Katrina and the Waves
Encyclopedia
Katrina and the Waves was an English
pop rock
band, best known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine
" and their 1997 Eurovision Song Contest victory with the song "Love Shine a Light".
and drummer Alex Cooper. This incarnation of the Waves never issued any recordings, and broke up when Rew left to join the Soft Boys.
A more direct ancestor of Katrina and the Waves was the band Mama's Cookin', a pop cover band hailing from Feltwell, England. This band, founded in 1978, featured American
Katrina Leskanich
on vocals and keyboards, and her then-boyfriend (and fellow American) Vince de la Cruz on vocals and lead guitar. By late 1980, Alex Cooper had joined the band on drums, with Bob Jakins on bass. Mama's Cookin' proceeded to gig steadily in England over the next two years, specializing in covers of songs by American acts such as Heart
, Foreigner
, Linda Ronstadt
, and ZZ Top
.
The Waves were initially fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Rew, who brought a wealth of original material to the band. Leskanich, meanwhile, originally only sang lead vocals on the cover tunes in the band's repertoire. However, over the first year of the Waves' existence, Rew began to write material for Leskanich to sing, and she was soon the primary vocalist.
The Waves made their initial recorded appearances on a 1982 single ("Nightmare"/"Hey, War Pig!"); both tracks were included on the 1982 Rew solo album called The Bible of Bop. The Waves then issued their debut EP Shock Horror later in 1982. Around this time, bassist Jakins left the band. Jakins was not replaced, as de la Cruz took over on bass and the band was rechristened Katrina and the Waves.
The LP was shopped around to various labels, but only Attic Records in Canada responded with an offer. Consequently, although they were based in England, Katrina and The Waves' first album Walking On Sunshine was released only in Canada.
The album garnered enough critical attention and radio play (especially for the title track) to merit a Canadian tour. In 1984, the group released a follow-up album in Canada (Katrina and the Waves 2), with Leskanich now handling all the lead vocals. Rew was still the primary songwriter, but de la Cruz was also responsible for a few songs, including the Canadian airplay hit "Mexico".
Also in 1984, their song “Going Down to Liverpool
” was covered by the Bangles
, which added to their profile. With the group building a fan base with their recordings and extensive touring, major label interest began to build, and Katrina and the Waves eventually signed an international deal with Capitol Records in 1985.
The Katrina and the Waves album was a substantial critical and commercial success, and the group had a worldwide hit with the song "Walking on Sunshine," (No. 9 US, No. 8 UK) (a completely re-recorded, and substantially rearranged version of the song when compared to its initial 1983 Canada-only release). A Grammy award
nomination for "Best New Artist" followed, as did constant touring, both of which helped to spur moderate sales of new releases.
A follow-up single to "Walking on Sunshine" called "Do You Want Crying" (written by de la Cruz) also became a top 40 US hit reaching No. 37 in the late summer of 1985.
However, the band's follow-up album to Katrina and the Waves (simply entitled Waves) didn't meet with the same measure of success, either critically or commercially. Rew wrote only two of the ten songs on the LP; de la Cruz and Leskanich each wrote four. Drummer Cooper, interviewed some years later, claimed "It was (a) mistake when we started taking over from Kimberley in the musical contribution side. The second Capitol album was awful...".
The album did spin off a minor UK and US hit in the form of the Rew-penned "Is That It?" (No. 70 US, No. 82 UK), and "Sun Street" (a de la Cruz composition) was a UK Top 30 hit in 1986. However, Capitol dropped the band after the Waves album didn't perform to expectations.
The band subsequently recorded a 1989 album for SBK Records called Break of Hearts, a harder, more rock-oriented effort than their previous releases. The album included "That's the Way" which reached No. 16 in the US (credited to Leskanich/Rew), but subsequent singles, including the infectious "Rock'n'Roll Girl", failed to chart, and the band once again was dropped from their label.
" with Eric Burdon
for the TV series "China Beach
" in 1990.
By the late nineties, however, the band had all but disappeared—until they surprisingly (if briefly) surged back into the limelight by winning the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom
on 3 May 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light". Reacting to the win, Leskanich said it was the second landslide victory in a week; the song won by a record points margin, and Tony Blair
had won the 1997 British general election
two days previously. The song won by a then-record margin of 70 points over the Irish runner-up.
