It's Raining Men

"It's Raining Men"
Single by The Weather Girls
from the album Success
B-side "It's Raining Men" (long version)
Released September 10, 1982
Format
Recorded 1982
Genre
Length
  • 3:31 (7" single)
  • 5:24 (12" single)
Label The Entertainment Company/Columbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Paul Jabara and Bob Esty for the Entertainment Company
The Weather Girls singles chronology
"Just Us"
(1980)		 "It's Raining Men"
(1982)		 "No One Can Love You More Than Me"
(1985)
Audio sample
  • file
  • help
Music video
"It's Raining Men" on YouTube
"It's Raining Men"
Single by Martha Wash featuring RuPaul
from the album The Collection and RuPaul's Go-Go Box Classics
B-side "It's Raining Men... The Sequel" (radio mix)
Released
  • February 16, 1998 (UK)
  • November 10, 1998 (US)
Format CD
Recorded 1997
Genre Eurodance
Length 3:45
Label Rhino
Songwriter(s)
  • Paul Jabara
  • Paul Shaffer
Producer(s) Gary Haase
Martha Wash featuring RuPaul singles chronology
"Come"
(1998)		 "It's Raining Men"
(1998)		 "Listen to the People"
(2000)

"It's Raining Men" is a song written by Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer in 1979,[3][4] originally recorded by The Weather Girls in 1982. The song had been offered to Diana Ross, Donna Summer,[3] Cher, and Barbra Streisand before being accepted by Martha Wash and Izora Armstead of The Weather Girls, with their version becoming an international hit, selling over 6 million copies worldwide.[5]

It was covered by Martha Wash (of The Weather Girls) as a duet with RuPaul in 1997, by Geri Halliwell in 2001, and by Young Divas in 2006. The song is hailed as a camp classic and more recently as a dance, gay, and female anthem.

Original and RuPaul versions

The Weather Girls' version went number one on the US Disco chart, debuting in October 1982. It made number 34 on the US R&B chart and number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was released from their album Success. This version also made it to number two on the UK Singles Chart, as well as number one on the Euro Hot 100. It is featured on Just Dance 2.

RuPaul and Martha Wash duetted on "It's Raining Men... The Sequel", which was included on the 1998 Rhino Records compilation CD RuPaul's Go-Go Box Classics.

Impact and legacy

VH1 ranked the song at number 35 in their list of the 100 Greatest Dance Songs in 2000 and also at number 35 in their 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 1980s in 2009.[6]

Paste Magazine ranked the song number 12 in their list of The 60 Best Dancefloor Classics in February 2017.[7]

Charts

"It's Raining Men"

Chart (1982–1984) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 16
France (IFOP)[9] 54
Germany (Official German Charts)[10] 43
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 31
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 46
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 13
Norway (VG-lista)[15] 8
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[17] 46
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles 34
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[17] 1
Chart (2001) Peak
position
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 95
Chart (2013) Peak
position
Slovenia (SloTop50)[19] 43
Chart (2014) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[20] 31

"It's Raining Men... The Sequel"

Chart (1998) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[21] 64
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[22] 46
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[23] 16
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[24] 21
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 22

Geri Halliwell version

"It's Raining Men"
Single by Geri Halliwell
from the album Scream If You Wanna Go Faster and Bridget Jones's Diary: Music from the Motion Picture
B-side
  • "Brave New World"
  • "I Was Made That Way"
Released April 30, 2001
Format
Recorded 2001
Genre Dance-pop
Length
  • 4:18 (album version)
  • 3:47 (radio version)
Label EMI
Songwriter(s)
  • Paul Jabara
  • Paul Shaffer
Producer(s) Stephen Lipson
Geri Halliwell singles chronology
"Bag It Up"
(2000)		 "It's Raining Men"
(2001)		 "Scream If You Wanna Go Faster"
(2001)

"It's Raining Men" was released on April 30, 2001 as the first single from Geri Halliwell's second solo album, Scream if You Wanna Go Faster. It was also featured as the lead single internationally to the soundtrack of the 2001 film Bridget Jones's Diary. The single became Halliwell's fourth consecutive number-one hit single on the UK Singles Chart and became her most successful solo single to date. "Feels Like Sex", another song from the album, was originally slated as the lead single, but after "It's Raining Men" was offered to Halliwell, the song was released as the first single, and was added to Scream if You Wanna Go Faster.

