Living on a song-Katrina and the Waves still own the song....well everyone except Katrina

[underpants]

After it was released in 1985, Leskanich says, "Walking on Sunshine" became one of those "it's never gonna go away" songs, around the world. Every time the song got played on the radio, it made a little more money.

Tim Lee heads up Tummy Touch Records, Katrina and the Waves' current record label. "Every time a song gets played on the radio, you get, what, a buck, a buck 50," Lee says. "If the song's played 2 million times, as 'Walking on Sunshine' has been, it really adds up."

Leskanich, who had been a dishwasher on an American military base in England, says it was a lot like winning the lottery. She says the band wisely decided to put itself on a salary rather than getting lump sums; she was able to put a down payment on a small house in England and bought a new car.

So the band was dropped, but the money from "Walking on Sunshine" kept coming in. In another wise move, Katrina and the Waves held on to the publishing rights. That's the money that typically goes to the songwriter, in this case the band's guitarist, Kimberley Rew. Lee says Rew shares that money with the rest of the band.

By some estimates, "Walking on Sunshine" has made the band about $1 million per year over the past decade. Rew has written more than 200 songs since then, but he lives off the money from "Walking on Sunshine."

The story of Katrina and the Waves did not end well; Leskanich says she was fired in 1998. Lawyers were involved, and she says she no longer gets a share of the money made from "Walking on Sunshine." But she does still sing it. Copyright 2010 National Public Radio

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuar/.artsmain/article/4/1338/1654291/Pop/'Walking.On.Sunshine'.Living.On.A.Song