Russell T. Davies show ‘Bob and Rose’ debuted on this day
Russell T. Davies has huge success with the original UK version of Queer as Folk. That show came out in 1999, and two years later there was a lot of attention focused on his next offering, the 6-part series Bob and Rose.
The series first aired in the UK in September 2001.
Davies based the story on the experiences of a close friend who was gay but found love and entered into a heterosexual relationship. The story explores Bob’s experience as he discovers he is bisexual, and Rose’s prejudices about her love interest’s past relationships.
The show boasts a cast of well-known actors including Dame Penelope Wilton, who would go on to appear in Downton Abbey and After Life – she plays Bob’s Mum.
Jessica Hynes who later appeared in Twenty Twelve, W1A and There She Goes plays Bob’s best buddy, while Daniel Ryan plays his ex-boyfriend. Downton Abbey actor Siobhan Finneran also appears in the series.
Many of the actors in the show would later work on other shows created by Russell T Davies. Lesley Sharp appeared in his next series The Second Coming and was reunited with Daniel Ryan on an episode of Doctor Who. Penelope Wilton would also make multiple appearances on Doctor Who as politician Harriet Jones. Jessica Hynes turned up on Doctor Who and then went on to appear in Years and Years.
Bob and Rose did not enjoy the same level of success as Queer as Folk, but it’s set in the same location as Davies popular series. He would later return to Manchester for the companion series Cucumber and Banana.
At the time of its original broadcast the show was criticised by some gay rights activists who argued the show was suggesting that being gay was a choice, and that gay men just needed to wait until they met the right woman. This in turn generated a significant response from people who are bisexual, who welcomed a rare depiction of bisexuality on screen.
The show is generally not available on streaming services. It has been added to the UK version of Britbox, but more of the music has been replaced due to licensing issues. So, if you want to see Bob and Rose as it first appeared, you’ll need to track down an original DVD copy.
It’s Raining Men was released on this day in 1982
Songwriters Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer wrote the disco song It’s Raining Men over the course of just one afternoon in 1979.
Jabara had released records of his own and also had success penning hits for Disco Queen Donna Summer. He was behind her hits Last Dance, and No More Tears (Enough is Enough), her disco duet with Barbra Streisand.
When they offered their newest composition to Summer, she turned it down. Streisand also passed on the song, as did Cher and Diana Ross. In an interview with Vanity Fair Shaffer would recount how nobody wanted the song.
“Paul Jabara called me up and said, “I’ve got a great song for Donna Summer. I want you to write the song with me.
“What do you think about ‘It’s Raining Men’?” We wrote it in one afternoon. Lyrically she hated it, because she had become a born-again Christian. She thought it was blasphemous. She called Paul and said, “I hate the song. Oh, we’ve lost you.” And then she sent him a Bible the next day.” Shaffer recalled.
A few years passed before Jabara offered to song to duo Two Tons O Fun, who had served as backing singers to Sylvester. The duo comprised singers Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. They too had reservations about the track and considered it too over-the-top to record, but eventually they gave in and laid down the vocals.
When Martha Wash spoke to OUTinPerth in 2011 she recalled recording the song and thinking nothing would come of outrageous tune.
“When we initially recorded the song, we did it in like ninety minutes and just walked out of the studio and said, ‘okay Paul, see you later’. That’s really how we left it.” Wash recalled.
“Until months later when we started hearing it in clubs, and Paul was taking the song around to different clubs and asking the DJs to play it. So, it became a big hit in the clubs long before radio even picked up on it.”
Soon Wash and Armstead were changing the name of their act to The Weather Girls and filming a fun video to match the song. The song topped the Billboard dance chart and was nominated for as Grammy Award.
The song has had a long life though, becoming a party favourite that has filled dance floors over the decades. Some notable covers have also kept it in the public consciousness.
In 1998 Wash teamed up with RuPaul for a new version of the song, but its biggest revival came a few years later when former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell recorded a version of the track.
Halliwell’s 2001 recording of the song was the first single from her second album Scream If You Wanna Go Faster, and it was also featured in the movie Bridget Jones Diary. The video for Halliwell’s version took inspiration from another moment in pop culture, recreating a scene from the 1983 film Flashdance.
The song is also included in the stage musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, pops up in the soundtrack for Magic Mike, and even British girl group The Nolans have laid down a version.
OIP Staff, This post was first published in 2021 and has been updated.
