Since its inception in 1962, the James Bond film series from Eon Productions has featured many musical compositions, many of which are now considered classic pieces of British film music. The best known piece is the "James Bond Theme" composed by Monty Norman. Other instrumentals, such as "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and various songs performed by British or American artists such as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger", Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice", Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die", Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only", Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill", Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" also become identified with the series.
Madonna's "Die Another Day" became a dance hit around the world, while "A View to a Kill" is the only Bond song to have reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. Three Bond songs have won the Academy Award for Best Original Song: "Skyfall" by Adele, "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith and "No Time to Die" by Billie Eilish, while Writing's on the Wall also became the first Bond theme to reach number one on the UK Singles Chart. [1]
The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since Dr. No , released in 1962. The piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in every Eon Bond film before Casino Royale .
The briefest of "James Bond themes", this composition started off the "Opening Titles" music of From Russia with Love . It was heard in the On Her Majesty's Secret Service film trailer, [ citation needed ] as well as in the pre-title sequence of Tomorrow Never Dies . WLS (AM) used the theme in the mid-1960s for their secret agent radio serial "The Wild Adventures of Peter Fugitive" that appeared on "The Art Roberts Show". [2]
"007 Theme", also known as "007 Takes the Lektor", is an adventure theme composed by John Barry in 1963 for the Bond film From Russia with Love . [3] "The John Barry Seven" had pop chart hit with a cover version of Elmer Bernstein's theme to The Magnificent Seven that included seven beats repeated throughout the theme. Barry used seven beats throughout the "007 Theme".
It became a secondary theme for the Bond films, being used throughout the series, primarily during action scenes. Its most notable appearances are:
The theme has not been used in its entirety in a Bond film since its use in Moonraker .
This piece of music was also used by Al Primo, the news director at KYW-TV in Philadelphia for its long-time theme to Eyewitness News , and was adopted by other Group W stations in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Boston and San Francisco as well as other non-Group W stations, including WLS-TV in Chicago. The theme was also sampled by Big Audio Dynamite for the 1986 song "Sightsee M.C!"
Like John Barry, David Arnold has left his own mark in the music of James Bond. In this case, he has established what can be called the "suspense motif", which is a descending, often repetitive four-note motif that can be heard in all of the Bond films he has scored. This motif can be heard in:
The largest contributions to the Bond films, save for the "James Bond Theme", are works from John Barry. Barry composed eleven Bond soundtracks and is credited with the creation of "007" (dominated by brass and percussion) and the popular orchestral theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service .
Next to Barry, David Arnold is the series' most regular composer. He composed the scores for five Bond films: Tomorrow Never Dies through Quantum of Solace . His orchestrations combined with electronic rhythm elements gave the Pierce Brosnan era its musical identity. Arnold was essentially Barry's anointed successor, Barry having recommended Arnold to Barbara Broccoli when she took over the Bond films from her father Albert R. Broccoli.
Other major composers and record-producers include George Martin, Bill Conti, Michael Kamen, Marvin Hamlisch, Éric Serra, Thomas Newman and Hans Zimmer. Each of these composed for only one Bond film, with the exception of Newman. The departures from John Barry had various causes; sometimes Barry declined in order to avoid paying double income tax—US and UK. Barry died in 2011. Sometimes the director of a Bond film had worked with the composer of his choice on other films – the latter happened to Thomas Newman with Skyfall and Spectre .
