This line up of the Waves never issued any recordings, and broke up when Rew left to join The Soft Boys, who left their mark as a twin guitar-led psychedelic rock quartet who in their short, commercially unsuccessful but influential existence managed to create an idiosyncratic canon, essentially two albums, A Can of Bees and Underwater Moonlight , based around the charmingly off-kilter songwriting of frontman Robyn Hitchcock, a whimsical Englishman in the Syd Barrett/Kevin Ayres mould, but out of step with the prevalent pub rock and punk of the time. Hitchcock has gone on to enjoy a cult solo career of steadily building success and now records and tours with the Minus Three, featuring REM’s Peter Buck.
The Waves folded when Cooper joined pop/soul cover band Mama’s Cookin’ in 1979. This band featured American Katrina Leskanich on vocals and guitar; her then-boyfriend Vince de la Cruz on guitar (both self-confessed “US airforce brats”), Cooper on drums and Bob Jakins on bass. Mama’s Cookin’ gigged steadily across England over the next two years, developing their chops on the US military bases circuit, where their trademark covers of classic American Sixties R&B, Motown and Spector-helmed hits and Seventies rock went down particularly well and served their arrangement skills well for the future. After the demise of the Soft Boys in 1981, Rew renewed relations with Cooper, who convinced Rew to join Mama’s Cookin’, which was shortly re-named the Waves after the pair’s original combo.
The Waves were initially a five piece, fronted by singer/songwriter/guitarist Rew, who brought a wealth of original material to the band. Leskanich was temporarily sidelined, backing Rew’s vocals and singing lead on only the Waves’ repertoire of covers, but gradually Rew recognised the power and quality of Leskanich’s voice and began writing songs specifically for her to sing and by the end of The Waves’ first year, Leskanich was the band’s main vocalist. In 1982 The Waves released debut single Nightmare with B-side Hey, War Pig! Both tracks were collected later that year on Rew’s The Bible Of Bop solo album; the latter cited by Velvet Crush’s Ric Menc as “the greatest protest song ever” followed by the Waves’ debut Shock Horror EP. And then in a crucial development Jakins quit, de la Cruz moved to bass guitar and the band renamed themselves Katrina and the Waves.
In early 1983, the band pooled their meagre resources to fund the recording of an album’s worth of original material- all songs written by Rew and, bar two, sung by Leskanich- intended to be sold at gigs. Numerous labels on both sides of theAtlantic were approached, but only Ralph Alfonso at Canadian indie Attic Records, which had previously released recordings by the Soft Boys, responded with an offer. Consequently, Katrina And The Waves’ debut album Walking On Sunshine was released only in Canada, despite the band being based in the UK. The resulting critical praise and, more importantly, radio play, for the title track in particular, afforded a Canadian tour, and due to their well-honed live skills, their fanbase grew steadily. 1984 saw a follow-up album, Katrina And The Waves 2, again only in Canada, but de la Cruz’s contribution included the Canadian airplay hit Mexico, the excellent Do You Want Crying and One Woman.
The band’s reputation was growing, fuelled by months of travelling and gigging and the added mystique of their releases being on import in the UK and USA, but, as is often the case, it was the kind of lucky break that money can’t buy which helped to put them on the music industry map. Los Angeles-based female four-piece the Bangles (nee the Supersonic Bangs) chose to cover one of Rew’s songs on All Over The Place, their second album, but first for new label Columbia Records. Their version of Going Down To Liverpool, originally on K&TW’s debut album, was released at the end of 1984 and, with the help of an odd-ball video starring Leonard Nimoy, became a minor MTV and radio playlist hit and, drawing the attention of a certain Prince Rogers Nelson who wrote Manic Monday, the Bangles’ next single and first hit. This pricked up the ears of various labels (at last) and the band were quickly snapped up worldwide by Capitol Records.
