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	7" single, 12" single
Recorded	1982
Genre	Hi-NRG,[1][2] post-disco
Length	3:31 (7" single) 4:06 (album version) 5:24 (12" single)
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Paul Jabara Paul Shaffer
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 info · help

"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	November 10, 1998
Format	CD
Recorded	1997
Genre	Eurodance
Length	3:45
Label	Rhino Records
Writer(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 and number two in Australia, as well as number one on the Euro Hot 100.

The Weather Girls' music video was directed by Jim Canty and Jake-Sebastian Wynne, and featured Gene Anthony Ray.^[6]

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.

Chart (1982–2014)	Peak position
Germany (Official German Charts)[7]	43
Ireland (IRMA)[8]	5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9]	46
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10]	13
Norway (VG-lista)[11]	8
UK (Official Charts Company)[12]	2
US Billboard Hot 100[13]	46
US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles	34
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play[13]	1

Chart (1998)	Peak position
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play ^1	22
Chart (2001)	Peak position
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14]	95
Chart (2014)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	31

• ¹ "It's Raining Men... The Sequel" by Martha Wash featuring RuPaul

Geri Halliwell version

"It's Raining Men"
Single by Geri Halliwell
from the album Scream If You Wanna Go Faster
B-side	"Brave New World" "I Was Made That Way"
Released	April 30, 2001
Format	CD single cassette
Recorded	2001
Genre	Dance-pop, post-disco
Length	4:18
Label	EMI
Writer(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)
Music video "It's Raining Men" on YouTube

"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 on the soundtrack to the 2001 film Bridget Jones's Diary. The single became Halliwell's fourth consecutive number-one hit single in UK Singles Chart and it became her most successful solo single to date. The song had been added to the album at the last minute; another song, "Feels Like Sex", had already been slated as the lead single.

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, although it did not fare as well on the American charts. 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 440,000 copies in Britain alone,^[15] becoming the 13th best seller of 2001 and Halliwell's most successful single worldwide.^[16]

The song was a big success in France, it sold over 812,000 copies,^[17] it was certified "Diamond" by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP).^[18] 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 for the video. She said, "I was just watching Fame on video and I thought what a great excuse". During the video she also does ballet.^[19]

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.^[20]

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

Chart (2001–02) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[21] 4 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[22] 5 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[23] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[24] 2 Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[25] 10 Denmark (Tracklisten)[26] 6 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[27] 7 France (SNEP)[28] 1 Germany (Official German Charts)[29] 5 Ireland (IRMA)[8] 1 Italy (FIMI)[30] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[31] 4 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[32] 4 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[33] 15 Norway (VG-lista)[34] 13 Poland (Polish Singles Chart)[35] 1 Romania (Romanian Top 100)[36] 2 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[37] 5 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[38] 10 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] 4 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[40] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2001) Position Australia (ARIA)[41] 34 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[16] 13 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Australia (ARIA)[42] Platinum 70,000^^ Belgium (BEA)[43] 2× Platinum 100,000^* France (SNEP)[44] Diamond 812,000[17] Germany (BVMI)[45] Gold 250,000^^ Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[46] Gold 25,000^x United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Gold 440,000[15] ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

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

Other versions

• 1995: I.I. Simmons released her version as a Eurodance single on the Cyberspace 2 label.^[48]
• 2002: Kelly Clarkson performed the song on "Top 4" week of season 1 of American Idol
• 2005: Carol Jiani released her version as a single.
• 2006: Young Divas included the track on their debut album Young Divas.
• 2009: The Nolans included this track on their album I'm in the Mood Again

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.^[49]
• 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.^[50]
• 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

• During an MLB baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres on August 31, 2010, Diamondbacks first baseman Adam LaRoche had the PA system at Chase Field play the song as walk-up music during teammate Kelly Johnson's first two at-bats.

