While we may know Katrina And The Waves best from Walking On Sunshine, it was only ten years later that they managed to score their first hit in our country.
Katrina Leskanich was born on April 10, 1960 in Topeka, USA. Due to her father’s service in the US Air Force, she lived in several countries during her youth, including Germany and the Netherlands, before finally ending up in England at the age of sixteen. Two years later she began playing in the group Mama’s Cookin’ where she could be found behind the keyboard.
In the following years they began to produce their own material and when drummer Alex Cooper joined the group they changed their name to The Waves. Guitarist Kimberley Rew saw the quality of Katrina and began writing material for her. In 1982 the group’s first EP, Shock Hour, was released after Nightmare was released as the first single. It was not long before the group adopted the name Katrina And The Waves. The song Going Down To Liverpool, which appeared on Shock Hour, was recorded by The Bangles in 1984, creating wider interest in Katrina And The Waves.
The group’s debut album was released in 1985, after which they received a nomination for best new artist. Walking On Sunshine, which eventually became one of their most famous songs, did not surpass Tipparade. The song became a top 10 hit in the UK and the US. In 1986 a second album, Waves, was released, containing the single Sun Street. This meant they ended up on Tip Parade again. Due to its disappointing success, they were sidelined by their record company.
In 1997 the group won the Eurovision Song Contest with Love Shine A Light, which soon reached number four in the Top 40 for two weeks. The group disbanded in 1999.
Katrina started working as a DJ on BBC Radio 2 and starred in the musical Leader Of The Pack. In 2005 she released her first solo album, self-titled. With If Tomorrow Will Never Come she would participate in the preliminary selection of the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden. Blisland was the title of her second solo album which was released in 2014.
On April 10, Loic Nottet, Maren Morris, Baas B and Sophie Ellis-Bextor also celebrate their birthdays.
(Photo: BSR Agency)
(10-04-2018)
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