Open Arms

Perry and Cain wrote it, with Perry singing, Schon on electric guitar and a Roland guitar synthesizer, Cain on piano, Valory on bass and Smith on drums. The single came out on January 8, 1982 with "Little Girl" on the B-side, at 3:18 against 3:23 on the album, and it was on the Heavy Metal soundtrack. Songfacts says Cain began the melody in the Babys, and that the singer John Waite rejected it as too syrupy; other accounts say sentimental rubbish. Cain played it for Perry on a portable Wurlitzer, and Perry told Songfacts that Schon hated the idea and Cain thought Waite might be right, and that now everybody's got to have one. Wikipedia says they finished it together, changing the key from A to D.

It peaked at 2 on the Hot 100 for six weeks in February 1982, held off by "Centerfold" and "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", was 1 on Cash Box, and went 4 times platinum in the US. Mariah Carey's version on Daydream (1995) reached 4 in the UK; others who recorded it include Barry Manilow, Boyz II Men, Dolly Parton and Celine Dion, and Clay Aiken sang it on American Idol in 2003. The filmed show at The Summit in Houston on November 6, 1981, released in 2005 as Live in Houston 1981, includes it. Setlist.fm's play count is about 1,392, from a search snippet. A re-recording with Arnel Pineda is on Revelation (2008).