It's Raining Men
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| "It's Raining Men" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Weather Girls | ||
| from the album Success | ||
| B-side(s) | "It's Raining Men" (long version) | |
| Released | 1982 | |
| Format | 7-inch single, 12-inch single | |
| Recorded | 1982 | |
| Genre | Disco, Dance | |
| Label | Columbia Records | |
| Chart positions | ||
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"It's Raining Men" is a song written by Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer performed by the Weather Girls in 1982. The song had been offered to a who's-who of female singing legends including Donna Summer, Grace Jones, Diana Ross, Cher, Chaka Khan, Teena Marie, Gloria Gaynor, and even Barbra Streisand before being accepted by Martha Wash and Izora Armstead of Weather Girls.
It was covered by Martha Wash (of The Weather Girls) as a duet with RuPaul in 1997, Geri Halliwell in 2001 and by Young Divas in 2006. The song is hailed as a camp classic and more recently as a gay anthem.
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[edit] Original and RuPaul versions
The Weather Girls' version went number one on the U.S. Disco Chart, debuting in October, 1982. It made number 34 on the U.S. U.S. 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 in the UK Singles Chart.
RuPaul and Martha Wash dueted 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) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 46 |
| U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 34 |
| U.S. Hot Dance Club Play | 1 |
| UK Singles Chart | 2 |
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
| U.S. Hot Dance Club Play 1 | 22 |
- 1 "It's Raining Men... The Sequel" by Martha Wash featuring RuPaul
[edit] Geri Halliwell version
| "It's Raining Men" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Geri Halliwell | ||
| from the album Scream If You Wanna Go Faster | ||
| B-side(s) | "Brave New World" "I Was Made That Way" |
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| Released | April 30, 2001 | |
| Format | CD | |
| Recorded | 2001 | |
| Genre | Pop, Dance | |
| Length | 4:18 | |
| Label | EMI | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Geri Halliwell singles chronology | ||
| "Bag It Up" (2000) |
"It's Raining Men" (2001) |
"Scream If You Wanna Go Faster" (2001) |
| Alternate cover | ||
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| UK CD2 cover | ||
| Audio sample | ||
| Play "It's Raining Men" (in browser) (help·info) | ||
"It's Raining Men" was the first single of Geri Halliwell's second solo album and was also on the soundtrack to the film Bridget Jones's Diary. It was released on April 30, 2001.
It debuted at number-one in UK Singles Chart staying there for two weeks, it became Geri's 4th consecutive number-one single in United Kingdom selling 155,000 in its first week and 80,000 on its second week, overall the single went on to sell 421,670 copies in the UK alone, becoming the 13th best seller of 2001 and the most successful single of Geri Halliwell so far in the United Kingdom and around the world, reaching #1 in 18 countries.
In the United World Chart it hit number-two (behind "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink) based on Sales, Airplay and Votes,[1] the song spent twenty-two weeks inside the World's Top 40.[2]
"It's Raining Men" was the biggest hit from Scream If You Wanna Go Faster; with the single selling 3,987,000 copies worldwide, the reported second world best seller of 2001. So far, of all the solo single releases of the Spice Girls members, this is still the most successful and best-selling. With this song, Geri Halliwell won the International Song of the Year award at the 2002 NRJ Music Awards in France.
In July 2006 the song entered at #79 on the Mexican Digital Sales Chart, spending 2 weeks inside the Top 100.
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (2001) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Singles Chart | 1 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 1 |
| French Singles Chart | 1 |
| Brazilian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Philippine Singles Chart | 1 |
| Mexican Top 100 | 1 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Ukrainian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Chilean Singles Chart | 1 |
| Polish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Belgian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Hungarian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Slovenia Singles Chart | 1 |
| Estonian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Thai Singles Chart | 1 |
| Lebanon Singles Chart | 1 |
| Taiwan Singles Chart | 1 |
| Korean Singles Chart | 1 |
| Euro Chart | 1 |
| World Chart (Single Sales) | 1 |
| Argentine Singles Chart | 2 |
| United World Chart (Sales, Airplay & Votes) | 2 |
| Dutch Singles Chart | 3 |
| Australian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 4 |
| German Singles Chart | 5 |
| Portuguese Singles Chart | 6 |
| World Chart (Airplay) | 6 |
| Finland Singles Chart | 7 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 10 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 11 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 13 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 15 |
| Austria Singles Chart | 17 |
| Japanese Singles Chart | 22 |
| Chart (2006) | Peak position |
| Mexican Digital Sales Chart | 79 |
[edit] Miscellanea
- Theme song for the "Men on..." skits on the TV show In Living Color
- Homer Simpson's favourite song according to the episode "Fear of Flying". It was also a favourite of Waylon Smithers.
- A remix of Geri Halliwell's version of the song, called the "Almighty Mix", was featured in DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution 7th Mix.
- Featured in the bonus round of the slot machine "Money Storm", produced by IGT.
- Also featured in the film Bridget Jones's Diary, starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, and Hugh Grant.
- A sketch from the BBC comedy series The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer includes a performance of the song, supposedly included on the album Pancake Day by folk singers Mulligan and O'Hare.
- In the Battlefield 2 movie Mine the song is featured in a scene as a background music.
Albums: Schizophonic (1999) · Scream if You Wanna Go Faster (2001) · Passion (2004)
Singles: "Look at Me" · "Mi Chico Latino" · "Lift Me Up" · "Bag It Up" · "It's Raining Men" · "Scream if you Wanna Go Faster" · "Calling" · "Ride It" · "Desire"
