La la love you

The official output from Liverpool's second greatest band is paltry. Leadman Lee Mavers was (I'm guessing still is) an obsessive perfectionist who slaved over the band's debut for several years before their record company--over Mavers' protests--released it. Well after its release he maintained the album was flawed and unfinished. But if there's a flaw with that gorgeous collection of classic pop songs, I've yet to hear it. Unfortunately too many Americans, even those relatively in the know, think of The La's as "that 'there she goes' band." Yeah, "There She Goes" is a great song, and there's at least a dozen more where it came from.

Alright (mp3) - The La's, Dutch Radio 1991

Follow Me Down (mp3) - The La's, live in London, 1991

Timeless Melody (mp3) - The La's, original single, 1987

There She Goes (mp3) - The La's, Liz Kershaw's BBC show, 1988

Since I was in full La's mode, I thought I'd poke around and try to find any "There She Goes " covers. I came across this artifact:

There She Goes (mp3) - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

It comes from The Alternative Classic Chillout Album (I kid you not) which also features orchestral interpretations of Oasis ("Champagne Supernova"), REM ("Everybody Hurts"), U2 ("Beautiful Day") and the most obvious choice of all, The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony." Then there's this cover of, um, the Red Hot Chili Peppers:

Under The Bridge (mp3) - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Yes, that's right. Two odes to heroin on one classical record. (See more songs about smack.) Americans can buy this must-own RPO album on iTunes. You lucky Brits can nab the actual disc on Amazon UK.