Well, it's getting to that time of year where it is tending to get a bit damp and dribbly outside - so what better way to mark that than by putting together a playlist that celebrates (or at least mentions) bad weather!
1. Thunder Road: Bruce Springsteen
Since this opens Springsteen's breakthrough opus Born To Run, it's a great place to start this playlist. Frequently ranked as one of his best, the song starts quietly, all hushed piano before it then builds - oh, how it builds - as another blue collar love song is created from the King of blue collar poetry. Mary and her unnamed fella need to bust out of this town - there is thunder aplenty here (and probably a few sparks of lightning).
"You hear their engines roaring on, but when you get to the porch they're gone. So Mary, climb in. It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win."
2. Rain: The Cult
This classic bit of hard rock sees Ian Astbury extend his vocal chords, as Billy Duffy's guitar soars in the background. It maybe doesn't have the instant impact of She Sells Sanctuary, but it chugs its way along incessantly and ends up building into a bit of a minor epic.
3. Lightnin' Hopkins: REM
Staccato drums and distant wailing - then a thwunk of bass and lots of slightly discordant guitar. Stipe sounds at his most detached, more hollering the lyrics than singing them. What the song is about, well Stipe might know, but it almost certainly is not about the Texas bluesman of the same name. Peter Buck happened to have one of his records with him, the day they recorded the track!
4: Have You Ever Seen The Rain?: Creedence Clearwater Revival
You can almost feel the damp dripping off the walls, as John Fogerty plaintively asks the question from the song title. A beautifully crafted and simple song, it really benefits from the gentle hum of hammond organ in the background - and as mentioned, it really lets Fogerty let rip with that hugely underrated voice of his!
5. Spring Rain: The Go-Betweens
A swirl of guitar and we're off. The song trips along with a delightful levity, just like, well just like a spring shower. The big banging pop tunes were generally the realm of Grant McLennan, but here Robert Forster really nails it and it could have, should have been the one to finally give them their break. It didn't trouble the UK charts.
6. Like A Hurricane: Neil Young
One of the defining tracks from Young's electric catalogue - it is also probably one of his most covered (Roxy Music, The Mission, Jay Farrar, Jeff Healey, to name a few). The guitar really drives this on, yet at the same time it always sounds so relaxed and cool - maybe its those spacey synth sounds that wrap around the whole thing. This live version captures the effortless greatness of Young and Crazy Horse.
7. The Storm: Big Country
You can almost choke on the fog. The eerie sound of Stuart Adamson's E-Bow and the shimmer of cymbals - you are lost in the Highlands in the dim, distant past - as the song erupts the fury of the storm might be the Jacobites: "The storm broke upon us with fury and flame, both hunters and hunted washed out in the rain." How ever good they were on record, Big Country were immense live - and this New Year's Eve concert from 1983 was the one show out of all of them that I wish I could have been at - so I had to use this version (you can stop it when the pipers come on).
8. Rainy Night In Soho: The Pogues
For all the spirit and gusto of their upbeat repertoire, that get everyone up and moving, The Pogues also really knew how to write a classic gentle tune too. Shane MacGowan's tuneless, hungover voice should never, ever work, and yet somehow it does. It actually adds and not detracts, from the gorgeous backing track, full of lush strings, horns and penny whistle.
9. It's Raining In My Heart: Buddy Holly
Okay, this doesn't have quite the same heart as Holly's more rockin' tracks, but nonetheless, his slightly quivery voice and the wonderful string arrangement, make this a charming version of a tune that wasn't actually a hit for him. It was the B-Side of It Doesn't Matter Any More, which only made it to #88 in the US.
10. Purple Rain: Prince
Well, we had to end with this one. I'm not really sure what I can add to this - it is pure pop mastery. Enjoy! You're welcome....