Skyfall and other Bond theme tunes

[LEE]

I think the new Skyfall theme by Adele is a really good return to "proper" Bond theme tunes.

Definitely some musical references to past greats.

What is the greatest Bond theme tune?

There are some absolute stunners to choose from.

[clarion]

Shirley wins, but there are some other real corkers.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Apropos of nothing in particular, today's Metro contains a review of Skyfall which says that Daniel Craig thrusts himself around the screen like an urgent penis.

I think Adele's song is a dead ringer for Diamonds are Forever. DaF, Goldfinger, Thunderball and Nobody Does it Better are the best Bond songs.

[bobb]

Live and let die and Nobody does it better are my favourites.

Most of them are pretty bland and follow the same tired formula. The current one included....

[TimC]

Live and Let Die for me too.

[Wascally Weasel]

Live & Let Die is great – there’s a wonderful bit in the film Grosse Pointe Blank where the G&R version of it is blasting out, until John Cusack’s character walks into a convenience store, when the soundtrack switches to a muzak version of Live & Let Die, at the exact same point in the song.  Lovely. 

[LEE]

I have Spotify playng them in the background, starting with Dr No

My verdict in later today (although Goldfinger ticks all the boxes and will take some beating).

The greatest Bond parody of course was "Life of Brian" by Sonia Jones.  It even out-Goldfingers Dame Shirley.

[clarion]

I've just looked at the list.  I can't bring to mind any of them since Goldeneye, which was terrible.

But I agree LALD is good, and Carly Simon singing 'Nobody Does It Better' (though I still think DaF and Goldfinger are just utter blockbusters).

Which are the worst, I wonder?  The Living Daylights?  View To A Kill? 

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

View to a Kill is obviously the second worst, because Simon le Bon. But the total worst ever is Madonna's Die Another Day.

Live and Let Die can go on my list of best ones too.

[Karla]

You know my name - Chris Cornell

(Casino Royale)

[clarion]

... But the total worst ever is Madonna's Die Another Day.

You're right.  I just looked that one up, expecting it to be bad.  It was worse.

That's comprehensively answered my question.

[bobb]

I'm not that keen on Goldfinger as a song. Maybe because it's the one that so many of the others try and be like. And it's played to death. But I do really like the incidental music throughout the film. Much of which is of course rearrangements of parts of the theme...

[LEE]

OHMSS had an fabulous instrumental theme AND Lois Armstrong's amazing, and fairly ironic, "We have all the time in the world"

Currently, on my Bond odyssey, Thunderball has it over Godlfinger.

[clarion]

Wasn't that the playout rather than the theme?  I do like that song, though.

[TimC]

OHMSS had an fabulous instrumental theme AND Lois Armstrong's amazing, and fairly ironic, "We have all the time in the world"

Currently, on my Bond odyssey, Thunderball has it over Godlfinger.

Tom Jones over Burly Chassis any day for me. Madonna is indeed dire. Lulu's is a good one (The Man With The Golden Gun).

[pcolbeck]

Two Shirleys have done Bond themes. I quite like "The world is not enough", it sounds like a Bond them.

[LEE]

Ouch!  "The Man with the Golden Gun" by Lulu is more awful than I remember

"He's got a powerful weapon........" (Mr Humphries innuendo alert)

[TimC]

Ouch!  "The Man with the Golden Gun" by Lulu is more awful than I remember

"He's got a powerful weapon........" (Mr Humphries innuendo alert)

Ah, yes. I retract what I said earlier. A listen proved my memory is fallible. 'The Man With The Golden Gun' is awful.

[LEE]

I swear I've never heard "All Time High" by Rita Coolidge" before (Octopussy).

I wasn't missing anything. It's the worst so far....it's just ...nothing.

[mattc]

Live and Let Die is probably the best tune of the whole lot, but it never really feels like Bond music.

(All The Time in The World - gorgeous music, and so poignant in the context. I checked Wiki:
" Barry also composed the love song, "We Have All the Time in the World", with lyrics by Burt Bacharach's regular lyricist Hal David, sung by Louis Armstrong. It is heard during the Bond–Tracy courtship montage, bridging Draco's birthday party in Portugal and Bond's burglary of the Gebrüder Gumbold law office in Bern, Switzerland. It was Louis Armstrong's last recorded song as he died of a heart attack two years later."
)

The longer Bond goes on, the more I think it benefits from retro music instead of risking Madonna/LeBon disasters!

[clarion]

I swear I've never heard "All Time High" by Rita Coolidge" before (Octopussy).

I wasn't missing anything. It's the worst so far....it's just ...nothing.

I recall it quite clearly, funnily enough.  It is awful.  I considered nominating it for the worst.

[rogerzilla]

There have been a lot of shite ones; even Bassey's "Moonraker" is very indifferent.

I'd go for Live And Let Die*, OHMSS or the cheese of From Russia With Love (Matt Monro) or Thunderball (Tom Jones).

"Nobody Does It Better" isn't the best but it suits The Spy Who Loved Me, which is probably the most perfect (not the best, that's OHMSS as any fule no, but the most representative) Bond film.   The amazingly cheesy pre-title sequence with the Union Flag parachute, a truly mad villain living under the sea, the Pyramids and a submersible Lotus Esprit.  What more could you want?


*although I think G'N'R improved on the original

[mattc]

Live & Let Die is great – there’s a wonderful bit in the film Grosse Pointe Blank where the G&R version of it is blasting out, until John Cusack’s character walks into a convenience store, when the soundtrack switches to a muzak version of Live & Let Die, at the exact same point in the song.  Lovely.

Like RZ, I prefer the GnR version. (Sorry Sir Paul).

The above reminded me of another good usage of GnR: Interview With a Vampire uses their version of Sympathy For The Devil. It's a good cover (if not remotely innovative), and it fits that final scene just beautifully - a proper cinematic moment.

[TimC]

From Russia With Love (Matt Monro)

(OT) I met Mr Munro after watching him in a CSE show at RAF Gutersloh in about 1975. He, I, and assorted hangers-on repaired to the Sergeants' Mess where, over the next six hours, he gave a masterclass in whiskey drinking and ribald story-telling. The hangover I suffered was world-class, and is why I've never drunk whiskey since.

[bobb]

But do you still drink whisky?

Bond of course preferred whiskey in the books.

Nice story btw!