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Best ever Bond tunes

Started by beanheadmcginty, October 05, 2021, 03:37:12 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

El Unicornio, mang

Quote from: non capisco on October 06, 2021, 10:23:26 PM
You're not, it's one of my favourites. A View To A Kill and The Living Daylights are a double bill of ultra-80s, brash whistles and bells bangers.

Yeah these two are my favourites aside from YOLT. Tbh I've never been that into the standard Bond theme style, all that Shirley Bassey Golfingaaaah stuff. It works well for the films but not songs I would listen to otherwise.

A View to a Kill in general has maybe my favourite Bond score overall, despite not being one of the best films.

Jerzy Bondov

I adore Bjork but she simply doesn't have the range

Brundle-Fly

All my favourites have been chosen on this thread. The OP has impeccable taste and good call on Death At The Whyte House/ Mr Wint & Mr Kydd theme.

I can offer up this cool version of Goldfinger recorded by the song's lyricist, Agent Tony Newley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pyJd_rFrlo

non capisco

How about this brief but swaggering sod from the 'Goldfinger' soundtrack - 'Into Miami'

popcorn

Quote from: Captain Z on October 07, 2021, 12:57:30 AM
Bjork and David Arnold's Play Dead basically sounds like the theme to a non-existent Bond film.

So does Bjork's Bachelorette.

Dusty Substance


With all this in mind, what other tracks should go on a Non-Bond Bond playlist? Not rejected themes or covers but songs that have all the tropes and feel of a bombastic Barry/Arnold-esque Bond theme.

niat

Quote from: Dusty Substance on October 08, 2021, 03:44:05 PM
With all this in mind, what other tracks should go on a Non-Bond Bond playlist? Not rejected themes or covers but songs that have all the tropes and feel of a bombastic Barry/Arnold-esque Bond theme.


Mansun's The Chad Who Loved Me

popcorn

Goldfrapp - Human

Muse - Supremacy (ludicrous song but I sort of like it.)

Dusty Substance

Quote from: non capisco on October 07, 2021, 07:43:37 PM
How about this brief but swaggering sod from the 'Goldfinger' soundtrack - 'Into Miami'

Dug out my Goldfinger OST record and giving it a spin - Into Miami is indeed a banger.
Quote from: niat on October 08, 2021, 03:48:25 PM
Mansun's The Chad Who Loved Me

Good one. Lovely lush strings.

Quote from: popcorn on October 08, 2021, 03:48:55 PM
Goldfrapp - Human

Muse - Supremacy (ludicrous song but I sort of like it.)

I've been anti-Muse for as long as they've been around but I'm beginning to wonder if it's about time I took the plunge did a deep dive. They're the kind of band that tick a lot of my boxes - Being a bit ludicrous is one of them.

popcorn

Quote from: Dusty Substance on October 08, 2021, 04:28:43 PM
I've been anti-Muse for as long as they've been around but I'm beginning to wonder if it's about time I took the plunge did a deep dive. They're the kind of band that tick a lot of my boxes - Being a bit ludicrous is one of them.

Their earlier stuff is bombastic but brilliant imo, their later stuff is grim. Supremacy is a rare latter-day Muse song I enjoy but even then it's questionable in many dimensions.

lipsink

Radiohead's 'Man Of War' (aka Big Boots) is incredibly Bond-like:

https://youtu.be/DXP1KdZX4io

It's weird, because I think 'All Time High' is one of the weakest Bond songs but the score version of it is just absolutely gorgeous:

https://youtu.be/6ndRvBVjVYc

popcorn

Quote from: lipsink on October 08, 2021, 05:04:34 PM
Radiohead's 'Man Of War' (aka Big Boots) is incredibly Bond-like:

https://youtu.be/DXP1KdZX4io


It was recorded and submitted for Spectre but rejected as it was written in the 90s - ie not written for the film and therefore not eligible for an Oscar for best original song.

So they wrote their song Spectre instead, and that got rejected too, because it was too sad. Boo hoo Thom Yorke!

mothman

Quote from: Dusty Substance on October 08, 2021, 03:44:05 PM
With all this in mind, what other tracks should go on a Non-Bond Bond playlist? Not rejected themes or covers but songs that have all the tropes and feel of a bombastic Barry/Arnold-esque Bond theme.

