Deacon Blue will return to the road in 2027 to celebrate 40 years since the release of Raintown, the debut album that established the band and produced some of the most enduring Scottish pop songs of the era.
The band will perform Raintown in full during a 15-date UK and Ireland anniversary tour, followed each night by a second set featuring songs from across their career. The Scottish dates are at P&J Live in Aberdeen on Wednesday 27 October and the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Friday 29 October.
Released in 1987, Raintown reached number 14 in the UK Albums Chart and ultimately spent 77 weeks in the Top 100. Its success was far from immediate: the record first entered the chart in June 1987 but did not reach its peak until August 1988, more than a year later.
Four decades later, it is remains a vivid portrait of Glasgow at a particular moment in its history.
What is Raintown about?
Raintown is not a concept album, but Glasgow runs through it.
Its songs deal repeatedly with work, unemployment, frustration, relationships, ambition and the hope of building something better. The city provides the backdrop, its the strand that connects the songs and characters.
Ricky Ross was a former English teacher who formed Deacon Blue in Glasgow in the mid-1980s. He has spoken about wanting to write about ordinary lives and about a city living through economic and social change.
Reflecting on the album in 2012, Ross said: “It’s about work, not good work and weather compounding that, and things that bring you down.
“The ideas in Raintown came first and the theme came back in Dignity. Everyone was going on about unemployment at the time, but there were also a lot of people unhappy with the work they were in.”
Track list
- Born in a Storm
- Raintown
- Ragman
- He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now
- Loaded
- When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)
- Chocolate Girl
- Dignity
- The Very Thing
- Love’s Great Fears
- Town to Be Blamed
Front Cover
The photograph on the front cover of Raintown was taken by one of Scotland’s most important documentary photographers, Oscar Marzaaroli. It features a rainy Glasgow cityscape and was taken from the top floor of a building at Park Circus in the West End of the city.
Marzaroli’s photography became closely associated with Deacon Blue, with his work also appearing on other releases by the band.
Reception
American music magazine Spin relfected positivitely on the release of Raintown saying: “A listener’s delight, yet a reviewer’s frustration — no easy comparisons, no simple descriptions, no trendy affiliations, because few other acts make such surprisingly timeless, sophisticated, and genuinely emotional pop music these days.”
Raintown spent 77 weeks in the UK charts and peaked at number 14.
Famous fans
One of Deacon Blue’s most prominent fans is Fife-born writer Ian Rankin whose well-known character Detective Inspector Rebus was also created in 1987.
Speaking to the BBC on the 30th anniverdary of Raintown, he said:”Thirty years since I wrote my first Inspector Rebus novel and thirty years since Deacon Blue leapt on to the world stage with Raintown. Maybe there was just something in the Scottish water back then. Both have proved their resilience, with Raintown sounding as fresh as the day it was released. It was a joy for me to spend time with the band as they looked back on their achievement. It’s an album that belongs in everyone’s heart and collection.”