"Blacker Than Black" | ||||
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Single by Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie | ||||
from the album Hammer and Tongs |
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Released | 4th June, 1990 | |||
Format |
7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD single, Cassette single |
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Recorded | Hansa Studios, Berlin, West Germany | |||
Genre | Alternative rock, new wave | |||
Length | 3:52 | |||
Label |
Parlophone Radioactive Records (worldwide) |
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Songwriter(s) | Martin Metcalfe and Derek Kelly | |||
Producer(s) | Terry Adams | |||
Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie singles chronology | ||||
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"Blacker Than Black" is a 1990 single by Scottish alternative rock group Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie. "Blacker Than Black" was the bands second and final single release under the Parlophone label, and preceded its parent album Hammer and Tongs by almost a year. In 1991, after Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie had signed to Radioactive Records, "Blacker Than Black" was remixed and released as an international single and featured on their debut international album release, also titled Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie.
"Blacker Than Black" was recorded in West Berlin around the time of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, at Hansa Ton Studios. The song’s subject was the addiction, and gamble, of going to war. Metcalfe later explained: "["Blacker Than Black" is] just a bit of zydeco punk really!... with a nice bit of Ennio Morricone guitar".
The release of "Blacker Than Black" was timed to follow the band's support slot on Debbie Harry's two-week "Dirty Harry" tour at the end of May 1990. The day before the single release, Goodbye Mr Mackenzie performed "Blacker Than Black" at The Big Day festival on Glasgow Green, what was then the biggest outdoor concert held in Europe, and broadcast live on national television.
The single was released on multiple-formats including CD single, cassette single, 7" vinyl and two 12" vinyls, one of which was a limited edition with a white vinyl and PVC sleeve. Rounding out the single package was b-sides "Mad Cow Disease", and an extended version of their debut album track "His Master's Voice", and a cover version of "Green, Green Grass of Home". "Blacker Than Black" debuted on the Official Charts at #77 before moving up to a peak position of #61 the following week. The single dropped to #84 in its third and final week on the chart.