We had a similar thread a couple of years back and someone got there ahead of me with this one:

https://youtu.be/gjm-kCOMaPY

And of course this one (if it hasn't been done already):

https://youtu.be/smwR21SDqEY

Ant Farm Keyboard

Quote from: popcorn on October 08, 2021, 05:17:45 PM
It was recorded and submitted for Spectre but rejected as it was written in the 90s - ie not written for the film and therefore not eligible for an Oscar for best original song.

So they wrote their song Spectre instead, and that got rejected too, because it was too sad. Boo hoo Thom Yorke!

"Man of War" was originally submitted for the film version of The Avengers, you know the one with Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman and Sean Connery. However, the producers weren't interested. Like the film, it had been hugely influenced by Bond. Radiohead actually played a few times in concert around 1995 "Nobody Does It Better", and they actually wrote the song during the sessions for The Bends (even if they recorded it at the same time as OK Computer).

Here's their performance of "Nobody Does It Better".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfmQe_eBvrc

popcorn

Quote from: Ant Farm Keyboard on October 08, 2021, 05:37:36 PM
"Man of War" was originally submitted for the film version of The Avengers, you know the one with Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman and Sean Connery. However, the producers weren't interested.

Not quite - Radiohead tried to record it for Avengers, but didn't manage to finish it. Footage of the failed sessions is in the documentary Meeting People is Easy. They returned to it years later for Spectre.

</buzby>

Johnny Textface

Lana Del Rey would be a good fit for a bond song I reckon.

This one is a bit bondy

https://youtu.be/rJABBmAMXnY


Rolf Lundgren

Quote from: Dusty Substance on October 08, 2021, 03:44:05 PM
With all this in mind, what other tracks should go on a Non-Bond Bond playlist? Not rejected themes or covers but songs that have all the tropes and feel of a bombastic Barry/Arnold-esque Bond theme.

Pet Shop Boys - This Must Be The Place I Waited Years To Leave. They were asked to write a theme for The Living Daylights but backed out early on and changed what they had into the aforementioned song. Love the A-Ha theme but this perfectly encapsulates the darker direction Dalton took Bond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C51fqPn7Z7c

Talulah, really!

This is a wild card entry, Paul Young's cover of 'It was a very good year'[nb]Obligatory footnote, the version by unknown garage band The Chancellors is one of my most favourite songs, it sounds like the soundtrack to every Quentin Tarantino movie ever. https://youtu.be/eLeFwRl195w [/nb] which combines the heavy electro-percussion of the Brosnan era (especially the one by Garbage) with classic Bondage strings a-go-go from the 15 seconds mark, bit Chris Rea at the beginning, for extra points he even does a Louis Armstrong impression on the later verses. It's a real everything and the kitchen sink of a production job.

https://youtu.be/IC6MVBX6ZJo

beanheadmcginty

The strings in this disco track that kick in at 30 seconds appear to be a direct lift of the James Bond theme, so I vote for this. Only good for the Roger Moore era obvs.

Carole Giani - Hit 'n Run Lover

https://youtu.be/Y8QqM8X4yxM

Neomod

Beck Paper Tiger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnkaIEfealU
The Bond theme Serge never got to write.

speaking of which

Charlotte Gainsbourg Lying With You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7b6J63QHXM

My Life Story Bullets Fly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRAziCBfZe4A
I think the band are literally going for that Bond theme sound on this one being that Mr Shillingford was a fan of Mr Newley.


Portishead Sour Times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUnvlLVG1NY
Obviously a bit more Harry Palmer than Bond but surprised they never got a shot at a Bond theme.

Best ever Bond 'tunes' is the OHMSS soundtrack obviously.





buzby

Quote from: Dusty Substance on October 08, 2021, 03:44:05 PM
With all this in mind, what other tracks should go on a Non-Bond Bond playlist? Not rejected themes or covers but songs that have all the tropes and feel of a bombastic Barry/Arnold-esque Bond theme.
Quote from: buzby on October 07, 2021, 01:59:49 PM
When the insipid Sam Smith number was chosen for SPECTRE I was rooting for Sia to get the gig based on Kill And Run, the extremely Bond-esque Bassey homage she wrote with frequent collaborator Chris Braide for the closing titles of The Great Gatsby.

shagatha crustie

Quote from: lipsink on October 08, 2021, 05:04:34 PM

It's weird, because I think 'All Time High' is one of the weakest Bond songs but the score version of it is just absolutely gorgeous:

https://youtu.be/6ndRvBVjVYc

Man alive. Who'd have thought you'd hear music like that in a film called Octopussy? Things like that make you realise how much genuine depth, warmth and drama Barry brought to the films even at their most cartoonish and tired, and how important he was to the series sustaining itself. Almost beauty enough to make you believe Bond gave a shit about anyone he put his knob in.

