A Bond theme is a major accolade for any recording artist – an honor generally reserved for the most famous artists in music. A good Bond song not only defines a film’s identity but can evoke everything that a Bond film is about – the excitement, the exotic feel, and the action that is uniquely Bond. Think of those big, exciting details from Golden fingerthe clang-a-lang opening of No One Does It Betteror an adrenaline rush Live and Stop Dying.
With the wait for Bond 26 now entering the longest wait for a 007 film ever, the closest we have to an official Bond song is by Lana Del Ray. first light, the title track of the new Bond video game of the same name. The song, a classic Bond song with lots of atmosphere and dramatic angles, was written by David Arnold, who has scored five Bonds to date. It looks like a tribute to the Bond heroes.
This is not the first time Lana Del Ray has dealt with the Bond-verse. The American singer previously wrote the song 24 possible topic for Spectre (2015) but was rejected in favor of Sam Smith It’s written on the wall. Del Ray joined a long list of artists whose Bond songs failed.
Here are eight songs that were rejected because they should have been classic Bond songs.
Thunder, Johnny Cash
Movie: Thunderball (1965)
Who got the gig: Tom Jones
Mission summary: Like George Lazenby’s idea to continue after On Her Majesty’s Secret Serviceor Timothy Dalton acting GoldenEyethis remains an intriguing “what if?” from the history of Bond – A Black Man singing over the Bond titles. Following Shirley Bassey’s success Golden finger – the first unique Bond theme – Johnny Cash tried to write the theme for the fourth Bond adventure. It is not known if he was asked to write the song (although that seems unlikely) but it was turned down regardless.
“Ball thunder, your fiery breath can burn the coldest man, and who will suffer from the power in your hand” sang Cash. “Somewhere, there is someone who could have prevented it in time, known to very few but feared by all in crime.” The song was not heard for almost 50 years and was included in the song Bootleg Vol II: From Memphis to Hollywood album. It’s more Cash than Bond – unless Bond ever feels like rolling into a dusty Old West town on horseback, that is.
Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Dionne Warwick/Shirley Bassey
Movie: Thunderball (1965)
Who got the gig: None of them
Message Summary: Money is not the only artist rejected Thunder ballwhich represented the peak of “Bondmania”. Classic Bond creator John Barry hated the name Thunder ball – a bit of Bondi humor – and wrote dirty lyrics with a singer named Leslie Bricusse Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bangtaken from 007’s Italian nickname. They brought in Dione Warwick to record but, under pressure from United Artists, producers Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman scrapped the song – they needed a song that would put the film’s title on the radio (cue Tom Jones’s “Thunderbaaalll!!”).
Interestingly, Barry brought in Shirley Bassey to record again Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang for possible use on final topics. But, as recalled in Jon Burlingame’s book on Bond music, Bassey’s performance was not good enough and the song was canned again. Bassey’s company continued to sue the producers and tried to block the film’s release.
You Only Live Twice, Julie Rogers
Movie: You Only Live Twice (1967)
Who got the gig: Nancy Sinatra
Synopsis: Julie Rogers is not well remembered as a major pop star of the 60s, but the English singer was a hit with Wedding in 1964. And he came very close to being the voice of Sean Connery’s fifth Bond film, recording a demo version of the song rewritten by Barry and Bricusse. The songwriters thought they could write something better, however, and went back to the drawing board.
As described in the epic book on the history of Bond films, Some kind of Hero and Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury, there was a dispute about who should sing the theme song. Harry Saltzman hired a music supervisor who argued with Aretha Franklin to do it. At the same time, Cubby Broccoli went to see his good friend Frank Sinatra, who eventually led Ol’ Blue Eyes’ daughter, Nancy – on the prowl. These shoes are made for walking – sing a new version of the theme. Julie Rogers You Only Live Twice appeared on a The best of Bond album.
The Man with the Golden Gun, Alice Cooper
Movie: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Who got the gig: Lulu
Mission statement: Roger Moore was introduced to music in 1973, accompanied by Paul McCartney’s. Live and Stop Dying – arguably the best Bond theme of all time. Rodge’s follow-up adventure track, however, The Man with the Golden Gun and Lulu was a golden dud – up there and very bad. It could have been very different if the producers had gone with an alternative song from the gothy granddaddy of shock-rock, Alice Cooper.
