Record facts: --"Chess" was a stage play co-written by Bjorn (pronounced be-yorn) and Benny from ABBA. --"One Night In Bangkok" was the only thing successful about "Chess". The play flopped. --This was Murray Head's 2nd hit. His first was "Superstar" from the early 70s play "Jesus Christ Superstar".
Yes...the early years especially but then the boomers in control brought back nostalgia in the mid to late 80s. Only to swing back at the very end with intrusion of house and techno.
Any two lines from “Why’d ya do it” are like Proust or Henry Miller and this radio pop is like the Archies by comparison. No disrespect, but there’s cleverer stuff out there.
@@kimmycook2698 ..... If you're referring only to the 80s, then you can call Murray Head a one hit wonder, but not overall. "One Night In Bangkok" was his 2nd hit ...... Murray Head hit #14 in the early 70s with "Superstar", from JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. Much like Golden Earring, who only had two hits almost a decade apart ..... They hit #13 In 1973 with "Radar Love" and it wasn't until nine years later in 1982 when they hit #10 with "Twilight Zone".
@@pamelanoel8948 He is telling all the degenerates in Bangkok to pound sand, he only cares about chess. He isn't there for degenerate sex like they are.
I'd let you watch, I would invite you, but the queens WE use would not excite you So you'd better go back to your bars, your temples. . . your massage parlors
In a time where the most popular songs were about sex and partying and having fun; this is a song about playing competitive chess and warning away the people who can't hang with that lifestyle. I loved it when it came out, still do today.
It's also about prostitution in Bangkok.... "And if you're lucky then the gods a she." refers to the 'lady boys' in Bangkok who are the most famous transsexuals and transvestites in the world as they've been some of the first ever.
well it was kinda a back-and-forth in the song, he was singing the praises of the game of kings, while the chorus was hinting maybe he was being prudish
Once a group of chess grandmasters were staying at a hotel. They were hanging around the lobby and bragging to one another about their strategies and victories. Finally the hotel manager kicked them all out. Turns out he didn't care for chess nuts boasting in an open foyer.
@@donnazasgoat2274 No he's playing chess .... there is a piece called queen, He's saying that where ever he plays it's about chess not wear he is, so using the queen on the chessboard would not excite you. As most normal people it Bangkok are looking it everything else. Its worth a trip there to see.
@@chrislecouteur2360 I hear you on him saying it is about Chess.. I have been there a number of times, there may be some double meanings happening, but there is no doubt in my mind this is about a lot more than chess. And it fits to a Bangkok to a T. I wont forget my first trip there, found myself wandering the streets of Bangkok singing that song under my breath..... One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble.
Does anyone hear the song mentions Yul Brynner. He player the King of Siam(Thailand) in the movie "The King and I". My late wife and I used to have a laugh at that, since it was one of her favorite movies.
This song is from a musical called 'Chess', but this recording was a concept album made to test the concept of the show before creating it onstage. It was a stage hit in London, and the story was about the competition between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. at the height of the Cold War as fought over the chessboard during a Grandmaster Championship. Murray Head's character is the American chess player, and he is brash and arrogant (like the song). It takes place in the second act. About ten years ago, there was a televised concert version which starred Josh Groban (as the Russian player, Anatoly Segievsky), Idina Menzel (Elsa in 'Frozen' playing Florence, the woman in the middle), and Adam Rapp (the Original Broadway Cast and film Roger in 'RENT' as Freddy Trumper, the American player). The lyrics of 'Chess' are written by Sir Tim Rice, who won the Oscar for "A Whole New World" (with Alan Menkin from 'Aladdin') and "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" (with Elton John from 'The Lion KIng', and the Tony Award for the musical 'Evita' (with Andrew Lloyd Webber, his first collaborator ). The music is by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (the guys from ABBA). It was written shortly after ABBA parted ways. In fact, many of the songs in the show sound as if they were written with Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (the ladies of ABBA) in mind, especially the female duet "I Know Him So Well".