1985 saw the first fruits of this new relationship- single Walking on Sunshine, re-worked with additional horns, was an instant radio-friendly smash, a Top 10 hit in the UK, the USA, Canada and Australia among other places. More recently, the song was covered by Aly & AJ for Walt Disney’s 2005 movie Herbie: Fully Loaded, starring Lindsay Lohan. It was followed a month later by their eponymous third album, comprising re-recorded versions of the best songs from the previous two, which went Top 30 in both the UK and US. Second single Do You Want Crying went Top 40 in America and the band was nominated for a “Best New Artist” Grammy- the Waves had finally arrived!
Fourth album Waves failed to generate the same critical response nor massive commercial success and many pointed to the fact that Rew composed only two of the ten songs on this collection, although the Rew-penned Is That It received radio play and the de la Cruz-written Sun Street was a UK Top 30 hit. Capitol Record didn’t help matters much by dropping the band.
The band re-grouped and by 1989 had a new deal with SBK Records, which released the more rock-oriented Break Of Hearts album. Despite catchy singles Rock’n'Roll Girl and That’s The Way- the latter a US Top 20 Leskanich/Rew co-write- it was their only album for the label. “That was our big hair period,” Leskanich laughs now. “SBK told us that they could see us as a stadium band, Bryan Adams style, and Kim was coming up with this stuff that was perfect for rock radio.” “We’ve never been successful enough to be immune from the influences of producers and marketing men,” concedes Rew. “The more we fell for those 80s trademarks, the more we diluted the band.”
The band re-focused east of the Atlantic, releasing three albums- 1991’s Pet The Tiger on Virgin Records (the title track a co-write with Liam Sternberg, composer of The Bangles’ hit Walk Like An Egyptian), 1993′ Edge Of The Land (which featured cracking compositions I’m In Deep and The Beauty Myth from producer Phil Thornalley) and 1995’s Turn Around, both on Polydor Records in the UK, mainland Europe and Canada.
Unashamedly grabbing the chance to represent the UK in the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest two days after Labour’s general election triumph, Katrina And The Waves’ stunning song Love Shine A Light destroyed the kitsch competition, winning by a record points margin and making them the most credible victors since ABBA’s Waterloo. A new deal with Warners saw Love Shine A Light also become their highest charting UK single, reaching #3- mystifyingly, it was never released in the USA- and ninth album Walk On Water followed quickly. On the back of this second bite of the cherry, EMI Records issued Walking On Sunshine: The Best Of Katrina And The Waves, an excellent compilation of their Capitol/EMI songs from 1985 to 1991.
Sadly, within a year, Leskanich quit the band. In 1999, after playing several shows with Lynda Hayes, one of the UK’s top studio singers, Kimberley, Vince and Alex agreed to put the band on hold, leaving themselves free to pursue other musical avenues. Meanwhile Katrina followed a busy career as radio DJ, in the musical Leader of the Pack, and as a solo singer. In 2003, Bongo Beat Records, an indie launched by the band’s original A&R man Ralph Alfonso, released the album The Original Recordings 1983-1984, compiling the songs from their two Attic Records albums, along with a bonus DVD containing promotional concert footage from the early ’80s, which has gone some way to making up for the lack of a classic K&TW live collection. In 2007 Celine Dion, no less, interpreted of Rew’s That’s Just The Woman In Me on her Taking Chances album, illustrating, once again, the lasting quality and coverability of Rew’s songs. From The Bangles to Celine Dion- two very different sides of the multi-faceted musical spectrum inhabited by the songs of Kimberley Rew.
The Game Of Love
Katrina and the Waves Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I always loved illusion
I thought make-believe was truer than life
But now it's all confusion
Please, can you tell me what's happening?
I just don't know anymore
If this is real, how should I feel?
If you were smart, you would keep on walking
Out of my life as fast as you can
I'm not the one you should pin your hopes on
You're falling for the wrong kind of man
This is crazy, you know we should call it a day
Sound advice, great advice
Let's throw it away
I can't control all the things I'm feeling
I haven't got a prayer
If I'm a fool, well
I'm too much in love to care
I knew where I was, I'd given up hope
Made friends with disillusion
No one in my life, but I look at you
And now it's all confusion
Please, can you tell me what's happening?
I just don't know anymore
If this is real, how should I feel?
What should I look for?
