Add this to the growing list of songs/videos I used to dread coming on MTV that now make me giddy four decades later. (Yes, my MTV Classic binge continues!) I remember hearing that Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were behind the musical from which this song came, "Chess." But it's only as an adult that I can really pick up the ABBAesque vibe of it all.
"Chess":
The story involves a politically driven, Cold War–era chess tournament between two grandmasters, one American and the other Soviet Russian, and their fight over a woman who manages one and falls in love with the other. Although the protagonists were not intended to represent any real individuals, the character of the American grandmaster (named Freddie Trumper in the stage version) was loosely based on Bobby Fischer, while elements of the story may have been inspired by the chess careers of Russian grandmasters Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov."Chess" allegorically reflected the Cold War tensions present in the 1980s. The musical has been referred to as a metaphor for the whole Cold War, with the insinuation being made that the Cold War is itself a manipulative game.Released and staged at the height of the strong anti-communist agenda that came to be known as the "Reagan Doctrine," "Chess" addressed and satirized the hostility of the international political atmosphere of the 1980s.
Interesting that Murray Head had an international smash with "One Night in Bangkok" in 1984 -- No. 1 in 10 countries, No. 3 in the U.S. -- yet the musical didn't open on Broadway until four years later.
10 comments:
'Anthem' from Chess is a really beautiful piece.
Love the score to this show even if the book never makes sense- you should check out of a video of recent production starring Raul Ezparza in which this song is staged like an anything goes bi-sexual orgy
I actually saw Chess in London -- my first big trip outside the US. Looking back, it probably wasn't as great as I remember it. I do remember being amazed by the stage -- it was divided into lit squares (ala a chess board) and actually rose up from the base level of the stage, tilted, spun, did all sorts of amazing things. I can't imagine what it cost to build, especially given how long the show actually played.
The score to CHESS is incredible!!
Loved Chess in London wherer it was mostly sung-through. The Broadway version added a clunky book but had a a great young cast: Judy Kuhn, the sexy Phillip Casnoff and the late, great David Carroll.
I was obsessed with that score when the original concept album came out, and "Anthem" was my audition ballad for several years.
@Peter David Carroll... sigh... such a loss, I never got over that. :(
About a decade before Murray Head had his One Big Hit, he played a young artist romantically involved, simultaniously, with both a man and a woman in the movie "Sunday Bloody Sunday". The man was played by Peter Finch and the woman was played by Glenda Jackson, both giving great performances. John Schlesinger directed.
It's a beautiful, civilized film, and, in 1971, it was literally decades ahead of its time. Schlesinger, Jackson, and Finch all got Oscar nominations, and all won the corresponding Baftas. The film itself won Bafta's Best Picture.
Today it seems largely forgotten. You can buy or rent it through Amazon, but other than that, it seems to have disappeared, maybe because it's too civilized.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/YLYLasLqII4
Bill Carter: SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY is on blu from Criterion!
JimmyD: Didn't know that. Thanks for the lead!
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