In television

• Part of the song was performed on America's Got Talent by the group "The Glamazons" for their Top 48 act in 2011.
• In the 2001 episode of Friends, "The One with Chandler's Dad", part of the song is sung by Kathleen Turner (who plays Chandler's drag queen father) at a club in Las Vegas.
• It is used as the theme song for the "Men on..." comedy sketches on the television show In Living Color.
• It was performed on the Late Show with David Letterman (October 1, 2012) by Martha Wash, who popularized the song as a member of The Weather Girls, and coauthor Paul Shaffer, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the song.
• It was performed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt on his opening monologue of episode #726 of Saturday Night Live.
• In the animated series The Simpsons, "It's Raining Men" is Homer Simpson's favorite song.^[51] In the episode "Fear of Flying", Moe pulls the record out of the jukebox and tosses it onto the street when he banishes Homer from his bar. The record is seen striking, and then being picked up by, a happy Waylon Smithers, a reference to his closeted homosexuality. It appears again in the episode "What to Expect When Bart's Expecting" when Fat Tony's gay horse plays it on a stereo.
• On an episode of The Game, the Sabers team lip syncs and dances to the song, making fun of a fellow team member rumored to be gay.
• In the British sitcom Miranda, its series 2 episode "The New Me" featured title character Miranda dancing to the Weather Girls' version of the song on the streets. The song was later heard in the episode's credits.
• A Soapnet promotional video featured soap stars Kassie DePaiva, Bobbie Eakes and Kathy Brier, a.k.a. the Divas singing the song with several sexy clips from various soaps such as One Life to Live, All My Children and General Hospital.
• A parody version, "It's Raining Mitt", lampooning Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, was sung by Martin Short on Late Show with David Letterman on March 14, 2012.^[52]
• Performed live by Chaka Khan, together with Paul Schaffer, on the David Letterman Show in 2015.^[53][54]
• The song was featured in a game of charades on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, with Jimmy Fallon acting out the phrase to Drake, on the September 13th, 2013 show.^[55][56]

In theater and onstage

• The song is featured in the Broadway production of the stage musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert – the Musical, and was performed by the cast, together with Wash and Shaffer, at the 2011 Tony Award ceremony.^[57]

In videogames

• The song is listed on Just Dance 2 (2010).
• Sample of the song appears on Burnout Crash! (2011)

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.^[58] The song re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2014 at number 31.^[59]

See also

• Golconda (painting)

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. 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. "Obituary: Gene Anthony Ray". The Telegraph. Nov 20, 2003.
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15. Justin Myers (May 16, 2014). "Official Charts Flashback 1999: Geri Halliwell – Look At Me". Official Charts. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
16. "It's Raining Men". Foreverspice.com. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
17. "InfoDisc : Les Certifications (Singles) du SNEP (Bilan par Artiste) – Search for "HaliwellG."". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved February 14, 2011.
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19. http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/Entertainment-Daily-Geri-Halliwell/32c5054a9fa3686b7dc63f84fb2ee943?query=CELEBRITY+NEWS&current=5&orderBy=Relevance&hits=20&referrer=search&search=%2Fsearch%3Fquery%3DCELEBRITY%2520NEWS%26startd%3D%26endd%3D%26orderBy%3DRelevance%26from%3D1%26allFilters%3DRobbie%2BWilliams%253APeople%252CGeneral%2BNews%253ASubject&allFilters=Robbie+Williams%3APeople%2CGeneral+News%3ASubject&productType=IncludedProducts&page=1&b=2ee943
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35. "Nielsen Music Control". Archived from the original on 2008-05-08.
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40. "Archive Chart: 2001-05-12/" UK Singles Chart.
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42. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
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44. "French single certifications – Geri Halliwell" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
45. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Melanie C)" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
46. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Geri Halliwell)". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
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48. "II Simmons-It's Raining Men". Discogs.com.
49. "When Karan Johar was sued". The Times of India. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
50. "After the Wedding (2006)". IMDb.com. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
51. "2F08 Fear of Flying". The Simpsons Archive. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
52. "Martin Short Sings 'It's Raining Mitt' On 'Late Show With David Letterman'accessdate=July 29, 2014".
53. 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.
54. Letterman, David (April 21, 2015). "Chaka Khan - Letterman - 2015.04.21 - "It's Raining Men"". YouTube. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
55. Fallon, Jimmy (September 13, 2013). "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon". NBC Studios. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
56. Fallon, Jimmy (September 14, 2013). "Charades with Scarlett Johansson and Drake (Late Night with Jimmy Fallon)". YouTube. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
57. "Spider-Man, Priscilla and More to Join Nominated Musicals in Performing at 2011 Tony Awards". Broadway.com. June 8, 2011.
58. 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.
59. "NEWS: It's Raining Men Enters Into Official UK Single's Chart". Thegayuk.com. February 2, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics