Murray Head -

Murray Head (born March 5, 1946) is an English singer–songwriter and actor who portrayed Judas Iscariot on the 1970 rock musical album Jesus Christ Superstar by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. He released the albums Nigel Lived (CBS, 1972) and Say It Ain’t So (Island, 1975), which offered source material for Roger Daltrey (“Say It Ain’t So, Joe”) and Cliff Richard (“Never Even Thought,” also covered by Colin Blunstone).

Between 1979 and 1986, Head released six albums and scored a 1984 international hit with “One Night in Bangkok” from the musical Chess, a collaboration between Rice and ABBA songwriters Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

As an actor, Head co-starred in the 1971 British drama Sunday Bloody Sunday with Glenda Jackson, Peter Finch, and Peggy Ashcroft.

Background

Murray Seafield St George Head was born on March 5, 1946, in London; the elder son of documentary filmmaker Seafield Head and British stage and television actress Helen Shingler, who co-starred as Madame Maigret in the 1960–63 BBC crime drama Maigret. His younger brother Anthony Head also became an actor. Head attended the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in South Kensington and Hampton School in Middlesex, then continued at Chiswick Polytechnic during the early Sixties.

Head began with radio work during childhood and wrote songs as a teenager. Columbia issued the 1965 single “The Bells of Rhymney” (b/w “Don’t Sing No Sad Songs for Me”), followed by the 1967 Blue Monks single “Someday Soon” (b/w “You Bore Me”) and the Immediate single “She Was Perfection” (b/w “Secondhand Monday”). He also appeared in the 1966 film The Family Way as Geoffrey Fitton, the young husband in the Boulting Brothers production with Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, and John Mills.

Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber cast Head as Judas Iscariot on the 1970 concept album Jesus Christ Superstar. The earlier “Superstar” single paired Head with the Trinidad Singers and preceded the album after a November 1969 UK release on MCA. On the album, Head sings Judas beside singer Ian Gillan as Jesus, singer Yvonne Elliman as Mary Magdalene, singer Mike d’Abo as King Herod, and singer Barry Dennen as Pontius Pilate. Judas carries “Heaven on Their Minds,” “Damned for All Time/Blood Money,” “Judas’ Death,” and “Superstar,” where Head sets accusatory questions in a sharp, theatrical register against choir responses and orchestral-rock accents.

John Schlesinger cast Head as sculptor Bob Elkin in the 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday. The film places Bob between recruitment consultant Alex Greville (Glenda Jackson) and doctor Daniel Hirsh (Peter Finch). Head gives Bob a controlled surface and evasive emotional line, which lets Jackson and Finch define the film’s split domestic axis through separate attachments to the same man.

Nigel Lived

Murray Head released his debut album, Nigel Lived, in 1972 on CBS.

The album presents a song-cycle about Nigel, a young man whose metropolitan ambition turns into exhaustion and collapse. Head wrote all fourteen titles and framed the original LP around two named sides, “Success” and “Failure.”

Nigel Lived uses a large studio cast, with Head supported by bassist Clive Chaman, bassist Dave Wintour, drummer Michael Giles, drummer Cozy Powell, saxophonist Chris Mercer, keyboardist Peter Robinson, arranger Nick DeCaro, conductor Fiachra Trench, and reedists Tony Coe and Jimmy Hastings. Kay Garner sings guest vocals along with the Friendly Sisters.

“Big City” strides through the London-arrival scene with a frantic tenor-saxophone figure. “The Party” careens through over-the-top room noise and crowded voices. “Ruthie” lingers over acoustic guitar and a yearning Head lead. “City Scurry” hurries through a driving city montage.

“When You Wake Up in the Morning” rises through a cascading arrangement. “Pity the Poor Consumer” intones a pseudo-hymn turn. “Nigel, Nigel” compresses the portrait into a compact miniature. “Religion” sets belief-questioning text against steel-band figures and a Gregorian choir. “Junk” splinters into theatre fragments, screamed phrases, pig noises, strummed details, frantic fiddle, and broken syncopation.

