Search - Weather Girls :: Success

The Complete Herstory Of The Weather Girls

T. West | LaWrEnCe, KaNsAs | 01/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here's the completed works of The Weather Girls (Past & Present):



1. 1977- They paired up as backup singers for Sylvester James on his third LP- "SYLVESTER" and sang their first duet, a song called "I BEEN DOWN", as Two Tons O' Fun (the name came from Izora's great sense of

humour).



2. 1978- The disco group PARADISE EXPRESS used Izora's and Martha's big voices on their self-titled debut LP; most notably Izora on "REVEREND LEE", and Martha on "STAR IN MY LIFE". (The 1978 self-titled debut "Paradise Express" album is now finally available on cd,as well as the second Paradise Express album "LET'S FLY" from 1979- from the infamous Russian Disco Club person on e*bay. Martha & Izora do not appear on the second album).

The two women continued to sing backup on Sylvester's fourth LP "STEP II" in 1978. The LP's "SYLVESTER" and "STEP II" are both available on 1 cd put out by ACE Records/South Bound Label (1993 London).



3. 1979- Their popularity had grown so much they had their own fan base, thanx to the Sylvester concerts in which they were allowed to shine in solos. Check out Sylvester's "LIVING PROOF" (1979) cd, to hear these 2 women unleash their powerful voices live.



4. 1980- Fantasy Records quickly realized what they had and offered the duo their own recording contract. They released their debut LP "TWO TONS O' FUN" on the Fantasy subsidary label Honey Bee. This debut spawned 4

hit singles, 3 of which were 12" remixes: "JUST US", and the 3 12" singles- "I Got The Feeling", "Do You Wanna Boogie, Hunh?", and "Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven".



5. 1980- Because their debut sold so well, they qucikly released a second LP. The record company, to Izora & Martha's dismay, shortened their name to THE TWO TONS and called this album "BACKATCHA". They re-recorded "I BEEN DOWN", this time adding Jeanie Tracy. (Both albums are available as a 2-on-1 cd called "THE TWO TONS: TWO TONS O' FUN/BACKATCHA"- released by the ACE Records/South Bound Label (1993 London). Fantasy records also released their own compilation cd on these two women and called it "TWO TONS: MARTHA WASH & IZORA ARMSTEAD - GET THE FEELING". It has 11 tracks, 3 of which are the original full-length 12" single versions: "I GOT THE FEELING" (Patrick Cowley Megamix), "DO YOU WANNA BOOGIE, HUNH?" (Buddy Brundo Remix), and "EARTH CAN BE JUST LIKE HEAVEN" (Robbie Leslie Remix). Definitely worth getting these two cd's if you want the complete collection).



6. 1982- Paul Jabara & Paul Shaffer (of David Letterman Show) wrote a song called "IT'S RAINING MEN" and presented it to Barbra Streisand, Donna Summer, Diana Ross, etc., and they all turned it down. So Paul Jabara offered it to the duo. It was Izora's idea to call themselves THE WEATHER GIRLS, and she patented it so that there would not be another name change by the record company- she learned her lesson from their experience on Honey Bee label. They signed a recording contract with Columbia Records and released the infamous 12" single of "IT'S RAINING MEN" and the rest is herstory.



7. 1983- Paul Jabara released an album called "PAUL JABARA & FRIENDS" and it featured The Weather Girls on 3 songs- "IT'S RAINING MEN", "HOPE", and a song called "LADIE'S HOTLINE" (written by Paul Jabara & Diana Ross).

(The 12" version of "LADIES HOTLINE" is available on the 2004 Weather Girls compilation cd called "HALLELUJAH! IT'S RAINING MEN & OTHER GEMS").

The "PAUL JABARA & FRIENDS" album also featured a new up and coming

singer named Whitney Houston (this was her third song she recorded up to that time). The same year, 1983, The Weather Girls released their debut album (3rd LP technically)- called "SUCCESS". (Available on cd).