Film | Year | Score composer |
---|---|---|
Dr. No | 1962 | Monty Norman |
From Russia with Love | 1963 | John Barry |
Goldfinger | 1964 | |
Thunderball | 1965 | |
You Only Live Twice | 1967 | |
On Her Majesty's Secret Service | 1969 | |
Diamonds Are Forever | 1971 | |
Live and Let Die | 1973 | George Martin |
The Man with the Golden Gun | 1974 | John Barry |
The Spy Who Loved Me | 1977 | Marvin Hamlisch |
Moonraker | 1979 | John Barry |
For Your Eyes Only | 1981 | Bill Conti |
Octopussy | 1983 | John Barry |
A View to a Kill | 1985 | |
The Living Daylights | 1987 | |
Licence to Kill | 1989 | Michael Kamen |
GoldenEye | 1995 | Éric Serra |
Tomorrow Never Dies | 1997 | David Arnold |
The World Is Not Enough | 1999 | |
Die Another Day | 2002 | |
Casino Royale | 2006 | |
Quantum of Solace | 2008 | |
Skyfall | 2012 | Thomas Newman |
Spectre | 2015 | |
No Time to Die | 2021 | Hans Zimmer |
The "James Bond Theme" is the main theme for Dr. No , and has featured in all the Eon Productions Bond films in different versions. The theme has also featured on the gun barrel sequences at the beginning of the films. The original theme was written by Monty Norman, and was performed by John Barry and his orchestra in 1962. In the opening credits of Dr. No, two other pieces were played: an untitled bongo interlude and a Calypso-flavored rendition of "Three Blind Mice", titled "Kingston Calypso". Due to this, Dr. No is the only film to have more than one opening theme. The "James Bond Theme" reached No. 13 in the UK Singles Chart, and remained in the charts for 13 weeks. [4]
The opening credits of From Russia with Love were accompanied by an instrumental version of the main theme, arranged by John Barry and written by Lionel Bart. A single by The John Barry Orchestra reached No. 39 in the U.K. At the film's end, a vocal version by English singer Matt Monro is heard. This song spent 13 weeks in the U.K. charts, peaking at No. 20. [4]
Goldfinger was the third soundtrack composed by John Barry, and this time the theme song had lyrics written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. The soundtrack reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and spent 70 weeks on the charts. [5] It also peaked at No. 14 on the UK Albums Chart, [4] and received the Bond series first Grammy Award nomination, Best Original Score from a Motion Picture or Television Show. [6]
Welsh singer Shirley Bassey is the only singer to perform more than one Bond theme – she recorded the themes to Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. Bassey also recorded her own versions of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" for Thunderball and it was rumoured that "No Good About Goodbye" was intended for Quantum of Solace, however David Arnold said 'No Good About Goodbye' was never intended as a Bond song. [7]
Paul McCartney's performance of "Live and Let Die" was the first Bond theme song to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song; it reached No. 2 as a U.S. single, and No. 9 on the U.K. charts. [4] [5] George Martin's work in the song won the Grammy for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists. [8]
Marvin Hamlisch's (music) and Carole Bayer Sager's (lyrics) "Nobody Does It Better" (performed by Carly Simon) received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, as did Bill Conti's "For Your Eyes Only", which was performed by Sheena Easton.
It was not until the 2013 Oscars that a Bond theme song finally won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, the theme song from Skyfall by Adele. Thomas Newman's score also got the first nomination for Academy Award for Best Original Score in the series since Hamlisch's own for The Spy Who Loved Me, while winning the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. Adele's song also won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. [9] Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre and Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die" from the film of the same name would also win Oscars for Best Original Song.
Duran Duran and John Barry's "A View To A Kill" topped the singles charts in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, the only Bond theme to hit No. 1 in the United States. [5] No James Bond theme had topped the charts in the UK until Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" entered the charts at number one on 2 October 2015. [10]
Several of the later films have alternative theme songs, often during the closing credits. The Living Daylights featured The Pretenders performing "If There Was a Man," composed by John Barry with Chrissie Hynde. Licence to Kill has "If You Asked Me To" sung by Patti LaBelle. GoldenEye featured Éric Serra's "The Experience of Love". Tomorrow Never Dies included k.d. lang's "Surrender" during the closing credits, a song which was originally proposed by composer David Arnold to be the title sequence theme instead of the Sheryl Crow title song. The "Surrender" theme is heard throughout the score while the melody of Sheryl Crow's song is not used again during the film. This harks back to the Thunderball soundtrack, where "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" was originally proposed as the opening credits music, only to be replaced by the eponymous title track as sung by Tom Jones. [11]
On Her Majesty's Secret Service featured an instrumental theme tune, something which remains unique amongst the post–From Russia with Love films, and included a vocal theme in the form of Louis Armstrong's performance of "We Have All the Time in the World", written by John Barry and Hal David.
A number of Bond films include one (or more) additional songs in the soundtrack. Some of these pieces of music, such as "We Have All the Time in the World" by Louis Armstrong, have gone on to become as well known as the main themes, while other songs remain exclusively linked to the film in which they appear.