A1. “Pacing on the Station” (4:52)
A2. “Big City” (3:24)
A3. “Bed & Breakfast” (2:25)
A4. “The Party” (3:11)
A5. “Ruthie” (3:18)
A6. “City Scurry” (1:50)
A7. “When You Wake Up in the Morning” (3:05)

B1. “Why Do We Have to Hurt Our Heads” (3:09)
B2. “Pity the Poor Consumer” (2:25)
B3. “Dole” (2:58)
B4. “Nigel, Nigel” (2:10)
B5. “Miss Illusion” (2:15)
B6. “Religion” (4:43)
B7. “Junk” (8:46)

Sessions spanned June 25 through July 30, 1972, at Island Studios and Olympic Studios with producer Joseph Wissert, an earlier Turtles soundman who worked on concurrent titles by Gordon Lightfoot and Earth Wind & Fire. Dear Mr. Time engineer Phil Brown recorded Nigel Lived in sequence with 1971/72 albums by the Rolling Stones, Jeff Beck, Harry Nilsson, Third World War, and Amazing Blondel.

Head’s wife, Sue Ellis Jones, designed the Nigel Lived artwork. The original package extends the title character through diary-page materials, photographic inserts, and narrative fragments tied to the album’s two-side structure.

Stephen Weeks cast Head as Gawain in the 1973 film Gawain and the Green Knight. The film adapts the medieval Gawain material with Nigel Green as the Green Knight and uses Welsh, Cornish, and English castle locations for the Arthurian setting.

Say It Ain’t So

Murray Head released his second studio album, Say It Ain’t So, in December 1975 on Island (UK) and A&M (US).

The album contains nine Head titles and one cover, “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat,” a 1940s Merrie Melodies standard. Several songs came from Head’s unrealized musical project Atlantis.

Paul Samwell-Smith produced the album with a backing pool tied to his Cat Stevens studio circle. Returning or associated players include guitarist Alun Davies, bassist Bruce Lynch, singer Sue Lynch, drummer Gerry Conway, guitarist Bob Weston, and guitarist Jim Cregan. The album also features drummer Simon Phillips, keyboardist Tony Kaye, keyboardist Chaz Jankel, arranger Ann Odell, and Head’s brother Anthony on backing vocals.

“Say It Ain’t So, Joe” starts from bare guitar-and-voice address, sinks into a warning passage, and turns political disbelief into a repeated plea for denial. “Boy on the Bridge” follows an undecided youth through electric group backing as the lyric weighs freedom against the fear of solitude. “Boats Away” sails through tin-whistle figures, steel-band shimmer, and a closing group chant tied to the seafarer text. “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat” tips from finger-tapped acoustic detail into horn swing and glee-club sway.

“She’s Such a Drag” jabs at platform-boot absurdity with a harder live-band feel and schoolgirl-nag voices in the break. “Never Even Thought” unwinds first-love hesitation through interlaced acoustic figures and a delayed rhythm entry. “Silence Is a Strong Reply” darkens broken-dream text with slide phrases, mandolin pricks, and dry wooden taps. “Don’t Forget Him Now” pleads for a fallen man through support-call phrases, burden imagery, and Weston’s wriggling guitar part. “You’re So Tasty” pairs Head and Vicky Brown in face-to-face flirtation.

A1. “Say It Ain’t So Joe” (4:39) – stages public denial around a fallen leader: charm and authority no longer hold, money tightens, and national image breaks under harder truth. The phrase “trump card” catches the moment when the hero has used his final move and his followers still want reassurance.
A2. “Boy on the Bridge” (3:50) – a young man stands between return and departure, with home below and a harsher route ahead; freedom attracts him, but solitude stops the leap. “Confusion in his eyes” fixes the song at the instant before choice becomes action.
A3. “Boats Away” (4:19)
A4. “When I’m Yours” (4:08)
A5. “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat” (2:47) – Leon René, Otis René, Emerson Scott