8. 1985- The Weather Girls released their next album (4th LP)- "BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY", which is still not available on cd. In 1985, the two Girls also sang backup for Bob Seger on his hit "LIKE A ROCK", as well as on "Tightrope", and on Debbie Jacobs-Rock hit "FOREVER". Martha provided backup vocals for different artists, including Narada Michael Walden on his 1985 album THE NATURE OF THINGS. Also in 1985 their old label Fantasy Records cashed in on their renewed fame by releasing an album (their fifth) called "MEGATONAGE: THE BEST OF THE TWO TONS (AKA THE WEATHER GIRLS)". It featured 7 tracks from their 2 Fantasy LP's and an 8th track, their latest hit- "IT'S RAINING MEN". This Lp was never released onto cd.



9. 1986- Martha had a solo song on the GUNG HO Soundtrack, called

"BREAKIN' THE ICE". This soundtrack is still not available on cd.



10. 1988- The Weather Girls released their sixth and last album as a duo- "THE WEATHER GIRLS". It featured 3 songs by FULL FORCE. They toured to promote the album, but then parted ways to each pursue a solo career. This cd shows up on e*bay at least twice a year for sale, coming either from Netherlands or Germany.



11. 1988- December 16th, Sylvester passed away in San Francisco.



12. 1989- Martha is hired by Clivilles & Cole to sing lead vocals on SEDUCTION's song "(YOU'RE MY ONE & ONLY) TRUE LOVE", but is denied credit. It is now almost impossible to find the original Seduction cassette single of this song, but if you do find it, you'll get about 3 versions of the song and one of the versions has Martha rapping on it- which I believe is the only type Martha has rapped on record?



13. 1990- A big year for Martha. She provided vocals for C&C MUSIC FACTORY's debut album "GONNA MAKE YOU SWEAT". However, she didn't receive credit again. She also provided lead vocals for BLACK BOX's debut album "DREAMLAND", and again didn't receive credit. Die hard fans consider the "DREAMLAND" cd her solo album, because she sang lead on 6 of the 9 songs.



14. 1991- Izora attempted a solo career by releasing her only solo 12" single "DON'T LET LOVE SLIP AWAY" (on the I'nd Label, and not available

on cd). Martha sang a duet with Luther Vandross, a remake of the 1970

hit for Tom Jones called- "I (Who Have Nothing)". Sylvester

recorded a disco version of this song in 1979 and Martha sang backup

on that.



15. 1992- Martha released her solo self-titled debut album, which contained 2 solo versions of the TWO TONS O' FUN hit "JUST US", I assume it is a nod to her legion of longtime fans.



16. 1993- With the rights to the name The Weather Girls, Izora paired up with her daughter Dynelle (Izora also has 6 sons), moved to Germany, and they released their debut album "DOUBLE TON'S OF FUN". They recorded their own version of "IT'S RAINING MEN" (aka "It's Raining Men '93").



17. 1993- The group CHOCOLATE released their own version of "IT'S RAINING MEN" featuring THE WEATHER GIRLS on vocals.



18. 1993- A remix of "Got The Feeling" was released by Tim Benjamin

and MC Bones. It is available as a cd single, but also appears on the XYZ version of The Best Of The Two Tons Of Fun 1993 cd (the cover has a red square outline).



19. 1994- C&C Music Factory released their second album "ANYTHING GOES". This time Martha is credited for singing on a couple songs. Martha also

had a song on the soundtrack "D2:THE MIGHTY DUCKS"- a remake of the 1971 Jean Knight hit "MR. BIG STUFF".



20. 1995- Izora and Dynelle released their second album as The Weather Girls called- "THINK BIG". One track, "STAR", featured Jimmy Somerville, and it's a remake of the 1979 Sylvester song. To hear Izora & Jimmy sing this song brought back memories of Sylvester and Izora for me.



21. 1996- Martha had a song on the soundtrack "FIRST WIVES CLUB"- an Elton John remake called "I'M STILL STANDING". Obviously,

this is an anthem song for Martha.



22. 1997- Todd Terry released his album "TODD TERRY PRESENTS READY FOR A NEW DAY". It featured Martha & Jocelyn Brown dueting on "SOMETHING GOIN' ON", "KEEP ON JUMPIN'", and Martha soloing on "READY FOR A NEW DAY".



