The Cascades

The Cascades were an American vocal and instrumental pop group best remembered for their 1962-recorded, 1963-released single «Rhythm of the Rain», a lush, orchestrated ballad that became an international hit and remains one of the era's most enduring pop standards.

Emerging during the pre-British Invasion period of early-1960s American pop, the group's sound blended smooth harmony vocals with the polished, string-laden production typical of the time, giving «Rhythm of the Rain» its lasting appeal as a rainy-day radio staple that has been covered and referenced by numerous artists in the decades since. Follow-up songs such as «Shy Girl» and «The Last Leaf» continued in a similar melodic, sentimental pop vein, though none matched the impact of their signature hit.

While The Cascades never repeated the commercial scale of «Rhythm of the Rain», the song's staying power secured the group a lasting place in pop music history as a one-defining-hit act whose single continues to be recognized well beyond its original era, still turning up on oldies radio and retrospective pop compilations worldwide.