Okay...after reading your reply I had to go back and listen to the song under an entirely different context from when I was 16 yrs old and this video was on the MTV loop. It makes much more sense that this song was meant for the stage as opposed to radio or even MTV. I would not have enjoyed the song on the stage in 1984 either, but at 53 I would likely enjoy it in it's full production.
This is one of my feels songs. I remember when this song came out. It was about Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. He came out of retirement and played Boris Spassky of USSR, and won. Boris was returning champion and Bobby hadn't played professionally in years. It was a huge deal that USSR even agreed to play with the US.
Jamal when I was 10 years old I learnt the words for this song by heart. I got up in front of my class at school along with my friend Sean and sang it to the class. I definitely never fully understood the lyrics. My teacher was probably having a good chuckle on the inside.
I was in elementary school. This was a banger! I'm sure my parents were thrilled to hear me, ages 7-8 years old, singing this at top volume word-for-word in the front yard! LOL
I love how you say that the title sounds like a "freaky deaky time" when the song is completely about the opposite - the guy is there only to play chess or watch those playing in a tournament. There is definitely a double meaning. They main singer only cares about chess while the chorus singers are extolling all the erotic and exotic finds of the area. I think the juxtaposition is what most of us love about this song. For example, one chorus line is: Tea, girls, warm, sweet; Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite His response is: Get thai'd, you're talking to a tourist; Whose every move's among the purest; I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine
@@Hugatree1 Yesssss when I first heard SPLHCB on June 3rd, 1967, I made a prediction that to my friends that it would be considered the goat. For all time... and for the most part I was right. Occasionally Rolling Stone picks a different album like Highway 61 or What's Goin' On? by Marvin. Both excellent. But Sgt Pepper seems to have set the bar that every Rock group aspires to. I've made other predictions that didn't come true. F'rinstnce, "Seinfeld Chronicles won't last beyond the first season." Boy, was I wrong about that. Tomorrow never knows, a former Beatle might say.
I think this song and many of the 80's songs we listen to are difficult to understand unless you lived in that era and visited those places. I remember the first time I went to Thailand back in the early 80's and the world was your oyster but the bars actually had chess games going on. It is funny how the young folk try to understand the lyrics but are way off off course. Great song and great time to enjoy music.
I still play this and other 80s songs in my car. The instrumental is just amazing. EVERY SINGLE instrument was ...instrumental in this song. And then the lyrics are just something else. Just amazing.
Best part of this is that this is the first time Jamel has heard this and how much he enjoyed it. It was on the radio every other song when I was a small being.
I saw the musical Jesus Christ Superstar live in the 80s (90s?) (the one with Dennis de Young of Styx as Pontius Pilate - one of the reasons why I went to see it in the first place) , but I didn't know that Murray Head was in it too
One night in Bangkok came out at a time when a song was just as much about the video as the actual song, it was the ultimate blending of the visual and the audio, when M-TV was M-TV
It’s one of those songs that once it sets up resistance in your head never leaves. The tune will come back tomorrow when you’re sleeping, eating, on your way to work, in the bathroom....
My roommate in college was a theater major, had this entire soundtrack on CD. There is a ton of cool songs on it. This one was entirely deserving of it's popularity and hit status.
I always liked "The Arbiter". I was 13 when CHESS came out and only in my 2nd year of learning English (I'm German), so singing along (to the vinyl record) took real commitment. ;)
Quick thing, Murray is singing this as the character, "The American." This was a reference to chess great Bobby Fischer. His opponent, not seen in the video is "The Russian" a reference to Boris Spatsky. In the musical that both battle on the chess board and for the affections of a woman. (Of course.)
By the point this song occurs at the opening of act 2 “The American” is no longer playing chess as he lost his title in the tyrolian spa. “The Russian” is actually now British having defected at the end of act 1 and is defending the title against another Russian player who we barely see.
I went there in a theatre in London and experienced it and LOVED it in the 1980ies (never wrote down when, I was in London many times at that time). I love the song "One night in Bangkok since the first time I heard it" ...
Incredible how many people have been living on another planet and never heard this. Surprisingly , its always the greatest , most popular songs of all eras that get reacted to ' the first time' .
