"One Night in Bangkok" by Robey

Song#:  2236
Date:  03/02/1985
Debut:  80
Peak:  77
Weeks:  3
Genre:  Dance-Pop, Synthpop



Pop Bits:  Louise Robey certainly had a varied career. After being discovered by a famous French photographer as she was sunbathing on a beach, Robey became a successful model for magazines, advertisements, and on the runways for fashion designers. After a move to Los Angeles early in the 80s, Robey branched out to music and formed her own group, Louise and the Creeps. They were successful enough to get signed to a label, but before they could even record a record the band broke up. Robey then went on as a solo act and signed with Silver Blue Records. Now going simply by her last name, Robey recorded her self-titled debut album. A single from the LP, "Killer Instinct," made a dent in the Dance chart at #34, but it would be this next single that pushed her into the Top 10 getting to #9. The attention in the clubs helped the song cross over to the Pop chart for a short three-week stay. Robey would have one more single, "I Surrender," reach the Dance chart (#47). Although she would record a couple of songs after this she pretty much ditched her music career and redirected her efforts toward acting.

ReduxReview:  I'm not sure why Robey and/or her label decided to cover this tune and release it around the same time as the original (see below). Perhaps their thinking was that if her version could get an early foothold, she could get the hit. While the clubs seemed to like both versions, pop audiences preferred the more exotic original over Robey's more standard dance take. Whatever the reason for doing this cover, it seemed to work out pretty well for her. However, I'm not all that impressed with it. Robey doesn't do much more than what Head did except sing the chorus. The production is not all that interesting either and pales in comparison to the original. In other words, there is nothing new or interesting here. The rest of her album was full of bland synth-dance tracks. It's pretty much forgotten now. Robey made her mark with this track and then quickly left music behind, which probably wasn't a bad decision.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) This is a cover of a song originally performed by Murray Head. Head's version was from the concept album for the musical Chess. Oddly, Head's single debuted on the Pop chart just one week ahead of Robey's version. It would be a race to see who could get the hit and Head's version decidedly won reaching the Top 10. Head's original also bested Robey's at Dance, but just barely. He got to #5 as she reached #9. While it was not uncommon in the 50s and 60s for two artists to duke it out on the chart with the same song, by the 80s it was a rare occurrence.  2) Roby's acting career did result in one significant role. She was a cast member on the syndicated TV show Friday the 13th: The Series. The show ran for three seasons.

_________________________________________________________________________________