B1. “She’s Such a Drag” (4:21)
B2. “Never Even Thought” (5:05)
B3. “Silence Is a Strong Reply” (2:52) – Head, Weston
B4. “Don’t Forget Him Now” (4:30) – pleads for active mercy toward a burdened man, framing compassion as support, protection, and witness before disgrace or despair isolates him. “Future looks black” condenses the appeal into a single image of blocked sight and moral exhaustion.
B5. “You’re So Tasty” (3:28)

Head began Say It Ain’t So at Maison Rouge and completed most of the album at Morgan Studios in London with producer Paul Samwell-Smith, the onetime Yardbirds bassist and early Renaissance soundman with recent credits behind Cat Stevens, Claire Hamill, and Rainbow. They recorded the album with Robin Black, a decorated post-psych engineer (Blodwyn Pig, Egg, T2, Supertramp) with recent credits behind Jethro Tull, Man, Sailor, Sparks, Spirogyra, and Steeleye Span. Black coordinated with mixing engineer Martin Levan, who subsequently worked with Neil Ardley on the jazz pianist’s 1976 album Kaleidoscope of Rainbows.

Say It Ain’t So appeared in a gatefold sleeve with stark, porous imagery of the singer by Gered Mankowitz, a famed Sixties rock photographer (Stones, Marianne Faithfull, Traffic, Spooky Tooth) also credited on mid-Seventies titles by Babe Ruth, Fox, Hummingbird, Gino Vannelli (The Gist of the Gemini), King Crimson (Red), Sparks (Indiscreet), and the debut by Ultravox.

Island lifted “Say It Ain’t So Joe” as an October 1975 UK single (b/w “Don’t Have To”). “Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat” became a May 1976 UK single (b/w “She’s Such a Drag”) and reached No. 52 on the UK Singles Chart. Island also issued a 1976 promo single of “Never Even Thought” (b/w “She’s Such a Drag”).

“Say It Ain’t So Joe” inspired 1977–79 covers by Roger Daltery and Gary Brooker. “Never Even Thought” drew 1978 interpretations by Cliff Richard and Colin Blunstone.

Head acted in the 1975 Spanish film El poder del deseo as Javier. He followed with the 1977 French film The Frenchwoman, released in France as Madame Claude, in the role of David Evans.

Between Us

Murray Head released his third studio album, Between Us, in March 1979 on Philips (france, Germany), Ariola (Spain), and Polydor (Canada).

Rupert Hine produced the album and adds keyboards, autoharp, harmonica, percussion, and synthesizer. The players include guitarist Jim Cregan, bassist John Giblin, bassist Bruce Lynch, drummer Trevor Morais, arranger Simon Jeffes, and backing vocalist Anthony Head.

“Los Angeles” glides through 12-string arpeggios, piano glints, and a star-city sketch of fame beside inequity. “How Many Ways” strolls through picking guitar, harmonica, accordion, and light backing answers. “Rubbernecker” lopes on offbeat sway, slide figures, and a sarcastic male-pride text. “Mademoiselle” lingers over Cregan arpeggios, Weston solos, double-bass support, and a portrait of aging self-regard. “Sorry, I Love You” surges through harmonium, organ, and string swells as the quarrel text circles rupture and attachment.

“Countryman” tightens the city-country split with nervous group motion, CS-80 shading, and string-quartet turns. “It’s So Hard Singing the Blues Lady” leans into offbeat rhythm and Head’s direct vocal line. “Good Old Days” sways around accordion and a trombone-styled lower figure. “Lady I Could Serve You Well” settles into piano, acoustic detail, and string-quartet restraint. “Bye, Bye, Bye” bounces through picking banjo lines and communal backing voices.

