Music is as important to the James Bond franchise as shaken martinis.
1, making it the only Bond theme to accomplish that feat.
Eilish, now 19, is the youngest singer ever to tackle the Bond theme.
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With a musical legacy like this, is it any wonder she feels so strongly?
8 on the U.S. charts.
It’s comic-strip stuff, and she gave it all the conviction in the world."
I remember her saying ‘Oh, I’m so damn constricted.’
She had to loosen an undergarment to accommodate those high notes."
Thunderball(1965)
“Thunderball” by Tom Jones|Peaked at No.
25 on the Billboard charts.
Kiss-Kiss-Bang-Bang' that was Bond’s name in Japan.
He was a big hero there.
So John and I wrote ‘Mr.
Kiss-Kiss-Bang-Bang,’ and Dionne Warwick made the most sensational recording of it."
Kiss-Kiss-Bang-Bang' is not going to do that for us.'"
FLICK:“At the time, Tom Jones had ‘What’s New Pussycat?’
He was an exciting bloke very Bond.
So John rang him up.”
TOM JONES:“When John Barry called about the Bond thing, I said, ‘Great!’
In those days that was it as far as movies were concerned.”
You Only Live Twice(1967)
“You Only Live Twice” by Nancy Sinatra|Reached No.
44 on the U.S. charts.
BRICUSSE:“By then I’d moved to Hollywood to work on other movies.
I remember writing the song in Kirk Douglas' Palm Springs house.
NANCY SINATRA:“I grew up knowing Cubby Broccoli, since he was close to my dad.
I remember being very excited when he asked me, and very nervous.”
Marked the return of Connery,Goldfingerdirector Guy Hamilton, Bassey, and the big opening-credit title tune.
The formula would never change again.
BARRY:“We recorded at England’s EMI studios in Abbey Road, same as the Beatles.
The studio had an unbelievable natural echo chamber, which made Shirley’s sound even bigger….
I don’t remember what anyone was wearing, but the recording engineers had on white lab coats.
They looked like Bond villains.”
Beatles producer George Martin took over.
“Live and Let Die” charted at No.
SIR GEORGE MARTIN:“McCartney loved the title and started writing while the movie was shooting.
After I orchestrated it, [producer] Harry Saltzman flew me down to Jamaica.
He started saying, ‘This is great.
Who do you think we should get to do it?
What about Thelma Houston?’
I had to tell him, unless they took Paul, they wouldn’t get the song.”
MICHAEL G. WILSON:“Cubby felt we should try for female vocalists.
That’s what works with our titles.
But Paul was pretty special.”
LULU:“The only proper way to do a Bond theme was as a Shirley Bassey impression.
They wanted that ‘He has a POW…ER…FUL WEApon!’
bang out of thing [laughs].
That’s not normally how I sing.
It’s more like Ethel Merman.'”
Marvin Hamlisch took over.
2 U.S. hit; Oscar nom for Best Song (“You Light Up My Life” won).
And the Bond people made it clear they wanted a woman.”
CARLY SIMON:“Marvin called to say, ‘I have this song for the new Bond movie.
Can I come over and play it for you?’…
That day I had a meeting with a new attorney.
When the doorbell rang, I thought it was the lawyer and offered him coffee.
While I was making it, the guy sits down and starts playing my piano.
I remember thinking, ‘Gee, this lawyer is awfully comfortable.'”
Moonraker(1979)
“Moonraker” by Shirley Bassey|John Barry returned once more.
First Bond theme to flirt with disco; Bassey recorded her last theme.
BARRY:“It was a coincidence.
On ‘Moonraker’ we had someone else Johnny Mathis and it didn’t work out.
I actually bumped into Shirley in New York.
I’d been walking through the streets thinking, ‘Who are we going to get?’
And there was Shirley.
I didn’t know she was in town.
And I said, ‘Oh my God, do you want to do another Bond song?’
It was quite peculiar.”
Bill Conti (Rocky) took over scoring.
I was 22, terrified.
I wouldn’t have the balls to do that now."
WILSON:“Sheena was the first performer to ever appear in the title sequence.
I think people are under the impression she’s naked.”
EASTON:“I actually had a white bath towel wrapped around me.
They shot from the cleavage up.
I got this incredible reputation.
I even got calls from a couple of the girlie magazines.”
BARRY:“By this time, using the title in the lyric was something of a requirement.
But what are you going to do with ‘Octopussy’?
I remember wondering if it was a British thing or something about working with James Bond.
I still don’t know what she meant.”
1; first Bond music video.
We accosted him and told him in no uncertain terms that we were the right people for the job.
BARRY:“We were in the studio for several weeks.
That’s how they wrote in the studio.
It was horrible.”
WILSON:“We shot the video on the Eiffel Tower.
I remember thinking how unique and fun it was.
Now it’s obligatory.”
Licence to Kill(1989)
“Licence to Kill” by Gladys Knight |John Barry retired.
Michael Kamen, who’d scoredLethal WeaponandDie Hard, took over.
Kamen rerecorded the Bond theme with Vic Flick and Eric Clapton, but it was never used.
MICHAEL KAMEN:“At the time, I was very much the flavor of the month.
GLADYS KNIGHT:“I don’t know if I’d do it again today.
That bothered me for a long time.
I don’t advocate violence.
Even though it’s playacting, life’s just too precious to me.”
TINA TURNER:“Bono and the Edge are neighbors of mine in the South of France.
They came over, and Edge played the song on my piano.
DAVID ARNOLD:“I’d already doneStargateandIndependence Day, but there’s nothing quite like Bond.”
SHERYL CROW:“They don’t give you a script or let you see anything.
And you have to use their title.
But it gives you carte blanche to do something atypical without being criticized for taking a new direction.”
ARNOLD:“I met [Garbage singer] Shirley [Manson] at a Starbucks in London.
We had buckets of coffee, and I asked if she wanted to do it.”
BARBARA BROCCOLI:“No one has the dynamic vocal sense she does.”
SAM SMITH:“I wanted to bring out something timelessly classic that works with the film….