Reception

Halliwell's version received positive reviews by music critics, experienced international success and hit the top ten in over two dozen countries around the world, going to number one in several of them. However, in the United Kingdom, "It's Raining Men" debuted at number-one on the UK Singles Chart and stayed there for two weeks. It became Halliwell's fourth consecutive number-one single in the UK, selling 155,000 units in its first week and 80,000 in its second week. Overall the single went on to sell 449,000 copies in Britain alone,[25] becoming the 13th best seller of 2001 and Halliwell's most successful single worldwide.[26] In Flemish Belgium, the song stayed at number one for four weeks and was the best-selling single of 2001 there.[27] It was also a major success in Walloon Belgium, Ireland, and Switzerland.

The song reached number one in France for five weeks and sold over 812,000 copies,[28] it receiving a "Diamond" certification from the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP).[29] With this song, Geri Halliwell won the International Song of the Year award at the 2002 NRJ Music Awards in France.

A remix of the song, The Almighty Mix from the Toshiba-EMI series "Dance Mania", volume 20 was also featured in the 2002 Japanese video games, DDRMAX2 Dance Dance Revolution 7thMix and Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME. This version of the song was used as the theme song in the advertisements for New Talent Singing Awards Vancouver Audition 2003. In July 2006 the song entered at seventy-nine on the Mexican Digital Sales Chart, spending two weeks inside the Top 100.

Music video

Halliwell was inspired by the 1980 film Fame and by the 1982 film Flashdance for the video.[30]

Live performances

To promote the single, Halliwell performed the song on Top of the Pops, Comet Awards 2001, Musica Sí, Big Brother Germany, Party in the Park, Live & Kicking, Loft Story, Pepsi Chart Russia, CD:UK and Tickled Pink. Halliwell also performed the song on The Return of the Spice Girls world tour as her solo number.[31]

Formats and track listings

These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "It's Raining Men" by Geri Halliwell.

UK & Europe CD1/International CD Maxi (Released April 30, 2001)

  1. "It's Raining Men" – 4:18
  2. "I Was Made That Way" – 4:45
  3. "Brave New World" – 4:10
  4. "It's Raining Men" (enhanced video)

UK & Europe CD2/Australian CD Maxi (Released April 30, 2001)

  1. "It's Raining Men" – 4:18
  2. "It's Raining Men" (Bold and Beautiful Glamour Mix Edit) – 4:46
  3. "It's Raining Men" (Almighty Mix Edit) – 3:46
  4. "It's Raining Men" (D-Bop Tall and Blonde Mix Edit) – 6:55

European 2-track CD single (Released April 30, 2001)

  1. "It's Raining Men" – 4:18
  2. "Brave New World" – 4:10

Italian 12" single (Released July 18, 2001)
Side A

  1. "It's Raining Men" – 4:18
  2. "It's Raining Men" (Bold And Beautiful Glamour Mix Edit) – 4:46

Side B

  1. "It's Raining Men" (Almighty Mix Edit) – 3:46
  2. "It's Raining Men" (D-Bop Tall And Blonde Mix Edit) – 6:55

Charts

Official remixes

  1. Radio edit – 3:50
  2. Album version – 4:18
  3. Bold and Beautiful Glamour Mix (radio edit) – 4:46
  4. Bold and Beautiful Glamour Mix (extended) – 7:06
  5. Almighty Mix (radio edit) – 3:46
  6. Almighty Mix (extended) – 8:15
  7. D-Bop Tall and Blonde Mix (short edit) – 6:55
  8. D-Bop Tall and Blonde Mix (long version) – 8:09
  9. Dax Thunderstorm Mix – 7:28
  10. "It's Raining G's" (N.W.A) – 4:13

