Childhood friends Martha Wash and Izora Armstead first began performing together in gospel group News Of The World, before successfully auditioning for gay disco icon Sylvester in the mid-’70s and signing to Fantasy Records.

Dubbed Two Tons Of Fun, the ladies toured the world with Sylvester for several years, adding gospel fire to his disco grooves before inevitably branching out on their own.

The anthemic ‘It’s Raining Men’ made them international stars in their own right in 1982 when the outrageous hi-HRG disco juggernaut topped charts across the globe. Renamed The Weather Girls, disco hitmaker Paul Jabara tailored their debut album ‘Success’ to suit their outsize personalities, crafting a six-song mini-musical mixing soaring disco, extravagant Broadway-style orchestrations and campy humor.

The albums ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ and ‘The Weather Girls’ followed, seeing the duo expand their sound into electro-funk, gospel-laced ballads and dance-orientated pop, working with producers including Full Force (Lisa Lisa, James Brown), Reggie Lucas (Madonna, Stephanie Mills) and Richard Scher (Jennifer Holliday).

After her voice was infamously used uncredited on huge club hits by the likes of C+C Music Factory and Black Box, Martha decided to try her hand at a solo career, recording her debut – simply entitled ‘Martha Wash’ – in the early ’90s and being immediately embraced by clubland.

Martha’s first two solo releases – the club classics ‘Carry On’ and ‘Give It To You’ both topped Billboard’s dance charts, followed by the Top 10 ‘Runaround’, while the acclaimed album saw Wash join forces with the likes of Todd Terry, The Basement Boys, Brian Alexander Morgan and Masters At Work.

Entitled Carry On: The Deluxe Edition 1982-1992 this extensive 4CD box set showcases the entire Columbia Records catalogue of 80s disco/soul duo The Weather Girls plus Martha Wash’s glorious solo RCA debut.

Inclusive of 58 tracks, this first-of-its-kind box set spans all three of the duo’s Columbia albums plus Martha’s hugely successful solo debut, plus a massive 22 bonus tracks including rare single edits, extended versions, club mixes and more – many appearing for the first time on CD.

Disc 1: SUCCESS (Expanded Edition) + Bonus Tracks
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 [Bonus Track]
8. Hope (Long Version)[Bonus Track]
9. It’s Raining Men (12″ Vocal Version) [Bonus Track]
10. Success (Larger Than Life Remix) [Bonus Track]
11. I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair (12″ Vocal Version) [Bonus Track]
12. It’s Raining Men (7” Vocal Version) [Bonus Track]
13. Dear Santa (Bring Me A Man This Christmas) Pt. 1 [Bonus Track]
14. It’s Raining Men / I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair (Special Version) [Bonus Track]

Featuring five US Top 30 dance hits, including the duo’s 1982 global smash debut ‘It’s Raining Men’ and Martha’s solo #1 club monsters ‘Carry On’ and ‘Give It To You,’ the first disc proved it was all fun and games, while it lasted, for Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes, better known as Two Tons of Fun.

The single It’s Raining Men was one of the better left-field hits of 1982, and it helped make their debut album a storming success, although it lacked either a suitable follow-up single or consistently strong material. But that is by-the-by, for there are still a fair number of cuts demonstrating how strong the women’s voices were and exploiting their gospel roots to pop-disco perfection.

As for some of bonus material now lovingly added, well, stands out to my ear are tracks such as the deliciously enlarged It’s Raining Men (12″ Vocal Version), the bombastic Success (Larger Than Life Remix), and both the adorable I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair (12″ Vocal Version) and the always soothing to hear, Dear Santa (Bring Me A Man This Christmas) Pt. 1.

Disc 2: BIG GIRLS DON’T CRY (Expanded Edition) + Bonus Tracks
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) [Bonus Track]
10. No One Can Love You More Than Me (Extended Mix) [Bonus Track]
*11. Well-A-Wiggy (Dub Version) [Bonus Track]
*12. No One Can Love You More Than Me (Single Version) [Bonus Track]

The final Columbia vehicle for Martha Wash and Izora Redman-Armstead and things had soured for the duo with the label. They began as a novelty act, but were truly a gospel-tinged soul unit who could also score with the dance crowd. They never really were allowed to showcase their real personalities or styles, and by the time this album was issued, they were doing formula pop-soul and dance filler.

Not to say that the album doesn’t have its genuine poptastic and soulful highlights though, far from it, for tracks such as the titular Big Girls Don’t Cry and the tongue-in-cheek Well-A-Wiggy were brilliant dance floor gems, along with the emphatic You Can Do It.

Amongst the bonus tracks, the two clear stand outs for me are the free flowing One Can Love You More Than Me (Extended Mix) and the playful Well-A-Wiggy (Dub Version).

Disc 3: HE WEATHER GIRLS (Expanded Edition) + Bonus Tracks
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) [Bonus Track]
*10. Love You Like A Train (Choo-Choo Mix) (12″ Version) [Bonus Track]
*11. Land Of The Believer (Single Version) [Bonus Track]
*12. Love You Like A Train (7″ Version) [Bonus Track]
*13. Love You Like A Train (7″ Instrumental) [Bonus Track]
*14. Love You Like A Train (Dub Mix) [Bonus Track]

The third and final Weather Girls album was a mainstream buying/marketing disappointment, as it was evident that the major labels weren’t willing to take the duo of Martha Wash and Izora Rhodes seriously enough to get them capable producers and find them suitable material. Instead, they struggled through another collection of fun, spirited, loud and still disco-hued tracks, but a lot of it was clearly dealt the bad hand of being linked to some uninspired production and arrangements. Thus our lovely leads never got the kind of label support their late ex-boss received at Fantasy, and so the album wasn’t brought forth with the splash it fully deserved.

Tracks to still enjoy today are the rambunctious Burn Me!, the smooth groove found within both Love’s On The Way and Why Can’t We Show Our Love, with the best of the bonus tracks, for me, being the fantabulous Love You Like A Train (Choo-Choo Mix) (12″ Version).

Disc 4: MARTHA WASH (Expanded Edition) + Bonus Tracks
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) [Bonus Track]
16. Give It To You (Maurice’s 12″ Mix) [Bonus Track]
17. Runaround (Tee’s 12″ Mix) [Bonus Track]
18. Give It To You (Top 40 Version) [Bonus Track]

* first appearance on CD

The fourth and final disc showcased Martha Walsh’s self-titled debut solo album. By now, Walsh’s work with the Weather Girls and Black Box was so strong that one couldn’t help but greet this debut solo album with high expectations - perhaps so high that a generally enjoyable album came as a slight disappointment.

Anyone familiar with the big-voiced diva’s history couldn’t help but hope for a soul/disco/house extravaganza, and this album, for all its strong points, doesn’t fit that description; although it still packs a knock-out punch of some wonderful dance floor gems (such as Things We Do for Love, Leave a Light On and the soaring Carry On).

Sure, if I’m being dutifully honest, most of the tracks fall under the heading of decent, but not super outstanding and after hearing Wash belt it out on the Weather Girls’ It’s Raining Men and Black Box’s Everybody Everybody, it’s impossible to expect less than consistent excellence from her; as a devoted fan.

That all said, this album still has more going for it than most of the faceless, soundalike releases flooding the urban contemporary market in 1992, but Wash is capable of so much more, is what the take away here is (again, in my own humble opinion).

The stands out here include the bountiful So Whatcha Gonna Do and the beautiful Leave A Light On along with the two bonus tracks, Carry On (Masters At Work 12″ Dance Mix) and my own personal favorite, the scintillating Runaround (Tee’s 12″ Mix).

Official Purchase Link