Rain might be the most overused metaphor in songwriting: it can represent sadness, loss, nostalgia on the one hand, happiness, purity, and cleansing on the other. Sure, it doesn't take much imagination to put together a mix with song titles that include the word "rain" but I did it anyway and think it turned out pretty good. The songs not only represent a variety of styles, but cover the full continuum of the aforementioned metaphors. Plus it's a very timely mix in my part of the country this week:
Below is a Mixcloud show containing an hour's worth of rain tunes from the years 1976-85 followed by an annotated playlist. There's the obvious picks alongside the occasional album cut and maybe a forgotten favorite. Enjoy.
 | "Hold Back the Rain" Duran Duran From the album Rio Written by Duran Duran Produced by Colin Thurston |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| not released as single in US |
This tune closed side one of Rio and served as the B-side of the "Save a Prayer." It's better than "Save a Prayer" IMO. From what I've read, the main creative differences in the band came from a dispute over whether DD should be a synth band or a guitar band and this song meets perfectly in the middle.
 | "Another Rainy Day in New York City" Chicago From the album Chicago X Written by Robert Lamm Produced by James William Guercio |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Adult Contemporary | 2 |
| Hot 100 | 32 |
 | "I Can't Stand the Rain" Eruption From the album Eruption Written by Ann Peebles, Don Bryant & Bernard "Bernie" Miller Produced by Frank Farian |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Hot 100 | 18 |
| R&B | 30 |
| Disco | 6 |
A fun disco cover, as are most disco covers. I dig what the bass player is putting down.
 | "Save It for a Rainy Day" Stephen Bishop From the album Careless Written by Stephen Bishop Produced by Henry Lewy & Stephen Bishop |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Adult Contemporary | 6 |
| Hot 100 | 22 |
You'd think duet vocals by Chaka Khan and a guitar solo by Eric Clapton would take over a record, but its's all just perfect soft rock here. And you know you love it when Chaka takes off on her own at the end.
 | "I Love a Rainy Night" Eddie Rabbitt From the album Horizon Written by David Malloy, Eddie Rabbitt, Even Stevens Produced by David Malloy |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| Hot 100 | 1 |
| Country | 1 |
A true chart-topper as well as sing-along toe-tapper. The song succeeded Dolly Parton's song "9 to 5" at the number 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart - the last time, to date, that the pop chart featured back-to-back country singles in the number one position. To my sons, this song is known from GTA: San Andreas.
 | "Shadows in the Rain" Sting From the album Dream of the Blue Turtles Written by Sting Produced by Sting & Pete Smith |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| not released as single in US |
In which Sting takes a boring filler tune from Zenyatta Mondatta and lets his band turn it into a driving rock tune. Sting may get writing credit, but this song would be nothing with sax work from Branford Marsalis and an epic synth solo from the late Kenny Kirkland. Don't overlook Omar Hakim's sublime work, either.
 | "I Made It Through the Rain" Barry Manilow From the album Barry Written by Gerard Kenny, Drey Shepperd, Barry Manilow, Bruce Sussman & Jack Feldman Produced by Barry Manilow & Ron Dante |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Adult Contemporary | 4 |
| Hot 100 | 10 |
That's a jarring segue if I've ever heard one, but I'm a confessed Fanilow so I had to make it happen. This is stereotypical Manilow balladry: piano intro, lots of strings, over-emphasized snare drum, and, of course, the upward modulation at the end. But if the formula works, don't mess with it.
 | "It's Raining Again" Supertramp From the album ...Famous Last Words Written by Rick Davies & Roger Hodgson Produced by Supertramp & Peter Henderson |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Adult Contemporary | 5 |
| Hot 100 | 11 |
| Rock | 7 |
The upbeat tempo and happy melody belie the lyrics. One of the few recorded melodica solos that I can think of. But, oh, that soaring, wordless bridge! So good I can forgive rhyming "fighter" with "up-tight-ah".
 | "Rain is Falling" Electric Light Orchestra From the album Time Written by Jeff Lynne Produced by Jeff Lynne |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Bubbling Under Hot 100 | 101 |
Despite a few stellar moments, the whole Time album is fairly underwhelming but I listened to it a lot more than it deserved. This was the third single released from the album; it didn't do so hot, but I like it. This song, as well as the previous Supertramp tune, work in snippets of the old nursery rhyme "It's Raining, It's Pouring".
 | "Rainbow's End" Sergio Mendes From the album Sergio Mendes Written by Don Freeman & David Batteau Produced by Sergio Mendes |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| not released as single in US |
An album I continue to listen to more than it deserves. This 1983 album cut, the lead track on side two, is one of my favorites on the album and features the late Dan Sembello on lead vocals. Brother of Michael, Danny was a Grammy Award winning songwriter/producer in his own right. And his vocals aren't bad, neither.
 | "Smoky Mountain Rain" Ronnie Milsap From the album Greatest Hits Written by Kye Fleming & Dennis Morgan Produced by Tom Collins & Ronnie Milsap |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| Hot 100 | 24 |
| Country | 1 |
The wife loves Ronnie Milsap. And she really loves it when I sing Ronnie Milsap songs to her. 😈 Thanks, Ronnie!
 | "Raining Raining" Nick Lowe From the album Nick the Knife Written by Nick Lowe Produced by Nick Lowe |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| not released as single in US |
An album cut from what might be Lowe's best album. Long out-of-print, it was finally reissued in April by Yep Roc Records. My advice: buy it while you can.
 | "Who'll Stop the Rain" Heaven 17 From the album The Luxury Gap Written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh & Martyn Ware Produced by British Electric Foundation |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| not released as single in US |
A fantastic synth-funk cut that's probably the 4th or 5th best song on the album - that's how good The Luxury Gap is. I first fell in love with this groove on the group's US compilation debut, where it was the lead track:
 | "Here Comes the Rain Again" Eurythmics From the album Touch Written by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart Produced by David A. Stewart |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| Hot 100 | 4 |
| Adult Contemporary | 6 |
| Dance | 4 |
The most obvious choice in this mix, I just had to because I sing the opening lyrics whenever it starts raining. To be honest, I don't even like the tune that much.
| "Tinseltown in the Rain" The Blue Nile From the album A Walk Across the Rooftops Written by Paul Buchanan & Robert Bell Produced by Paul Buchanan &Robert Bell |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| not released as single in US |
I came to The Blue Nile several decades after fact, but I'm catching up. This particular tune is giving me a Thomas Dolby vibe, for sure. I think of "Tinseltown" referring to Hollywood, but this song is about the band's native Glasgow. It was released as a single in the UK, but only managed to climb to #87.
 | "Walk Between Raindrops" Donald Fagen From the album The Nightfly Written by Donald Fagen Produced by Gary Katz |
| U.S. Billboard charts peaks: | |
| not released as single in US |
A big band tune that isn't performed by a big band. I'd like to hear a big band arrangement, though. One moment please... Here's a decent arrangement by Mel Torme; I'll keep hunting. As it stands, this is the closing tune from The Nightfly, one of my favorite albums of 1982 (and all-time, for that matter), so I thought it would make a nice closer for this mix.
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