I thought I had everything I needed
My life was set, my dreams were in place
My heart could see, way into the future
All of that goes when I see your face
I should hate you
There I was, the world in my hand
Can one kiss, kiss away
Everything I planned?
I can't control all the things I'm feeling
I'm floating in mid-air
I know it's wrong, but
I'm too much in love to care
I thought I had everything I needed
My life was set, my dreams were in place
My heart could see way into the future
All of that goes when I see your face
This is crazy, you know we should call it a day
Sound advice
Great advice
Let's throw it away
I can't control all the things I'm feeling
We're floating in mid-air
If we are fools, well
We're too much in love to care
If we are fools, well
We're too much in love to care
The lyrics of “The Game Of Love” by Katrina and the Waves is a song about the confusion and the overwhelming feeling of love. The song describes the experience of falling in love which throws everything you once knew into confusion. The first stanza relates to the innocence of youth and how playing make-believe seemed more appealing than reality. The second stanza focuses on the confusion of the present and the desire for clarity and understanding. The chorus talks about how the love may be unwise and alludes to the risk of heartbreak that comes with it.
The song also mentions the struggle to control feelings and the loss of control over life once love enters it. The lyrics express the idea that falling in love causes you to abandon all your plans and previous beliefs about life. The bridge brings out the idea that people may know what the right decision is, but may not always follow through with it because of their strong love.
Overall, “The Game Of Love” is a song about the confusion and complexity of love. It describes the feelings of falling in love and how it causes one to abandon their previous beliefs and plans.
Line by Line Meaning
When I was a kid, I played on this street
I used to have fun and enjoy life with a sense of playfulness
I always loved illusion
I was fascinated by the idea of fantasy and make-believe over reality
I thought make-believe was truer than life
I believed that imagination could be more authentic than the real world
But now it's all confusion
However, now I am in a state of disorientation and bewilderment
Please, can you tell me what's happening?
I am asking for clarity and understanding of my current situation
I just don't know anymore
I am feeling lost and uncertain
If this is real, how should I feel?
If what I am experiencing is genuine, what emotions ought to arise?
What should I look for?
What signs or signals should I be searching for to help me make sense of this?
If you were smart, you would keep on walking
If you had any sense, you would move on and leave me alone
Out of my life as fast as you can
I don't want you around me anymore
I'm not the one you should pin your hopes on
I am not your ideal partner or choice for a future together
You're falling for the wrong kind of man
Your attraction is misguided; I'll only hurt you
This is crazy, you know we should call it a day
This situation is insane; we should break up and move on
Sound advice, great advice
The advice to end things is logical and smart
Let's throw it away
Despite the good sense of breaking up, we are still ignoring it and staying together
I can't control all the things I'm feeling
Emotions are too powerful - I can't manage or maintain them
I haven't got a prayer
There is no hope or recourse for me in this situation
If I'm a fool, well
If I am foolish for staying in this relationship
I'm too much in love to care
Despite the foolishness, I am too in love and invested to worry about it
I knew where I was, I'd given up hope
I had given up on my life and future plans
Made friends with disillusion
I had reconciled myself to disillusionment and unhappiness
No one in my life, but I look at you
I had no one special in my life until I met you
And now it's all confusion
But now that I am falling in love with you, I am feeling conflicted and unsure
I thought I had everything I needed
I believed I had all my necessities and contentment in my life already
My life was set, my dreams were in place
My future plans were established and secure in my mind
My heart could see, way into the future
I had a clear vision of my future and what I wanted
All of that goes when I see your face
All those previous plans and visions get disrupted or forgotten when I am with you
I should hate you
I know I shouldn't love you or be with you, but I can't help it
There I was, the world in my hand
I had a grip on my life and everything was in my control
Can one kiss, kiss away
Can a single kiss sabotage or ruin all that control and order?
Everything I planned?
Will that kiss make me abandon all my dreams and goals?
We're floating in mid-air
Our relationship and emotions are in a precarious state
If we are fools, well
If we are making a foolish choice to stay together despite obstacles and disagreements
We're too much in love to care
But we are too immersed and passionate to care about the logic of the situation
Lyrics © THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind