| "Open Your Arms" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Goodbye Mr Mackenzie | ||||
| from the album Good Deeds and Dirty Rags | ||||
| Released | November 1988 | |||
| Format | 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD single | |||
| Recorded | Musicland Studios Munich, Germany | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, new wave | |||
| Length | 3:37 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Derek Kelly, Martin Metcalfe | |||
| Producer(s) | Mack | |||
| Goodbye Mr Mackenzie singles chronology | ||||
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"Open Your Arms" is a 1988 single by Scottish alternative rock group Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. It was their second major label single recorded for EMI's Capitol Records.
Alternative rock is a style of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. In this instance, the word "alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream rock music. The term's original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style or simply the independent, DIY ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for alternative music. At times, "alternative" has been used as a catch-all description for music from underground rock artists that receives mainstream recognition, or for any music, whether rock or not, that is seen to be descended from punk rock. Although the genre evolved in the late 1970s and 1980s, music anticipating the sound of the genre can be found as early as the 1960s, with bands such as The Velvet Underground.
Goodbye Mr Mackenzie are a Scottish 1980s and 1990s rock group formed in Bathgate, near Edinburgh, Scotland. At the band's commercial peak, the line-up consisted of Martin Metcalfe on vocals, John Duncan on guitar, Fin Wilson on bass guitar, Shirley Manson and Rona Scobie on keyboards and backing vocals, and Derek Kelly on drums.
EMI Group Limited was a British Transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 2012, it was the fourth largest business group and record label conglomerate in the music industry, and was one of the big four record companies ; its labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records, and Capitol Records, which are now owned by other companies.
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"Open Your Arms" later featured on the band's debut album Good Deeds and Dirty Rags which was released the following year. In 1991, after Goodbye Mr Mackenzie had signed to Gary Kurfirst's Radioactive Records, "Open Your Arms" was remixed and featured on their debut international album release, the self-titled Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie.
Good Deeds and Dirty Rags is the first album from the Scottish group Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. It was released in the UK in 1989. The original LP (vinyl) was released with an accompanying 12" single.
Gary Kurfirst was an American figure in late 20th and early 21st century popular music, working as a promoter, producer, manager, publisher, and record label executive. Kurfirst founded Radioactive Records, whose acts included Live, Black Grape, Jane's Addiction, the Ramones, Big Audio Dynamite, Talking Heads, Eurythmics and Shirley Manson. He managed a variety of artists including Manson, Blondie, Tom Tom Club, the Ramones, Jean Beauvoir, Eurythmics, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Toots and the Maytals, and The B-52s.
Radioactive Records was an American record label. It was formed as a joint venture between talent manager Gary Kurfirst and MCA Records, and it is now out of business. Its catalogue is now owned by Geffen Records and licensed through Universal Music Enterprises.
