"They Say It's Gonna Rain" is a song co-written (with George Sanders) and sung by British female artist Kerry Delius. She released the song as a single in 1984 and while it failed to chart, it became an underground club hit. The song achieved a bigger popularity when it was covered by Hazell Dean the following year. A Zulu chant is featured in the intro which is repeated throughout the song.

Hazell Dean version

British Hi-NRG singer Hazell Dean covered the song and released it as a single in September 1985. Having scored two top 10 singles in 1984 with an independent dance label, Dean was offered to sign major label

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

in 1985, and this single marked her first release with them. Dean's version was produced by

Stock Aitken & Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

, with whom Dean had recorded most of her debut album. She changed some parts of the lyrics, most notably, she substituted the line on the chorus ''though you can break my heart'' with ''they say it's gonna rain''; the title of the song not being present on the chorus on Delius' version but was instead ad-libbed over the chorus at the end of the song. The song was also reworked at a faster tempo than the original. Two main mixes were commissioned for the song, the Zulu Mix and the Indian Summer Mix. Dean favored the former and it's the one she used on her live performances. The Zulu Mix of "They Say It's Gonna Rain" was included on Dean's second album, ''

Always Always may refer to: Film and television * ''Always'', a 1985 film directed by Henry Jaglom * ''Always'' (1989 film), a 1989 romantic comedy-drama directed by Steven Spielberg * ''Always'' (2011 film), a 2011 South Korean film, also known as '' ...

'', which was released three years after the single, in 1988. In 2012, both mixes, as well as the 7" version and the single's b-side "Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" were included on a reissue of the album. Dean released an updated version with re-recorded vocals and new mixes as a digital single on 14 February 2011.

Music video

The song was Dean's debut videoclip for a single. Shot on location in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, the video depicts Dean reminiscing a love affair in the island while on the way for a TV performance.

Release and reception

Released in October 1985 in the United Kingdom, the single only managed to chart at number 58 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Internationally, the song fared better, becoming a number-one hit on the South African

Springbok Radio Springbok Radio (spelled ''Springbokradio'' in Afrikaans, ) was a South African nationwide radio station that operated from 1950 to 1986. History SABC's decision in December 1945 to develop a commercial service was constrained by post-war financia ...

chart (eventually attaining the number-11 spot on that country's 1986 year-end chart) and peaking at number 6 in both Norway and Sweden.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Hazell Dean 1984 singles 1984 songs 1985 singles 2011 singles EMI Records singles Hazell Dean songs Number-one singles in South Africa Song recordings produced by Stock Aitken Waterman