"Love Shine a Light" became Katrina and the Waves' biggest-ever UK hit, peaking at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart
.
and its storm surge
devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast
in September 2005, the MSNBC
news program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann
, dubbed its coverage of the hurricane, "Katrina and the Waves"; the name also appeared in numerous headlines and blog
postings. A New York Times reporter contacted Katrina Leskanich, who said: "The first time I opened the paper and saw 'Katrina kills 9,' it was a bit of a shock. ... I hope that the true spirit of 'Walking on Sunshine' will prevail. I would hate for the title to be tinged with sadness, and I will have to do my own part to help turn that around."
released The Live Album in July 2010 - a mix of Katrina and the Waves hits and new songs recorded in London and Germany.
In June, 2011, the group threatened legal action against U.S. presidential candidate Michele Bachmann
for playing their music on her campaign trail. A statement on the group's official website reads: "Katrina & The Waves would like it to be known that they do not endorse the use of Walking On Sunshine by Michele Bachmann and have instructed their lawyers accordingly." Leskanich stated that she wants to ban the Republican from using the track because she does not agree with her politics.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
band, best known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine
Walking on Sunshine (song)
"Walking on Sunshine" is a song written by Kimberley Rew for Katrina and the Waves' 1983 eponymous debut full-length album. The re-recorded version was at first released on the band's 1985 self-titled album as the album's second single and reached No. 4 in Australia, No. 9 in the United States,...
" and their 1997 Eurovision Song Contest victory with the song "Love Shine a Light".
Pre-history: The Waves and Mama's Cookin' (1975–80)
The band's earliest incarnation was as The Waves, a group that played in and around Cambridge, England from 1975 to 1977 and featured guitarist Kimberley RewKimberley Rew
Kimberley Rew is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as a member of Katrina and the Waves 1981 to 1999 and of Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys 1978 to 1981...
and drummer Alex Cooper. This incarnation of the Waves never issued any recordings, and broke up when Rew left to join the Soft Boys.
A more direct ancestor of Katrina and the Waves was the band Mama's Cookin', a pop cover band hailing from Feltwell, England. This band, founded in 1978, featured American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Katrina Leskanich
Katrina Leskanich
Katrina Leskanich is an American singer and musician, long time resident of the United Kingdom. She is best known for being the lead singer and namesake of the pop band Katrina and the Waves.-Early life:...
on vocals and keyboards, and her then-boyfriend (and fellow American) Vince de la Cruz on vocals and lead guitar. By late 1980, Alex Cooper had joined the band on drums, with Bob Jakins on bass. Mama's Cookin' proceeded to gig steadily in England over the next two years, specializing in covers of songs by American acts such as Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
, Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, and ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
.
Early days as "The Waves" (1981–82)
When The Soft Boys broke up in 1981, Rew contacted his old Wave-mate Cooper to see about renewing their musical partnership. Cooper convinced Rew to join Mama's Cookin', and the five-piece group (Leskanich/Rew/Cooper/de la Cruz/Jakins) was quickly renamed The Waves after the band Rew and Cooper had been in together in the mid-1970s.The Waves were initially fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Rew, who brought a wealth of original material to the band. Leskanich, meanwhile, originally only sang lead vocals on the cover tunes in the band's repertoire. However, over the first year of the Waves' existence, Rew began to write material for Leskanich to sing, and she was soon the primary vocalist.
The Waves made their initial recorded appearances on a 1982 single ("Nightmare"/"Hey, War Pig!"); both tracks were included on the 1982 Rew solo album called The Bible of Bop. The Waves then issued their debut EP Shock Horror later in 1982. Around this time, bassist Jakins left the band. Jakins was not replaced, as de la Cruz took over on bass and the band was rechristened Katrina and the Waves.
Early Canadian success (1983–84)
In early 1983, the fledgling band recorded—at their own expense—an LP of their original material designed to be sold at gigs. Rew wrote all the songs on this LP, while Leskanich sang eight of the album's ten tracks. (Rew sang lead on the other two.)The LP was shopped around to various labels, but only Attic Records in Canada responded with an offer. Consequently, although they were based in England, Katrina and The Waves' first album Walking On Sunshine was released only in Canada.
The album garnered enough critical attention and radio play (especially for the title track) to merit a Canadian tour. In 1984, the group released a follow-up album in Canada (Katrina and the Waves 2), with Leskanich now handling all the lead vocals. Rew was still the primary songwriter, but de la Cruz was also responsible for a few songs, including the Canadian airplay hit "Mexico".
Also in 1984, their song “Going Down to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
” was covered by the Bangles
The Bangles
The Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :...