If you ever want to use a time pun to make people pause and think about what you just said, "Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana" from Groucho Marx ;)
"Get Thai'd You're talking to a tourist whose every move's among the purest I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine" The creativity and talent required to write those lyrics and to put a great beat behind it blows me away.
(born 5 March 1946) is an English actor and singer. Head has appeared in a number of films, including a starring role as the character Bob Elkin in the Oscar-nominated 1971 film . As a musician, he is most recognised for his international hit songs "Superstar" (from the 1970 rock opera ) and "One Night in Bangkok" (the 1984 single from the musical , which topped the charts in various countries), and for his 1975 album . He has been involved in several projects since the 1960s and continues to record music, perform concerts, and make appearances on television either as himself or as a character actor.
Well, technically, it was a successful London West End Show first. It wasn't taken to Broadway until a few years later, and wasn't too successful there, surviving only 2 months. Guess the US audience didn't appreciate the music of Benny and Bjorn and the genius of Tim Rice! Interestingly, they released the album a year or two before the show opened in London, to generate sufficient interest to sell tickets and raise the money required to stage a blockbuster show - this paid off with the success of the album, which featured this song as well as 'I Know Him So Well' by Barbara Dickson and Elaine Paige.
@@davidjames3080 The show didn’t survive on Broadway because it was criminally changed from its original London version. A new book was written for “American audiences”, lyrics were rewritten, songs were deleted and altered and the show simply became a mess. It’s a shame what they did to this masterpiece.
@@JF-sh2sm I drove from Charleston, SC to see it. Judy Kuhn did a great job as Florence, and even got a Tony nomination for it, but overall the production was quite the disappointment, indeed.
@@davidjames3080 Well, technically, it was a pop song that came from a successful concept album Benny, Bjorn, and Rice put together to generate interest and investment in the musical they wanted to produce on West End.
As a Swede this is track and the entire Chess Musical is common knowledge and something we've all been raised with on radio. Also its sooooo "Anders & Karin Glennmark" in the chorus. Great stuff!
Or much of Stan Ridgway's ouevre, he (apparently) loves to do story-songs (if there's even a term for that). Or, one of my favorite atmo/story songs (and their collab is great anyway): Jon & Vangelis' "The Friends of Mr. Cairo".
1 of the songs i kept listening to over and over and over,with my mom. And when my grandparents had enough money to buy themselfs satelitte dishes,as the first ones in our area (this was before cabel tv and such) Man,me and mom were glued to the MTV channel when we visited them in the weekends.
This song is from the Musical concept album CHESS by the two guys from ABBA, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, with lyricist Tim Rice of Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and The Lion King musical fame. Murray Head was Judas Iscariot on the original Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice concept album for Jesus Christ Superstar. The story is about a Chess tournament between the American and the Russians. It's one of my favorite albums. Great songs and music!
@@mournblade1066 Yes. My statement was simply that they were early 80s gems, meaning we loved those songs in the early 80s, not necessarily that they originated in the early 80s. 😎
Murray Head was in the original recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. If you’ve never listened to it, you should! It’s amazing. I’m not even a Christian, and I love it!!! It’s long, but worth it.
When this song came out, I was on the PS 222 Chess team (took 3rd best-unrated player in NYC that year) I was lucky enough that my coach was the mother of US Chess champ Joel Benjamin. We were from a public school going up against rich kids from private schools, this song always brings me back to being a nerdy twelve-year-old in a chess tournament wearing a Mr. Spock shirt for luck. Shout out to Mrs. Benjaman my 6-grade science teacher, who ran the chess club, and to my mom for teaching me to play at a young age.
Murray Head sang Judas in the original studio recording of Jesus Christ Superstar, with Ian Gillan of Deep Purple singing Jesus. Check it out. Still the definitive recording for my money.
I only heard the Murray Head version of Judas after Carl Anderson's version in the film, who is THE definitive version of Judas, for me, so it was a bit counter-climatic, for me. But that takes nothing away from the original. Anderson just raised the bar that much higher, is all.
