''Raintown'' is the debut album by Scottish

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Deacon Blue Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop rock band formed in Glasgow during 1985. The line-up of the band consists of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond. The band released their debut album ...

. The album, written largely by lead singer Ricky Ross, was released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 1987. It proved a commercial success and has to date sold around a million copies, peaking in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

at no. 14 and remaining in the charts for a year and a half. The album, widely praised as Deacon Blue's finest work, has the overtones of a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

relating to the struggles of urban life in the

inner city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists some ...

. The city being unmistakably

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, referenced by the roots of the band and by the images by photographer

Oscar Marzaroli Oscar Marzaroli (1933 – August 26, 1988) was an Italian-born Scottish photographer of post-World War II urban Scotland. He was born in Castiglione Vara in northwest Italy and came to Scotland with his family at the age of two. Marzaroli ha ...

on the cover of the album: the view of a rainy day over Glasgow's West End (with the

Finnieston Crane The Finnieston Crane or Stobcross Crane is a disused giant cantilever crane in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city's engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, i ...

featuring prominently).

Background

The short intro, "Born in a Storm", melodic and interspersed with an unmistakably gloomy atmosphere created by the name, launches into the title track "Raintown", a natural extension of this plot. The weather remains a feature of the atmosphere of the album, reflecting the epitome of the Scots word ''dreich''. Played out in the course of the album is the struggle with money (" Loaded"), unemployment, dreams of something better ("

Dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...

", "The Very Thing"), culminating in an angry attack upon urban life ("Town to Be Blamed"). The album does feature lighter experiences though, with the love songs (" Chocolate Girl") and "Love's Great Fears" - a track that Ross has often cited as his all-time favourite, featuring a slide guitar outro by

Chris Rea Christopher Anton Rea ( ; born 4 March 1951) is an English rock and blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, fie ...

. In an interview given to the '' Daily Record'' in 2012, songwriter Ricky Ross explained the rationale and reasoning behind the writing of all of the songs on the album.

Legacy

On 27 February 2006, ''Raintown'' was reissued as part of Columbia's Legacy Edition series. The re-issue was expanded to 2 CDs. The first CD featured the original 11-track album. The second CD featured alternate cuts of all 11 album tracks, as well as the two original CD bonus tracks "Riches" and "Kings of the Western World". The new edition did not include the varied bonus cuts (remixes and b-sides) that were found on the singles from the album. Another reissue was released on 22 October 2012 by Edsel Records as part of a catalogue reissue program for the band's first five studio albums. This set contained all of the B-sides and remixes associated with the album, as well as also including the Legacy Edition bonus disc.

Track listing

All songs written by Ricky Ross, except where noted:

Original 1987 album

# "Born in a Storm"– 1:33 # "Raintown" – 3:50 # "Ragman" – 3:08 # "He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now" – 3:50 # " Loaded" (

James Prime James Prime (born 3 November 1960) is a Scottish musician best known as the keyboard player for rock band Deacon Blue. Prime also lectures at the University of the West of Scotland. Known as a Hammond organ, Hammond/piano player, his talents h ...

, Ricky Ross,

Graeme Kelling Graeme Hunter Kelling (4 April 1957 – 10 June 2004) was a Scottish musician and the original guitarist with the Scottish pop band Deacon Blue. Born in Paisley, Scotland, Kelling was brought up in Mount Vernon in the East End of Glasgow and ...

) – 4:29 # "

When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring) "When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)" is a single released by the Scottish group Deacon Blue in 1987 and in 1988. The song features prominent backing vocals from members of R&B group Londonbeat. It was the very first song to be played on ...

" – 5:05 # " Chocolate Girl" – 3:18 # "

" – 4:00 # "The Very Thing" – 3:34 # "Love's Great Fears" (Ricky Ross, James Prime) – 3:42 # "Town to Be Blamed" (Ricky Ross, James Prime) – 5:19

CD Bonus Tracks (UK Release)

# "Riches" – 2:39 # "Kings of the Western World" – 2:39

Legacy Edition Bonus CD 006/h2>

2012 Edsel Records Reissue

Personnel

Deacon Blue

* Ricky Ross – lead vocals (additional guitar, piano & keyboard on bonus tracks on reissue version) *

Lorraine McIntosh Lorraine McIntosh (born 13 May 1964) is a Scottish singer, vocalist with Scottish band Deacon Blue, and actress. Career McIntosh is a vocalist with Deacon Blue, whose second studio album, '' When the World Knows Your Name'' (1989), topped the ...

– backing & harmony vocals *

– guitar, low voice *

– keyboards, backing vocals *

Ewen Vernal Ewen Vernal (born 27 February 1964) is a Scottish musician. Born in Glasgow to a musical family, Vernal began taking piano lessons at 8 years old — inspired by a Beatles-singing mother and a choir-leading, saxophone-playing father. Singing ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals *

Dougie Vipond Douglas Vipond (born 15 October 1966) is a Scottish broadcaster and drummer. Early life Vipond was brought up in Inchinnan and attended Park Mains High School in Erskine, choosing to go there because of the reputation of the music department. A ...

– drums, percussion

Additional musicians

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

on "Love's Great Fears" *

B.J. Cole Brian John Cole is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from mainstream pop and rock t ...

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

on "Chocolate Girl" *

Jimmy Helms James D. Helms (born September 27, 1941) is an American soul singer, known as a member of Londonbeat but who also had solo hits such as " Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse". Early years James D. Helms was born in Florida, United States. ...

, George Chandler, Jimmy Chambers (

Londonbeat Londonbeat is a British dance-pop band who scored a number of pop and dance hits in the early 1990s. Band members are American Jimmy Helms (who also had a successful solo career and sang radio jingles for Radio Hallam and Hereward Radio in th ...

) - backing vocals on "When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)"

References

External links

Deacon Blue's official website page on the album
{{Authority control 1987 debut albums Deacon Blue albums Albums produced by Jon Kelly Columbia Records albums