The tune from the fight scene following it is a cracker too - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ziuSVwMEdk

Old Nehamkin

#83
I like KD Lang's Tomorrow Never Dies theme well enough, but I always found the newspaper-themed lyrics a bit on the nose and kind of lame. "Whatever you're after, trust me, I'll deliver"... "The news is that I'm in control", etc. That kind of portentous, sultry, metaphor-laden style works great for Bond themes when the subject matter is something primal and sexy like gold or diamonds or gambling or whatever. The British tabloid industry is a bit too shabby a concept to have the same effect.

Thomas

Quote from: Old Nehamkin on October 11, 2021, 10:44:31 AM
I like KD Lang's Tomorrow Never Dies theme well enough, but I always found the newspaper-themed lyrics a bit on the nose and kind of lame. "Whatever you're after, trust me, I'll deliver"... "The news is that I'm in control", etc. That kind of portentous, sultry, metaphor-laden style works great for Bond themes when the subject matter is something primal and sexy like gold or diamonds or gambling or whatever. The British tabloid industry is a bit too shabby a concept to have the same effect.


(Tabloid shill)
Bond's got a licence to kill
(Extra, extra)
And he's gonna sex ya
(Big crossword prize)
Tomorow never dies

Quote from: Johnny Textface on October 08, 2021, 06:18:32 PM
Lana Del Rey would be a good fit for a bond song I reckon.

This one is a bit bondy

https://youtu.be/rJABBmAMXnY

Lana Del Rey - "Million Dollar Man"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jRJ8cym2eI

Don't even need to change the lyrics.

Thomas

Quote from: Johnny Textface on October 08, 2021, 06:18:32 PM
Lana Del Rey would be a good fit for a bond song I reckon.

This one is a bit bondy

https://youtu.be/rJABBmAMXnY

It does essentially open with the Bond theme. I wondered at the time if that was an unofficial audition piece.

Ant Farm Keyboard

#87
Prime Video has just released two programs in time for the 60th anniversary celebration.

The Sound of 007 is an half reverent, half honest look at the way the songs and the score were created over the years. There's some insight about the way Barry or his lyricists worked, Armstrong singing "All the Time in the World" on TV in some footage I didn't how existed, and Barbara Broccoli shares the story about what went wrong with Amy Winehouse for Quantum of Solace. Otherwise, it's your standard extra on a bonus disc for a boxset.

And for the record, there's a quick analysis of a snippet from Diamonds Are Forever, which features Monty Norman's riff section from the original theme, woven with John Barry's own theme for the film. That was a question asked by Brundle-Fry three months ago in the obituary thread about Norman.

The Sound of 007 in Concert is a very condensed version of the RAH concert from three days ago. Basically, all the instrumental cues (apart from a No Time to Die medley featuring Hans Zimmer and the James Bond Theme, with David Arnold on guitar, in the Casino Royale arrangement) have been removed, while they were often praised by reviewers as the highlight of the event. Shirley Bassey opened the show. She has lost some of her range, but, hey, it's Shirley Bassey, and she's 85. Lulu and Garbage were also there for their own theme songs. Skin from Skunk Anansie did a terrific job on Live and Let Die, and so did Ella Eyre on Licence to Kill. David Arnold sang very well on You Know My Name, in a range very similar to Chris Cornell but with the British enunciation losing some of the edge of Cornell's performance. Jamie Cullum was fine on a very reverent From Russia with Love, but I found that John Grant was wasted on We Have All the Time in the World, as the version was just pedestrian, without the majesty that even most covers bring.

studpuppet


notjosh

Hammerhead by Simon Haseley (an occasionally-sampled bit of 70s library music) would have been a great Bond theme.