23. 1997- Lambda released their 12" single "HOLD ON TIGHT"- featuring Martha's vocals. This makes it the fourth time she is denied credit for her work. A year later Jason Nivens re-released this song as a cd-single

with remixes and gave Martha the credit she deserved- THEN Lambda re-released this song on about 3 or 4 different cd singles and gave Martha credit also.

Martha had a song on the soundtrack "KISS ME GUIDO"- called "MAGIC CHARMS".



24. 1998- Martha released her greatest hits called "THE COLLECTION". It featured yet another version of "IT'S RAINING MEN"- this time it's a duet with RU Paul.



25. 1998- Izora and Dynelle released their third album as The Weather Girls-called "PUTTIN' ON THE HITS". It featured Dennis Edwards, ex-lead singer of The Temptations singing on the track "DON'T LOOK ANY FURTHER", which was a hit for him in 1984. To hear Izora and Dennis sing together was so wonderful, so old-skool. "PUTTIN' ON THE HITS" contains some great disco remakes.



26. 1998- Remixes of "Do You Wanna Boogie?" were released by Masters At Work- the following 2 versions appear on the 3-cd set called "Mad Styles & Crazy Visions": Edit Version and ReEdit Version. The Dub Version is available on the 12" single.



27. 1999- Izora and Dynelle as The Weather Girls released the single "BIG BROWN GIRL".



28. 2000- Small Voices Calling released the single "LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE" featuring Martha. Also in 2008, Danny Krivit released the Mr. K ReEdit

12" single of "JUST US"- which is 7 minutes long! Finally a 12" of this song!



29. 2001- Charlene Moore released a gospel cd called- "As You Are I Must Be".

There are 2 versions of the song "Stealing Your Joy"- the original appears on this album along with the remix- Martha appears only on the remix version- she shares lead with Charlene- "Stealing Your Joy (Urban Remix)"- 4:49.



29. 2002- The Disco Brothers released the single "GET UP" featuring (Izora and Dynelle) The Weather Girls. The Weather Girls also released their own single "YOUR LOVE" from their upcoming album. The song is released as a 12" single with Wackside. There are cd-singles of this song somewhere out there, I got mine from a seller in France.



30. 2003- The Weather Girls appeared on a german television show called

COMEBACK UNITED and on that show Dynelle paired up with Limahl (ex-lead

singer of 80's group Kaja Goo-Goo - "Too Shy", and later released his

biggest solo hit "NEVERENDING STORY" from the children's movie of the same name). The two sang the duet "DON'T GO BREAKING MY HEART" (old song by Elton John and KiKi Dee, then later by Elton John and RU Paul). This track is available on the rare, hard to find import 2-cd set called "THE BEST OF COMEBACK UNITED" released in 2004. Dynelle doesn't quite shine in this duet, but if you are a big fan of Weather Girls, then this track is essential in completing your collection.



31. 2004- September 16th, Izora passed away in a California hospital after experiencing health problems- Dynelle paired up with her step-sister Ingrid Arthur and they decided to be the third incarnation of The Weather Girls and they finished work on the album Izora and Dynelle had been working on- the album was released as "TOTALLY WILD" along with the second single "WILD THING" ("YOUR LOVE" was actually the first single). Also in 2004, Martha appeared on the television special "GET DOWN TONIGHT: THE DISCO EXPLOSION LIVE". It was released onto dvd and cd and contains her solo version of "IT'S RAINING MEN". Martha also started her own record label called PURPLE ROSE RECORDS with plans of releasing her own cd's.



32. 2005- Martha's new record label released it's first cd single-

a song called "YOU LIFT ME UP", which is a gospel flavored/club song.

She continued to work on her new full length cd (as of today's date

04/14/2010, it is still not released).



33. 2006- On the REV. YVETTE FLUNDER cd called "WE WON'T BE SILENT

ANYMORE", Martha sang a solo on the song "HE'LL UNDERSTAND AND SAY WELL

DONE"(track #9)- Sylvester covered this song on his 1983 album "CALL ME".



34. 2007- Not sure what else she did in 2007, but I did come across this cd: "TONY MORAN- EVENT" a 2-cd collection of club songs.

