According to our forecast, SoulMusic Records has got an incredible opportunity to soak up two of the most unique singers of the '80s: the dance duo The Weather Girls!

Carry On: The Deluxe Collection 1982-1992 is a long-overdue assessment of Martha Wash and Izora Armstead's unlikely journey toward the top of the pop charts, some fascinating music that came before it - and a triumphant second act by Wash following some truly bizarre situations that only could have happened in the music industry. This 4CD box set, compiled and produced by Adam Mattera, presents the Weather Girls' three albums for Columbia Records - Success (1983), Big Girls Don't Cry (1985) and The Weather Girls (1988), plus Wash's self-titled solo debut from 1992; together, they feature a total of 22 bonus songs and remixes, of which eight are making their debut on CD. Nick Robbins has remastered the audio, packaged with packaging by Roger Williams featuring rare photographs and new liner notes by Tim Dillinger.

The story of The Weather Girls started back in the 1970s: Wash and Armstead were longtime friends who'd honed their singing skills in church groups while dreaming of making it as musicians. Often underestimated for their appearances, Wash finally got a big break securing a gig as a back-up singer for disco singer Sylvester; he asked if she happened to know anyone else of similar build, and before long, she and Armstead were backing him up on classics like "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)." The duo would secure their a deal of their own at Sylvester's home of Fantasy Records, where they cheekily recorded under the name Two Tons O' Fun.

In 1982, the girls connected with producer Paul Jabara, on a hot streak from writing Donna Summer's smashes "Last Dance" and "No More Tears (Enough is Enough)." Jabara featured them on an album he put together for CBS (which also featured one of the first appearances of a teenage Whitney Houston), and while their work on songs like "Ladies Hot Line" (co-written by Diana Ross) and "Hope" were intriguing, the real standout was a song Jabara and Saturday Night Live band member Paul Shaffer had written and could only persuade Wash and Armstead to record in a brief session after a handful of huge names, from Summer and Ross to Cher and Barbra Streisand all said no.

"We thought it was a crazy song--in fact, too crazy to record," Wash later recounted of "It's Raining Men." "I kept saying, 'It's raining men? Really? Are you kidding me?'... I just did not think people would buy it." To say she was wrong was a grand understatement: Wash and Armstead's impassioned yet cheeky delivery, the almost unmissable queer lyric subtext, and an extraordinarily campy music video that filled in any missing undertones was one of the funnier, feel-good dance moments of 1983. Though it missed the Top 40 of the pop charts, "Men" topped Billboard's dance charts and rose to No. 2 in England.

None of the Girls' output after Success, their 1983 album for Columbia featuring "It's Raining Men" and other material, had as much measure of chart success. 1985's Big Girls Don't Cry, produced by Jeff Kent and Hank Medross (the latter a onetime member of The Tokens) was bolstered mostly by covers, from The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" and Neil Sedaka's "Laughter in the Rain" to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Down on the Corner." A self-titled follow-up in 1988 featured production by Full Force, Reggie Lucas and others, but marked the end of Wash and Armstead's time together as The Weather Girls.

But a fascinating second chapter of Wash's career was just starting. After The Weather Girls, she lent her vocal talents to a bevy of up-and-coming dance and house producers and artists. Perplexingly, most of these appearances were done uncredited, often attributing vocals to more traditionally shaped models that appeared in music videos. Seduction's "(You're My One and Only) True Love," Black Box's "Everybody Everybody," and C+C Music Factory's chart-topping "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" were all powered by her powerhouse vocals, but music buyers or video watchers would never have known. Wash took matters into her own hands on these issues, taking the artists or labels to court and earning settlements and appropriate credits. At the height of her anonymous popularity, Wash signed with RCA to release an album of her own in 1993; the first two singles, "Carry On" and "Give It to You," sailed to the top of Billboard's dance charts and firmly established her as a dance diva to another generation. (Around the same time, Armstead revived The Weather Girls with other singers; the group has continued well past her own passing in 2004.)

These incredible chapters of dance history will be told in Carry On: The Deluxe Collection. It'll be available June 23 and can be pre-ordered from Cherry Red and Amazon.

