News

Some news is coming through the pipeline that a good chunk of the Katrina and The Waves discography is being reissued in honor of the 25th anniversary of “Walking on Sunshine,” their biggest U.S. hit and one of those inescapable summer anthems. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding these reissues (more on that in a minute), but these look pretty interesting, especially because of the material that’s being released themselves.

You see, before the smash success of Katrina and the Waves, the band’s 1985 LP for Capitol, many of their best known songs – “Walking on Sunshine,” “Do You Want Crying” and “Going Down to Liverpool” (later covered by The Bangles) – were already recorded on their indie albums. They lack the spit and polish that made the Capitol versions such big sellers, but that’s what makes them interesting. These original versions are raw and poppy, which will make them a fine addition to anyone’s collection.

Now here’s where things get interesting. I’ve seen release dates (per MusicTAP) for three titles: Shock Horror, The Waves’ 1983 debut (of which almost no info can be easily found on the Internet) will hit stores on March 29, Katrina and The Waves (1983) will come out on April 12 and Katrina and The Waves II (1984) will come out April 29.

There are two issues with that info. One, I’m not sure any of those release dates are right. March 29 and April 12 may be – they’re both Mondays and could be referring to U.K. release dates, so one could assume March 30 and April 13 releases here. But April 29 is a Thursday this year. I somehow doubt a reissue is coming out on such a day of the week. And furthermore, most Waves discographies list their 1983 LP as Walking on Sunshine, not Katrina and The Waves (that would be the name of their first LP for Capitol, whom I’m now pretty sure has nothing to do with these reissues).

Finally, in researching these titles, I happened upon this article, which indicates that Kimberley Rew (co-founder of the band and primary songwriter for the group) is masterminding these reissues, which will also include The Bible of Bop, Rew’s 1982 solo album featuring the first recordings of The Waves.

Until this mess is sorted out, I can at least give you the track lists for the three Waves LPs that are to be reissued. View them after the jump and keep your eyes peeled because there’s got to be more to this story.

The Waves – Shock Horror! (Aftermath SCOOP 1, 1982)

1. Going Down to Liverpool
2. Strolling on Air
3. Riding My Bike
4. I Caught the Milk Train (She Took the Deux Chevaux)
5. Brown Eyed Son*
6. You Can’t Stand Next to Judie
7. Atomic Rock ‘n’ Roll
8. Saturday Week

Katrina and The Waves, Walking on Sunshine (Attic, 1983)

1. Dancing Street
2. Spiderman
3. Going Down to Liverpool
4. Machine Gun Smith
5. Walking on Sunshine
6. Brown Eyed Son*
7. Que Te Quiero
8. Don’t Take Her Out of My World
9. I Really Taught Me to Watusi
10. Ain’t No Money (Buy You Love)

Katrina and The Waves, Katrina and The Waves II (Attic, 1984)

1. Do You Want Crying
2. Maniac House
3. She Loves to Groove*
4. Cry for Me
5. Red Wine and Whisky
6. Mexico
7. One Woman
8. The Sun Won’t Shine Without You
9. He’s a Charmer
10. The Game of Love

* A single of “Brown Eyed Son” (Albion ION 1037) was released in 1983 with “She Loves to Groove” as the B-side. I have found nothing to indicate which version of “Son” was on the single, or if the B-side was a different recording.