Cold War Chess & Show Tunes: One Night in Bangkok

Cold War chess matches and show tunes collide in “One Night in Bangkok” by Murray Head. The song went to number one in many countries and topped out at #3 in May 1985 in the U.S. and Canada. The song was a single from the concept album “Chess” by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus of ABBA (and Mama Mia fame) with lyrics by Tim Rice. It later became a musical, starring Murray Head.  

Chess: The Musical

In “Chess”, West End star Murray Head plays “Freddie Trumper,” an American chess master in Thailand to face off against his Soviet opponent in a big chess match. If that plot sounds familiar, it’s because it was inspired by the 1972 Bobby Fischer/Boris Spassky match in Reykjavik. 

In the song, Trumper is trying to stay focused on the match and not succumb to Bangkok’s many distractions. Listening to “One Night in Bangkok” with 2021 ears, it’s hard to miss the transphobic overtones or the way it hypersexualizes Asian women.

The Content

In the song, Trumper is trying to stay focused on the match and not succumb to Bangkok’s many distractions. Listening to “One Night in Bangkok” with 2021 ears, it’s hard to miss the transphobic overtones or the way it hypersexualizes Asian women.

If you were transfixed by the flute solo, you may have missed all that in 1985, but the Thai government didn’t. Thailand’s mass communications organization issued a ban on the song in 1985 saying the “lyrics cause misunderstanding about Thai society and show disrespect toward Buddhism.” They’re not wrong!

Asian women are often exoticized and hypersexualized and the harmful stereotypes of being both submissive and hypersexual ultimately lead to violence. In fact, the National Network to End Domestic Violence reports that 40-60% of Asian women report experiencing physical or sexual violence with an intimate partner in their lifetime. 

Whaddya mean? Ya seen one crowded, polluted, stinking town
(Tea, girls, warm, sweet
Some are set up in the Somerset Maugham suite)
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 Video

Besides lots of obviously white women made to look Asian, the video features lots of silly chess playing and plenty of 80’s video tropes, like masks, and masks that reveal other masks. 

What did you think of “One Night In Bankgkok” in 1985? Did the chess references fly right over your head? What do you think of it now? Tell us in the comments below or leave us a voicemail!