F. Scott Fitzgerald once said that there are no second acts in American life. He may have been right, but luckily for Katrina & the Waves, they either never read Fitzgerald, or the Anglo half of their Anglo-American lineup made them immune from this pattern. With a charismatic lead singer fronting a band pulled together by guitarist Kimberley Rew (late of the Soft Boys), who could write songs like nobody's business, they seemed tailor-made for success. And they did briefly cut a swathe across pop music in Europe, America, and around the world, achieving some serious success of their own with a pair of catchy, hook-laden songs, "Going Down to Liverpool" (which was first a hit as a cover by the Bangles) and "Walking on Sunshine." Their initial mass popularity (especially in America) was relatively brief, but their history and their range of good songs also extended a lot longer than most listeners are aware.In 1981, in the wake of the Soft Boys' breakup, Rew landed in the Waves, an Anglo-American quartet featuring Katrina Leskanich (guitar, vocals), Vince de la Cruz (bass), and Rew's longtime friend Alex Cooper (drums). They tried it with Rew as lead singer but that wasn't a role that the guitarist/composer enjoyed -- instead, he moved Leskanich to the lead singer spot. The group became Katrina & the Waves to give it a special identity, at a time when there weren't a lot of bands with female lead singers. They spent two years working under the radar of the major labels, which had scarcely noticed the Soft Boys, never mind this quartet with the weird guitar-driven pop songs. They found a home with Attic Records, an independent label that had issued the Soft Boys' recordings in Canada, which allowed the band to avoid oblivion in favor of mere obscurity. They started to make headway after two years of work, building an underground reputation, and the fact that their records had to be imported to England or the United States only added to their mystique. The record that turned their fortunes around, however, wasn't one of their own -- rather, it was the Bangles' cover of "Going Down to Liverpool," which became a hit on radio in England and America. Suddenly, the group was in demand from record labels on either side of the Atlantic, and they ended up signed to Capitol Records. Their self-titled Capitol debut LP, released in 1985, consisted of re-recorded (some accounts say simply remixed and redubbed) versions of the best songs from the group's two Attic albums, with a fuller, more elaborate sound. It peaked at number 28 in England and number 25 in America (the highest chart placement up to that time by any ex-member of the Soft Boys), and yielded the Top Ten U.S./U.K. hit "Walking on Sunshine," one of the more memorable pop/rock songs of the decade. A modest follow-up single, "Do You Want Crying," made the lower regions of the Top 40, and they seemed to have a big future in front of them, when the group suddenly broke stride at the same time they quickened the pace -- they rushed a second album (Waves) out that same year that was good enough but no improvement upon its predecessor. Additionally, their work lost its edge between the two LPs, and Rew had ceded some of his songwriting responsibility to the other members, who weren't nearly as skilled in composition. It sold less than half of what the earlier record had, generating a modest hit with the single "Sun Street," at number 22.By 1989, their prospects seemed spent over the next three years as Capitol lost interest in the group, but they kept plugging and were rewarded with the Top 20 hit "That's the Way" and issued a third album, Break of Hearts, on the SBK label. They remained a marketable commodity in England and on the European continent, releasing three LPs in Germany during the 1990s, on Virgin and Polydor. Rew and Leskanich narrowly avoided going off to solo careers. In 1995, One Way Records in America released a passable best-of collection comprised of their Capitol material. Then, in 1997, lightning struck for the group a second time when the band won the Eurovision song contest with "Love Shine a Light," which reached the number two spot on the British charts. Although hardly the kind of honor they'd have considered in the 1980s -- the contest is usually the province of Euro-pop outfits with little rock credibility (ABBA is as credible as a winner ever got, and that's a long way from the Soft Boys) -- it revived interest in the band sufficient to get them a recording contract with Warner Bros. and helped them to generate a new album, Walk on Water. Not coincidentally, in 1997, EMI issued Walking on Sunshine: The Best of Katrina & the Waves, a superior compilation of their Capitol/EMI material dating between 1985 and 1991. And in 2003, the Bongo Beat label released The Original Recordings 1983-1984, collecting their two Attic Records albums together in one place, along with a bonus DVD containing their promotional concert film from the early '80s -- the existence of the latter makes up, in part, for the fact that the band never released a live album. By that time, the members had finally gone their separate ways, Rew and Leskanich embarking on solo careers. It wouldn't be totally surprising, however, to see one or more of them -- if not a totally reformed version of the group -- revive the band's repertory, so infectiously tuneful and relentlessly popular are their songs.
