Now We Are Married

"Now We Are Married" is a 1991 single by Scottish alternative rock group Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. It was their first single release for Gary Kurfirst's Radioactive Records label after their record deal was bought from Parlophone, and followed the previous years singles "Love Child" and "Blacker Than Black". The "Now We Are Married" single immediately preceded the release of the band's second studio album Hammer and Tongs.[1]

"Now We Are Married"
Single by Goodbye Mr Mackenzie
from the album Hammer and Tongs
Released11 February 1991
RecordedHansa Studios, Berlin, West Germany
GenreAlternative rock, new wave
LabelRadioactive Records//MCA
Songwriter(s)Martin Metcalfe
Producer(s)Terry Adams
Goodbye Mr Mackenzie singles chronology
"Blacker Than Black"
(1990)		 "Now We Are Married"
(1991)		 "'Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie EP"
(1991)

Background

"[An] attempt at perfect pop" is how "Now We Are Married" is described by the band on their bio. "It’s not a song about getting married. Everyone thinks it’s something to walk down the aisle to. But really it was about my opposition to marriage," explained Martin Metcalfe, "At that point in my life, I felt marriage wasn’t about making a commitment to each other, it was like making a pact with the devil. Once you were married and had kids, you weren’t a free spirit any more. You had to think about cash. You’re more married to materialism. So it was a song about marriage being a contract with the devil. It annoys me when people don’t read past the cover."[2]

Single release

"Now We Are Married" debuted on the Official Charts at #86[3] before moving up to a peak position of #80 the following week.[4] The single dropped to #96 in its final week on the chart.[5] The single was released in multiple-formats including CD single, cassette single, 7" vinyl and two 12" vinyls, one of which was a limited edition with a gatefold sleeve featuring snaps of the band on tour in Europe.[1]

The single was backed with cover versions of Velvet Underground's "Candy Says" (Metcalfe: "[It's] just me on an acoustic guitar, basically. I always loved the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed. It’s a really sweet song about a transvestite.") and Lee Hazlewood's "Friday's Child", recorded after Metcalfe heard Hazelwood's Nancy Sinatra duet "Summer Wine" in a junkie dive in Berlin. Impressed, it led to him discovering "Friday’s Child" on a companion album. "I just thought it was a brilliant song".[2] The single was rounded out with an acoustic version of "Candlestick Park", which originally appeared on the band's debut album Good Deeds and Dirty Rags.[2]

Track listings
  • UK 7" single Radioactive Records MCS 1506
  • UK Cassette single Radioactive Records MCSC 1506
  1. "Now We Are Married"
  2. "Friday's Child"
  • UK 12" single Radioactive Records MCST 1506
  1. "Now We Are Married"
  2. "Friday's Child"
  3. "Candlestick Park II"
  • UK CD single Radioactive Records MCSTD 1506
  1. "Now We Are Married"
  2. "Friday's Child"
  3. "Candlestick Park II"
  4. "Candy Says"
  • UK 12" single Radioactive Records MCSTG 1506 (Gatefold sleeve)
  1. "Now We Are Married (Extended)"
  2. "Friday's Child"
  3. "Candlestick Park II"
  4. "Candy Says"

Comprehensive charts
Year Single Chart Position
1991 "Now We Are Married" UK Singles (CIN)[4] #80
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gollark: Even Codex could when I gave it the first 170 lines of osmarkslisp™, and it's a 170-billion-parameter language model.
gollark: A smart person will just infer it.
gollark: This is silly. Never explain yourself in code.

References
  1. Davis, Andy (January 1997). ""Goodbye Angelfish"". Record Collector. No. 209. UK: Diamond Publishing. pp. 61–63. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  2. "Hammer and Tongs re-release bio". Cherry Red/Blokshok Records. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  3. "TOP 40 OFFICIAL UK SINGLES ARCHIVE (17th February 1991)". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  4. "TOP 40 OFFICIAL UK SINGLES ARCHIVE (24th February 1991)". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
  5. "TOP 40 OFFICIAL UK SINGLES ARCHIVE (3rd March 1991)". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
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