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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re still listening to music featured in Thunderball!
Tom Jones burst onto the music scene in 1965 when “It’s Not Unusual” topped the UK charts. The hit also reached the top ten on the US Billboard charts. This success not only landed Jones the job of singing the Burt Bacharach and Hal David-written tune ‘What’s New Pussycat?’, but also secured him the opportunity to record the title track to Thunderball. While most of that album was recorded in October of 1965, Jones was brought in to sing the main theme just days before the film’s December release in theaters.
‘A-tom-ic Jones’ was released in January 1966, just three weeks after Thunderball hit US theaters. Jones’ theme from the film leads off this album, which was not even included in the UK version. Another big difference is that the UK version featured a nuclear mushroom cloud with Jones for the album art. Therefore, the Dad joke of “aTOMic” Jones falls a bit flat without that imagery. One thing that does not fall flat, however, are Jones’ robust baritone vocals on this album. The record was not as successful in terms of sales, but it is a fun listen with the Thunderball theme leading off the US version of the album.
75. Tom Jones – A-tom-ic Jones
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