Uses in other media

In film

  • The song is featured in the Rodney Dangerfield hit Easy Money (1983).
  • The song is featured in Eraser (1996).
  • It is a favorite song of Shawn Wayans' character Ray in Scary Movie (2000). He plays the song in Greg's car moments before the group hits the man they ultimately dump off a pier.
  • In the Hindi movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2001), the song is featured when the character Pooja (played by Kareena Kapoor) is getting ready in the morning. A legal suit was filed against director Karan Johar for using the song without obtaining prior permission.[69]
  • In the Farrelly brothers' comedy film Stuck on You (2003), Walt hits the jukebox when he walks in and sees his brother, but gets embarrassed and hits it again when "It's Raining Men" is the song that starts playing.
  • It is featured in the Danish film After the Wedding (2006). Titled Efter Brylluppet in Danish, it was directed by Susanne Bier.[70]
  • In the movie Vampires Suck (2010) the wolf pack dances to the song before dismembering a vampire.
  • It is featured in the film, Magic Mike (2012), as the background music for the first stripping scene of the film.
  • In the French movie Bowling (2012), by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar.

In sports

In television

In theater and onstage

In videogames

2014 Facebook campaign

A campaign in Facebook was launched on January 19, 2014 to get the song to UK number one in response to a UKIP councillor blaming recent UK floods and adverse weather on divine retribution for the British government's introduction of gay marriage. The campaign has been reported widely by some press and The Weather Girls' version reached number 21 on the first day of the chart week.[78] The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2014 at number 31.[79]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Brewster, Bill; Broughton, Frank (1999). Last Night a Dj Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey. Headline Book Publishing. p. 200. ISBN 0-7472-6230-6.
  2. ↑ Sisario, Ben (28 September 2004). "Izora Armstead, a Singer in the Weather Girls Duo, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Wayne, George (November 2009). "Celebs, Jokes, and Rock 'n' Roll!". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 20, 2013. Paul Shaffer: Paul Jabara called me up and said, “I’ve got a great song for Donna Summer. I want you to write the song with me. What do you think about ‘It’s Raining Men’?” We wrote it in one afternoon. Lyrically she hated it, because she had become a born-again Christian. She thought it was blasphemous. She called Paul and said, “I hate the song. Oh, we’ve lost you.” And then she sent him a Bible the next day.
  4. ↑ Edwards, David (August 27, 2012). "Fox News introduces Romney sons with gay anthem 'It's Raining Men'". The Raw Story. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  5. ↑ "The Weather Girls – It's Raining Men". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  6. ↑ Ali, Rahsheeda (May 2, 2013). "100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s". VH1. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  7. ↑ "The 60 Best Dancefloor Classics". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives: Australian Chart Book. p. 334. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ↑ "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque Artiste commençant par W". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  10. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Weather Girls – It's Raining Men". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  11. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – It's Raining Men". Irish Singles Chart.
  12. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 47, 1983" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  13. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Weather Girls – It's Raining Men" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  14. ↑ "Charts.nz – The Weather Girls – It's Raining Men". Top 40 Singles.
  15. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Weather Girls – It's Raining Men". VG-lista.
  16. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  17. 1 2 "Success awards on Allmusic". Allmusic. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Weather Girls – It's Raining Men". Swiss Singles Chart.
  19. ↑ "SloTop50: Slovenian official singles weekly chart" (in Slovenian). SloTop50. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  20. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  21. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  22. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  23. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  24. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  25. 1 2 Copsey, Rob (29 June 2017). "The ultimate Official Spice Girls solo chart: all their singles ranked by sales". Official Charts. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  26. 1 2 "2001 - UK Charts Plus" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. 2002-01-05. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  27. 1 2 "Jaaroverzichten 2001" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  28. 1 2 "InfoDisc : Les Certifications (Singles) du SNEP (Bilan par Artiste) – Search for "HaliwellG."". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
  29. ↑ "Certifications Singles Diamond - année 2002". Disque en France. Archived from the original on December 12, 2011. Retrieved April 3, 2012.
