A Gay Classic Turns 25

SuperPat1972/YouTube

If it weren't for a friend doing comparisons of Martha Wash's size, I wouldn't have taken a look at this video.

As I watched it, it dawned on me that this song, It's Raining Men, by The Weather Girls, may have hit a milestone. So, thanks to the jolly good folks at Google, I had to find out when this song came out.

All you gorgeous hunks out there who love your men, and all you women who love your men (no matter the sexual orientation), start dancing!

It's Raining Men is 25!

When this song came out in 1982, it was written by Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer- yes, that Paul Shaffer! It was offered to Donna Summer; Teena Marie (Lovergirl); Diana Ross (what? Boss Ross turned it down?!!); even Cher before the duo The Weather Girls- Martha Wash and the late Izora Armstead- accepted it and made it their own (Diana turned it down...why? And Cher? What was she thinking when she said no?...sheesh!). It had hit number 34 on the US Billboard R&B charts, 46 in the Top 100; and number 1 in the Hot Dance Club Play charts. It was #2 in Britain.

The song has since been remade by RuPaul- you knew this would happen sooner or later! (he and Wash dueted on the 1997 version); the Spice Girl's Geri Halliwell in 2001, and last year by a group called Young Divas.

But as for the song and its' connection to the gay community, almost every gay man on the planet immediately took to the song, which explains why it's a gay anthem 25 years after its' release. It's campy...the video's a bit humorous, and it's fun to watch.

Of course, it's the theme song to a cute little skit on Fox's
In Living Color. Can anyone guess what that is?

jennifer990/YouTube/Fox

Copyright 2007, by Darren W. Alexander. All Rights Reserved.