Raintown
Raintown is the
debut album of
Scottish pop band
Deacon Blue. The album, largely written by lead singer
Ricky Ross, was released in the
United Kingdom on
May 1,
1987. It proved a commercial success and has to date sold around a million copies, peaking in the UK album chart at 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 relating to the struggles of getting by in life in the
inner city of urban life - the city being unmistakably
Glasgow, referenced by the roots of the band and by the famous images on the cover of the album, the view of a rainy day over Glasgow's disused docks (with the
Finnieston Crane featuring prominently) and, on the rear, a
long-exposure capture of the
M8 motorway blasting through the
city centre at night.
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 epitamy 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"), culminating in an angry attack upon urban life
("A Town To Be Blamed"). The album does feature lighter experiences though, with the love songs
("Chocolate Girl") and
("Love's Great Fears") - a track which Ross has often cited as his all time favourite.
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".
Sadly, this new edition overlooked the varied bonus cuts (remixes and b-sides) that were found on the singles from the album.
Original 1987 album
# Born in a Storm (
Ross)(1:33)# Raintown (Ross) (3:50)# Ragman (Ross) (3:08)# He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now (Ross) (3:50)# Loaded (4:29) (Ross,
Prime,
Kelling) # When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring) (Ross) (5:05)# Chocolate Girl (Ross) (3:18)# Dignity (Ross) (4:00)# The Very Thing (Ross) (3:34)# Love's Great Fears (Ross, Prime) (3:42)# Town to be Blamed (Ross, Prime) (5:19)
CD Bonus Tracks
# "Riches" (Ross) (2:39)# "Kings of the Western World" (Ross) (2:39)
Legacy Edition Bonus CD
# "Born In A Storm [Live Glasgow Art School '86]"# "Raintown [Live At The Marquee '86]"# "Ragman [Demo Version]"# "He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now [Live At The Marquee '86]"# "Loaded [Demo Version]"# "When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring) [Air Studio Vocal Mix]"# "Chocolate Girl [Live At The Marquee '86]"# "Dignity [Live At The Marquee '86]"# "The Very Thing [BBC Session for Radio 1's Mark Goodier Show]"# "Love's Great Fears [Live At The Marquee '86]"# "Town To Be Blamed [Live Glasgow Art School '86]"# "Riches"# "Kings Of The Western World"
*
Deacon Blue's official website page on the album
