AccuRadio Song Of The Day-The Beta Band

Artist:The Beta Band

Song:Dry the Rain

Album:High Fidelity: Original Soundtrack

Dry the Rain was the signature song of the Scottish group The Beta Band because it appeared on the soundtrack of the 2000 film High Fidelity. They had some success in England but internal conflicts and financial problems forced them to split up. The Beta Band was formed in St. Andrews, Scotland by singer and guitarist Steve Mason and Gordon Anderson. At first they were going to call themselves The Pigeons but they changed it to The Beta Band. Anderson records as Lone Pigeon so I'm sure The Pigeons was his idea. Dry the Rain was on their 1997 EP Champion Versions. The rest of the band was John Maclean on keyboards, Steve Duffield on bass and Robin Jones on drums. This EP got them a record deal with EMI's Regal label. They were on Astralwerks in the US. Duffield was replaced by Richard Greentree and Anderson went home to Scotland and recorded as Lone Pigeon. The Beta Band released three EPs and then released the 1999 album The Beta Band. The album got mixed reviews and Mason denounced it as awful. He also wasn't happy with EMI's promotion budget. Meanwhile director Stephen Frears was looking for songs for his 2000 film High Fidelity. The film starred John Cusack as a music geek who worked in a record store. It was based on Nick Hornby's 1995 novel. Frears wanted music geek songs for the soundtrack. So he called on veteran soundtrack coordinator Kathy Nelson to find the music. Dry the Rain was one of those songs and The Beta Band toured the US because of this. They released three albums and were unhappy enough with the 2004 album Heroes to Zeros to split up. Also, Mason said they owed EMI a lot of money. There are The Beta Band comps available. But the High Fidelity soundtrack is available as a budget CD. Mason recorded as King Biscuit Time and since 2010 has recorded five albums under his real name. Jones, Maclean and Anderson formed The Aliens in 2005. They split up in 2008 when Anderson got sick and reunited in 2019. Here's The Beta Band performing Dry the Rain at their 2004 farewell concert at Shepherds Bush Empire. This entire concert can be streamed on YouTube.