One night in Bangkok - Murray Head

Only two years after buying the 7" single, I bought the 12" single of 'One night in Bangkok', the hit single from the musical Chess written by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus from Abba with Tim Rice.

I was curious about this extended version, and I have to admit I was a bit disappointed when I heard it. The mix does have an interesting structure, but the idea to incorporate other pieces of music from the musical into this mix was not a particularly good one. Still, 'Chess' fans will certainly like this version.

My collection: 12" single no. 324
Found: Record fair, 1995
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'One night in Bangkok [extended version]' / 'Merano'

One night in Bangkok - Murray Head

Abba never officially disbanded, but when they stopped recording together in 1983, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus concentrated on writing musicals for a while. One of them was 'Chess', created together with Tim Rice. The choruses were sung by Anders Glenmark while the verses, spoken raps by Murray Head, are a sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek denunciation of the city's moral corruption and comparative glorification of the intellectual purity of chess: 'The queens we use would not excite you.'

The single reached number 1 in various European countries, but peaked at number 2 in the Dutch Top 40 and number 12 in the UK singles chart. I only bought the single after I got to know Puck, who was quite extatic about this song.

My collection: 7" single no. 1904
Found: Record fair, May 2, 1993
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'One night in Bangkok' (Murray Head) / 'Merano' (London Symphony Orchestra and the Ambrosian singers)