Germany Picture Sleeve: Star-Club 148 588 STF
Norway Picture Sleeve: Philips 320 249 BF
First UK Release: Philips BF 1576 / 320249 BF. Side A
First UK Release: Philips BF 1576 / 320249 BF. Side B
A Walking In The Rain
B Baby Make It The Last Time
by The Walker Brothers
Released: May 12th, 1967. Label: Philips
Walking in the Rain is the Walker Brothers’ tenth single, released after the news of the group’s first split. Written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector, and Cynthia Weil, it was originally a top 40 hit for the Ronettes in 1964. A song about dreaming of falling in love, the Walker Brothers’ version also begins with the sound of a clap of thunder.
The B-side, Baby Make It Last the Time, a song about a girlfriend who keeps leaving her partner, was written by Kirk Duncan, Michael Nicholls and Scott Walker. Both songs were orchestrated by Reg Guest.
Scott Walker spoke to the Melody Maker in the week of the single’s release about what this meant for his future as an artist outside his group. “I think it is me who is taking the biggest risk,” he said about his plans. “I’m going out to do what I like and hope that the public will like it too.”
Walking In The Rain reached no 26 in the charts and spent six weeks in the top 50.
Credits
A. Walking In The Rain 3:31
Written By Barry Mann, Phil Spector, Cynthia Weil
Arranger Reg Guest
B. Baby Make It The Last Time 3:25
Written By Kirk Duncan, Michael Nicholls, Scott Engel
Arranger Reg Guest
Interview
New Musical Express, 13 May 1967
by Keith Altham
“I think it is me who is taking the biggest risk. John and Gary will be the ones to go out and cut the commercial gear. I’m going out to do what I like and hope that the public will like it too.
“I’m not looking forward to releasing my first single – it’s a frightening decision. It will probably be one of my own compositions but at present I just don’t have the right material.
“The first thing will be an LP, to be released in late July or early August. I’ve got a couple of Michel LeGrande and Jacques Brel numbers in the can and want to include about five of my own compositions.
“I doubt whether I will ever do another pop package tour, but I figure if Georgie Fame can fill the Festival Hall there is a good chance for me to do something similar.
“I’d like to do that or the Albert Hall with a full orchestra but I’ll probably begin by doing cabaret in somewhere like Stockton. The intention is for me to sing backed by nothing less than a 15-piece band.
“It’s not going to be easy but I’ve got a powerful new agent in Harold Davison and a head start with what we’ve previously built up.
“I’m hoping that the fans who have stuck by me until now will realise what is happening and move along with me. In a way I expect to have to make my own audience.”
“Now I’ve got to start looking around for some money because I’ve come out of the Walker Brothers virtually broke! What I had, I spent or lent out to people who have lost it. I don’t regret that because I place no real value on money anyway.”
“The expenses for a group like the Walker Brothers were enormous.
“Playing in places like Japan where we were breaking new ground meant laying out a lot of money. I personally retained two road managers and there was the big band to pay. And the apartments I had to keep moving on to to keep one jump ahead of the fans cost me a small fortune. The rest went in taxes.
“Fortunately I still have some record royalties to come but I didn’t really start writing until the last LP and they take a long time to return.
“People don’t realise just how little the Walker Brothers actually worked – we averaged about three months a year. We could have worked a lot more, become very rich – over exposed and very dead.”
