"Walking on Sunshine" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Katrina and the Waves | ||||
from the album Walking on Sunshine | ||||
B-side | "Going to Liverpool" | |||
Released | 15 April 1985 [1] | |||
Studio | Cambridge, England | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:16 | |||
Label | Attic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kimberley Rew | |||
Producer(s) | Katrina and the Waves, Pat Collier | |||
Katrina and the Waves singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Walking on Sunshine" on YouTube |
"Walking on Sunshine" is a song written by Kimberley Rew for British rock band Katrina and the Waves' 1983 eponymous debut full-length album. The rerecorded 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 No. 8 in the United Kingdom. It was the Waves' first American top 40 hit, and their biggest success in the UK until "Love Shine a Light" (1997).
"Walking on Sunshine" was written by the band's guitarist Kimberley Rew. "I'd love to say Walking on Sunshine relates to a significant event in my life, like walking out of my front door, seeing a comet and being inspired," he told The Guardian in 2015. "But it's just a piece of simple fun, an optimistic song, despite us not being outstandingly cheery people. We were a typical young band, insecure and pessimistic. We didn't have big hair and didn't look anything like a Motown-influenced group. We didn't have any credibility or a fanbase in awe of our mystique. We were a second-on-the-bill-at-a-festival-in-Germany pop band. But we had this song." [5]
The rest of the band did not like the song at first. Lead singer Katrina Leskanich thought "it wasn't really us", while bassist Vince de la Cruz found it irritating. [5]
The sheet music for "Walking on Sunshine" is in the key of B♭ major in standard time with a tempo indication of "bright rock". [6]
Katrina and the Waves kept the song's publishing rights, and the royalties that are typically to the songwriter have been divided among the band members. The royalties from airplay and advertisements have been very lucrative; according to a former employee of EMI, the song was "the crown jewel in EMI's catalog", and it ranked among EMI's highest earners from advertisements. [7]
When Hurricane Katrina devastated much of the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005, the MSNBC program Countdown with Keith Olbermann dubbed its coverage of the storm "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." [8] She also expressed her hope that "Walking on Sunshine" would become an anthem for the Gulf Coast's recovery. [9]
In 2010, the 25th anniversary of the release of "Walking on Sunshine", the band's material was re-released and a re-recorded version of the track was produced. [10] A free download of a track from Kimberley Rew's solo album Bible of Bop was made available in March 2010 at the band's website. [11]
In August 2015, the song was acquired by BMG Rights Management for £10 million, along with all of the other songs written by Rew and Katrina and the Waves. [12]
In a 2020 interview, Leskanich said that she believes that the song is going to outlive her. [13]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [34] | Gold | 10,000* |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [35] | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Italy (FIMI) [36] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Portugal (AFP) [37] | Gold | 20,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [38] | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
Summaries | ||
Worldwide | — | 2,000,000 [39] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
This article contains a list of miscellaneous information.(March 2023) |
The song is very popular in commercials, and advertisers typically pay $150,000 to $200,000 per year to use the song. [7] This song appeared in a mashup with Beyoncé's "Halo" in the popular television show Glee , featured in the Season 1 episode "Vitamin D." It was performed by the female members of the glee club New Directions, with featured solos by Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) and Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley). It was released as a single on October 7, 2009 through digital download on iTunes, [40] and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 40 [41] while reaching number 4 in Ireland, [42] number 9 in the UK [43] and number 10 in Australia. [44] The song is featured as a cover on the dance rhythm game Just Dance 2023 Edition . In Futurama , it's Philip J. Fry's favorite song, and in the Season 4 episode "The Sting", the Planet Express janitor Scruffy plays a bagpipe version at Fry's funeral. [45] It is used in a musical scene in the movie Look Who's Talking with John Travolta. It plays in the opening cutscene of the video game LEGO City Undercover.
Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band formed in Cambridge in 1981, widely known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine". They also won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Love Shine a Light".
Katrina Elizabeth Leskanich is an American musician and the former lead singer of the pop rock band Katrina and the Waves. Their song "Walking on Sunshine" was an international hit in 1985. In 1997, the band won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with the song "Love Shine a Light". Both songs were written by her long-term bandmate Kimberley Rew.
"Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves. It represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1997. It was released as a single on 28 April 1997 and was later included on the band's ninth studio album, Walk on Water (1997), serving as the album's lead single.
Katrina and the Waves 2 is the second album by new wave band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1984. The album was originally only released in Canada on the Attic Records label. It was included on the 2003 compilation The Original Recordings 1983–1984, and also re-released with five bonus tracks in 2010 through the CGB label. Six of the album's songs would be reworked for the band's major label debut Katrina and the Waves.
Katrina and the Waves is the third studio album by American/English new wave band Katrina and the Waves, released in March 1985 by Capitol Records. It was their first album on a major label, and a Top 30 hit in the US and the UK. The majority of tracks were re-mixed and overdubbed versions of songs that had appeared on their first two albums; the tracks "Walking on Sunshine" and "Going Down to Liverpool" were entirely re-recorded versions of songs from their first independently released album.
