BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1987
“Red Rain” is the first track on Peter Gabriel’s 1986 solo album So. In the USA, it reached #3 on Billboard magazine’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Stewart Copeland from The Police played the hi-hat for the rain-like background sound; the rest of the drumming was handled by Jerry Marotta.
The song is a combination of several inspirations. The lyrics directly reference a recurring dream Gabriel was having where he swam in his pool drinking cold red wine. Another version of the dream had bottles falling from a cliff, and the bottles were in the shape of people. When they were smashed on the ground, the people-shaped bottles had red liquid coming out, and then it began to rain the same red liquid.
Earlier in his solo career, Gabriel had an idea for a movie, Mozo. In it, villagers were punished for their sins with a blood red rain. “Red Rain” was to be the theme song. This idea was eventually scrapped, although there was a mention of Mozo in the song “On the Air” in Peter Gabriel (II). “Down The Dolce Vita”, “Here Comes The Flood”, “Exposure”, and “Big Blue Ball” are also reference the Mozo story, as well.
According to the sleeve notes from the remastered version of So, it is also a reference to acid rain. Based on one interpretation of some of the lyrics it is also thought to refer to nuclear fallout.
SIDE A:
Red Rain 5:35
Producer – Daniel Lanois, Peter Gabriel
Written-By – Peter Gabriel
SIDE B:
Ga-Ga (I Go Swimming Instrumental) 4:28
Producer – Steve Lillywhite
Written-By – Peter Gabriel
Walk Through The Fire 3:31
Producer – Nile Rodgers, Peter Gabriel
Written-By – Peter Gabriel
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
CHARTS:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Red Rain | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #3 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Virgin – 609 240
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: Europe
Released: 1987
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Classic Rock
Credits: Painting, Design – Peter Saville Associates
Photography By – Trevor Key
NOTES:
Printed in Western Germany
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
