My Top 2000 Songs #1068: Going Down To Liverpool

The chiming, Beatlesque power pop ditty "Going Down To Liverpool" was one of the earliest recordings by Katrina & The Waves, back when they were still simply The Waves (with vocalist Katrina Leskanich playing a more limited role in the band). The raw, original version, included on the Waves' 1982 indie debut EP Shock Horror, was sung by songwriter/guitarist Kimberley Rew; he'd joined the Waves flush with original material after his former band, the Soft Boys, broke up and frontman Robyn Hitchcock went solo. The following year, the band newly dubbed Katrina & The Waves re-recorded the track for debut LP Walking On Sunshine, though despite Katrina's emergence as primary vocalist, Rew again handled the vocals. This one added a bit more treble jangle, though it's still relatively lo-fi and stripped down.

Finally, "Liverpool" got a highly polished remake (along with a chunk of other early indie tracks) for their 1985 self-titled major label debut. For this final version, Katrina took lead, and while she brings a colorful vibrancy to the delivery, the cleaned-up version lacks some of the immediacy of the indie label Rew-helmed takes. Still, the irrepressible catchiness of the song remained intact.

In the midst of these multiple iterations, the Bangles recorded a cover version for 1984's All Over The Place, and that version may be better-known than the Waves' original(s) (at least in part due to the MTV-friendly video with Leonard Nimoy!). As for which is better... actually, pretty tough call. The Bangles absolutely did it justice, no question about it.

Katrina's 1985 major label version:

Original Shock Horror version, Rew vocals:

Second Rew version, slightly brighter:

Bangles' version:

Bangles live 1986:

Katrina (no Waves) live 2017:

Rew's Soft Boys bandmate Robyn Hitchcock, with Yo La Tengo:

Yo La Tengo (again!), earlier this year, this time with Rew and Rew's partner Lee Cave-Berry: