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Kimberley Rew
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| Birth name | Kimberley Charles Rew |
| Born | (1951-12-03) 3 December 1951 (age 72) |
| Genres | Pop rock, new wave |
| Formerly of | The Soft Boys Katrina and the Waves |
Kimberley Charles Rew (born 3 December 1951) is an English rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was a member of Katrina and the Waves from 1981 to 1999[1] and of Robyn Hitchcock's Soft Boys from 1978 to 1981. For Katrina and the Waves, he wrote "Walking on Sunshine"[1] and "Love Shine a Light". 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.
Rew's family is from Bristol and 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.[2] In 1970, he acquired a place at Cambridge, to study Modern Languages, and on an exhibition. He lived at 206 Torbay Road, in South Harrow. Another person gaining a place at the same time was Geoff Egan, of 49 Medway Gardens in Wembley. At Jesus College, Cambridge he received a 2.1,[3] and settled in that city. In 1997 Rew lived on Mill Road.[4]
After a brief excursion into archaeology at West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village and gaining a degree in archaeology from Cambridge,[1] Rew formed the Waves with Alex Cooper in 1975,[1] 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 in 1980.[5]
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, and, in 1985, "Walking on Sunshine", which became the group's first and biggest hit.[6]
In 1997, Katrina and the Waves won the Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom with the Rew composition "Love Shine a Light". The song was written for the Samaritans 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 Robyn Hitchcock, 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.
Rew joined the Cambridge band Jack in 2004. His wife Lee Cave-Berry had previously joined in 2000. Rew and his wife also perform as a duo called Kim and Lee.[7][8]
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