Carry On: The Deluxe Collection 1982-1992 (SoulMusic Records SMCR5210BX (U.K.), 2023) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

* previously unreleased on CD

Disc 1: The Weather Girls, Success (Expanded Edition)

1. Success
2. Hungry for Love
3. Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas)
4. Hope
5. It's Raining Men
6. I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair
7. Ladies Hot Line
8. Hope (Long Version)
9. It's Raining Men (12″ Vocal Version)
10. Success (Larger Than Life Remix)
11. I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair (12″ Vocal Version)
12. It's Raining Men (7" Vocal Version)
13. Dear Santa (Bring Me a Man This Christmas) Pt. 1
14. It's Raining Men/I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair (Special Version)

Tracks 1-6 released as Columbia/The Entertainment Company album BFC 38997, 1983
Tracks 7-8 released on Paul Jabara and Friends - Columbia/The Entertainment Company FC 38458, 1983
Track 9 released on Columbia/The Entertainment Company 12" 44-03181, 1982
Track 10 released on CBS U.K. 12" TA 4401, 1984
Track 11 released on Columbia/The Entertainment Company 12" 44-04024, 1983
Track 12 released on Columbia/The Entertainment Company 7" 38-03354, 1982
Track 13 released on Columbia/The Entertainment Company 7" 38-04299, 1983
Track 14 released on CBS U.K. 12" TA 2924, 1984

Disc 2: The Weather Girls, Big Girls Don't Cry (Expanded Edition)

1. Lock Me Up
2. Big Girls Don't Cry
3. Well-a-Wiggy
4. No One Can Love You More Than Me
5. Down on the Corner
6. March
7. Laughter in the Rain
8. You Can Do It
9. Well-a-Wiggy (Extended Version)
10. No One Can Love You More Than Me (Extended Mix)
11. Well-a-Wiggy (Dub Version) *
12. No One Can Love You More Than Me (Single Version) *

Tracks 1-8 released as Columbia/The Entertainment Company album BFC 39980, 1985
Tracks 9 and 11 released on Columbia/The Entertainment Company 12" 44-05245, 1985
Tracks 10 and 12 released on Columbia/The Entertainment Company 12" 44-05288, 1985

Disc 3: The Weather Girls, The Weather Girls (Expanded Edition)

1. Land of the Believer
2. Love's on the Way
3. Why Can't We Show Our Love
4. Opposite Directions
5. Love You Like a Train
6. Worth My Weight in Love
7. Burn Me!
8. Something for Nothing
9. The Land of ... (F.F. Believe in Beats Mix) *
10. Love You Like a Train (Choo-Choo Mix) (12″ Version) *
11. Land of the Believer (Single Version) *
12. Love You Like a Train (7″ Version) *
13. Love You Like a Train (7″ Instrumental) *
14. Love You Like a Train (Dub Mix) *

Tracks 1-8 released as Columbia album BFC 40778, 1988
Tracks 9 and 11 released on Columbia 12" 44-07567, 1988
Tracks 10 and 12-14 released as Columbia 12" 44-07844, 1988

Disc 4: Martha Wash, Martha Wash (Expanded Edition)

1. Someone Who Believes in You (Prelude)
2. So Whatcha Gonna Do
3. Give It to You
4. Runaround
5. Now That You're Gone
6. Things We Do for Love
7. Just Us (Dancin')
8. Leave a Light On
9. Carry On
10. Someone Who Believes in You
11. Hold On (Part I)
12. Hold On (Part II)
13. When It's My Heart
14. Just Us (Singin')
15. Carry On (Masters At Work 12″ Dance Mix)
16. Give It to You (Maurice's 12″ Mix)
17. Runaround (Tee's 12″ Mix)
18. Give It to You (Top 40 Version)

Tracks 1-14 released as RCA album 07863 66052-2, 1993
Track 15 released on RCA CD single 07863 62367-2, 1992
Tracks 16 and 18 released on RCA CD single 07863 62463-2, 1993
Track 17 released on RCA CD single 07863 62542-2, 1993