Norwegian love affair - Pat Tomek explains how the Rainmakers became wildly popular in Norway

Pat Tomek, far right, is pictured performing with the Rainmakers at a show in Oslo, Norway in December 1986. The band became wildly popular among Norwegian audiences and went on to record three albums on the Mercury label. In recent years, the Rainmakers have recorded new material and continue to travel to Norway on occasion for performances. Courtesy of Pat Tomek

Pat Tomek was 14 or 15 years old when paying a visit to the home of his brother’s best friend to see the new drum kit he had received. Banging around on the set for a few minutes, he received compliments on his playing, thus beginning his inspiration to become a drummer. Years later, his drum performances landed him a spot in the band the Rainmakers, who went on to record professionally and have established a dedicated following in Norway.

Raised in Wichita, Kansas, Tomek first began to develop his skills as a drummer by beating on pillows and using pencils as drumsticks. Eventually, while working part-time at a furniture store, he saved up enough money to purchase a used drum kit during his senior year of high school.
 
After graduating from Wichita West High School in 1970, Tomek enrolled at the University of Kansas. While in college, he enjoyed playing in local rock bands but was focused on earning his bachelor’s degree. In 1974, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and went on to pursue his graduate degree.
 
“There was a period in graduate school when I couldn’t find anyone to play with in a band,” Tomek remarked. “One of my fellow students told me that I seemed to get more excited talking about music than the graduate work we were doing,”

He continued, “I eventually got in a Top 40 band and performed in tiny towns throughout the Midwest and up into South Dakota. I worked on writing my master’s thesis while we were out on the road playing 5 or 6 nights a week and was able to earn a master’s degree in communications studies.”
 
In 1978, Tomek became the drummer for Gary Apple, a Kansas City recording artist who had a record deal on Roy Orbison’s label Monument Records. Moving to Kansas City shortly after getting the gig, he and several members of Apple’s band soon formed The Secrets. And immediately began recording for Titan Records. The Secrets traveled to Los Angeles to record with Stan Lynch, drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, as their producer. Tomek explained that the production team tried to turn them into a glossy L.A. band when they were in reality an “in-your-face power pop band” from Kansas City.
 
“I ended up leaving The Secrets in December 1981 and played for a while in several cover bands,” he said. “I had come to know Gary Charlson and a guy called Guido Toledo, and we formed a band called The 4 Sknns, playing music from the ‘60s and ‘70s.”
 
The most momentous moment in his music career arrived in December 1985, when he was asked to join Steve, Bob and Rich, a band comprised of Bob Walkenhorst, Steve Phillips, and Rich Ruth. They had already put out an independent record and had just signed a contract with Mercury Records.
 
Tomek said, “We realized there was a better name than a band called Steve, Bob and Rich, so while we were recording at Ardent Studios in Memphis, we tried to figure out a new name. One evening after recording, we were watching a VHS tape of “The Rainmaker” with Burt Lancaster, and Bob suggested the name the Rainmakers for the band.”
 
The band’s self-titled debut album was released in the summer of 1986 and went on to achieve its greatest success overseas. As the band toured Europe and played before welcoming audiences in England, France, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, Tomek recalls they were most embraced in Norway.
 
The band was scheduled to play a gig at a small bar called Sardine’s in Oslo, Norway. At the time, it was unknown to the band that a couple music journalists had become fans of the music and began promoting the Rainmakers in advance of the show.
 
“It was one of the last gigs of our first European tour and the album hadn’t been out very long, so crowds had been hit and miss,” Tomek said. “This was by far the best response of the tour and the place was packed with people spilling over onto the stage. It was a crazy night that started kind of a love affair.”
 
The Rainmakers released three albums for Mercury, but after an exhausting five years of constant touring and recording, and in the face of dwindling support from the record company, the band decided to break up in 1990. They re-formed three years later, dedicated to self-production and the ideal of “If it’s not fun, don’t do it.”
 
The band went on to release four more albums of original material as well as a number of smaller projects, until retiring in 2023.
 
Tomek worked three years full-time and eight years freelance for a non-profit and later participated in several studio recording and music production projects. He has rarely played with less than four bands at a time and reunited with the 4 Sknns for nearly a decade while continuing to record at his home studio.
 
The Rainmakers reunited in 2011 on their 25th anniversary and did six tours of Norway over the next few years in addition to some regional gigs in the Midwest. They also recorded a new album to promote during their tours and have since that time come together for occasional performances and small-scale recording projects.
 
“I’ve managed to avoid making any money during my music career, but these are all experiences I wouldn’t sell for anything,” he chuckled. “Coming up in the Kansas City music scene in the 1980s was a great time and a period flowering with creativity.”
 
He added, “For the longest time it was a mystery to us how a little band from Kansas City became such a huge hit in Norway. But they have been greatly supportive of our music and my only gold record came from Norway.”
 
Jeremy P. Ämick is the author of “Movin On,’” biography of the band Missouri.

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Tomek continues to work with members of the Rainmakers on small-scale recording projects and does recordings in his home studio. Courtesy of Eddie Christiansen