The Weather Girls

The Weather Girls

The Weather Girls are a dance-pop, disco, hi-NRG and soul group from San Francisco, United States. The act forms in 1982 with Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes Armstead as the core members, and the group is associated with female vocal harmony and club-oriented dance music.

Career and early releases

Before using the Weather Girls name, Wash and Armstead perform as Two Tons O' Fun. Under that name they place “Earth Can Be Just Like Heaven” at number 2 on the American Billboard Disco chart in 1980, and follow it with the American R&B chart entry “Just Us”, which reaches number 29 the same year. They also release the hi-NRG track “I Got The Feeling” in 1981. The duo also backs Sylvester.

“It’s Raining Men” and later work

The group is best known for the 1982 hit “It’s Raining Men”. Although it is often described as a one-hit act in mainstream accounts, the group has a wider recording history that includes material such as “Can U Feel It”. Their repertoire is also associated with songs including “Wild Thing”, “Love Will Lift You Up”, “Human Love” and “The Woman I Am”.

Line-up changes and related work

After Wash leaves in the mid-1980s, Izora continues the group with her daughter Dynell Rhodes. Following Izora’s death in 2004, Dynell continues to record as The Weather Girls with her sister Ingrid Arthur. Izora’s daughters Dynell Rhodes and Ingrid Arthur are part of the group’s later line-up.

Associated artists and recordings

Wash also records solo material and appears, sometimes uncredited, as a vocalist for artists including Black Box and C+C Music Factory. The group’s later release The Woman I Am appears on CdA Recordings and combines dance, soul, gospel and remixes, with a reworked version of “Just Us” among its tracks.