Film | Title | Year | Performed by |
---|---|---|---|
Dr. No | "Jump Up!" "Three Blind Mice1" "Jamaican Rock" "Under the Mango Tree" 1 'Three Blind Mice' is a.k.a. the 'Kingston Calypso' | 1962 | Byron Lee and the Dragonaires Monty Norman Diana Coupland |
From Russia with Love | "From Russia with Love" (End Credits) | 1963 | Matt Monro |
Thunderball | "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" | 1965 | Dionne Warwick and another version by Shirley Bassey (not on soundtrack, only instrumental version appears in film) |
On Her Majesty's Secret Service | "We Have All the Time in the World" "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?" | 1969 | Louis Armstrong Nina |
For Your Eyes Only | "Make It Last All Night" | 1981 | Rage |
A View to a Kill | "California Girls" (not on soundtrack) | 1985 | Gidea Park |
The Living Daylights | "Where Has Everybody Gone?" "If There Was a Man" | 1987 | The Pretenders |
Licence to Kill | "If You Asked Me To" "Wedding Party" "Dirty Love" | 1989 | Patti LaBelle Ivory Tim Feehan |
GoldenEye | "The Experience of Love" "James Bond Theme" (GoldenEye trailer version) | 1995 | Éric Serra Starr Parodi and Jeff Fair (used in teasers, not in film) |
Tomorrow Never Dies | "Surrender" "James Bond Theme" | 1997 | k.d. lang Moby (trailer music) |
The World Is Not Enough | "Only Myself to Blame" "James Bond Theme" (End Title) "Sweetest Coma Again" (Japanese End Title) | 1999 | Scott Walker (original end credits song, not in film) David Arnold (not on soundtrack) Luna Sea (only on Japanese soundtrack) |
Die Another Day | "London Calling" "James Bond Theme (Bond vs. Oakenfold)" | 2002 | The Clash (not on soundtrack) Paul Oakenfold (trailer music) |
No Time to Die | "We Have All the Time in the World" | 2021 | Louis Armstrong |
Some songs have been dubbed for the foreign versions of the films.
Film | Original title | Translated title | Performer | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
From Russia with Love | "From Russia with Love" | "Bons baisers de Russie" "Die Wolga ist weit" (not on DVD releases) | Bob Asklof Ruth Berlé | France Germany |
On Her Majesty's Secret Service | "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?" | "Savez-vous ce qu'il faut au sapin de Noël?" "Wovon träumt ein Weihnachtsbaum im Mai?" (on German DVD releases) | Isabelle Aubret Katja Ebstein | France Germany |
Diamonds Are Forever | "Diamonds Are Forever" | "Vivo di diamanti" | Shirley Bassey | Italy |
Film | Title | Score composer |
---|---|---|
The Spy Who Loved Me | "Lawrence of Arabia Theme" "Doctor Zhivago Theme" (Music box) "Concerto for Piano N°21" (Elvira Madigan) – Andante "Air on the G String" | Maurice Jarre Maurice Jarre Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Johann Sebastian Bach |
Moonraker | "Close Encounters of the Third Kind Theme" "The Magnificent Seven Theme" "Prelude No. 15 (Raindrop prelude)" Tritsch-Tratsch-Polka Romeo and Juliet Overture | John Williams Elmer Bernstein Frédéric Chopin Johann Strauss II Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
A View to a Kill | "The Four Seasons" "Swan Lake" | Antonio Vivaldi Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky |
The Living Daylights | "40th Symphony in G minor" (1st movement) "Finale-Act II-Le Nozze di Figaro" "String Quartet in D major" "Variations on a Rococo Theme" | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
GoldenEye | "Stand By Your Man" (Minnie Driver) | Billy Sherrill / Tammy Wynette |
Tomorrow Never Dies | "It Had to Be You" (Instrumental) | Gus Kahn / Isham Jones |
Film | Year | Score composer | Title song | Performed by |
---|---|---|---|---|
Casino Royale | 1967 | Burt Bacharach | "Casino Royale" | Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass |
Never Say Never Again | 1983 | Michel Legrand | "Never Say Never Again" | Lani Hall |
Film | Title | Year | Performed by |
---|---|---|---|
Casino Royale | "The Look of Love" "Dream on James, You're Winning" | 1967 | Dusty Springfield Mike Redway |
Never Say Never Again | "Une Chanson d'Amour" | 1983 | Sophie Della |
A number of songs have been recorded for Bond films but not used.
