#1 on the U.K. Chart: February 9, 1985 through March 2, 1985.
Chess was the kind of musical that could only have been produced in the late Cold War era of the mid-1980s. Featuring music written by Benny ANdersson and Björn Ulvaeus from ABBA, it tells a story of a chess match between and American Grandmaster (loosely based on Bobby Fischer) and a Russian Grandmaster (possibly based on a couple of Russian chess masters) and their competition both on the chessboard and for the attentions of a single woman. The entire musical was preceded by the release of a concept album in late 1984 featuring all the music from the show, intended to promote the show, which would not hit the stage in London until 1986, and would not reach the United States until 1988, where it flopped.
This duet was the most successful song from the concept album, although the producers really flogged the Murray Head recording of One Night In Bangkok. This song, an almost utterly forgettable ballad, somehow topped the U.K. charts for a month in early 1985, in what must have been a dead zone for pop music there. There's nothing wrong with I Know Him So Well, but there isn't anything that makes you care about it either. It is a pleasant four minutes and eighteen seconds of music, and little more.
Previous Musical Monday: I Want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner
Subsequent Musical Monday: You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record) by Dead of Alive
Previous #1 on the U.K. Chart: I Want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner
Subsequent #1 on the U.K. Chart: You Spin Me Right Round (Like a Record) by Dead of Alive
List of #1 Singles from the Billboard Hot 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles from the Cash Box Top 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles on the U.K. Chart for 1980-1989
Elaine Paige Barbara Dickson 1980s Project Musical Monday Home
