The Rainmakers (KC band)

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The Rainmakers

Background information
Origin	Kansas City, Missouri
Genre(s)	Rock
Years active	1986-1997
Label(s)	Polygram
Website	www.rainmakers.com
Members
Bob Walkenhorst Steve Phillips Rich Ruth Pat Tomek Michael Bliss

The Rainmakers were a Kansas City, Missouri-based original rock band, fronted by Bob Walkenhorst, which had a small string of hits in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the US and Europe, especially Norway.

The Rainmakers were originally formed in 1983 as a three-piece bar band known as Steve, Bob and Rich, and, according to an Amazon.com editorial review, "quickly became popular throughout the midwest".^[1] They released one album under this name, then added two members and changed their name to The Rainmakers when they were signed to Polygram. According to All Music Guide, while they continued to be popular in the US, the band achieved it's greatest commercial success overseas.^[2] They had a British top twenty hit with "Let My People Go-Go" from their self-titled 1986 debut album. The album itself receieved good reviews in the US, and the band made a fan of horror writer Steven King, who used some of the band's lyrics in two of his books.^[2] The album reached #87 on the US Billboard charts, but their followup album, 1087's Tornado, peaked at #116.^[3]

The Rainmakers released two more studio albums, which were very successful in Europe, then broke up in 1990. However, Scandanavian interest in their music remained high, so they agreed to reform and release a new album, Flirting with Disaster, in 1994. The album achieved the equivalent of gold record status in Norway in only one month.^[2] One more album, Skin, followed in 1996 before the band broke up for good.