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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re still listening to music from The Living Daylights!
When Bond film composer John Barry took the job for The Living Daylights, it was his 11th and final time in the role. The electronic synth mixed with the traditional classical orchestra was definitely unique to this film’s score, and he was able to incorporate the leitmotif of The Living Daylights Theme by A-ha four different times throughout the film.
Even more popular than the title song, another theme was actually used five times – Necros’ Theme. The familiar chords first show up as source music on the villain’s headphones early in the film, and several more times when he is doing his bad guy business. We hear the lyrics performed by Pretenders lead vocalist Chrissie Hynde. The rest of The Pretenders accompany her in the song – ‘Where Has Every Body Gone’.
The Pretenders were originally considered to perform the film’s title song, but the producers felt that A-ha would be more likely to make an impact in the charts like Duran Duran’s ‘A View to a Kill’ (they were probably right). Also, in a change from the custom of previous Bond films, the film uses different songs over the opening and end credits. The song played over the end credits, “If There Was a Man” – serves as the film’s “love theme,” and was also performed for the film by the Pretenders.
While the soundtrack album does feature some of Barry’s mixes along with the main title and these two themes, the 12” single only carries these exact two songs, the same versions as heard on the full soundtrack. Another annoying thing is that I believe the song title on the album sleeve is grammatically incorrect, and should actually be called “Where Has Everybody Gone?”
88. The Pretenders – Where Has Every Body Gone
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