A
wiki excerpt about The La's production of their debut album
The La's:
The group then spent two years fruitlessly recording and re-recording their intended album, with a constantly changing band lineup, where only the core of Mavers and Power remained the same. Discarded producers included The Smiths' producer
John Porter,
John Leckie, and
Mike Hedges. Interestingly, both Leckie and Hedges in interviews have been very complimentary about the band's songs and their respective sessions, in spite of the fact both their efforts were ultimately rejected by Lee Mavers.
The previously volatile band lineup settled in 1989 with
Neil Mavers, Lee's brother, as the drummer, and Peter "Cammy" Camell as lead guitarist. The group then entered
Eden Studios,
London in December 1989 to again attempt to record the debut album with
Simple Minds and
U2 producer
Steve Lillywhite. Despite this lineup being arguably the strongest, and press interviews from the time painting them as extremely confident, the sessions still did not satisfy The La's. In one instance Mavers rejected a vintage
mixing desk, claiming it did not have the right sound because "it hasn't got original Sixties dust on it".
[1] The Eden sessions would become the band's final attempt at recording their album, and the frustration of not achieving the right sound and mood in their songs - as well general friction with Go! Discs, who had spent a considerable sum of money on recording sessions for the band - led to them simply giving up on the sessions, leaving Lillywhite to piece together their recordings into what became the actual released album. The band, particularly Lee Mavers, were not pleased with this decision.
Among the band's complaints were that Lillywhite used vocal
guide tracks on the LP and that he didn't "understand" their sound. According to Mavers himself, the band had played poorly deliberately during the sessions in the hope that the material wouldn't be released, as they didn't gel with Lillywhite from day one.
However, recognition, at least critically, came for The La's in 1990 when the self-titled album,
The La's, was finally released despite the band's objections. The album included, among new material, re-recorded versions of all the previous singles, including a remixed version of "There She Goes" which was then re-released as a single. This time around, the song reached number 13 in the
UK singles chart and remains the most visible and enduring of all the band's songs.