@@joemaurone7923: My preference is largely based on Gillan's Jesus over Neeley's. For a purely musical recording (not a stage/film production), Gillan is far the superior singer for my tastes. I don't like Neeley's thin, reedy tone and tendency to talk-sing. Plus, I cut my teeth on the original studio recording.
This song is where the chess player does his training and learns the moves. He gives a big shout out to Hastings cause that where he is from. I don't know if The Queens Gambit would have turned out into a musical. All the best from London, UK
Actually, no it isn't. The chess player is the American champion is in Bangkok to play a championship against the Russian champion. This is part of the musical, "Chess".
@@DoctorPhobos. I have not seen the play done by Andrew Loyd Weber, It is true about the premise. The story involves a politically driven, Cold War-era chess tournament between two grandmasters, one American and the other Soviet Russian, and their fight over a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any real individuals, the character of the American grandmaster (named Freddie Trumper in the stage version) was loosely based on Bobby Fischer, while elements of the story may have been inspired by the chess careers of Russian grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov
This opened act 2, one year after the first meeting in Italy. This is about a 180 from what they had to say that year in the song about Merano. The Anerican (singing this) has lost his girlfriend to the Soviet player who is defecting.
@@jimwilcox2964 Actually, the American lost both his girlfriend (Florence) and title to the Russian, who defected at the end of Act 1. The Russian is defending his title against the USSR's new champion and the American has been brought in as a TV commentator and interlocutor.
The song is from a stage production called Chess & it was written by one or both of the guys in ABBA. I thought there was a movie version in the late 80s or 90s but I can’t find one. The Swedes did do a movie version in 2003 but that was not the production I was looking for
I remember the leader of Thailand made a statement saying it was a sick song, and Murray Head hit back, saying it was based on the truth and if he didn't like the image Bangkok had it was up to him to clean the place up. Not long after that a death sentence was passed on prostitution. I don't think it lasted long or it wasn't enforced. This was back in the 80s so my memory is a bit sketchy.
Chess is a stage musical written by Benny and Bjorn from Abba and Tim Rice - I sang backing vocals on this song with a couple of girls for Tim Rice at charity fundraiser in the Savoy Hotel - the band consisted only of Andrew Powell, (who produced all of the early Kate Bush material and did all of the orchestral arrangements for the Alan Parsons Project), and his Fairlight 2... it was all sequenced.
Could you please react to "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby? Thank you!✌❤🎶😁 P.S. - " Music is a world within itself..its a language we all understand" - Stevie Wonder'- Sir Duke
From Wikipedia: " "One Night in Bangkok" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Björn Ulvaeus. English actor and singer Murray Head raps the verses, while the chorus is sung by Anders Glenmark, a Swedish singer, songwriter, and producer." Actor and singer Murray Head also appeared on stage in the hit musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" that by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were members of the Swedish pop band ABBA.
First time I heard this song in the 1980s, I was keenly aware of the lyrics and I recall thinking by myself: "Ah, so this is rap with some measure of wit and intelligence. How refreshing.".
Love this song! I remember arguing with a friend who didn't believe this song was actually about chess. They saw the video like 6 years later and actually sent me a message saying "hey, you were right!" 😅 I think you should listen to more Genesis. Try some numbers from their concert at Wembley stadium, 1987. 'Abacab', 'The Brazilian' and 'Domino' are amazing.
When I first heard this song, back when it came out, I had never heard of the musical "Chess", but I liked this song so much (and the B-side of single) that I bought the soundtrack album and listened to it until it literally wore out and had to be replaced. Since then, "Chess" has become one of my favourite musicals.
Lindsey Buckingham - Go Insane - Trouble (Check him out after he went solo from Fleetwood Mac) Also Stevie Nicks - Rooms on Fire - Seven Wonders - Talk to me
This made my day! This was probably one of the first music videos I ever saw & I loved it! Without cable/MTV, I had to wait for "Friday Night Videos." We didn't even have a VCR yet so I couldn't tape it. A few years later I learned it was from Chess, bought the soundtrack (orig bway cast, not Murray Head), and played it incessantly! Glad you did this one. That was a fun trip down memory lane!
