Review: 25 On by The Rainmakers

We all like to think we’re the arbiters of cool and our opinion is the cutting edge when it’s probably more MOR than we want to admit.  I’m as bad as anyone in that regards.  One of the joys of discovering new bands is that I can than try to convince my friends how great they are and by existence how cool I am since they’ve never heard of said band.  The Rainmakers first self titled album came out in 1986 and I was young and a newly home owner.  Not long after moving in I had a BBQ for all my friends and co-workers.  Now it wasn’t enough that I just provide food and drink to my friends.  I wanted to reward them with new and wonderful sounds of music that I knew that they had never heard.  And one of those new sounds was the first album of The Rainmakers. 

She wasn’t even someone I had invited, she was the friend of the wife of a friend and the two of them were flipping through the stack of albums I had arranged by the side of the stereo.   This was when albums were actual vinyl and large enough to attract attention.  I saw them looking through the albums and ventured over so I could explain who some of these hip and cool artists were.  She pulled the Rainmakers album away from the others and held it up.   “I’m surprised you’d have this album” was what she told me.   Immediately my cool hackles went up, was she saying I wasn’t cool enough to like a band like the Rainmakers.  “They’re a Christian band.”

And I didn’t know what to say.  Anyone that knows me (and evidently some people that even don’t know me hardly at all) will know that I am not big fan of Christian music.  Mainly because I’m not that big a fan of the religion itself.  Now I will admit to a love of gospel music, not so much for the message but for the sheer love and exuberance of the emotion found in the singing.   I tried to argue that they weren’t a Christian band, but she had read it somewhere and was not to persuaded otherwise.  Now when I look back on it I don’t know why I was so set against them being a Christian band.  I guess I figured they couldn’t be cool if they were Christians.  It’s not that I’ve changed my feelings with the religion today, but I have realized that their religion shouldn’t affect my enjoyment of their music. 

The lyrics to their first hit “Let My People Go-Go” was littered with biblical references.

“ Moses went up to the mountain high
To find out from God why did you make us why”

Maybe that should have been my first clue.  I never could find anything that directly linked them as a Christian band.  Any reviews I would come across of their albums I would look through for any comments or references that would label them as a Christian band. 

Luckily I didn’t let my preconceived ideas about what a Christian band sound like influence my thoughts on the band and their music.  I still don’t know if they consider themselves a Christian band.  And it really shouldn’t matter.  What they are is a rock and roll band and a really good one at that.  Their music references God and Love and hope and redemption, but does that make them a Christian band?  And does it really matter? 

“Spend it on love, spend it on the children
Spend it on the ones who need it the most”

Such lyrics are more universal and such thoughts and feelings go beyond those of being a Christian.  Hopefully they are what a caring and involved human being would evoke.

All of which leads up to the fact that the Rainmakers recently released their first album in 15 years and 25 years since their debut.   The album is 25 On and is just as good as that first one that caught my ear all those years ago.  And yes it’s full of biblical and Christian references, even moreso than some of their earlier albums, which is what made me think of these thoughts when I sat down to write this review.

Bob Walkenhorst’s voice is a twangier break from much of what passes for rock singers today with their mono tone gruff singing.  To my ears so much of what passes for rock singing today could be interchanged and you wouldn’t even know the difference.  Which is probably one reason I can’t keep straight the names of a lot of what passes for the hot new bands.  I guess I’ve come full circle, where once I was after that hope of being cool, nowdays a lot of the music I listen to and like are far from hip or cool or popular.  I want to listen to someone that has a unique voice and vision.  

Hopefully we won’t have to wait another decade plus for a new Rainmakers’ album.  I realize I’ve hardly talked about the new album itself, so I should at least say a little about it.  It’s good.  What more do you need to know?  It’s damn good.  Go out and buy it.

Video Wednesday

Today we feature one of my favorite bands The Rainmakers. This is from one of their older albums, but they just recently released a new album 25 On.

SONG OF THE DAY

Today has been one of those gloomy days. It's been raining all day so I thought we'd feature The Rainmakers doing "Snakedance" from their Tornado album. The Rainmakers is a group that no longer exists, but we talked about in a Buried Treasure column.

BURIED TREASURES

It was the mid Eighties when I first heard the Rainmakers. They first recorded as a trio called Steve, Bob & Rich and recorded an album under that name in 1983. After they added Pat Tomek to their lineup they changed their name to the Rainmakers. The group was from Kansas City. The lead singer and writer of the material was Bob Walkenhorst. Not long after the name change they were signed to Polygram and released their first album under the name Rainmakers.





The Rainmakers became favorites of critics. Newsday called them "America's Next Great Band." Other major magazines joined in the praise, but outside some minor action on the charts their sales didn't match the acclaim. Stehpen King declared himself a fan.



They followed their first album with a second and a third. Even though their music never caught on in the States overseas they were becoming a hit. Their song "Let My People Go-Go" became a top 20 hit in England. In Norway the band were big enough that with the release of a new album it went gold within a month's time.



Their popularity overseas enabled them to release a live album that appeared only in Europe. After the live album the group decided to take a break in 1990 and the individual members went on to other projects.



In 1994 the group got back together to record a new album Flirting with the Universe. In 1996 they released what appears to be their final album Skin. Since than Bob Walkenhorst has recorded and tours on his own.