Now, I present my five selections for my favorite James Bond songs.
And I should say it, right off: I don’t
expect everyone to agree with my taste on this list.
In
fact, I suspect this list is largely a result of generational affection and a
commentary on the decades in which I grew up, and when I first experienced
Agent 007.
Some of this is as much about
nostalgia as it is about great music, in other words.
But
here are my admittedly sentimental choices.
I don’t think I fully realized until I put my favorites together in one
place how much the Roger Moore Era of Bond impacted me.
5. “A View to a Kill” (1985) by John Barry and Duran Duran, and
performed by Duran Duran.
I
know this choice probably gets the purists howling. A View to a Kill isn’t a great Bond
film by any means, and boy does the opening credits sequence (with all the
tacky neon…) reek of 1985. The film’s
score by Barry, however, is absolutely terrific and one of the best in the Bond
canon since On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969.
As
for the title song I was fifteen years old when this film came out, and, yes, a
follower of Duran Duran. This was the
first time that I could recall in my
personal experience that there was a fusion between a Bond film and popular
music.
Of
course, that’s not the case historically (as we’ll see as we continue on up the
list).
Still,
I can’t help but get a kick out of this song.
It feels like it is to the 1980s Bond what Live and Let Die was to
the 1970s Bond series: a punch of exhilaration.
But perhaps I needn’t apologize at all, because A View To a Kill remains
the only Bond song to hit number one on the Billboard charts, and it was nominated
for a Golden Globe award too.
4. “Nobody Does it Better” for The
Spy Who Loved Me (1976) composed by Marvin Hamlisch and Carol Sager.
Performed by Carly Simon.
Again, I grew up in the Roger Moore era, and remember his films with enormous fondness. The music in those films, in particular, reminds me of my childhood. The Spy Who Loved Me was one of the best of Roger Moore’s outings as Bond, and this song is, rightly, synonymous with the film.
In
particular, the movie gets off to a fantastic start with the jaw-dropping parachute-jump-off-a-mountain/Union
Jack sequence, and then leads right into Carly Simon’s romantic crooning. There may be three or so better, but in
general – okay -- not many songs do
it better than this one.
Listeners
seem to agree, since “Nobody Does it Better” was nominated as “Best Song” for the
Academy Awards in 1976, and the tune remains Carly Simon’s longest lasting
placement on the Billboard charts (even longer than “You’re So Vain.”)
3. “For Your Eyes Only” composed by Bill Conti and Michael Leeson. Performed by Sheena Easton.
For all its spectacular action sequences and outer space action, Moonraker (1979) was sort of a spin out of control for the James Bond. It was one giant step too far, perhaps, though I enjoy aspects of it. For Your Eyes Only has always felt like the re-grounding of Bond to me, and in a wholly appropriate sense. It’s a great film, and one of the truly underrated entries in the franchise. The final sequence with Bond (Moore) rock climbing to reach a mountain-top monastery boasts more suspense than just about any other Bond scene you can name, which is no small feat.
The
title song was a phenomenal hit in 1981 when it premiered, and my Mom and Dad
were huge Sheena Easton fans after seeing the movie. The opening credits feature the singer -- nude -- seemingly swimming to the top of
frame while she performs. I was eleven,
and this seemed like a BFD. A naked woman is singing the movie theme
song!
If
memory serves, Easton is the only Bond singer to actually appear in the title
credits of the film (though Madonna cameos in Die Another Day). Like Carly Simon’s contribution, “For Your
Eyes Only” was nominated for a “Best Song” Oscar.
2. “Goldfinger” (1964) composed by Anthony Newley and John Barry, and performed by Shirley Bassey.
There
can be no doubt that this is the
archetype, the song that paved the way, certainly for the numbers three and
four on this list.
Goldfinger
gave Shirley
Bassey her only top forty hit, and the song has also been inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame. Bassey really
knocks this one out of the park, and the song has the unusual distinction of
being a Bond ballad about the villain,
rather than 007. This one is just a
total knock-out.
Bassey
returned to record two more title songs, Diamonds are Forever and
Moonraker, though neither had the same (colossal) impact as the classic
Goldfinger.
1. “Live and Let
Die” composed by Paul and Linda McCartney, performed by Paul McCartney and
Wings.
New decade. New Bond. New sound.
Live
and Let Die
captures that aesthetic perfectly.
It’s
a harder-edged tune than some of those that came before, and McCartney’s
blazing effort gave the James Bond film series its first nomination for an
Academy Award for Best Original Song. Live
and Let Die also rocketed to number #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and in
the early 1990s was memorably covered by Guns’N’Roses.
My
very first James Bond album was Live and Let Die, and boy did I play
it out. Again, you get a kind of punch of adrenaline listening to this
one, and that’s exactly the right vibe to begin the 1970s and a new incarnation
of 007.
Outstanding choices John. I actually have three of those in my top five.
ReplyDelete1. Live and Let Die
2. Goldfinger
3. For Your Eyes Only
4. The World is Not Enough
5. You Only Live Twice
The Spy Who Loved Me just missed making my list.
Completely agree with you about "For Your Eyes Only" as very underrated. Love everything about it including Bill Conti's funky score.
I am huge Garbage/Shirley Manson fan and always dug Nancy Sinatra. So those may be sentimental choices for me, but I think they are legitimately really good songs.
Ironically, my favorite (and arguably) best Bond film ever is "Casino Royal" (2006), and I absolutely hated the title song and was happy it was left off the soundtrack (but I LOVE David Arnold's score! Very Barry-esque)
I want to so bad like Adele's Oscar winning "Skyfall" song more than I do, but it never hooked me the way the best Bond songs do.
I consider Another Way to Die a guilty pleasure. It's cheesy and the video is terribly cliche, but I still love it.
ReplyDeleteI do think You Know My Name, and the Casino Royale title sequence, deserve to be in any top 5 list. It's good. I'm not exactly sure which of your list I'd drop (probably For Your Eyes Only), but I think You Know My Name deserves a spot.
I'd also argue that Goldfinger's better than Live and Let Die, but I am biased against LaLD: Kentucky classic radio ran LaLD into the ground when I grew up.
I was just thinking about this! My personal favorite has always been "Thunderball" by Tom Jones -- the song is brassy and bombastic (like my favorite Bonds), and the lyrics really sum up Bond's personality and lifestyle.
ReplyDelete