#341) "One Night in Bangkok" by Murray Head - I can't say this song holds up for me, exactly, any more than the stage musical it's from holds up. Although, I can't say I know much about Chess, other than the fact that the guys from Abba, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, were among the creative force behind it, along with Tim Rice, and "One Night in Bangkok" is the only song on the soundtrack that doesn't have that overly mushy, "theater" sound.
"One Night..." was released as a pop single, doubtless to drum up interest in the musical itself, and I must say, there was a time when it was all pretty electrifying to me, when its sound, its chorus, the lines, "I can feel the devil walking next to me", and "not much between despair and ecstasy", all struck an evocative chord. There was a time, just before I discovered Run DMC, and the Breakin' and Beat Street soundtracks, and took to "break dancing" (well, gesticulating spastically) across the grass in a buddy's front yard, when to my ears, "One Night in Bangkok" was "rapping" in its coolest form, and performing it for the playground set, getting through it without missing a word or beat, was a pretty big deal. This, for about 21.5 seconds sometime in late summer of '85.
Nowadays, for whatever reason - maturity, burgeoning immaturity as I age, who knows... - I just don't buy into whatever Chess or "One Night in Bangkok" presents. It's not Benny, Bjorn, or Tim's fault really, I've simply lost my taste for theater in general. Whether Oklahoma, South Pacific, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, or Hamilton....ugh, it's just not my cup of tea anymore, and that's significant only in that it wasn't always the case. I grew up more or less a "drama kid", appreciating and taking part in local musical theater on a regular basis, actually used to jam out to the L'il Abner soundtrack in my bedroom when I was eleven (always thought it'd be fun to play the part of Marryin' Sam!), but time can be a mysteriously corrosive agent, and when it comes to musical theater, I just can't get there like I used to.
But "One Night in Bangkok" is still listenable, and unique in its way, it might be said, for being a (sort of) "white guy rap", if nothing else. And I still think the lines "I can feel the devil walking next to me" and "not much between despair and ecstasy" are evocative, which perhaps means I haven't become completely jaded, I guess.
"Can't be too careful with your company..."
#342) "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes - This is definitely from the "shit your parents listened to" vault, a song I never noticed or appreciated as a kid, but have come to love as an adult. The elements I might once have thought were cheesy, the heavily synthesized drum beat and electronic chords, are a big part of its charm now. The lyrics are fairly poetic, and although nothing can really ever replace Eddie Murphy's performance of it on Saturday Night Live back in the 1980s (Buckwheat sings all your favorites!), there could not have been a better choice of vocals than Kim Carnes' raspy pipes, which blend with the music so seamlessly, her voice seems almost electronically generated itself. (But isn't, of course, as this was long before Auto-Tune.)
And no question, Bette Davis' eyes deserve their own song, so it's win-win-win, all around!
"Her hair is Harlow gold / Her lips sweet surprise..."