Bond music has inspired a number of cover albums in a variety of genres, including the 2007 album Mister Bond – A Jazzy Cocktail of Ice Cold Themes (lounge) and Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project , the latter of which features David Arnold collaborating with several contemporary artists. The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra recorded several albums with Bond music and performs in premieres and special events of Bond films. Britain's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra released an album of several Bond songs performances called Best Of James Bond, some of which were used on the menus of "Ultimate Edition" DVD releases. Billy Strange released "Secret Agent File" in 1965. In 2004, The Cavaliers played a show titled 007 using Bond music such as "GoldenEye", "For Your Eyes Only", "Live and Let Die", "Hovercraft Chase", "Welcome to Cuba" and "Paris and Bond". Some of them are Italo disco-like rhythms and soundtrack albums promote hits that matches the film's theme. In 2000 'An Electronika Tribute to James Bond' album was released adding yet another genre to the Bond fandom.
With the increase in audio quality for video game consoles and personal computers, in addition to the continued popularity of computer and video games, publisher Electronic Arts as well as Activision (since 2008) has included opening themes and film-style credit sequences to some of its more recent Bond video games & spin offs.
Video game | Year | Score composer | Title song | Performed by |
---|---|---|---|---|
GoldenEye 007 | 1997 | Graeme Norgate and Grant Kirkhope | "The James Bond Theme" | |
Tomorrow Never Dies | 1999 | Tommy Tallarico | "Tomorrow Never Dies" | Sheryl Crow |
The World Is Not Enough (Nintendo 64 and PlayStation) | 2000 | Neil Baldwin (Nintendo 64) and Don Veca (PlayStation) | ||
Agent Under Fire | 2001 | Don Veca | "The James Bond Theme" | |
Nightfire | 2002 | Steve Duckworth, Ed Lima, Jeff Tymoschuk | "Nearly Civilized" | Esthero |
Everything or Nothing | 2004 | Sean Callery, Jeff Tymoschuk | "Everything or Nothing" | Mýa |
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent | 2004 | Paul Oakenfold | "If You're Gonna..." | Natasha Bedingfield |
From Russia with Love | 2005 | Christopher Lennertz | "From Russia with Love" (instrumental remix) | John Barry |
Quantum of Solace | 2008 | Christopher Lennertz | "When Nobody Loves You" | Kerli |
GoldenEye 007 | 2010 | David Arnold, Kevin Kiner | "GoldenEye" | Nicole Scherzinger |
Blood Stone | 2010 | Richard Jacques | "I'll Take It All" | Joss Stone |
007 Legends | 2012 | David Arnold, Kevin Kiner | "Goldfinger" (instrumental remix) | David Arnold |
The 2008 continuation novel Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks was the first James Bond novel to receive its own theme song. Also called "Devil May Care", the song was written and recorded by Cardiff band SAL and was available on the UK audiobook release of the novel. [22]
Q is a character in the James Bond films and novelisations. Q is the head of Q Branch, the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service charged with oversight of top secret field technologies.
The Best of Bond... James Bond is the title of various compilation albums of music used in the James Bond films made by Eon Productions up to that time. The album was originally released in 1992 as The Best of James Bond, as a one-disc compilation and a two-disc 30th Anniversary Limited Edition compilation with songs that had, at that point, never been released to the public. The single disc compilation was later updated five times in 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, and 2021. The 2008 version was augmented with the addition of a DVD featuring music videos and a documentary. Another two-disc edition, this time containing 50 tracks for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, was released in 2012.
John Barry Prendergast was an English composer and conductor of film music. Born in York, Barry spent his early years working in cinemas owned by his father. During his national service with the British Army in Cyprus, Barry began performing as a musician after learning to play the trumpet. Upon completing his national service, he formed a band in 1957, the John Barry Seven. He later developed an interest in composing and arranging music, making his début for television in 1958. He came to the notice of the makers of the first James Bond film Dr. No, who were dissatisfied with a theme for James Bond given to them by Monty Norman. Noel Rogers, the head of music at United Artists, approached Barry. This started a successful association between Barry and the Bond series that lasted for 25 years.
Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).
