album rating: ★★★★☆
a) Genre
New wave / Power pop / Pop rock. The Capitol Records self-titled debut album of Katrina and the Waves — their third album overall but first on a major international label — is a focused, energetic exercise in melodic new wave and power pop, rooted in Kimberley Rew's formidable gift for Beatlesque guitar hooks and Katrina Leskanich's powerhouse voice. The album's character is defined by the buoyant optimism of 'Walking on Sunshine' and the jangly guitar pop of 'Going Down to Liverpool', both entirely re-recorded from the Canadian Attic originals with significantly enhanced production values, a new horn section, and remixed drums. Eight further tracks are re-recorded or overdubbed versions from the two Canadian albums, plus the all-new studio recording 'Machine Gun Smith'.
b) Release
Original US/international release: Capitol Records (March 1985; catalogue ST-12401 LP, CDP 7 46019 2 CD), phonographic copyright ℗ 1985 Capitol Records Inc. By July 1985 the album had sold more than 300,000 copies worldwide. A UK edition was issued on Capitol UK. A Canadian edition was issued through Capitol Canada / EMI Canada. A German edition was pressed at EMI Electrola GmbH, Köln, as was a Dutch edition. A French edition was pressed at Pathé Marconi EMI. A Japanese edition was issued by Toshiba-EMI (catalogue CP32-5278). The album was later reissued as part of retrospective compilations: most notably, the 2003 Bongo Beat double CD The Original Recordings 1983–1984 compiled the two Attic albums alongside the bonus tracks from the original Attic Walking on Sunshine (1983). Capitol dropped the band after their follow-up album Waves (1985) failed to meet expectations. In August 2015, all songs written by Kimberley Rew and Katrina and the Waves were acquired by BMG Rights Management for £10 million.
c) Production
Primary production for the Capitol album was by Pat Collier (principal producer, responsible for most tracks, including the 're-mixed and overdubbed' versions) and Scott Litt (who specifically produced and arranged 'Walking on Sunshine' for its Capitol re-recording). Pat Collier (born 1951, London; bass player, producer, engineer) had previously produced the band's two Attic Records albums in Canada and was the natural choice to oversee the Capitol re-recordings. His role was to manage the overdubbing and re-recording sessions in London that transformed the Attic tracks into major-label-ready productions. Scott Litt — later celebrated for his production of R.E.M.'s Document (1987), Green (1988), and Out of Time (1991) — was engaged by Capitol specifically for 'Walking on Sunshine', the track the label most urgently needed to remake as a potential radio hit. Litt rearranged the horn section (adding the Motown-influenced brass that defines the Capitol version), repositioned the 'Woo!' vocal from Leskanich, and held the horns out of the first chorus. Band members: Katrina Leskanich (vocals), Kimberley Rew (guitar, primary songwriter), Alex Cooper (drums), and Vince de la Cruz (bass, guitar, vocals).
d) Recording
The original Attic albums (from which ten of the Capitol album's tracks were derived) had been recorded at Alaska Studios and Greenhouse Studios, London, England, in 1983. The re-recording and overdubbing sessions for the Capitol album took place in London, England, in 1984–1985. The 'Walking on Sunshine' re-recording was the result of multiple attempts: producer Pat Collier stated, 'We did loads of versions. We just kept going round and round in circles. We kept redoing it nonstop.' A horn arranger who wandered into the sessions suggested adding the brass section that became the track's defining sonic element. The album is thus a mixed product: some tracks are essentially the original Attic recordings re-mixed for Capitol release, while others (most notably 'Walking on Sunshine' and 'Going Down to Liverpool') were entirely re-recorded.
e) Reception
The Capitol album was a substantial critical and commercial success and produced one of the most enduring songs of the 1980s. 'Walking on Sunshine' was released as a single in March 1985 and became a worldwide hit: number 9 US (Billboard Hot 100), number 8 UK (Singles Chart), number 3 Canada, and number 4 Australia. By July 1985 the album itself had sold over 300,000 copies worldwide and entered the top 30 in both the US and UK. 'Do You Want Crying' (written by de la Cruz) was a follow-up US top 40 hit, reaching number 37. The band received a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist at the 28th Grammy Awards (1986). Robert Christgau (Village Voice) praised Rew as a songwriter with 'an unerring knack for up-to-the-minute Sixties-style hooks' and Leskanich as having 'a voice so big and enthusiastic she could make Barry Manilow's songs sound like Holland-Dozier-Holland.' Trouser Press called the album 'an improvement' on the Attic originals, noting that 'in most cases, it's an improvement, exposing unrecognized pop treasures.' 'Walking on Sunshine' has since been streamed over one billion times on Spotify alone (with approximately 6 million monthly listeners) and has appeared in dozens of films and commercials, with a reported licensing value of £150,000–£200,000 per year for commercial use.
Katrina and the Waves
Katrina and the Waves were an Anglo-American rock band formed in Cambridge, England, in 1981. The four members of the Capitol-era lineup: Katrina Elizabeth Leskanich (born 10 April 1960, Topeka, Kansas, USA; lead vocals and keyboards), Kimberley Rew (born 1952, Cambridge; lead guitar and principal songwriter — formerly of The Soft Boys), Alex Cooper (born 1953, Cambridge; drums — formerly of The Soft Boys), and Vince de la Cruz (born c.1955, USA; bass and vocals). Leskanich and de la Cruz met as American military dependants stationed at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, and formed the cover band Mama's Cookin' in 1978. After a series of lineup changes, Cooper and Rew joined, and the group became Katrina and the Waves by 1981. Their Canadian indie releases Walking on Sunshine (1983) and Katrina and the Waves 2 (1984), both on Attic Records, built a following through touring and college radio before The Bangles' cover of 'Going Down to Liverpool' attracted major-label attention, leading to the Capitol Records deal. The 1985 Capitol album was their international breakthrough. Their follow-up, Waves (1985), was less successful, and Capitol dropped them. They continued recording for SBK Records (Break of Hearts, 1989) and Virgin Records and Polydor in Europe through the 1990s. Their most unexpected triumph came at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, held in Dublin, where their song 'Love Shine a Light' — representing the United Kingdom — won by a record margin of points, becoming their highest UK chart single (number 3). They disbanded in 1999. Rew later sold the rights to his entire catalogue (including 'Walking on Sunshine') to BMG Rights Management for £10 million in 2015.
This text was generated by Claude (Anthropic). It may contain errors or inaccuracies.