Written in Barbados in January 1980, âHappy New Yearâ was originally intended for a musical about a New Yearâs Eve, one of Björn and Bennyâs many attempts to get started with a more ambitious piece of
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f musical drama. <br />
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They even pitched their idea to comedian John Cleese, of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers fame, hoping that he would want to write the book for their proposed musical. Cleese turned them down, however, and the songwriting team scrapped the project. <br />
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It would be another three years before Björn and Benny finally started writing what was to become their first full-length musical, Chess (a collaboration with Tim Rice).
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