The Raindogs were a band formed in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, United States, around 1985 after several members had disbanded the rock band The Schemers. They combined

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and American music to form their own hybrid of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

. Based in Boston, the band was made up of Mark Cutler, Emerson Torrey, members of recently disbanded New Orleans band

Red Rockers Red Rockers are an American musical band from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, active from 1979 to 1986, and reunited as of 2023. Originally formed as a hard-charging punk rock band, they changed their style to a smoother, more melodic so ...

Darren Hill and

Jim Reilly James G. Reilly (born 9 May 1957) is the second drummer for the Northern Ireland based punk band Stiff Little Fingers, with whom he played from 1979 to 1981. He played on the LPs '' Nobody's Heroes'', '' Go for It'' and ''Hanx''. In 1981, he ...

(also of Ireland’s “

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a Northern Irish punk rock band from Belfast. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the Deep P ...

"), and

Johnny Cunningham Johnny Cunningham (27 August 1957 – 15 December 2003) was a Scottish folk musician and composer, instrumental in spreading interest in traditional Celtic music. Johnny Cunningham was born on 27 August 1957 in Portobello, Edinburgh. He was ra ...

, formerly of

Silly Wizard Silly Wizard were a Scottish folk band that began forming in Edinburgh in 1970. The founder members were two like-minded university students— Gordon Jones (guitar, bodhran, vocals, bouzouki, mandola), and Bob Thomas (guitar, mandolin, man ...

. The

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

–based Schemers had previously won the Providence Rock Hunt and the Boston Rock Rumble band competitions, and their single, ''Remember'' was widely played on

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

FM radio stations. The Raindogs toured throughout the United States with

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All t ...

Don Henley Donald Hugh Henley (born July 22, 1947) is an American musician who is a founding member of the rock band the Eagles, for whom he is the drummer and co-lead vocalist, as well as its sole continuous member. Henley sang the lead vocals on Eagles ...

, and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and were noted for their incendiary live performances.

Discography

The group released two albums on

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the com ...

: *'' Lost Souls'' (1990). Produced by Pete Henderson and the Raindogs. *'' Border Drive-In Theatre'' (1991). Produced by

Don Gehman Don Gehman is an American record producer, engineer, and executive, best known for his work with John Mellencamp and Hootie & the Blowfish. AllMusic calls him one of "the most successful producers of the 1980s and 1990s." As a sound engineer, he ...

. The album features spoken word performances by Harry Dean Stanton and Iggy Pop.

Personnel

List of band members: *

–

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

and

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

* Mark Cutler

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and vocals *Darren Hill –

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

*Emerson Torrey (replaced Ty Avolio) – guitar and vocals Johnny Cunningham died in 2003. Mark Cutler has several solo CDs on independent labels, and performs solo and with his bands The Schemers, Men of Great Courage and Forever Young, (Neil Young tribute project). Darren Hill has a management company called Ten Pin Management and in 2011, he opened an antique/memorabilia store, POP Emporium, in East Greenwich, Rhode Island where he lives. The store later moved to Providence and sometimes hosts shows. Jim Reilly lives in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Emerson Torrey owns a recording studio and performs with Mark Cutler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raindogs Rock music groups from Massachusetts Musical groups from Boston Musical groups established in the 1980s 1980s establishments in Massachusetts Atco Records artists