Martha sings "KEEP YOUR BODY WORKIN'"- a remake of the

1979 song by the disco group KLEEER. There is a cd single with 10 remixes of this song somewhere out there.



35. 2008- Ralph Falcon released his huge club hit "BREAK YOU" which spent one week at #1 on the American dance chart- the song featured the Weather Girls (Dynelle & Ingrid) and it is Dynelle who really shines, especially on the original version (9:03). Listen to her belt it out and you'll know why europeans call her Little Izora. There are at least 3 different remix collections of this song, but the 'original version'- 9:03, is the best one to hear Dynelle deliver! The song is from his 2-cd set called "Hollywood To Hialeah". The Weather Girls are featured on 3 songs:

"LOW RIDIN'"(which begs for a remix), "BREAK YOU" (this album version is very slow, best for you to get a cd single of this song and listen to 'original version'- 9:03), and "KJZZZ" (which also begs for a remix). These 3 album tracks sound very raw and not quite finished. I'm not familiar with Ralph Falcon, perhaps this was his intention/style?



Here's hoping that Martha releases a full-length cd soon because it's a shame to have one of the best female singers around not releasing material for her huge legion of fans! :) According to her website she is still working on completeing her third solo album and is even asking fans to submit their original songs for consideration- she states on her website she is set to tour in 2010.

Take a moment and visit her website: w3.martha-wash dot com.



36. 2009- The Weather Girls (Dynelle & Ingrid)- "The Woman I Am" cd.

This is the official 7th Weather Girls album to date (SUCCESS/BIG GIRLS

DON'T CRY/THE WEATHER GIRLS/DOUBLE TONS O' FUN/THINK BIG!/PUTTIN' ON THE

HITS/TOTALLY WILD!/THE WOMAN I AM). A great collection of songs and they do

a remake of "JUST US" along with a remix version of this song, on this cd-

called "The Urban Remix". Nice to see them still going strong! Ingrid

(Arthur) has released a solo album of gospel songs, which is available

by contacting her at her email: [...], and she will

tell you where to send your money order to.



There have been 3 'Best Of' collections released of the original Weather Girls material, yet the 4th LP BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY has never been released onto cd. However, you can compile the songs from that Lp onto a cd yourself by using the following cd's/tracklisting:



BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY - original 1985 album tracklisting:



1. LOCK ME UP (Use the track from the 1997 Weather Girls compilation cd

import from Germany called "IT'S RAINING MEN". The cover is a colorized

photo from the SUCCESS album photo session in 1983).

2. BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY (Use the Weather Girls 2000 compilation cd called

"SUPER HITS" for this track).

3. WELL-A-WIGGY (Again use the "SUPER HITS" cd track).

4. NO ONE CAN LOVE YOU MORE THAN ME (Again, use the "SUPER HITS" track).

5. DOWN ON THE CORNER (Use the 2004 Weather Girls compilation cd

"HALLELUJAH! IT'S RAINING MEN & OTHER GEMS" track).

6. LAUGHTER IN THE RAIN (Use the SUPER HITS compilation for this track).

7. YOU CAN DO IT (Use the german import cd compilation "IT'S RAINING

MEN" for this track).

8. MARCH (Unfortunately, this track is not available on cd.... but

maybe you know someone who can do vinyl to cd transfer?).









"

Hi-NRG

Pieter | Johannesburg | 08/01/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 1983 album was produced by Paul Jabara. It contains two massive Hi-NRG hits in the form of It's Raining Men and I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair.



The album opens with the vibrant track Success where the two contrasting voices of the girls come over most distinctly. Hungry For Love is a funky mid-tempo song, whilst Dear Santa starts out as a slow Christmas ballad with soulful vocals before the fast Hi-NRG beat kicks in.



Hope is an uplifting song with some impressive vocals. The real appeal of the album lies however in the closing tracks It's Raining Men, a camp classic with a pulsating beat and I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, a festive number with a catchy tune and foot tapping rhythms. Fans of 1980s dance music will love this album.



I Got the Feeling/Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven



Sylvester - Greatest Hits





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