Waves is the fourth studio album by new wave band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1986 by Capitol Records. It followed their US and UK Top 30 album Katrina and the Waves (1985), reaching No. 49 on Billboard 200 and No. 70 on the UK Albums Chart. Waves sold less than half of what its predecessor had, generating a modest hit with the single "Sun Street".
Kimberley Charles Rew is an English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was a member of Katrina and the Waves from 1981 to 1999 and of Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys from 1978 to 1981. For Katrina and the Waves, he wrote "Walking on Sunshine" and "Love Shine a Light". The latter was performed as the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, taking the country to its first victory in the contest since 1981.
"Get Down Tonight" is a song released in 1975 on the self-titled album by the disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The song became widely successful, becoming the first of their five No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached the top of the Hot Soul Singles chart and was an international chart hit, reaching No. 1 in Canada and charting in Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UK.
"That's the Way (I Like It)" is a song by American disco and funk band KC and the Sunshine Band from their self-titled second studio album (1975). The single became the band's second No. 1 hit in the Billboard Hot 100, and it is one of the few chart-toppers in history to hit No. 1 on more than one occasion during a one-month period, as it did between November and December 1975. It topped the American pop chart for one week, and then was replaced by another disco song, "Fly, Robin, Fly" by Silver Convention. "That's the Way (I Like It)" returned to No. 1 for one more week after "Fly, Robin, Fly" completed three weeks at the top. "That's the Way (I Like It)" also spent one week at No. 1 in the soul singles chart. The song is in natural minor.
"The Power of Love" is a 1985 single by Huey Lewis and the News, written for the soundtrack of the 1985 blockbuster film Back to the Future. The song became the band's first number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and their second number-one hit on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart. In the United Kingdom, it was released as a double-A side with "Do You Believe in Love," becoming the band's only top ten hit on the UK Singles Chart. The song is included alongside "Back in Time" on the film's soundtrack, and appears as a bonus track on international editions of the band's fourth studio album, Fore!. The song also played at the end of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," an episode of The Really Loud House.
Walking on Sunshine is the debut studio album by English new wave band Katrina and the Waves, released on December 1, 1983, by Attic Records. The album was only officially released in Canada, but now appears worldwide on the 2003 compilation The Original Recordings 1983–1984. Several of these original 1983 vinyl releases are evidently still in circulation, primarily in the band's native UK, with the record being simply titled Katrina and the Waves. The same cover for this UK release was used when the album was remastered and re-released with four bonus tracks on CD in 2010, under the title Katrina and the Waves. To complicate things further, a later greatest hits album by the band is also called Walking on Sunshine. "Que Te Quiero" was released as a single in the UK where it reached #84 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1984.
"They Don't Know" is a song composed and first recorded in 1979 by Kirsty MacColl. Though unsuccessful, the song was later recorded by Tracey Ullman in 1983. Ullman's version reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 8 in the US.
Walk on Water is the ninth studio album by the British band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1997. The album includes the lead single "Love Shine a Light", the winning song of the Eurovision Song Contest 1997. It also became the band's highest charting UK single, reaching number 3. However, it was not released in the United States as a single.
"I'm Your Boogie Man" is a song written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch, and performed by Casey's band KC and the Sunshine Band, from their fourth album Part 3 (1976).
"Going Down to Liverpool" is a song written by Kimberley Rew for his group Katrina and the Waves, although best remembered for a cover version by the Bangles.
Break of Hearts is the fifth studio album by rock band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1989. It is their last album to reach the Billboard 200, reaching No. 122, and contains their last top 40 hit in the United States, "That's the Way", which reached No. 16. It was their last studio album released in the United States and the first and only release for the SBK label.
Shock Horror! is a mini-album and the first release by new wave band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1983 by Aftermath Records.
Pet the Tiger is the sixth studio album by rock band Katrina and the Waves, released in 1991 by Virgin Records. It was the band's only release on the label after signing with Virgin Germany, before moving to Polydor Records for their next two albums. The album features two songwriting collaborations with Liam Sternberg, writer of the Bangles' "Walk Like an Egyptian", and production and musical contributions from keyboardist Bob Andrews.
The Bible of Bop is a mini-album and the first solo release by English guitarist and songwriter Kimberley Rew, released in 1982. It mostly consists of tracks taken from three singles Rew released through indie label Armageddon between 1980 and 1982: two under his own name, backed by members of the dB's and the Soft Boys; and one as part of the Waves. In 2010, the album was reissued on CD for the first time on the CGB label with three bonus tracks.
The Original Recordings 1983–1984 is a compilation album by British-American rock band Katrina and the Waves, released on 14 October 2003 by Canadian label Bongo Beat. It compiles for the first time on CD all twenty tracks from the band's first two Canadian-only albums, Walking on Sunshine (1983) and Katrina and the Waves 2 (1984), as well as four previously unreleased bonus tracks. It also includes a DVD featuring live footage and music videos.
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.
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