have my doubts. My fave is the Pete De Freitas version. Too bad the recording/tape quality isn’t so great. It (unsurprisingly, I guess) has an Echo & The Bunnymen vibe to me. Maybe that would’ve been seen as not new/unique/original/fresh-sounding enough for the British press. I wish there was a “real” “mastered” version of the DeFreitas sessions. The Mike Hedges version is maybe too close to the “final” released version except “demo”-sounding and with entirely too much reverb on the vocals. At the end of the day, it’s REALLY hard to argue against the version that got released-unless you’re Lee Mavers.
Thank you, you Legend.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment Steven 🙂
There has been so many other sessions/versions of those songs that have become officially available in the years since the actual album was released, and to be honest I do understand Lee’s point. The “BBC Sessions” album alone is vastly superior to the official version of the album, then there is the box set and the deluxe edition and other versions of the songs that ended up being released on the Viper label that are far superior to what was released at the time. Lee unfortunately came to prominence in the ‘80’s and digital music was in vogue.
I like the original album, but I’ve made playlists of other versions of the album that are far better/preferable. The album has almost become like The Beach Boys album “Smile” or Big Star’s “Third” - fan versions that are always better than what was actually released.
The whole experience totally turned Lee off the music business - which is a shame as it’s known that Lee continued to write even greater songs than what was officially released on that “debut” record, Lee has no desire to release them to the world, he doesn’t want the hassle, and I don’t blame him.
Shame that we will never hear them. That’s life.
I saw The La’s once in 2005 - and they were incredible.
Lee knows how good he is and doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody.
Thank you for sharing this.
Well said.
Lee wasn't happy with the Production of Steve Lillywhite.
I’m 26 years old but i miss this guy’s music, please Lee just grab your guitar and play something thats all la’
I can't gwt my head round this. One of my favourite albums ever.
This is pure gold!
Saw them on my 30th birthday. I think it was in the place that used to be called the Cathouse?🤔…near the Garage, behind the chip shop, next to the student flats🤣
Penny for your thoughts, Neil...
A better quality version of Son of A Gun they performed along side There She Goes would be fantastic. Mavers voice is fantastic on it.
The Night Network version, I'm guessing. Yeah, incredible vocals. They would have done a fantastic MTV Unplugged album had they stuck around long enough.
I remember seeing footage of him trying to sing there she goes in a pub solo acoustic and it was not good. It made me sad to think that he chose not to continue sharing his music with people and deteriorated to that degree. How excited would you be to see that guy get up to play a song.
Never meet your heroes but let's be honest , most artists caught of guard and totally smashed in the pub arn't gonna sound their best
@tabularasa7775 That's fair, but it was alarmingly bad
@@K33f11 Lol i can imagine it to be fair ... I'm a stone roses fan so have to be extra forgiving for terrible live vocals 😂 Ashcroft vocals though , one of the best of the times .
@tabularasa7775 Yeah, I was fortunate enough to see Ashcroft 20 years ago. Great singer
Oh that whole “…the record is bad…” bullshit did my head at the time, and still does. 33 years has proved Lee and the band wrong… it was miles ahead of the Roses debut and anything else that came out of Liverpool or Manchester 1989-94. But there you go. At least we have Cast. 🤣 😂 😳 (I wish I'd kept the 7" single of There She Goes I had with the badge in it!)
Pretty much everyone thinks their albums end up being poor versions of what they could have been. John Lennon said he only heard his mistakes.
It's a magnificent album, of course. It's weird to me that people dismiss Steve Lillywhite as U2's producer (not a bad thing to be, really, and I love the space he gives to the backing vocals) when he also produced Johnny Thunders and the Pogues.
Thanks for the video. It's good to see Lee so cheerful and animated, even if he's wrong.
@@stuart2248 thats a good point. The eternal struggle of being an artist. Son of a Gun really is a bloody sublime opener.
Yeah but he's the writer and the album released was not what he wanted, not the correct song order, not the mixed he wanted etc, so he's right to have an opinion that's its bad within the context of what he wanted
Whilst he's still a bit mental calling the album a dirge here, he still seems bright and enthusiastic almost in fromt of the camera. Compare that to the famous Japan interview with the ranbling and rocking back and forth which might have only been a year later, really shows something changed or snapped inside of him to cause such a character change.
Or... Drugs.
It´s a brilliant record. Aparently Lee Mavers also had problems with yellow cables in the studio and would stop recording if there were any around. Also dust should be left on guitars otherwise he wouldnt play them until new dust had settled. A genius but also someone who would get in his own way.
He was clearly mentally ill from early on hence why he probably loved and hated the same things from day to the next . I have it from BPD , it's called "splitting" . I only mention this because he can't possibly , in the right mind , have really hated that album .
And now you mention the cable story which i never heard before it makes sense , sounds like he had OCD too
It’s probably my favourite album ever and I listen to it at least once a week and the guy who wrote it hates it 😂
What a mad world.
you gotta hear sonme of the rarities though with the la's and alternative takes of some of the album tracks. like for example. timeless melody premix version is vastly superior imo.
He probably goes around in a world of loving and hating most things from one day to the next depending on the day and how he feels
Any artist in their right mind would be pleased with that album which Lee obviously wasn't
He was right too. When you compare the official version to the Hedges versions or the Bbc sessions or other alternate versions they lack the bounce and the vibrancy that The La’s had. That album did not do those genius songs justice at all except for maybe Looking Glass imo. I don’t think Lee helped matters at all but when you’re that fucking good with a guitar in your hand you cant blame him for wanting perfection for those songs
Unfortunately he'll never be happy with it...he's still re recording it himself now to get it to sound the way he hears it in his head...
When i heard the Mike Hedges version of their first album i got what Lee was going for. More of a raw sound with less effects like reverb and overdub. A lot of their live stuff is what i imagine Lee wanted to go for on the album, but studio interference ruined that and Lee ended up hating the album because of it. I get it though. You have an idea of what you want and when someone completely changes it, you feel spurned. I much prefer their live stuff over the studio produced versions of their songs too.
A lot of bands vastly sound better live than in studio. Joy Division is another good example of this imo.
Being too critical will kill your career. Should have read the fine print before u you signed, La! Haha ❤
take a leaf outta your book geez!
it's great but their are some other takes with better vocals but the album is still great and will remain so
Is he the Greta Garbo of pre-Britpop?
Clever way to create a legend though.
I don't think he was trying to create a legend, if he had his way nothing would of come out , although if that happened he would never of had the money all these years
lee was trying to express a dmt trip through the medium of merseybeat. thats why he was never able to express what he was trying to
Thanks for watching and commenting
lol lol yea that album sucked,what di they do after it .....NOTHING,that was a great album,if he believes other wise he is a loser,because that put them on the map and its all there remembered by....fact
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