  30. ↑ "Entertainment Daily : Geri Halliwell". AP Archive. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  31. ↑ "CANOE - JAM! Spice Girls: Air Canada Centre, Toronto - February 26, 2008". Jam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on April 22, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
  32. ↑ "Australian-charts.com – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". ARIA Top 50 Singles.
  33. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  34. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  35. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  36. ↑ "Brazil" (PDF). ABPD. October 6, 2001. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Geri Halliwell | Awards". AllMusic. August 6, 1972. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  38. ↑ "Danishcharts.com – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". Tracklisten.
  39. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=HBQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40
  40. ↑ "Geri Halliwell: It's Raining Men" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  41. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men" (in French). Les classement single.
  42. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  43. ↑ "Chart Track: Week 18, 2001". Irish Singles Chart.
  44. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". Top Digital Download.
  45. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 27, 2001" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  46. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  47. ↑ "Charts.nz – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". Top 40 Singles.
  48. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". VG-lista.
  49. ↑ "Nielsen Music Control". Archived from the original on 2007-10-17.
  50. ↑ "Romanian Top 100 Singles Airplay Chart - Top of the Year 2001". Archived from the original on December 9, 2002. Retrieved 2002-12-09.
  51. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  52. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men" Canciones Top 50.
  53. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". Singles Top 100.
  54. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Geri Halliwell – It's Raining Men". Swiss Singles Chart.
  55. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  56. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2001". ARIA. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
  57. ↑ "Rapports annuels 2001" (in French). Ultratop. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  58. ↑ "Classement Singles - année 2001" (in French). Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  59. ↑ "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts 2001" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  60. ↑ "Best of Singles 2001". IRMA. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  61. ↑ "JAAROVERZICHTEN - Single 2001" (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  62. ↑ "SWISS YEAR-END CHARTS 2001" (in German). Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  63. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  64. ↑ "Ultratop 50 Albums Wallonie 2001". Ultratop. Retrieved January 5, 2012.
  65. ↑ "French single certifications – Geri Halliwell" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  66. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Melanie C)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  67. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Geri Halliwell)". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  68. ↑ "British single certifications – Geri Halliwell". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 28, 2011. Select singles in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Geri Halliwell in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  69. ↑ "When Karan Johar was sued". The Times of India. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  70. ↑ "After the Wedding (2006)". IMDb.com. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  71. ↑ "2F08 Fear of Flying". The Simpsons Archive. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
  72. ↑ "Martin Short Sings 'It's Raining Mitt' On 'Late Show With David Letterman'accessdate=July 29, 2014".
  73. ↑ Letterman, David (April 21, 2015). "Late Show with David Letterman: Season 22, Episode 130: Paul Rudd/Piedmont Bird Callers/Chaka Khan". CBS. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  74. ↑ Letterman, David (April 21, 2015). "Chaka Khan - Letterman - 2015.04.21 - "It's Raining Men"". YouTube. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  75. ↑ Fallon, Jimmy (September 13, 2013). "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". NBC Studios. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  76. ↑ Fallon, Jimmy (September 14, 2013). "Charades with Scarlett Johansson and Drake (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)". YouTube. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  77. ↑ "Spider-Man, Priscilla and More to Join Nominated Musicals in Performing at 2011 Tony Awards". Broadway.com. June 8, 2011.
  78. ↑ Morse, Felicity (January 21, 2014). "Facebook campaign launched to get 'It's Raining Men' to number 1 after Ukip councillor blames floods on gay marriage". The Independent. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  79. ↑ "NEWS: It's Raining Men Enters Into Official UK Single's Chart". Thegayuk.com. February 2, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
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