A Bond girl is a character who is a love interest, female companion or (occasionally) an adversary of James Bond in a novel, film, or video game. Bond girls occasionally have names that are double entendres or sexual puns, such as Plenty O'Toole, Holly Goodhead, or Xenia Onatopp. The female leads in the films, such as Ursula Andress, Honor Blackman, or Eva Green, can also be referred to as "Bond girls". The term Bond girl may also be considered as an anachronism, with some female cast members in the films preferring the designation Bond woman.
David Arnold is an English film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films (1997-2008), as well as Stargate (1994), Independence Day (1996), Godzilla (1998), Shaft (2000), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), Four Brothers (2005), Hot Fuzz (2007), and the television series Little Britain and Sherlock. For Independence Day, he received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television, and for Sherlock, he and co-composer Michael Price won a Creative Arts Emmy for the score of "His Last Vow", the final episode in the third series. Arnold scored the BBC / Amazon Prime series Good Omens (2019) adapted by Neil Gaiman from his book Good Omens, written with Terry Pratchett. Arnold is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.
Eon Productions Limited is a British film production company that primarily produces the James Bond film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the UK.
The "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has been used in every Bond film since Dr. No in 1962. Composed in E minor by Monty Norman, the piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in every Eon Productions Bond film besides Casino Royale.
The gun barrel sequence is a signature device featured in nearly every James Bond film. Shot from the point of view of a presumed assassin, it features James Bond walking, turning, and then shooting directly at camera, causing blood to run down the screen. The visuals are usually accompanied by the "James Bond Theme", written by Monty Norman.
Thunderball is a 1965 spy film and the fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham devised from a story conceived by Kevin McClory, Whittingham, and Fleming. It was the third and final Bond film to be directed by Terence Young, with its screenplay by Richard Maibaum and John Hopkins.
Thunderball is the soundtrack album for the fourth James Bond film Thunderball.
"You Know My Name" is the theme song of the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, performed by American musician Chris Cornell, who wrote and produced it jointly with David Arnold, the soundtrack's composer. The film producers chose Cornell because they wanted a strong male singer. Cornell and Arnold tried to make the song a replacement theme for the character instead of the "James Bond Theme" reflecting the agent's inexperience in Casino Royale, as well as an introduction to Daniel Craig's grittier and more emotional portrayal of Bond.
The James Bond film series is a British series of spy films based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond, "007", who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. It is one of the longest continually running film series in history, having been in ongoing production from 1962 to the present. In that time, Eon Productions has produced 25 films as of 2021, most of them at Pinewood Studios. With a combined gross of over $7 billion, the films produced by Eon constitute the fifth-highest-grossing film series. Six actors have portrayed 007 in the Eon series, the latest being Daniel Craig.
From Russia with Love is the soundtrack for the second James Bond film, From Russia With Love. This is the first series film with John Barry as the primary soundtrack composer.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to James Bond:
The James Bond series of films contain a number of repeating, distinctive motifs which date from the series' inception with Dr. No in 1962. The series consists of twenty five films produced by Eon Productions featuring the James Bond character, a fictional British Secret Service agent. The most recent instalment is No Time to Die, released in UK cinemas on 30 September 2021. There have also been two independently made features, the satirical Casino Royale, released in 1967, and the 1983 film Never Say Never Again.
Skyfall: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 23rd James Bond film of the same name. Released by Sony Classical on 29 October 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2012 in the United States, the music was composed by Thomas Newman. This is Newman's first Bond soundtrack, making him the ninth composer to score a Bond film. The score won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. In 2013, it became one of two Bond scores to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The other to be nominated was the score from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
Spectre is a 2015 spy film and the twenty-fourth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. Directed by Sam Mendes and written by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth from a story conceived by Logan, Purvis, and Wade, it stars Daniel Craig as Bond, alongside Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, and Ralph Fiennes. It was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. In the film, Bond battles Spectre, an international crime organisation led by Franz Oberhauser (Waltz).
Spectre: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 24th James Bond film of the same name. Released by Universal Music Classics on 23 October 2015 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2015 in the United States, the music was composed by Thomas Newman, who previously composed the soundtrack of the 23rd Bond film Skyfall, making him the third composer after John Barry and David Arnold to score more than one film in the series. The film's theme song "Writing's on the Wall" performed by Sam Smith is the fourth theme song that doesn't feature the title of its film in the lyrics. It is also the third song after "You Know My Name" (2006) and "Skyfall" (2012) that did not appear on the film's official soundtrack album.
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