Hard Rain

Bob Catley, born 11 September 1947 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, teamed with guitarist and songwriter Tony Clarkin to launch the UK group Hard Rain in 1996. The pair had already spent years together in Magnum, the Birmingham band they started in 1972. Keyboardist Paul Hodson, bassist Al Barrow, drummer Rob Barrow and vocalist Sue McCloskey completed the lineup. Hard Rain specialized in melody-driven material that sat at the outer fringes of hard rock and heavy metal, much like its predecessor. Clarkin supplied the bulk of the songs, which found a ready audience among longtime Magnum supporters.

Catley maintained a flourishing solo career at the same time. Although Hard Rain developed a loyal following drawn mostly from Magnum devotees, broader interest eventually declined. Some listeners viewed the project as a direct continuation of that earlier tradition, presented in a slightly more polished, commercial style. Catley’s solo commitments, paired with a renewed focus on Magnum, ultimately sparked the older band’s return; by the early 2000s Hard Rain had quietly disappeared.