Dramatics: In the Rain

When I worked in oldies radio, I often had the opportunity create long thematic sets. On several occasions, I would often segue today’s tune (the Dramatic’s “In the Rain”) with The Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” as they both started and ended with a storm. While the songs sounded nothing alike, the thunder and the rain were the glue that held these two songs together.

Written by Tony Hester, the Dramatics “In the Rain” was the band’s highest charting single when it peaked at #1 on the R&B charts and #5 on the Hot 100. Released in 1972 as the follow up to another Top 10 hit, “Whatcha See is Whatcha Get,” “In the Rain” is a whole different genre than the previous hit – it is slow and emotional to “Whatcha See’s” uptempo funk.

Hester who also produced and had written both songs for the Dramatics tragically died in 1980 in a Detroit street robbery.