Kimberley Charles Rew (born 3 December 1951) is an English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was a member of

Katrina and the Waves Katrina and the Waves were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Cambridge in 1981, widely known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine (Katrina and the Waves song), Walking on Sunshine". They won the 1997 Eurovision Song Contest with the ...

from 1981 to 1999How a postman, dishwasher, mortician, and a bowling-ball-hole-driller became Katrina and the Waves
by Robin Schwartz, Spin, July 1985 and of

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

's The Soft Boys from 1978 to 1981. For Katrina and the Waves, he wrote " Walking on Sunshine" and "

Love Shine a Light "Love Shine a Light" is a song by British rock band Katrina and the Waves written by Kimberley Rew. It in the Eurovision Song Contest 1997 held in Dublin, resulting in the country's fifth and most recent win at the contest. It was released as a ...

". The latter was performed as the United Kingdom's entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1997, taking the country to its first victory in the contest since 1981.

Early life

Rew is from

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and his family moved house several times during his boyhood. He joined Harrow County School for Boys at the age of 14, being known for being good at Ancient Greek and Latin, and playing the guitar. He lived at 206 Torbay Road, in South Harrow. In 1970, he gained a place at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, to study Modern Languages, on an exhibition. Another boy from his school joining the university at the same time was Geoff Egan. At Cambridge, Rew gained a degree in archaeology, receiving a 2.1, and settled in that city.''Cambridge Daily News'' Monday 14 April 1997, page 14

Career

After a brief excursion into archaeology at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village, in 1975 Rew formed the Waves with Alex Cooper, before joining the Soft Boys in 1978, recording the '' A Can of Bees'' and '' Underwater Moonlight'' albums. The group was named after the novel '' The Waves''. The drummer Alex studied History at Cambridge. The group first played together at the Galaxy Club at

RAF Mildenhall Royal Air Force Mildenhall, or more simply RAF Mildenhall , is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station located near Mildenhall, Suffolk, Mildenhall in Suffolk, England. Despite its status as a List of Royal Air Force stations, ...

in 1980. In 1981, the Soft Boys' leader Robyn Hitchcock began his solo career; Rew and Cooper joined with Katrina Leskanich and Vince de la Cruz to form Katrina and the Waves. The group survived a slow career climb by tours of RAF bases and Canadian club gigs, then teamed up with the producers Pat Collier and Scott Litt to record Rew's compositions " Going Down to Liverpool", covered by

The Bangles The Bangles are an American all-female band, all-female pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, in 1981. They are known for hit singles during the 1980s that made them one of the most successful pop rock groups of the decade. The band’s biggest ...

, and, in 1985, " Walking on Sunshine", which became the group's first and biggest hit. In 1997, Katrina and the Waves won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with the Rew composition "

". The song was written for the

Samaritans Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

30th anniversary. In 1999, Leskanich left the band to pursue a solo career. Rew continued to write, record and release solo albums. From 1988 through to 2004, he was a guest member of the Cambridge band The Lonely. He played on three albums, ''Underground'' (1989), ''Rarer Gifts'' (1998) and ''Live'' (2000). In 2001 Rew reunited and toured with

, bassist Matthew Seligman, and Morris Windsor for the Soft Boys' re-release of their 1980 album '' Underwater Moonlight''. The following year they recorded and released a new album, ''Nextdoorland'', which was accompanied by a short album of outtakes, ''Side Three''. In 1997 Rew was living on Mill Road, Cambridge. In 2004, he joined the Cambridge band Jack, which his wife Lee Cave-Berry had already joined in 2000. The two also perform together as a duo called Kim and Lee.

Solo discography

*''

The Bible of Bop ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1982) *''Tunnel into Summer'' (2000) *''Great Central Revisited'' (2003) *''Essex Hideaway'' (2005) *''Ridgeway'' (EP) (2006) *''The Safest Place'' (2010) *''Strawberry Fair'' (2011) *''Technically Closer than Tooting'' (2012) *''Healing Broadway'' (2013) *''The Next Big Adventure'' (2014) *''Are we there yet, Daddy?'' (2015) *''Miles of Smiles'' (2016) *''Purple Kittens'' (2021)

References

External links

*
Jack lineup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rew, Kimberley 1951 births Living people Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge English male singers English male songwriters English male guitarists English new wave musicians Musicians from Cambridge Eurovision Song Contest-winning songwriters Katrina and the Waves members People educated at Harrow High School The Soft Boys members