Song:It's Raining Men
Album:Disco Nights Vol. 4: Greatest Disco Groups
Here's one of the goofiest hits of the 80s. It's Raining Men was a monster dance hit in 1982 but I think folks overlook the real talent of The Weather Girls. If they don't sell the song, it's not a hit. Martha Wash and Izora Armstead first worked together as backup singers for Sylvester. He had some dance hits in the 70s including You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) in 1978. He was also one of the first recording artists marketed specifically to the gay community. Martha and Izora became session singers. Obviously because they're large, record companies didn't consider them marketable. I guess they never heard of Mama Cass. Martha and Izora recorded as Two Tons O' Fun and had a couple of dance hits. They became The Weather Girls in 1983 and signed with Columbia. Of course the group name change was because of It's Raining Men. Yuk yuk. The song was written by veteran disco producer Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer. Jabara had offered it to several artists including Donna Summer but they all turned it down. The girls had fun with it and that's why the song topped the dance charts in 1982. Of course It's Raining Men is over the top but that was Jabara's production style and at that time he was successful. The Weather Girls recorded three albums for Columbia but It's Raining Men was their only memorable song. You can get the full version of It's Raining Men on this various artists budget comp. Many comps have the much shorter radio edit. Izora Armstead moved to Germany in 1990 and performed as The Weather Girls with her daughter She died on Sept. 16, 2004 at age 62 and her daughters continue to perform as The Weather Girls. Martha Wash returned to session work. She's best known for recording the lead vocal for the 1989 Black Box hit Everybody Everybody. When a lipsyncing model was used in the video and Martha received no credit in the CD liner notes, she sued RCA Records and won a solo recording contract that ultimately went nowhere. She recorded It's Raining Men with RuPaul in 2007 and appears at a lot of Gay Pride events. She has been a respected session singer for decades. Here's the video for It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls.
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