The staying power of Walking on Sunshine with Katrina and the Waves

It is one of those feel-good, light songs that can’t help but get your toe tapping when you hear it.

More than that, “Walking on Sunshine” by the Katrina and the Waves just keeps on going.

I heard it last week as the background music for a motivational magic show at the local elementary school and – you guessed it – I found myself tapping my toe and mouthing the words.

Such is the staying power of one of the best one-hit wonders of the 1980s.

Walking on Sunshine
The single was written by Kimberley Rew, the band’s guitarist, in 1983. According to Wikipedia, a re-recorded version was released on the band’s 1985 album entitled “Katrina and the Waves “.

It went all the way to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, and number three in Canada.

However, I always thought I had heard “Walking on Sunshine” before 1985, when I would have been in Grade 10 or 11. I always thought, I first heard that song in junior high, in like Grade 8 or 9.

As it turns out, I had.

Reading further, I discovered Katrina and the Waves had recorded a debut album at their own expense in 1983. They shopped it around, but only a record company in Canada picked up the album, called “Walking on Sunshine”, even the band was based in England.

That meant their first album was only released in Canada in 1983. It got enough critical attention and air play, that the band did a tour of Canada.

That was when I first heard it.

They also released a follow-up album called “Katrina and the Waves 2” in Canada, before getting a record deal in the United States.

Hence, they re-recorded 10 songs from their Canadian releases, including “Walking on Sunshine”.

Take her breath away
If you look closely at the video for “Walking on Sunshine”, you will see steam coming out of the mouths of Katrina and the Waves. It is an interesting juxtaposition for a song seemingly with a summer theme.

Well, there is a good explanation for that.

During the height of the song’s popularity, Katrina appeared on “Good Rockin’ Tonite” on CBC. She explained the record company wanted them to shoot a video to go with the song.

It happened to be late fall, or maybe even early winter, so they shot the video outside. To simulate summer, Katrina and the Waves wore short-sleeved shirts, and had their arms painted brown to simulate sun tans.

Makeup could not mask the fact that you could see every breath they took.

Yet, it was still pretty effective. I hadn’t noticed that steam on the video until Katrina pointed it out.

Follow up
There was a follow-up single to “Walking on Sunshine”, as there always was back then.

I recall seeing it on either “Good Rockin’ Tonite” or “Video Hits”.

It was called “Do You Want Crying?”, and did not match the success of the band’s hit single.

In fact, all I remember is the chorus “Do You Want Crying?” and that was it.

Parting thoughts
For the record if you were wondering, as I had for a long time, Katrina’s last name is Leskanich, and the names of the Waves are Kimberley Rew, Vince de la Cruz, and Alex Cooper.

Katrina and the Waves did have some follow-up success, including winning the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest.

Yet, they will always be remembered for that one song “Walking on Sunshine”.

It’s funny, I recall several times in the 1980s when I thought I heard a song long before it hit the American airwaves, but these things blur in the mists of time.

“Walking on Sunshine” was one of the first examples. (Other examples were "Shout" by Tears for Fears and "Walk of Life" by Dire Straits). When I heard "Walking on Sunshine" on “Entertainment Tonight”, I recall thinking it had been in Canada long before that, and later remembered seeing it on “Good Rockin’ Tonite”.

From there it would become a mainstay of the soundtrack of the 1980s, and reappear in pop culture again and again. It even reappeared in the Billboard Hot 100 at number 40 after being part of a mash-up in the television show “Glee”.

That doesn’t take into account how, after almost 40 years, people still use it in presentations, like the magician last week.

Now that’s staying power.