Murray Head

Best remembered for his 1984 smash "One Night in Bangkok," actor/singer Murray Head was born March 5, 1946 in London and began his performing career at age 12 with appearances in a series of radio plays. He began writing songs a year later, cutting his earliest singles while still a teenager under the supervision of famed producer Norrie Paramor. In 1966 Head made his film debut in The Family Way; the picture also featured his third single "Some Day Soon," produced by Tim Rice. Still, Head's career failed to take off and he was eventually dropped from his recording contract, spending a few years selling insurance before Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber contacted him to sing the role of Judas on the soundtrack to their musical Jesus Christ Superstar; concurrently, he also appeared in the film Sunday Bloody Sunday. The success of both projects launched Head to mainstream attention, and in 1972 he recorded his debut solo album Nigel Lived; three years later he resurfaced with Say It Ain't So, scoring an enduring cult hit with the single "Say It Ain't So, Joe." Apart from a starring role in 1977's Madame Claude, he spent the remainder of the decade out of the spotlight, finally returning in 1980 with Between Us; two more albums, Voices and How Many Ways, followed a year later. In 1984 Head was tapped to star in the musical Chess; his soundtrack performance of "One Night in Bangkok" was released as a single and became a major pop hit on both sides of the Atlantic, although his subsequent recordings were largely unheard outside of his core audience. ~ Jason Ankeny