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Sunday 17 October 2010

You Are The Door


The La's- keepers of the mystic flame? Or overrated 60s revivalists?

They hated their first and only album and slagged it off relentlessly in the press.
Their gigs at the time featured live versions of the songs on the album that didn't sound that different from the recorded ones.
The only track Lee Mavers liked was the fourth song on the Timeless Melody 12" that was recorded in a barn somewhere in Liverpool.
There She Goes is a modern classic.
The original 12" or 7" pressing has a really good sleeve but is identical to the later release in every other way.
Lee Mavers has lived off this song for years, funding occasional live comebacks.
John Powers formed Cast. On it's own this is a crime.
Internet obsessives have the only true recordings that sound like the sound in Lee's head.
Lee will only record new songs on an original 1960s studio desk with 60s dust on it.
The record company continue to find 'new' La's stuff to release.
The album is great. Flawed maybe, but great.
When Timeless Melody came out I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever heard.
Some of these things are true.

This is I Am The Key (which wasn't on the album or it's singles), recorded for Manchester's Key 103 radio station in January 1989. Like many of The La's songs it sounds brilliant he first time you hear it. Then it nags it's way into your brain. Then you can't listen to it again for six months.

I_Am_The_Key_(Key_103,_Jan_'89).wma#1#1

3 comments:

drew said...

I was going to do a post on There She Goes and my favourite of the twenty odd mixes of it I have. In its single form it is as close as it is to get to perfect pop without being Be My Baby, in my eyes anyway.

Lee Mavers, genius or chancer, the jury's out, although real genius is the ones that can follow up the great first album.

Anonymous said...

drew,

Someone has pipped you to the post!

http://philspector.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/there-she-goes-there-she-goes-again-and-againand-againand-againand-again-and-ag/

Come and join 'us'..

http://www.the-las.com

Swiss Adam said...

Hey that's right, forgot about the Plain or Pan There She Goes fest. Loved the John Leckie version (at elast I think it was that one)