The song was specially written and would be featured on Muscles of Love album. Cooper later explained that the submission of his song came “days late” and the producers had already signed Lulu. As Cooper told the AV Club: “We went to every one of those John Barry albums to try to come up with the perfect James Bond song, and even Christopher Lee, who played Scaramanga in the movie, said, ‘Oh, man, why did we take Lulu’s song? This song is the only one!'” Very much in the spirit of Live and Stop Dyingit’s all roaring brass and lots of guitars – a classic Bond theme.
For Your Eyes Only, Blondie
Movie: For Your Eyes Only (1981)
Who got the gig: Sheena Easton
Mission note: Roger’s fifth innings (*raises eyebrow*) is also his best effort. But the song, written by Bill Conti and Mick Leeson and sung by Sheena Easton, is on the sappier side. Blondie almost released something even more amazing – a song that combines the sounds of familiar bells Atomic and Bondian adventures. Debbie Harry later recalled that the filmmakers wanted her to sing their own song, but the band went ahead and wrote an original song.
Blondie’s version of For Your Eyes Only was rejected but was included on their next album, Hunter. If you listen to it now, it seems a little ahead of its time in terms of the classic Bond sound and it definitely sets the Sheena Easton version on rock.
Young, Basic Ace
Movie: Goldeneye (1995)
Who got the gig: Tina Turner, Bono, and The Edge
Message summary: The Swedish foursome and their reggae-infused Euro pop should never be anywhere near a Bond film (taking nothing away from the certified bangers. All He Wants and A signof course, but let’s be careful). However they were in the race goldeneye, The big 1990s Bond remake and the first film to star Pierce Brosnan as 007. According to Jon Burlingame, the (possibly apocryphal) story is that they weren’t specifically rejected and their record label was worried the film would flop so they removed the song from consideration. (Ace of Base’s website says it was removed due to “unforeseen events”.)
This song was adapted into a 2002 single, Young people. You can hear the Bond vibes in it – a big, soulful ballad with a precise piano melody that’s improvised for those opening titles. For better or worse, we ended up with Tina Turner honking a U2 song for Bono and The Edge.
Tomorrow Never Lie, Pulp
Movie: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Who got the gig: Sheryl Crow
Synopsis: With Bond back as the biggest name in action cinema, MGM invited a number of bands to submit theme songs that could be used for Brosnan’s second adventure as 007. The infectious Northern Rumors of Pulp and Jarvis Cocker might seem like a good fit for the Bond-verse but they were a hot band at the time and joined the new competition.
Other acts who wrote possible titles are Duran Duran, Saint Etienne and Marc Almond. According to composer David Arnold, Pulp and the rest of the cast had no idea it was a competition. “They had the feeling they were being asked to write a soundtrack for a Bond film,” he said. Pulp released their version as a B-side to Help the Elderlyand change the title to Tomorrow Don’t lie (film’s working title) to avoid copyright conflict with Sheryl Crow’s official theme.
Spectre, Radiohead
Movie: Specter (2015)
Who got the gig: Sam Smith
Synopsis: Lana Del Ray wasn’t the only one to be rejected for Daniel Craig’s final scene. Radiohead presented an unreleased track, Man of War, after being approached by film artists. The song was already directed by Bond – somewhere in between Casino Royale theme You Know My Name and Radiohead himself Slipping and The Karma Police.
The producers wanted the original song, so Radiohead stopped recording for their album, A Moon-Shaped Poolwrite a Spectre title track. (“That f—ing James Bond movie threw us a huge curveball,” producer Nigel Godrich said. Rolling Stone about recording an album. “It was a waste of energy.”) The producers went with Sam Smith’s atmospheric-but-iffy ballad. The writing is on the wallwhich sums up the bluster and ambition of the future film. Radiohead released theirs Spectre as a Christmas treat for fans in 2015.
Telegraph, London
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