The La's

Liverpool, 1983

Mike Badger formed the band in Liverpool in 1983; he said the name came to him in a dream, and it is Scouse for lads. Lee Mavers joined on rhythm guitar in 1984 and John Power in 1986, after meeting Badger on a council-run musicianship course. Badger left in late 1986 and formed the Onset. Demos were recorded on four-track in Liverpool in the second half of 1986. Paul Hemmings joined on Power's recommendation, and the band rehearsed in a stables outbuilding owned by his mother and moved to London at the end of 1987. A demo reached Andy McDonald of Go! Discs via Underground Magazine, and they signed in 1987; "Way Out" (UK 86) was their first single. Clash counts 24 members between 1983 and 1992.

Sessions with John Porter, John Leckie, Bob Andrews and Mike Hedges between 1987 and 1989 were not approved by Mavers, and a Steve Lillywhite session ran from December 1989 to February 1990 at Eden Studios in London, from which the album was assembled. Mavers told NME he hated it, like a snake with a broken back. The La's came out on October 1, 1990 and reached 30 in the UK. Power left on December 13, 1991 and formed Cast in 1992, and touring stopped in 1992. Reunion shows followed in 1994 and 1995 with changing line-ups, supported by Oasis, Paul Weller and Dodgy; a 1995 NME interview was a rare press appearance. Viper Label, run by Badger and Hemmings, issued Lost La's 1984-1986 (1999) and 1986-1987 (2001). They reformed in 2005, playing Summer Sonic in Tokyo, V Festival and Glastonbury, and again in 2011 for stripped-back shows including Bestival and the O2 Academy Liverpool on September 9, 2011.

BBC in Session (September 18, 2006) collects sessions from 1987 to 1990; the Guardian gave it 5 of 5. A Deluxe Edition followed on April 7, 2008, and a Callin' All box set in 2010 with, NME said, none of the members understood to be involved. Noel Gallagher placed the album fourth on his 13 favorite albums and said if you're only going to make one album in your life, make that album; Rolling Stone ranked it 13th on its 40 greatest one-album wonders. M. W. Macefield's In Search of The La's: A Secret Liverpool (2003) tells the story. A vinyl reissue for National Album Day came on October 19, 2024.