One Night in Bangkok

"One Night in Bangkok" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. It was originally rapped by the British actor and singer Murray Head (verses) and sung by the Swedish singer and songwriter Anders Glenmark (choruses).

The release topped the charts in many countries, including South Africa, West Germany, Switzerland and Australia. It peaked at no. 3 in both Canada and the United States in May 1985, and at no. 12 in Head's native United Kingdom.

Lyrics and music

The full version of the song begins with an orchestral introduction, entitled "Bangkok", of Oriental style. This serves as the introduction to Act 2 in the original musical album, feeding into the first verse of "One Night in Bangkok" itself with an abrupt change in musical style.

The main song has a pop styling, whose lyrics compare the Thai capital city and its nightlife with the game of chess. In the original concept album for the musical, the choruses are sung by Swedish artist Anders Glenmark, whereas the verses are a rap originally performed by Murray Head as the American chess grandmaster, a character known as Frederick "Freddie" Trumper in the staged versions. In the staged versions, a musical ensemble performs the choruses. Whereas the choruses extol Bangkok's reputation and exciting atmosphere, the American's verses denounce the city, including Soi Cowboy, Chao Phraya River ("muddy old river"), Wat Pho ("reclining Buddha"), and ladyboys ("You'll find a god in every golden cloister — And if you're lucky then the god's a she"). These sarcastic denunciations led to Thailand's Mass Communications Organisation issuing a ban on the song in 1985, saying its lyrics "cause misunderstanding about Thai society and show disrespect towards Buddhism".

One Night in Bangkok (album)

One Night in Bangkok is a live album by the German thrash metal band Sodom, recorded in Bangkok, Thailand.

Track listing

Disc one

Disc two

Credits

Bangkok

Bangkok (English pronunciation: /ˈbæŋkÉ’k/) is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (à¸?รุงเทพมหานคร, pronounced  [krÅ«Å‹ tʰêË?p mahÇŽË? nákʰɔ̄Ë?n]) or simply  Krung Thep . The city occupies 1,568.7 square kilometres (605.7 sq mi) in the Chao Phraya River delta in Central Thailand, and has a population of over 8 million, or 12.6 percent of the country's population. Over 14 million people (22.2 percent) live within the surrounding Bangkok Metropolitan Region, making Bangkok an extreme primate city, dwarfing Thailand's other urban centres in terms of importance.

Bangkok traces its roots to a small trading post during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century, which eventually grew in size and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782. Bangkok was at the heart of Siam's (as Thailand used to be known) modernization, during the later 19th century, as the country faced pressures from the West. The city was the centre of Thailand's political struggles, throughout the 20th century, as the country abolished absolute monarchy, adopted constitutional rule and underwent numerous coups and several uprisings. The city grew rapidly during the 1960s through the 1980s and now exerts a significant impact among Thailand's politics, economy, education, media and modern society.

John Burdett

John Patrick Burdett (born 24 July 1951) is a British crime novelist. He is the bestselling author of Bangkok 8 and its sequels, Bangkok Tattoo, Bangkok Haunts,The Godfather of Kathmandu, and Vulture Peak. His most recent novel in this series, The Bangkok Asset, was published on 4 August 2015.

Biography

Burdett is a former lawyer who lived and worked in Hong Kong for twelve years. For a time, he was employed by the Hong Kong Government. He later worked in private practice. Burdett never really wanted to be a lawyer (he studied English and American Literature at Warwick University where he specialised in Shakespeare and metaphysical poetry), but chose that profession out of despair during the British economic and political crises of the 1970s. After amassing sufficient funds he decided to abandon law and pursue a career as a novelist. Burdett now splits his time between France and Bangkok and continues to research his novels in various locations in Thailand.

Work

The Last Six Million Seconds

1998 Asian Games

The 13th Asian Games were held from December 6 to December 20, 1998 in Bangkok, Thailand. This was the first time that Thailand bid for the event after it shouldered the two postponed hosting rights in 1970 and 1978.

Emblem

The Official Emblem of the 13th Asian Games elements from Asia in general and Thailand in particular. It is based on the letter A, representing Asia and Athletes. The Maha Chedi, or pagoda shape, represents Thailand, in particular. The pinnacle of the Maha Chedi symbolises the knowledge, intelligence and athletic prowess of Thailand's forefathers, which are second to none. The top is part of the OCA logo.

Mascot

The official Mascot of the 13th Asian Games is an elephant. The elephant is a very distinctive animal which has lived with the people of Thailand for many generations and is universally admired for its strengths and nobility. The mascot's name Chai-Yo (Thai: ไชโย) (a Thai word meaning pleasure, gladness, success, unity and happiness) is usually shouted by a group of people to show their unity and solidarity.

Fee (disambiguation)

Fee may refer to:

Fée (fairy in French) may refer to :

Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8

The Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8 was a British single-seat fighter of the First World War designed at the Royal Aircraft Factory. Although a clean and well designed little aeroplane for a pusher, it could not escape the drag penalty imposed by its tail structure and was no match for the Albatros fighters of late 1916.

Design and development

With the D.H.2, the F.E.8 was one of the first so-called "scout" aircraft designed from the outset as a single-seat fighter. In the absence of a synchronization gear to provide a forward firing machine gun for a tractor scout such as the S.E. 2, it was given a pusher layout.

On the whole the new design, produced by a team led by John Kenworthy followed the conventional "Farman" layout, as did the competing Airco DH.2 designed by Geoffrey de Havilland, who had also previously worked at the Royal Aircraft Factory - but it had some novel features.

The nacelle was, most unusually for the time, an all-metal structure – being framed in steel tube and covered with duralumin. The prototypes were fitted with large streamlined spinners on the propellers, although these were removed, and the production F.E.8s were built without them. The wings had a narrow chord, giving them a high aspect ratio. They featured dihedral outboard of the wide centre section, and the ailerons were of unusually long span - occupying the entire wing trailing edge outboard of the tail booms. The booms themselves were attached to the main spar of the tailplane, rather than the rudder post, giving them taper in side elevation rather than in plan, as more usual in a "Farman" style pusher. This allowed the fitting of a variable incidence tailplane, although this was not adjustable in flight, but only on the ground. A single 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome 9 "Type B2" Monosoupape rotary engine driving a four-bladed propeller powered the aircraft, with the capability of taking the lower-powered Le Rhône 9C 80 hp, nine-cylinder rotary.