Champion Versions

Champion Versions is the first release by The Beta Band, released in 1997 on 12" vinyl only. The EP was later included in its entirety on the 1998 compilation The Three E.P.'s, along with The Patty Patty Sound and Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos.

Champion Versions, along with the other two original E.P.s from The Beta Band, long out of print on vinyl were re-issued as part of Record Store Day 2013.

The album cover references the design of King Tubby's The Roots of Dub LP.

"Dry the Rain" ranked at number 57 in Pitchfork Media's list of the Top 200 Songs of the 1990s.

Track listing

References

The Rain

The Rain were the Manchester band that eventually evolved into Oasis. The band formed in Manchester, England in 1991, taking their name from The Beatles' B-side, "Rain". Founding members were Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs (guitar), Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan (bass), Chris Hutton (vocals). Drummer Tony McCarroll joined shortly after the band formed to replace their drum machine and Hutton was replaced as vocalist by Liam Gallagher, who became the band's songwriter, in partnership with Arthurs. In this partnership, they wrote several songs including "Take Me" and "Life in Vain". The band rehearsed only one day a week and did not perform at shows often.

Shortly after Liam joined, the band was renamed Oasis, at his suggestion. Various explanations of the origins of the name have been offered, however, it came about when Liam’s older brother Noel roadied for the Inspiral Carpets at a venue in Swindon called the Oasis Leisure Centre. Liam reportedly liked the name's "resonance of imagery."

One day in August 1991, Noel, having recently returned from the Inspiral Carpets' tour of the U.S., went to watch his brother's band perform at the Manchester Boardwalk, supporting a band called Sweet Jesus. Noel offered to join, reportedly on condition that he would be the lead guitarist and they would perform only his songs. Noel made an instant impact on the band, he began to introduce new sounds and ways of creating music. After a few small warm up gigs in towns such as Middlesbrough, the band decided to produce Definitely Maybe, under the name of Oasis.

The Rain (disambiguation)

The Rain were a band from Manchester, England, that eventually evolved into Oasis.

The Rain may also refer to:

See also

The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)

"The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" is a 1997 hit song recorded by American rapper Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott. It was written and composed by Don Bryant, Bernard "Bernie" Miller, Elliott, and producer Timbaland for her debut album Supa Dupa Fly (1997) and contains a sample of Ann Peebles' 1973 single "I Can't Stand the Rain", whose lyrics serve as the chorus.

The song was released to U.S. radio stations on May 20, 1997, and the Hype Williams-directed video was released to video shows starting June 3, 1997. The song entered the Hot R&B Airplay chart in mid-June, and peaked at #6 the week of August 9, 1997. It peaked at #51 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart the following week.

The song was released as the album's lead single on July 2, 1997 (see 1997 in music), and reached the top twenty in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. VH1 ranked the song 99th on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of the '90s. And in 2010 Pitchfork Media included the song at number 33 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s. In 1998, "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" was named the fourth-best single of 1997 by the The Village Voice's annual-year end Pazz & Jop critics' poll.