Misadventures in Music: Mike Badger, The Las, Liverpool and the Songs That Almost Got Away
Some episodes are interviews. Some are conversations. And some feel like you have just stumbled into a back room where the real stories finally get told.
This week on Misadventures in Music, Ian Prowse and Mick Ord sit down with Mike Badger, founding member of The Las, songwriter, artist and one of the most intriguing figures to emerge from Liverpool’s post punk underground.
And trust us, this one goes deep.
Before There She Goes
Everyone knows The Las for There She Goes. But before the myth, before the reissues, before the endless what if conversations, there was a band trying to carve out its own identity in a city already overflowing with musical history.
Mike takes us back to those early days, the energy, the uncertainty, the creative sparks and the tension that inevitably comes when strong personalities collide. It is not gossip and it is not revisionism. It is a thoughtful and reflective look at how something brilliant can form and fracture.
Hearing it from someone who was actually there makes all the difference.
Liverpool, Legacy and Letting Go
What makes this episode special is not just the story of The Las. It is Mike himself.
He is thoughtful, measured and completely unbothered by myth.
He talks about the early Liverpool scene and how it shaped the band, about walking away from something that later became legendary, about creating outside the spotlight of the music industry and why stepping off the treadmill can sometimes be the bravest move an artist makes.
There is no bitterness here. Just perspective. And a sense that some artists are not built for the machinery of fame. They are built for the work itself.
The Road Not Taken
One of the most compelling threads in the conversation is the idea of paths not chosen.
What happens when you leave before the world catches up? What does it feel like watching a song become iconic when you are no longer in the room?
Mike does not dramatise it. He does not need to. The honesty carries the weight.
Why You Will Want to Listen
If you are interested in the real story behind Liverpool music, bands that burned bright and brief, The Las beyond the headline hit or creative independence over commercial compromise, this episode is for you.
Ian and Mick guide the conversation with curiosity and respect, giving Mike the space to speak in his own time. What emerges is something rare. Clarity without ego.
Misadventures in Music: Mike Badger
Sometimes the most interesting stories are not about the songs that conquered the charts. They are about the ones that almost did.
Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all major platforms.
