Blame It on the Rain

"Blame It on the Rain"
Single by Milli Vanilli
from the album Girl You Know It's True
B-side "Dance with a Devil"
Released July 13, 1989
Format CD maxi, 7" single, 12" maxi
Recorded 1988
Genre Synthpop, Dance
Length

4:08 (single version)

4:19 (album version)
Label Arista
Writer(s) Diane Warren
Producer Frank Farian
Milli Vanilli singles chronology
"Baby Don't Forget My Number"
(1988)		 "Blame It on the Rain"
(1989)		 "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You"
(1989)

"Blame It on the Rain" is a song recorded by Milli Vanilli and written by hitmaker Diane Warren. Released during the summer of 1989, it became their last Billboard Hot 100 number one hit (November 25 - December 2, 1989) before their scandal broke out. The club mix version of the song was included on the "All or Nothing (U.S. Remix Album)" and included scratches and samples from other "rain" themed songs such as "Walking in the Rain" and "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head". The extended version of the club mix featured the rap from "It's Your Thing", which was an album track. The single version of "Blame It On The Rain" did not appear on any Milli Vanilli albums until the 2006 "Greatest Hits" release.

Contents

Cover versions and uses in the media

This was one of the two songs performed by Milli Vanilli themselves when they were a special guest on The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 (The other was "Girl You Know It's True"). The plot involved Bowser's attempt to kidnap the duo. However, after the scandal broke, the two songs were replaced with generic instrumentals in the episode.

The song was re recorded by Sam Moore & Fantasia in August 2006 for Moore's star studded compilation album entitled Overnight Sensational. The remake was produced by Randy Jackson and released on Rhino Records. Coincidentally, Fantasia is signed to J Records, headed by Clive Davis. Davis was responsible for signing Milli Vanilli.

In an episode of Full House, D.J. Tanner and Kimmy Gibbler are doing homework, and they sing this song. Michelle Tanner then sings "Rain, rain, go away...".

In their song "Blame it on Me," the Barenaked Ladies sing, "Milli Vanilli told you to blame it on the rain, but if you blame it on the rain tell me what can we gain, if all else fails, you can blame it on me."

On May 15, 2008, contestant Diana Drake sang "Blame It on the Rain" on Don't Forget the Lyrics! for the $1,000,000 prize. She missed, and dropped down to $100,000.

Chart performance

"Blame It On The Rain" debuted on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on October 7, 1989, at number sixty-five.[1] Seven weeks later, for the week ending November 25, 1989, it reached number one, and occupied the spot for two weeks. It also spent a total of twenty-three weeks on the Hot 100. The song became Milli Vanilli's third number one single on the Hot 100 after "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Girl I'm Gonna Miss You". "Rain" was their final single to top the chart before their infamous scandal took off.

It was preceded at number one on the Hot 100 by Bad English's "When I See You Smile" and succeeded by Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire".

The song was ranked at number twenty-one on Billboard's Year-End Singles list for 1989, and number forty-six for 1990.

Track listings

  1. "Blame It on the Rain" (club mix) — 7:02
  2. "Money" (remix) — 4:10
  3. "Baby Don't Forget My Number" (European mix) — 4:55
  1. "Blame It on the Rain" — 4:08
  2. "Money" (remix) — 4:11
  1. "Blame It on the Rain" (club mix) — 7:15
  2. "Money" (Remix) (long version) — 5:17
  3. "Blame It on the Rain" (radio version) — 4:08

Charts and sales

Peak positions

Chart (1989/90) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart[2] 5
Austrian Singles Chart[2] 8
Canadian Singles Chart[3] 3
Dutch Mega Top 100[2] 2
German Singles Chart[2] 3
Sweden Singles Chart[2] 6
Swiss Singles Chart[2] 22
UK Singles Chart[4] 52
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales[5] 13
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs[5] 14
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks[5] 27

Year-end charts

Chart (1989) Position
Austrian Singles Chart[6] 28
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7] 21
Chart (1990) Position
Australian Singles Chart[8] 46
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9] 46

Certifications

Country Certification Date Sales certified
Canada[10] Gold December 20, 1989 50,000
Sweden[11] Gold November 30, 1989 10,000
U.S.[12] Platinum March 1, 1990 1,000,000

Chart successions

Preceded by
"When I See You Smile" by Bad English		 Billboard Hot 100 number one single
November 25 – December 2, 1989 (2 weeks)		 Succeeded by
"We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel

References

  1. ^ "Milli Vanilli: Blame It On The Rain". crapfromthepast.com. http://www.crapfromthepast.com/millivanilli/blameitontherain.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-25. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Blame It on the Rain", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved February 26, 2008)
  3. ^ [http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.6660&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=5c391d3fj6m29b8ch82u6itjg6 Canada RPM peak
  4. ^ UK Singles Chart Everyhit.com (Retrieved February 26, 2008)
  5. ^ a b c d Billboard Allmusic.com (Retrieved February 26, 2008)
  6. ^ 1989 Austrian Singles Chart Austriancharts.at (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  7. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1989". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1989. Retrieved 2009-09-15. 
  8. ^ 1990 Australian Singles Chart aria.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  9. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1990". http://longboredsurfer.com/charts.php?year=1990. Retrieved 2009-09-15. 
  10. ^ Canada certifications cria.ca (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
  11. ^ Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved September 11, 2008)
  12. ^ U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved July 29, 2008)
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