Rain is a metaphor for bad romantic times once again.

“(Can You) Remember The Rain” is a dramatic ‘70s deep soul ballad by a group called The 21st Century. The Chicago-based harmony group claimed this as their only hit, and it was relatively minor, at that. This was one of those 45s that I found laying around the house during my grade school years, and my love for that song has remained the same ever since.

Is there a sub-genre called “spooky soul”? “Remember The Rain” has a dark, foreboding vibe beyond the “you left me and now I can’t face life alone” lyrics. The drums echo in a way that resembles the first album by Bill Withers. The strings swirl in a way that suggests wind during a storm. Hell, even the singer’s reverbed repetitions of the word “baby” as the song fades out are a little creepy. Still, it’s a great song and would’ve been a huge hit had it been cut on, say, The Jackson Five. The group’s two main singers even had a shrill high voice/smooth mid-range combo platter very similar to a young Michael and Jermaine.

An awesome one-shot that I may not have ever discovered if not for my folks’ leaving piles and piles of records around for me to play with.