The Raindogs were a band formed in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 around 1985 after several members had disbanded the rock band The Schemers

The Schemers

The Schemers was a Providence, Rhode Island hard rock band circa 1979-1986 recording on Big Bubble Records.The Schemers were the winners of the 1982 WBRU Radio Rock Hunt in Providence, R.I., and then the 1984 WBCN Rock 'n' Roll Rumble, in Boston, MA. Their hit single, "Remember," was the number 1...

. They combined Celtic

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

 and American music to form their own hybrid of rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

. Based in Boston, the ‘dogs were made up of Mark Cutler

Mark Cutler

Mark Cutler is a recording artist and singer-songwriter from Providence, Rhode Island. Mark Cutler has been the lead singer and songwriter for The Schemers, The Raindogs, and The Dino Club.-External links:...

, Red Rockers

Red Rockers

Red Rockers were a musical band from New Orleans, Louisiana, active from 1979 to 1985. They are best known for their 1983 hit single "China".-Origins:...

 rhythm section Darren Hill and Jim Reilly

Jim Reilly

James G. "Jim" Reilly 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 moved to the United States, where he played in two bands, Red Rockers, followed by...

 (of Ireland’s “Stiff Little Fingers

Stiff Little Fingers

Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977, at the height of the Troubles. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star , doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They split up after six years and four albums, although they...

"), Emerson Torrey, and Celtic fiddle king Johnny Cunningham

Johnny Cunningham

Johnny Cunningham was a Scottish folk musician. He was a founding member of Silly Wizard, as well as a member of Relativity, The Raindogs, and Nightnoise. Throughout his career, Cunningham was also a fiddler, composer and producer. His younger brother, Phil Cunningham, is a multi-instrumentalist...

, formerly of Silly Wizard. Their single, "Some Fun", was widely played on FM radio. MPG: http://www.emersontorrey.com/music/Some%20Fun%20-%20Track%2001.mp3

The Raindogs toured extensively throughout the United States with Warren Zevon, Don Henley, and Bob Dylan and were noted for their incendiary live performances. Their CDs garnered critical raves but ultimate success eluded them due to record company shakeups and lack of publicity.

Discography

The group released two albums on Atco Records

Atco Records

ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...

:

• Lost Souls (1990). Produced by Pete Henderson and the Raindogs.
• Border Drive-In Theatre
  Border Drive-In Theatre
  Border Drive-In Theatre is the second and last album by Boston-based American/Scottish/Irish folk/roots rock band The Raindogs, released in 1991 on the Atco label....
  
  (1991). Produced by Don Gehman
  Don Gehman
  Don Gehman is an American record producer, best known for his work in the 1980s with John Mellencamp.Gehman grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and played bass in a local rock band...
  
  . The album features spoken word performances by Harry Dean Stanton and Iggy Pop.

Personnel

• Johnny Cunningham
  Johnny Cunningham
  Johnny Cunningham was a Scottish folk musician. He was a founding member of Silly Wizard, as well as a member of Relativity, The Raindogs, and Nightnoise. Throughout his career, Cunningham was also a fiddler, composer and producer. His younger brother, Phil Cunningham, is a multi-instrumentalist...
  
   - fiddle
  Fiddle
  The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
  
   and mandolin
  Mandolin
  A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
  
  
• Mark Cutler
  Mark Cutler
  Mark Cutler is a recording artist and singer-songwriter from Providence, Rhode Island. Mark Cutler has been the lead singer and songwriter for The Schemers, The Raindogs, and The Dino Club.-External links:...
  
   guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
   and vocals
• Darren Hill - bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Jim Reilly
  Jim Reilly
  James G. "Jim" Reilly 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 moved to the United States, where he played in two bands, Red Rockers, followed by...
  
   - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• 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 and The Dino Club. Darren Hill has a management company called Ten Pin Management; he manages The New York Dolls, Paul Westerberg

Paul Westerberg

Paul Westerberg is an American musician, best known as the former lead singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter of The Replacements, one of the seminal alternative rock bands of the 1980s. He launched a solo career after the dissolution of that band...

, and others. Jim Reilly lives in Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

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