When Barry (Jack Black in Hi-Fidelity) wanted to uplift his co-workers at the record store with some happy tuneage, the best way to start off his Special Monday Morning Mix was with
Katrina & the Waves over the top sunshiney pop smash "
Walking on Sunshine." It was probably the best use of this song in a movie ever... take that back. Funniest. The best was in
American Psycho.
Katrina and the Waves formed back in the early 80's when a couple of American "Air-force brats" (holler!) joined the already formed UK group, The Waves, and toured throughout the military bases of Great Britain before hitting it big in Canada (via record sales and radio promotion.) With some major re-recording, and plenty of horn tracks added on, "Walking on Sunshine" went on to become a worldwide hit (1985's #9 US, #8 UK) and garnered them a Grammy nomination for "Best New Artist."
Now, in it's 25th Anniversary, the single is getting gobs of new attention, and more revamping. Such as an iPod game, a karaoke contest, a re-release of their back-catalouge, and a new version of the tune as performed by the
Soweto Gospel Choir.
From Soweto, South Africa, the Soweto Gospel Choir is composed of over 30 members who blend African gospel, with reggae and pop. They've won 2 Grammy's (2007 & 2008) for Best Traditional World Music Album. They were also the first group to perform at Nelson Mandela's AIDS benefit concert series, 46664 (Mandela's prisoner ID number.)
So the Soweto Gospel Choir gave it some global rhythm. Dolly Parton made it bluegrassy. And Me First and the Gimme Gimmes took it to a whole new level of obnoxiousness with a pop ska twist (barf.) I wonder what Barry would think if Belle and Sebastian were to cover it...
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