After 1982's "The Visitors" ABBA quietly faded away while buzz developed over the projects each of the members pursued individually. Frida was first out of the gate with the Phil Collins produced "I Know There's Something Going On" peaking at #13 in the spring of 83, then Agnetha put out the sleek and sexy "Can't Shake Loose" that August which barely made the top 30 peaking at #29 that fall. There were rumblings that Benny and Bjorn were working on something big, a musical with Tim Rice which ate up all their time from 1983 and most of 1984. The story involves a Cold War era chess match between the US master and Russian master and their battle for the love of a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. A concept album was released in 1984 featuring Murray Head, Tommy Körberg, Elaine Paige, Barbara Dickson and Denis Quilley. Head (Say It Ain't So, Joe) was tapped to play the American chess master and became the vocalist on "One Night In Bangkok", a contemptuous look at the famed city. Murray Head (born March 5, 1946 in London, England) was found to be a musical genius while he was still in his childhood. Writing songs from that time on, he was signed to CBS in the UK by the mid-60's. Joe Wissert who had produced the 1967 #1 pop hit "Happy Together" for The Turtles and Helen Reddy's chart topping story of mystery, "Angie Baby" in 1974. In 1972 Wissert produced Murray's first LP, Nigel Lives". By that time Murray had already recorded the main theme of "Superstar", from the runaway Broadway hit "Jesus Christ Superstar" in 1970. The WWWW radio station in Detroit used to play the Broadway cast recordings on Good Friday, between 12 and 3 PM. Murray's showstopping number became a #14 1971 pop hit in the US. In 1978, he was drawn to my attention by college radio via his rock opus "Say It Ain't So" 1975 LP. The song seemed to be a scathing review of Bangkok's nightlife, was sung by Head in the middle of Act I. It created some controversy with Thailand as it apparently demeaned the city with the lyrics "you've seen one crowded polluted city" and "you can go back to your bars, your temples, your massage parlours". Thailand's Mass Communications Organization banned "One Night in Bangkok", saying its lyrics "can cause misunderstanding about Thai society and shows disrespect towards Buddhism." It found spots on the top 3 singles charts in many countries around the world, and did peak at #3 in the US in early 1985. The extended version cut out the original recorded intro of an orchestral piece called "Bangkok". It was never long enough for me and Ive been working on it little by little since 2010 but it finally came together tonight in 3 hours. The album was a worldwide smash but theatrical productions were not as successful and several rewrites of the play have not been able to translate the drama of the US/Russian conflict into something everyone can relate to. "One Night In Bangkok" was also a club hit, peaking at #5 disco/dance in 1985. That is Per Lindvall from Sweden on drums here.

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