In The Rain

Ron Banks, organizer and lead singer of The Dramatics, said after the success of The Dramatics' hit "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" in 1971, many people thought that the Detroit-based group had their first and last hit. So, they immediately released this song, which gave them a second hit and humbled the record producing naysayers. Like their previous hit, second tenor-baritone William "Wee Gee" Howard takes the lead.

In this ballad written by Detroit songwriter Tony Hester, the narrator is distraught over a rift with his lover and wants to go out into the rain to mask his tears. Dramatics producer Don Davis says Hester was the group's saving grace after they lost their first Stax record deal. "Tony had a creative thing for the Dramatics," he explained to Billboard. "I re-signed the group because of the songs Tony presented to me. When we got together with him, 'In the Rain' stuck out as one of the songs we could rebuild the Dramatics with." Hester wrote and produced several tunes for the group, including the 1971 hits "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" and "Get Up and Get Down."

The backing band includes bassist Michael Henderson, who often worked with Miles Davis in the '70s, and three of Motown's Funk Brothers: pianist Johnny Griffith, guitarist Dennis Coffey and drummer Uriel Jones. The track is also notable for its stormy sound effects, which lead into Coffey's guitar intro. Coffey used an Echoplex effect unit to get the delay.