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Murray Head

 
Artist: Murray Head
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Similar Artists:

Al Stewart, Chris de Burgh

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A Sides

Performed Songs By:

Tim Rice

Formal Connection With:

Caroline Cochaux, Simon Jefferies, Jo Fletcher
See Murray Head Lyrics
  • Born: March 06, 1946
  • Active: '70s, '80s
  • Genres: Rock
  • Instrument: Vocals, Guitar
  • Representative Albums: "Nigel Lived," "Voices," "Greatest Hits"
  • Representative Songs: "One Night in Bangkok," "Superstar," "She Was Perfection"

Biography

Best remembered for his 1984 smash "One Night in Bangkok," actor/singer Murray Head was born March 6, 1946 in Scotland and began his performing career at age 12 with appearances in a series of radio plays. He began writing songs a year later, and at 16 ran away from home to seek out a recording career in London, cutting his earliest singles 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, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Murray Head
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
 This article's introduction section may not adequately summarize its contents. To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (May 2008)

Murray Seafield Saint-George Head (born 5 March 1946[1]) is an English actor and singer, most recognized for his international hit song, "One Night in Bangkok" and his album Say It Ain't So.

Contents

Life and career

Murray Head was born in London[2] to Seafield Head, a documentary maker, and Helen Shingler, an actress.[3] (Helen played Mme. Maigret alongside Rupert Davies in the BBC's 1960s television adaptation of the Maigret novels written by Georges Simenon). His younger brother is Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Anthony Head. Head was educated at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington, London and Hampton School in Hampton, London.

Head began writing songs as a child, and by the mid-1960s he had a London based recording contract. He had limited success until asked by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber to play Judas Iscariot on the original concept album version of Jesus Christ Superstar (singing the hit "Superstar").[1]

He made his film debut in The Family Way (1966), which featured Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett and John Mills in the leading roles.[1] Head won a leading role in the Oscar nominated film Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), alongside Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson.[1] Despite these successes, he received little public attention in the next ten years (except for his single release, "Say It Ain't So Joe" in 1975).[1]

In 1973, he appeared in a radio drama, The Fourth Tower of Inverness. In 1979, Head appeared in the final episode of the ITV programme Return of the Saint.

Head reappeared in the spotlight in 1984 as the American on the concept album for the musical Chess. The song "One Night in Bangkok" featured Head on lead vocal. It became the last significant Broadway/West End number to be a hit on American and German radio up until "No Matter What" by Boyzone in 1996. "One Night in Bangkok" was a major pop hit on both sides of the Atlantic.[1]

Head performed the role of world chess champion Frederick "Freddie" Trumper in the London West End stage production of Chess that premiered on 14 May 1986. The show ran in London until 8 April 1989.

After that, Head had little recording success in the UK or The United States. This fact would later be underscored in a radio segment featured on The Kevin and Bean Show on Los Angeles's KROQ FM, in which the hosts would phone Head in the morning to find out "What's Up with Murray Head?" Fluent in French, he has released a number of albums in that language and is more popular in France and Canada. Noticeably, the song "Une femme un homme", a duet with Marie Carmen released in 1993 became a radio hit in French-speaking Canada.

In 1999, Head co-wrote the screenplay to Les Enfants du Siècle.[3]

Some of his most recent work came in Luc Plamondon's musical comedy Cindy (based on the Cinderella story) where he played Cindy's father.

He has appeared on television in the UK on The Bill, Casualty and Judge John Deed. He also played an artist called Jack Hollins on ITV's Heartbeat from 2005-2006.

Amongst his more unusual claims to fame is appearing on the album cover of The Smiths' compilation album Stop Me, taken from a still of the film The Family Way.

Private life

Head married Susan Ellis Jones in 1972; they were divorced in 1992. He has two daughters: Katherine and Sophie.[3]

Discography

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Allmusic biography
  2. ^ 80smusiclyrics.com biography - accessed February 2008
  3. ^ a b c IMDb mini-biography and database

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Murray Head".  Read more

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