Alex Cooper - drums, background vocals; Vince de la Cruz - bass; Katrina Leskanich - guitar, vocals; Kimberley Rew - organ, guitar, background vocals
Four years after the band was formed in Cambridge, England, Katrina and the Waves played this energetic show at Washington's DC's 9:30 Club. Most of us know Katrina and the Waves as a one hit wonder, best know for the perennial happy tune "Walking On Sunshine." But one listen to this performance (originally taped for the King Biscuit Flower Hour) and it is clear that the band was much more than a one-off singles band.
Opening with "Jealous Browned Eyed Son," the band kicks in with a country-pop song that excels in its use of vocal harmonies. Next up is "Lovely Lindsay," supposedly written about Lindsey Buckingham. The song's riff borrows heavily Electric Light Orchestra's "Don't Bring Me Down," but takes off with a blistering lead guitar solo.
Most of the rest of the show comes from tracks that made up the first U.S. release for Katrina and the Waves. Among the highlights are "Do You Want Crying," "The Game Of Love," "Cry For Me," "Mexico" and a spunky version of "Going Down To Liverpool" (which was covered later by The Bangles). They close the show with "Walking On Sunshine," which was a huge hit at the time.
The group was formed in 1981 in the U.K., and featured Kimberley Rew (who had been in a band with Robyn Hitchcock called The Soft Boys), drummer Alex Cooper, and two U.S. "army brats," Katrina Leskanich on vocals and guitar, and Vince de la Cruz on bass. The band couldn't get a major label deal at first in its native U.K., but landed a deal in Canada and released two indie albums before the demo of "Walking On Sunshine" got them a major label deal with EMI.
The group shot to the top of the charts with the single (which appears on nearly every summer-themed compilation) and toured for three years solid opening for bands like The Beach Boys and The Kinks. The band worked on and off through 1999 before finally disbanding.
Katrina Leskanich has carried on as a solo artist, a celebrity DJ, and as an actress in the '60s musical, Leader of The Pack.