JANE MORGAN – ‘The Day The Rains Came’
And because the pop charts aren’t a nice smooth story what happened next was this! A stern and hearty pop ballad which starts off on a nature tip – ‘The day that the rains came down / Mother Earth smiled again’. This is a good thing not for feed-the-world reasons but because it allows Jane to connect plants growing with her love. Which is also growing. Jane and beau then walk Adam-and-Evely through a new (and probably damp) Eden of lilies, willows and meadows. The serpent in paradise? A hip-twitching trumpet line that seems to have wandered in from a Connie Francis record.
(POP FACT! Why did this song get to No.1? Well, who knows, but apparently January 1959 was the sunniest since records began, and February that year one of the driest on record. That’s ‘sunny’ and ‘dry’ by English standards, of course.)
3
For some reason, I always loved that song. Even now when I think about that tune, it brings back the great memories of my ’50 Olds coupe (it had a great radio; tube set in those days!) and cruising back roads with a girlfriend. Growing up on the Oregon coast was mostly rain anyway….. Aaaah hell, those days are gone and so is the Olds coupe and the pretty girls.
Effectively a throwback to the middle of the decade, this record is (as far as I am aware) the first No.1 of Gallic origin since “Poor People of Paris (Poor John)” in 1956. It comes from the pen of Gilbert Bécaud, with whom the British record buying public would have a fleeting acquaintance rather later on. Although it’s not a modern record even by the standards of 1958/59, it’s a cheerful effort, and I liked it well enough to get hold of a copy at a record fair when one turned up. Turning the record over gets you the same song in French.
yeah, 3 being way too low.
It only got to number one in the NME chart.
Probably my favourite 50s Number One and I’m surprised to see it hit the top as late as 1959. Wonderful tune, well sung in a beautiful voice and although I’d heard it (and liked it before) Popular has got it on the car stereo. Along with a few others other classy 50s No1′s which rival it for me ie ‘Secret Love’, ‘You Belong To Me’ ‘Here In My Heart’ and ‘Cara Mia’ (despite the last mentioned getting a right slagging on here). And I think Britain did well with this here as it got nowhere number one in Jane Morgan’s native America.
Light Entertainment Watch: Jane Morgan’s UK TV appearances include the following (only the 2 editions of ‘The Jane Morgan Show’ survive);
THE LONDON PALLADIUM SHOW: with Jack Parnell and his Orchestra, The Palladium Dancers, The Mike Sammes Singers, Jane Morgan, Bob Monkhouse, Roy Budd (1967)
SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM (VAL PARNELL’S …..): with Bruce Forsyth, The London Palladium Girls, Jack Parnell and his Orchestra, Jane Morgan, Tommy Cooper, The Square Pegs, The Palladium Songsters (1964)
THE VAL DOONICAN SHOW: with The Gojos, The Adam Singers, Jane Morgan, Arthur Askey, Mike Newman (1967)
VAL PARNELL’S SPECTACULAR: The Jane Morgan Show (1959)
VAL PARNELL’S SPECTACULAR: The Jane Morgan Show (1960)
Great record – rather predictable that Popular would hate it, seeing as appreciating a good ballad well sung is a foreign concept to the editor!
Glad to see some others agree. I guess it shows that not everyone in Britain was in love with R’n'R at the time – in fact, quite a few of the chart-toppers at the time lean towards “MOR”.
“Popular” doesn’t hate it and there isn’t an “editor.”
Please try to avoid casual rudeness in future.
Marcello’s quite right both about Eli’s unworthy and puzzling comment and the fact that “Popular” doesn’t have an editor.
No editor. Just a Board of Directors!