A1. “Los Angeles” (4:16)
A2. “How Many Ways” (3:56)
A3. “Rubbernecker” (4:43)
A4. “Mademoiselle” (4:06)
A5. “Sorry, I Love You” (5:43)

B1. “Countryman” (4:12)
B2. “It’s So Hard, Singing the Blues” (4:35)
B3. “Good Old Days” (4:22)
B4. “Lady I Could Serve You Well” (4:53)
B5. “Bye, Bye, Bye” (4:08)

Sessions centered on The Farmyard and Morgan Studios, with Manor Mobile used for basic tracks on most titles. Head recorded string material for “Countryman” and “Lady I Could Serve You Well” outdoors at The Farmyard, then used St Mary’s in Paddington for “Sorry I Love You.” Robin Black engineered the core work, while Peter Kelsey, Steve Nye, and related engineers mixed titles at Trident, AIR, and Matrix.

Between Us appeared in a sleeve by Wings/Nutz photographer Clive Arrowsmith, who captured Head through a staged portrait idiom that matches the album’s city, travel, and private-address titles.

Philips issued “Mademoiselle” in France and Spain during 1978. “Los Angeles” followed in France, Canada, and the Netherlands during 1979, while “How Many Ways” appeared as a November 28, 1980, UK single on Music Lovers Records (b/w “Hey Lady”). Between Us reached No. 10 on the French Albums chart.

Head played George Canning in the 1979 miniseries Prince Regent. The same year, he appeared as Pierre de la Garde in “The Diplomat’s Daughter,” the final episode of Return of the Saint.

Voices

Murray Head released his fourth studio album, Voices, in 1980, with related 1981 issues also tied to the title How Many Ways. The album contains ten Head originals in its core sequence.

The album uses a broad British studio and folk-rock cast, including guitarist Richard Thompson, guitarist Simon Nicol, bassist Dave Pegg, drummer Dave Mattacks, bassist Pat Donaldson, keyboardist Peter Veitch, percussionist Maurice Pert, and cellist Christopher Warren-Green. Head also brings back Anthony Head, Sue Lynch, Bruce Lynch, and Geoffrey Richardson within the larger vocal and instrumental pool.

“Last Daze of an Empire” addresses self-styled rebels through an English acoustic-band setting and Head’s forceful delivery. “She’s Doing Time on the Line” turns a jailhouse phrase through the album’s most eccentric cut.

“Children Only Play (Do You Remember?)” recalls childhood distance with a girl’s voice set against Head’s adult address. “Old Soho” carries its London street piece through the same English group footing. “Going Home” settles into a homeward turn with Head projecting over acoustic-led accompaniment. “How Many Ways” narrows the first passage to a softer, confiding manner.

A1. “Last Daze of an Empire” (4:17)
A2. “Affair Across a Crowded Room” (4:37)
A3. “Hey Lady” (3:05)
A4. “On Your Own Again” (3:45)
A5. “Time on the Line” (4:00)

B1. “Chance Encounter” (3:37)
B2. “Children Only Play (Do You Remember?)” (4:46)
B3. “Old Soho” (4:05)
B4. “A Tree” (4:01)
B5. “Going Home” (3:38)

Production credits attach Paul Samwell-Smith and Robert Ash to the album, with Morgan Studios in London and Ridge Farm in Dorking named in available studio data. The larger player list places Fairport Convention personnel beside Head’s recurring sidemen and choir voices.

Music Lovers issued “How Many Ways” as a November 28, 1980, UK single (b/w “Hey Lady”). “Old Soho” followed as a September 1981 UK single (b/w the LP version of “Old Soho”).

Yves Simon and Head contributed to the 1980 soundtrack album Cocktail Molotov, issued in France through Philips. Head’s film-linked work during this period kept his recording activity attached to French cinema circuits as well as British television.

Find the Crowd

Murray Head released the live album Find the Crowd in 1981 on Mercury. The album documents performances recorded at three concerts in France and draws material from Nigel Lived, Say It Ain’t So, Between Us, and Voices.

Head performs with guitarist Phil Palmer, bassist Alan Spenner, drummer Trevor Morais, keyboardist Peter Veitch, and multi-instrumentalist Geoffrey Richardson. Singer and percussionist Ginny Clee adds vocal support within the live ensemble.

