Part 6 of my youtube countdown rolls on, and its a special 2 for Tuesday as I present Liverpool’s second most famous group, The La’s.  The La’s arrived at the forefront of the second British invasion in the early 90s that saw the coming of The Stone Roses, Blur, and Oasis.  The La’s is basically all about Lee Mavers, the lead singer/songwriter.  He possessed an incredibly unique and powerful English voice, an undying passion for 60s rock, and an insatiable heroin habit.  The La’s are your classic one album wonder, producing a wonderful debut with a genuine cult hit single, “There She Goes.”  Then they quickly unraveled, mostly due in part to Lee’s drug abuse, but also in part to Lee’s disgust with the way the record industry was releasing versions of his records that he didn’t approve.

Video 1 is my favorite La’s video, from 1991.  Its from a Canadian music show called Much Music, and it features Mavers and bass player John Power giving a difficult interview, and then performing a beautiful acoustic version of Timeless Melody.  I love how Mavers is mostly silent in the interview, and can barely contain his disgust for the poor interviewer girl.  On a crazier note, I almost feel like Oasis ripped off the Mavers/Power snotty dynamic and used it commercially.  Its a stretch, but part of me wouldn’t be surprised.

Video #2 is the La’s performing the Buddy Holly classic, That’ll Be the Day.  Because The La’s were from Liverpool, it was easy for the press to try and make them as successors to The Beatle legacy, which was kind of unfair and untrue…but for the band to cover Buddy Holly, something the Beatles did a lot, proves that the band shared similar influences with the Fabs.  I LOVE this performance and the coolness it takes for a young modern rock band to play an old hit like this, its just a shame that a video with better quality isn’t available.  Still, this isn’t unwatchable, so enjoy.