, which added to their profile. With the group building a fan base with their recordings and extensive touring, major label interest began to build, and Katrina and the Waves eventually signed an international deal with Capitol Records in 1985.
"Walking on Sunshine" and international success (1985–89)
For the first Capitol album, the band re-recorded, remixed, or overdubbed 10 songs from their earlier Canadian releases to create their self-titled international debut album in 1985.The Katrina and the Waves album was a substantial critical and commercial success, and the group had a worldwide hit with the song "Walking on Sunshine," (No. 9 US, No. 8 UK) (a completely re-recorded, and substantially rearranged version of the song when compared to its initial 1983 Canada-only release). A Grammy award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nomination for "Best New Artist" followed, as did constant touring, both of which helped to spur moderate sales of new releases.
A follow-up single to "Walking on Sunshine" called "Do You Want Crying" (written by de la Cruz) also became a top 40 US hit reaching No. 37 in the late summer of 1985.
However, the band's follow-up album to Katrina and the Waves (simply entitled Waves) didn't meet with the same measure of success, either critically or commercially. Rew wrote only two of the ten songs on the LP; de la Cruz and Leskanich each wrote four. Drummer Cooper, interviewed some years later, claimed "It was (a) mistake when we started taking over from Kimberley in the musical contribution side. The second Capitol album was awful...".
The album did spin off a minor UK and US hit in the form of the Rew-penned "Is That It?" (No. 70 US, No. 82 UK), and "Sun Street" (a de la Cruz composition) was a UK Top 30 hit in 1986. However, Capitol dropped the band after the Waves album didn't perform to expectations.
The band subsequently recorded a 1989 album for SBK Records called Break of Hearts, a harder, more rock-oriented effort than their previous releases. The album included "That's the Way" which reached No. 16 in the US (credited to Leskanich/Rew), but subsequent singles, including the infectious "Rock'n'Roll Girl", failed to chart, and the band once again was dropped from their label.
Downturn and surprise comeback (1990–97)
Throughout the nineties, Katrina and the Waves recorded fairly steadily, though most releases were available only in continental Europe and/or Canada, and they issued no charting singles. They also recorded the song "We Gotta Get Out of This PlaceWe Gotta Get out of This Place
"We Gotta Get out of This Place", occasionally written "We've Gotta Get out of This Place", is a rock song written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and recorded as a 1965 hit single by The Animals...
" with Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
for the TV series "China Beach
China Beach
China Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" by unknown foreigners, most likely Americans...
" in 1990.
By the late nineties, however, the band had all but disappeared—until they surprisingly (if briefly) surged back into the limelight by winning the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on 3 May 1997 with the song "Love Shine a Light". Reacting to the win, Leskanich said it was the second landslide victory in a week; the song won by a record points margin, and Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
had won the 1997 British general election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
two days previously. The song won by a then-record margin of 70 points over the Irish runner-up.
"Love Shine a Light" became Katrina and the Waves' biggest-ever UK hit, peaking at No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
Dissolution (1998–99)
Despite their return to the public eye in the UK, Katrina and the Waves were not able to follow up "Love Shine a Light" with another hit, and Leskanich left the group in 1998 after several disagreements within the band. Legal wrangling followed, preventing Leskanich from using the band name. Though attempts were made by the Waves to find a new "Katrina" to front the group, the three remaining group members eventually dissolved the band to pursue individual careers in 1999.Impact of Hurricane "Katrina" (2005)
When Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
and its storm surge
Storm surge
A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...
devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast of the United States
The Gulf Coast of the United States, sometimes referred to as the Gulf South, South Coast, or 3rd Coast, comprises the coasts of American states that are on the Gulf of Mexico, which includes Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida and are known as the Gulf States...
in September 2005, the MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
news program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann
Countdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program that airs on Current TV, where it began airing on June 20, 2011. The program was broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of...
, dubbed its coverage of the hurricane, "Katrina and the Waves"; the name also appeared in numerous headlines and blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
postings. A New York Times reporter contacted Katrina Leskanich, who said: "The first time I opened the paper and saw 'Katrina kills 9,' it was a bit of a shock. ... I hope that the true spirit of 'Walking on Sunshine' will prevail. I would hate for the title to be tinged with sadness, and I will have to do my own part to help turn that around."
