I hadn't heard that song, or thought about the band, in ages, but "Walking on Sunshine" (which may be overexposed, but I still love) popped up the other day on the sound system at my local watering hole, and I suddenly flashed on "Mexico." What a great track, and doesn't Katrina sing the hell out of it? (Answer: Yes. Yes, she does.)
I should add that the song was a radio hit in Canada in 1984, which I had not previously known until yesterday.
I should also add that a) the whole thing is about as infectiously catchy as can be, and (more important) b) that former colleague of Robyn Hitchcock (in the Soft Boys) Kimberly Rew is one hell of a lead guitarist,
7 comments:
Nice upbeat start to the week. Always nice to discover an older song or artist that somehow escaped us.
Nice energetic use of the La Bamba riff.
I don't believe I've ever heard this before. It's wonderful.
If you've told me it was The Pretenders I'd believe you.
Captain Al
I've loved Walking on Sunshine since it first came out (which was a year or two before it became a hit). I loved Going Down to Liverpool and Mexico too. But although Rate Your Music tells me they put out 6 more albums after that breakthrough record, I can't recall hearing a single song on any of them. I don't know if that's because they weren't good, or because radio simply lost interest. And by "radio" I don't mean the AT40, but alternative rock or college rock or whatever you want to call that format. I mean, they played the hell out of "Sunshine" and "Liverpool". Surely on a blog called PowerPop someone must remember their other records. Have I been missing anything good all these years?
Marc
There was a great long-form video of them on tour, if memory serves. I think I may even still have it…I’ll do the research….
I remember they had a couple of other good singles that came from albums that were released after the big one with "...Sunshine" on it - "Is that It?" which hit only #70 on the U.S. pop chart but #25 in Canada, and "That's The Way", which actually hit #16 on the U.S. pop chart. They're both worth checking out.
Thanks ChrisE, I'm off to YouTube to find those two.
Marc
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