“How Many Ways” revisits the light answering manner of the studio cut in a road-tested stage setting. “Old Soho” projects the English street piece through the acoustic-electric touring band. “Los Angeles” reshapes the star-city tableau for concert address. “Children Only Play (Do You Remember?)” carries the childhood-memory text into a public exchange.

“Last Daze of an Empire” delivers its rebel-directed cynicism with emphatic stage projection. “Countryman” tightens the city-country divide with wiry live motion. “Never Even Thought” pleads through first-love hesitation in a shorter concert reading. “Say It Ain’t So, Joe” ascends through the public-disbelief plea with a fluid live rise. “Pity the Poor Consumer” intones the consumer hymn as theatrical repertoire.

A1. “How Many Ways”
A2. “Old Soho”
A3. “Los Angeles”
A4. “Losing You” – Lennon
A5. “Children Only Play (Do You Remember?)”

B1. “Last Daze of an Empire”
B2. “Countryman”
B3. “Never Even Thought”
B4. “Say It Ain’t So, Joe”
B5. “Pity the Poor Consumer”

Phil Brown engineered and mixed the live album, with Ian Morais credited as second engineer. Charles Littledale, Phil Palmer, and Sue Ellis Jones supplied photography for the sleeve.

Mercury issued “Losing You” as a France-only single in 1981. The non-album “Comme des enfants qui jouent” followed as a France and Canada single and reached No. 1 on the Quebec chart.

Shade

Murray Head released his fifth studio album, Shade, in October 1982 on Virgin (UK), Mercury (France), and A&M (Canada).

The album contains eight Head originals and one Head–Joe Sample co-write, “All We Can Do Is Hold On.” Shade reached No. 3 on the French Albums chart.

Head works with a compact recurring band built around guitarist Phil Palmer, bassist Alan Spenner, keyboardist Peter Veitch, drummer Gerry Conway, and multi-instrumentalist Geoffrey Richardson. Steve Nye co-produces and adds string arrangements with Veitch and Richardson on selected titles.

“Peace of Mind” glides through Wurlitzer support, supple rhythm, Richardson viola effects, Veitch layers, and Head’s heated refrain. “Corporation Corridors” lopes through deeper Head replies and a marginal-life text swallowed by social normality. “All We Can Do Is Hold On” keeps the early-side poise through firm rhythm and restrained studio polish. “Not Your Problem” tightens around Palmer’s brisk guitar turns and sharper ensemble play. “Joey’s on Fire” bounces through a darker geopolitical text and abrupt section turns.

“Maman” sways through Head’s first French lyric with a light offbeat lilt. “Grace” settles into Wurlitzer-led restraint, viola effects, and soft Veitch shading. “Shades of the Prison House” drags through a slow, oppressive tread with Palmer’s plaintive line and memorial ache.

A1. “Peace of Mind” (3:19)
A2. “Corporation Corridors” (3:44)
A3. “All We Can Do Is Hold On” (3:37) – Head, Sample
A4. “Not Your Problem” (3:37)
A5. “Joey’s on Fire” (4:45)

B1. “Maman” (3:59)
B2. “Grace” (3:54)
B3. “Dragonfly” (3:03)
B4. “Shades of the Prison House” (5:55)

Sessions occurred at Le Cassan and Riverside Recording in London, where Head co-produced with engineer Steve Nye, a Seventies Roxy/Ferry soundman who worked in sequence on 1981/82 titles by Japan, Lene Lovich, Akiko Yano, Masami Tsuchiya, and Yukihiro Takahashi.

For the Shade cover, Sue Ellis Jones photographed her husband seated on a white stareway. The package uses a close portrait treatment and stark title placement in line with the album’s clipped, interior titles.

Virgin issued “Corporation Corridors” as a July 1, 1983, UK single (b/w “Shades of the Prison House”). “(All We Can Do Is) Hold On” followed on September 19, 1983 (b/w “Not Your Problem”), and “Maman” appeared on November 21, 1983 (b/w “Grace”).

