In the second of our series of blog posts, we take a peep into the music associated with Britain’s most famous agent, James Bond. Some of the most famous themes will feature in the James Bond Medley at our concert on Saturday 1 July at 7:30 pm, St John the Baptist Church, Burscough, L40 4AE.
Tickets:
£12 adults/ £5 U18 and students
£25 family (2 adults + up to 4 children)
Alternatively call 07906 129393 to reserve or buy on the door
Waiting on tenterhooks to hear who the new James Bond will be?
Me neither.
Perhaps of greater interest to music lovers is who will sing the next James Bond theme song.
Whilst we wait to find out, Ormskirk Music Society will be revisiting some James Bond Classics in our upcoming performance – The Music of Stage and Screen.
In the meantime, let’s re-visit some of our favourite Bond themes, including some famous rejections. Did you know…?
- The original James Bond theme, John Barry’s Dr No (1962) has been used, in some form, in every Bond film since.
- Originally Aretha Franklin was suggested for You Only Live Twice (1967), but it went to Nancy Sinatra. Interestingly, the string introduction at the beginning of You Only Live Twice is used by Robbie Williams in his song Millenium (1998).
- Louis Armstrong’s We Have All the Time in the World became the theme tune to On Her Majesty’s Service (1969) – the first Bond song not to carry the film’s title.
- Shirley Bassey is the only singer to perform more than one Bond theme – Goldfinger (1964), Diamonds Are Forever, (1971) and Moonraker (1979). She was also asked to sing the theme tune to Thunderball, (1965), originally entitled Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang but was replaced by Tom Jones at the last minute. Johnny Cash wrote a theme tune for Thunderball which was rejected.
- Paul McCartney’s Live and Let Die (1973) was the first Bond theme song nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It reached No. 9 in the UK charts.
- Alice Cooper was due to contribute to the official song for The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) but he submitted a day late and the theme tune was sung by Lulu.
- Carly Simon’s Nobody Does It Better in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Sheena Easton’s For Your Eyes Only (1981) were both nominated for Academy Awards for Best Original Song.
- Blondie wrote a theme tune for Your Eyes Only only for it to be rejected.
- A song written by The Pet Shop Boys for The Living Daylights (1987) was rejected, with the theme tune being sung by pop group A-ha.
- Eric Clapton and guitarist Vic Flick were working on a theme song for A License To Kill (1989) but the deal fell through, and Gladys Knight was brought in.
- Tina Turner’s Golden Eye (1995) was written by Bono and The Edge from U2.
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) was released the same day as Titanic and Sheryl Crow’s theme tune was overshadowed by Celine Dion’s The Heart Must Go On.
- Adele’s Skyfall (2012) and Sam Smith’s Writing on the Wall for Spectre (2015) both won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Apparently it only took Adele ten minutes to write Skyfall.
- The only James Bond theme to reach No. 1 in the UK charts was Sam Smith’s Writing on the Wall, for Spectre reaching No. 1 in October 2015.
If this has reminded you of your favourite Bond themes, come along to our Music of Stage and Screen concert on Saturday 1 July at 7:30 pm, St John the Baptist Church, Burscough, L40 4AE.
Tickets:
£12 adults/ £5 U18 and students
£25 family (2 adults + up to 4 children)
Alternatively call 07906 129393 to reserve or buy on the door