you have to watch the entire series!! SO FUNNY!!! I swear, my whole Saturday went by before I knew it, just watching one show after the other. I'm such a loser, I know, lol. Anyways, got any plans for next weekend? ... cuz i doooooooo! oooh, I think the pizza's here, I'm so freakin hungry right now, but it's all good. and that survey thing i was doing - THAT YOU WAS MAKING FUN OF ME FOR DOING!! - i just got paid! $76 for my first check, and since i got paid, I'm gonna do more of em, but I'm already at $184, so I'm loving it. They're so seriously stupid tho - the one I got last night was about my hair and stuff - like what kind of shampoo do I use, do I normally use conditioner ... for real, so easy. you should do it, i'm tellin yah. i guess you'll have to type the link into internet explorer or whatever, but here it is:
ஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐ It would be my ''Pleasure'' If Ya get a chance 2 Come by my profile & Sign my GuestBook.(It's underneath Da Superman logo) Thanks 4 Da Add ..From Da ~ WildPony ~ ஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐஐ
There are several contest below my friend please take two mins to give me your votes and enter if you have music as well Peace. ourstage gives cash prizes for fans and artitst who vote I won 600 twice. If you have nusic & videos they accept all genres for entries high ranking wins also win cash prizes. Butta http://www. loud. com/contest/vote/contest_rap/contestant_buttaraspy
I need your help Myspace friends Click below and vote for my verses. Hit me back if u need anything along those lines Peace.
lmao, no i was at a stop sign and just as i was about to take off....an owl...a freaking owl...flies out of the trees and just about hits my window but goes across the front of my car instead....i just about shit my pants., it was fun tho, least i been making some side money, filling out those surveys online, giving my opinions n stuff. it aint been doing too bad, bout an extra 200 bucks or so a week, and the work is pretty easy, just like answering questions and giving my opinions on different things. heh, i just finished one, and it was about what freakin toothpaste do i like to use, lol. anyways, you should try it, and lemme know how it does for yah. i guess you'll have to type the link into internet explorer or whatever, but here it is:
lmao i know, ugh, summer was fun tho, i so do not want to start back classes, im gonna miss my sleep alot! meh, man i hope i get out of this term alive. what happened about ur Financial Aid thing? least i been making some side money though, filling out those surveys online, giving my opinions n stuff. it aint been doing too bad, bout an extra 200 bucks or so a week, and the work is pretty easy, just like answering questions and giving my opinions on different things. heh, i just finished one, and it was about what freakin toothpaste do i like to use, lol. anyways, you should try it, and lemme know how it does for yah. i guess you'll have to type the link into internet explorer or whatever, but here it is:
Lol! Ok hes gonna add you,..and Im off the weekend of ur party so we are coming for sure! yay! And Ill let you know after Saturday what I work next week! i been doing good with those paid survey things i found online. its doing alright, about an extra 300 a week, and not too much work. just answering questions and stuff online. anyways, you should try it, it seriously so easy:
hey there how things going? your myspace is looking nice! anyway, i just grabbed some cool new ring tones off www.hottones.info for FREE! they have the tightest variety!
hey, so i went shopping today. it's getting pretty packed out there. i think my fav store was toys r us, heh. yah i know, im a big kid! anyway, i got jayden that deluxe scrabble that my aunt said he wanted. it's so cool having extra cash to buy stuff for hte holidays. makes me feel good and stuff, ya know? i'm so glad i listened to chase and started doing those online surveys that he's doing. he's doing better than me, cuz he's been doing it alot longer. i think he said he's doig like 740 or something a week. really good cash, ya know? i aint doing that good. some weeks ill do like 270, next one i might do like 340 or 360 or something. it's good extra cash, i like it! anyway, give it a shot. here's the site i use. just click here, and you'll see. it's so easy and simple, and the money is soooo worth it. anyway, i gotta bounce, so hit me up later, k? cya ttyl N86620108
hey, thought i would let you know, erin and i saw vince cornett at target the other day.. he was with his wife and he was the same goofy guy as ever..
anyway, that thing we were talking about, idk, its just been bothering me and i didn't know if i was retarded or not so i thought i would ask. so tell me .. how is every little thing?
holy crap! remember those online paid survey things that i was taking to make extra cash? i just got my first check for $237!! and that was just for like a few hours of work! wanna go out this weekend? it's on me! you should do it, too. the money is so easy, then we can take a roadtrip in a few weeks.
hey, thought i would let you know, erin and i saw vince cornett at target the other day.. he was with his wife and he was the same goofy guy as ever..
anyway, that thing we were talking about, idk, its just been bothering me and i didn't know if i was retarded or not so i thought i would ask. so tell me .. how is every little thing?
holy crap! remember those online paid survey things that i was taking to make extra cash? i just got my first check for $237!! and that was just for like a few hours of work! wanna go out this weekend? it's on me! you should do it, too. the money is so easy, then we can take a roadtrip in a few weeks.
i want this year to be overrrrr [[school i mean]] i really hate it, because it makes me sound all .. *cringes*emo but im sooo damn lonley at school i guess i feel like i should have graduated 2 years ago with steph/helen/sevy and alla them ya know? but meh .. thats life. other than that .. life's dandy at least i start losing some friggin weight. mom ordered me some pills from blah1blah.com. they're working pretty good. i have good energy, and i dont really get all that hungry, so thats a good thing. you should try em.
you can get em right here. just copy and paste bla1bla.com into your browser
heyyyy, last fun was fun, wish u coulda been there. dont worry, i took plenty of pics, i'll show em to ya when i see ya next. and ooooh, im lookin pretty good too. i picked up these pills that have made me drop so much of that weight i had. its like, wow, ya know? 16 friggin lbs! can u belive it! 16!!!!! so, if ya wanna try em out, i got em at this site: click here to go check it out .. i promise yah it's so worth it! T74282886
4 the add and welcome 2 jay's page xx