Restless

Murray Head released his sixth studio album, Restless, in May 1984 on Virgin and A&M.

Head retains Palmer, Richardson, Veitch, and Trevor Morais across the album, joined by bassist Ian Maidman, percussionist Danny Cummings, horn players La Fuga, string arranger Simon Jeffes, and string arranger Gavyn Wright. Anthony Head and Nicola Kerr add backing vocals.

“When You’re In Love” glides through a light syncopated lift and a broad romantic refrain. “Catching Eddie at It” darts around stray piano figures and sideways arrangement turns. “Modern Boy” strides through bright synth chords and rougher Head delivery. “Peril in Venice” broods over a darker Venetian scenario with drawn-out dramatic reach. “Salvation (Missionary Madness)” chants through African voices and traditional-sound effects as the text indicts missionary damage.

“Mario” dances around corruption talk with festive synth-brass jabs. “African Tourists” trudges through a bleak safari picture and choral crowd calls. “Hold Me” sinks into stringed gravity under Simon Jeffes’s arrangement. “I Don’t Care” quickens through rougher Head delivery and brisk group drive.

A1. “When You’re in Love” (3:34) – Head, Palmer, Veitch
A2. “Catching Eddie at It” (3:16)
A3. “Modern Boy” (4:37)
A4. “Peril in Venice” (5:40)
A5. “Salvation (Missionary Madness)” (4:05)

B1. “Mario” (3:34)
B2. “African Tourists” (4:04)
B3. “Hold Me” (3:59)
B4. “I Don’t Care” (3:44)
B5. “Maybe Tomorrow” (5:21)

Sessions occurred at J.A.M. Recording and Maison Rouge in London, where Head again co-produced with Steve Nye, who handled Restless between albums by XTC (Mummer) and the solo debut by David Sylvian (Brilliant Trees). Aussie transplant Peter Williams (The Cure, Bill Nelson) co-engineered the album after his assistant credit on Shade.

Restless appeared in a sleeve by Horslips graphic artist Charles O’Connor with pictures by fashion photographer Nick Knight, who captured the singer in a posed, blue-lit upshot flanked with shadowed drapery.

Virgin lifted “When You’re in Love” as an April 9, 1984, UK single (b/w “African Tourists”). “Mario” followed on July 9, 1984 (b/w “Maybe Tomorrow”).

“One Night in Bangkok” / Chess

RCA issued “One Night in Bangkok” in October 1984 as a single from the Chess concept album, with “Merano” on the B-side. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus composed the music, Tim Rice and Ulvaeus supplied the lyrics, and Andersson, Ulvaeus, and Rice produced the recording. Head performs the verses as the American chess player, while Anders Glenmark sings the refrain.

The full album version begins with the orchestral “Bangkok” introduction, which serves as the Act Two entry point on the original recording. The song then cuts into Head’s clipped spoken rhythm, where Freddie treats the city as a distraction from the chessboard. The refrain shifts to Glenmark’s higher pop line, with choral lift and bright studio sheen against Head’s dry verbal delivery.

David G. Hillier directed the video, which belongs to the Chess Moves video set. The clip places Head on a black-and-white chessboard floor, where dancers and game imagery surround the performance. It also shows Head in a white suit across nightclub and set-built Bangkok imagery, with chess play and tourist-nightlife fragments cut around the sung and spoken sections.

“One Night in Bangkok” reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 in Canada, while the UK single reached No. 12. The release also topped charts in Australia, Denmark, the Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, and West Germany.

Chess began as a 1984 double concept album by Rice, Andersson, and Ulvaeus before the London stage production. The story sets an American grandmaster against a Soviet opponent within a Cold War tournament, with Florence Vassy caught between personal loyalty, romance, and political pressure. Head plays the American on the concept album beside Tommy Körberg as the Russian, Elaine Paige as Florence, Denis Quilley as Molokov, Björn Skifs as the Arbiter, and Barbara Dickson as Svetlana.

