Murray Head — “She Was Perfection”: Brace for the Obscure (60s rock)! — January 20, 2024

THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD

1,086) Murray Head — “She Was Perfection”

Forget a night in Bangkok — I’ll take one in Swinging London anytime! ”Perfection” is perfection, a head-on “gorgeous collision of baroque strings and fey harmonies” (David Wells, liner notes to the CD comp Let’s Go Down and Blow Our Minds: The British Psychedelic Sounds of 1967) that “emphasized the dexterity of Head’s vocal and compositional gifts”. (liner notes to CD comp The Immediate Singles Collection). Unfortunately, the song proved “slightly too subtle for mass public acclaim” (The Immediate Singles Collection), “fail[ing] to find favour despite Peter Whitehead . . . making what Head has described as ‘a bloody awful black and white film for the single with me running around Brompton Cemetery!'” (David Wells)

As to Head, Jason Ankeny tells us:

Best remembered for his 1984 smash “One Night in Bangkok,” actor/singer Murray Head was born . . . 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 . . . .  In 1966 Head made his film debut in [the Paul McCartney-scored] The Family Way [see #28]; 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 . . . . [Then] 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 . . . [and] three years later he resurfaced with . . . [his] enduring cult hit . . . “Say It Ain’t So, Joe.” . . . In 1984 Head was tapped to star in the musical Chess; his soundtrack performance of “One Night in Bangkok” . . . became a major pop hit on both sides of the Atlantic . . . .

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/murray-head-mn0000614113#biography

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