Recent activity (2010 - 2011)
2010 is the 25th anniversary of the release of "Walking on Sunshine" and a series of back-catalogue reissues and a re-recorded version of the track are being released. A free download of one of the tracks from Kimberley Rew's solo album Bible of Bop was given away in March 2010 from the bands website. Katrina LeskanichKatrina Leskanich
Katrina Leskanich is an American singer and musician, long time resident of the United Kingdom. She is best known for being the lead singer and namesake of the pop band Katrina and the Waves.-Early life:...
released The Live Album in July 2010 - a mix of Katrina and the Waves hits and new songs recorded in London and Germany.
In June, 2011, the group threatened legal action against U.S. presidential candidate Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann
Michele Marie Bachmann is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing , a post she has held since 2007. The district includes several of the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities, such as Woodbury, and Blaine as well as Stillwater and St. Cloud.She is currently a...
for playing their music on her campaign trail. A statement on the group's official website reads: "Katrina & The Waves would like it to be known that they do not endorse the use of Walking On Sunshine by Michele Bachmann and have instructed their lawyers accordingly." Leskanich stated that she wants to ban the Republican from using the track because she does not agree with her politics.
Members
- Katrina LeskanichKatrina LeskanichKatrina Leskanich is an American singer and musician, long time resident of the United Kingdom. She is best known for being the lead singer and namesake of the pop band Katrina and the Waves.-Early life:...
– vocals, rhythm guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Kimberley RewKimberley RewKimberley Rew is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as a member of Katrina and the Waves 1981 to 1999 and of Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys 1978 to 1981...
– lead guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Alex Cooper – drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Vince de la Cruz – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Albums
- Shock Horror (1982) (as The Waves)
- Walking on SunshineWalking on Sunshine (Katrina and the Waves album)Walking on Sunshine is the debut album by new wave band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1983. The album was only released in Canada, but now appears worldwide on the compilation Original Recordings 1983-1984....
(1983) - Katrina and the Waves 2Katrina and the Waves 2Katrina & the Waves 2 is the second album by new wave band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1984 .-Track listing:#"Do You Want Crying" – 3:59#"Maniac House" – 4:08#"She Loves to Groove" – 2:53...
(1984) - Katrina and the WavesKatrina and the Waves (album)Katrina and the Waves is the third album by new wave band Katrina and the Waves, and the first released on a major label, released in 1985...
(1985) No. 25 US; No. 28 UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... - Waves (1986) No. 70 UK
- Break of Hearts (1989) No. 122 US*
- Pet The Tiger (1991)
- Edge of the Land (1993)
- Turnaround (1994)
- Walk on WaterWalk on Water (Katrina and the Waves album)Walk on Water is the ninth and final album by the British band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1997...
(1997)
Compilation albums
- RosesRosesRoses is a municipality in the comarca of the Alt Empordà in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the coast at the northern end of the Gulf of Roses, and is an important fishing port and tourist centre. The C-260 road links the town with Figueres....
(1995) (Canadian release only – compiles tracks from Edge of the Land and Turnaround) - Katrina and the Waves / Waves (1996)
- Walking on Sunshine – Greatest Hits (1997)
- The Original Recordings – 1983–1984 (2003)
Singles
- "Nightmare" (1982) (as The Waves)
- "Brown Eyed Son" (1982) (as The Waves)
- "Que Te Quiero" (1983) No. 84 UK
- "Plastic Man" (1984)
- "Walking on SunshineWalking on Sunshine (song)"Walking on Sunshine" is a song written by Kimberley Rew for Katrina and the Waves' 1983 eponymous debut full-length album. The re-recorded version was at first released on the band's 1985 self-titled album as the album's second single and reached No. 4 in Australia, No. 9 in the United States,...
" (1985) No. 8 UK, No. 4 AUS, No. 3 CAN, No. 20 NZ, No. 9 US - "Do You Want Crying" (1985) No. 96 UK, No. 29 CAN, No. 37 US
- "Que Te Quiero" (re-recording) (1984) No. 71 US
- "Is That It" (1986) No. 82 UK, No. 33 CAN, No. 70 US
- "Sun Street" (1986) No. 22 UK
- "That's the Way" (1989) No. 84 UK, No. 35 CAN, No. 50 NZ, No. 16 US
- "Rock 'N' Roll Girl" (1989) No. 93 UK
- "Walking on Sunshine" (re-issue) (1996) No. 53 UK
- "Love Shine a Light" (1997) No. 3 UK
- "Walk On Water" (1997)
- "Walking on Sunshine (25th Anniversary Re-recording)" (2010) No. 194 UK