Head reprised the role of Frederick “Freddie” Trumper in the 1986 West End production at the Prince Edward Theatre. The London version expanded the concept album into a staged narrative and retained Head, Paige, and Körberg as its central trio. Head’s stage role turns Freddie into a volatile public champion whose matches, press encounters, and collapse of trust drive the musical’s first major conflict.

The Flying Devils

Kasper Winding and Murray Head released The Flying Devils: Original Soundtrack in 1985 on Virgin. The soundtrack album contains vocal songs and instrumental cues tied to the film’s travelling-circus subject.

Head appears as co-artist with Winding, whose cues carry the album through recurring themes, scene pieces, and road material. The sequence opens with the Head-sung “Please Don’t Leave Me Now” and closes with “The End.”

“Please Don’t Leave Me Now”
“Ladies & Gentlemen: The Flying Devils”
“It’s a Dream”
“Take This Heavy Load”
“Double or Nothing”
“Trapez”
“The Flying Devils”
“Mory & Nina”
“Lazlo”
“Moving On”
“The Road to Paris”
“Miranda”
“The Death of Arno”
“Mr. Gavin Jr.”
“Keep the Show Rolling”
“Let Me Tell You What Life Is All About”
“Rome”
“The Quad”
“The End”

Available issue data places recording at Olympic Studios and mixing at Easy Sound Studio. The sources reached here do not identify a full named engineering or design team for the soundtrack album.

Virgin issued “Picking Up the Pieces” as an August 5, 1985, UK single (b/w “African Tourists”). The A-side later appeared as a bonus title on compact-disc editions of Sooner or Later.

Sooner or Later

Murray Head released his seventh studio album, Sooner or Later, in 1986 on Virgin and A&M.

Head works with producers Steve Hillage, Peter Veitch, Paul Samwell-Smith, Steve Nye, and his regular mid-eighties studio circle. The album features guitarist Phil Palmer, bassist Ian Maidman, percussionist Danny Cummings, percussionist Luis Jardim, keyboardist Miquette Giraudy, keyboardist Ingmar Kiang, vocalist Dave Stewart, and vocalist Barbara Gaskin.

“You Are” glides through programmed rhythm, Hillage’s layered studio treatment, backing voices, and Head’s plain-spoken address. “Paper Thin” softens the programmed arrangement with Richardson’s vulnerable song and a touched Head delivery. “Wanderer” drifts toward an atmospheric ending.

A1. “You Are” (5:02)
A2. “With a Passion” (3:37) – Mark Mancina, Barry Hovis
A3. “Love List”
A4. “Love Is Believing” (5:11)

B1. “In the Heart of You” (4:20) – Veitch
B2. “Paper Thin” (3:26) – Richardson
B3. “Fear and Ambition” (5:14)
B4. “Wanderer” (5:41)

Sessions occurred at Nomis, Jumbo, and Falconer studios with a shared production credit across Hillage, Veitch, Samwell-Smith, Nye, and Head. John Hodgson assisted engineering, while Phil Bodger and Stephen W. Tayler joined the mixing credits.

Sooner or Later appeared in another O’Connor-designed sleeve with photography by Nick Knight, whose monochrome zoom-shot of the singer resembled contemporary credits with the Blow Monkeys, Spandau Ballet, and Style Council.

Head preceeded Sooner or Later with the non-album Belouis Some cover “Some People,” released on March 17, 1986, with the ealier “Maybe Tomorrow.” In January 1987, “In the Heart of You” became the album’s first single (b/w “Fear and Ambition”).

Meanwhile, RCA issued “Pity the Child” in June 1986 as a Chess single credited to Elaine Paige, Murray Head, Tommy Körberg, and Denis Quilley, with “The Deal” on the B-side. Head’s stage work as Freddie Trumper placed the single inside the same West End period as Sooner or Later.

Discography: