The Fortunes: Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again

The Fortunes are an archetypal English beat group. Formed in Birmingham, The Fortunes first came to prominence and international acclaim in 1965, when "You've Got Your Troubles" broke into the American and British Top Tens. In 1966, their manager Reginald Calvert was shot dead in a dispute over pirate radio stations.
Following in the wake of Merseybeat, and the R&B of The Rolling Stones, The Fortunes added another dimension to the sound of pop, with their sophisticated orchestration, dual lead vocals and well worked counter-melodies.
The result was a succession of distinctive hits including "You've Got Your Troubles", "Here It Comes Again" (both 1965), and "Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again"; even continuing into the 1970s with more globally successful releases such as "Storm in a Teacup" and "Freedom Come, Freedom Go".

Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling Again



Originally formed as a vocal trio backed by an instrumental group known as The Cliftones, the aggregation placed an instrumental track on a compilation LP (Brumbeat) issued by the local Dial label, "Cygnet Twitch" (like the mid-chart British hit "Saturday Nite at the Duck-Pond" by The Cougars an "instro" take on Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake) and subsequently signed to British Decca in 1963. Their first single "Summertime, Summertime/I Love Her Still," was credited to the Fortunes and the Cliftones; "Summertime Summertime", although competent, was an odd choice for a disc issued in the frenzy of the incipient Beat Boom - it went unnoticed, and as the enterprise's sax-laden sound became anachronistic overnight, the vocalists picked up guitars, jettisoned the Cliftones, and added Andy Brown on drums and Dave Carr on keyboards. The follow-up disc co-written by the singer-songwriter and future Ivy League member Perry Ford, "Caroline", was used as the signature tune for the influential pirate radio station, Radio Caroline