Christopher James Harley, known by the stage name Chris Rainbow (18 November 1946 – 22 February 2015), was a Scottish[1][2] pop rock singer and musician[3] whose songs "Give Me What I Cry For" and "Solid State Brain" were often played by British radio DJs Kenny Everett and Tony Blackburn in the 1970s.

[5] In 1972 and 1973, Rainbow was involved in a band called Hopestreet - along with Scottish pianist and composer Callum Kenmuir - recording two singles, Iron Sky / Never Mind and Wait Until Tomorrow / Ladies (At The Bottom Of A Garden).

[6] Following this, he recorded first as Christopher Rainbow with the singles Give Me What I Cry For and Solid State Brain in 1974, then Mr. Man and Gimme Just A Little Beat Of Your Heart in 1975.

Rainbow would do vocal work on Heart Of The Universe, a solo album by Ton Scherpenzeel who was the keyboardist of Camel in 1984.

in 1978, Max Middleton and Robert Ahwai's Another Sleeper in 1979, Killdozer's self-titled album Killdozer in 1980, Trevor Herion's Beauty Life in 1983, Elaine Page's self-titled album Elaine in 1983, Culture Club's Waking Up with the House on Fire in 1984, Toyah Willcox's Desire in 1987, Lenny Zakatek's Small But Hard in 1989, and Tomoyasu Hotei's King & Queen in 1996 and Fetish in 2000.

[9] Rainbow produced several albums for the Scottish Gaelic rock group Runrig starting with the single Loch Lomond in 1982, then the albums Heartland in 1985, The Cutter & The Clan in 1987, Once in a Lifetime in 1988, Capture the Heart in 1990, The Big Wheel in 1991, Amazing Things in 1993, and In Search of Angels in 1999, all under his birth name Chris Harley.

He also produced a single by The River Detectives, "Saturday Night Sunday Morning" in 1989 and their studio album Elvis Has Left the Building in 1996.

[9] Rainbow built and ran the Vital Spark Music Studio on the Isle of Skye where several artists including Donnie Munro, Blair Douglas, and KT Tunstall recorded albums.

[4] Vital Spark did provide music to EM Records for the releases The Instrumental Chris Rainbow and Love You Eternally E.P.

[11] Alan Parsons published on his official website, "It was with great sadness that I read today of the passing of Chris Rainbow.

Chris was a major part of the Runrig story, producing the breakthrough albums through the eighties and early nineties.