Tag: James Bond

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re taking it from the top and listening to music featured in Dr. No!

Growing up in Hollywood, California, it appeared Alvin LeRoy Holmes could not get away from show business. After high school, he left town to attend school at Northwestern and then the Juilliard School of Music before getting work with a handful of composers and big bandleaders before WWII. During the war, he served as a Navy pilot and flight instructor, and afterwards returned to Hollywood to be a conductor and arranger for MGM studios. By the 1960s, he had moved to United Artists Records, working with the likes of Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey.

I picked up this album a few years back at Swaggie Records in Nashville. The store doesn’t have a huge selection, but it is in a cool building that looks like an old bank and is just a short walk from the lively Broadway street. The album is filled with music (mostly main themes) from 15 films of the early 1960s, most of which I have not actually seen, but the tunes themselves are still more familiar to me 60+ years later this collection’s release.

In addition to being credited on the theme from “The V.I.P.’s” (a 1963 film with Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and other notable actors based on the real-life story of Vivien Leigh attempting to leave her husband at the time, Lawrence Olivier), the LeRoy Holmes Orchestra plays a jazzy version of the James Bond Theme (From “Dr. No”) – a highlight of this compilation.

64. Original Soundtracks And Music From The Great Motion Pictures

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, here’s a bonus video I put together a few years back to promote the upcoming month of new 007 on Vinyl posts.

The video was meant to tease new content arriving in just a week. However, you only have to wait until tomorrow!

Cheers! 🍸😎

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re going back to the 1960s and listening to music featured in From Russia with Love!

John Barry takes the reins as the main soundtrack composer for the first of his many memorable James Bond film scores. One track you may not remember from this soundtrack release is ‘James Bond with Bongos’ – which is exactly what you’d expect, the James Bond theme with the inclusion of some bongos, for a fun variation on the theme.

I grabbed this vinyl rerelease at the most recent Rocky Mountain Record Show, which originally came out some time between 1968 and 1970, as far as I can tell based on the orange and pink labels used by United Artists Records at the time. Besides now being released in full stereo sound, this version also differs from my original 1963 FRWL album as it contains a small “5” on the back cover. 😄

While this post was originally meant to be more of an April Fool’s joke, being posted six months before the next month-long slog of Bond on Vinyl posts, you only have to wait until tomorrow for more. 😁👍

63. John Barry – From Russia with Love (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, here’s a bonus little picture I made a few years back after completing all my Bond on Vinyl posts for the year.

The 1977 theatrical version of ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ ended with the text “JAMES BOND will return in FOR YOUR EYES ONLY” … BUT, due to the popularity of Star Wars that same summer, the space-themed ‘Moonraker’ was swapped in as the next Bond theatrical release. (And 45 years afterward, I altered that screen cap.) 😄

In the meantime, if you’re looking for more Bond music, Amazon has recently put out an 88-minute documentary, “The Sound of 007. ” The doc covers the past 60 years of Bond music. At the same time, they released “The Sound of 007: Live From The Royal Albert Hall,” which also celebrates 60 years of the Bond film franchise from the previous month’s concert in London, condensed down to 60 minutes. If you want the full version that runs more than three hours, I’ve got you covered there, too, with the playlist above.

Cheers! 🍸😎

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re jumping ahead to the early 2000s and listening to music featured in Die Another Day!

Believe me, long before the FORTY minutes of Madonna’s Die Another Day theme song remixes were done playing, my entire family wished our turntable speakers would die – TODAY. 😆

The single, as well as this Europe-only double vinyl release, was put out two weeks before the full soundtrack, and a month before the film debuted in theaters in November 2002. Receiving mixed reviews at the time and mostly negative reviews from people comparing the theme to previous Bond music, the track was actually nominated for a Golden Globe and two Grammy Awards. Despite being repetitive tech-pop, the song was successful on the Billboard charts, peaking at #8 in the US, and topping the charts in many other countries while also becoming the top-selling dance song in the US for 2002 and 2003.

The film version of the song played during the main titles with visuals of James Bond being tortured, apparently led to some of the (more nonsensical) lyrics (if you want my opinion), such as “I’m gonna destroy my ego … Sigmund Freud … Analyze this” based off Madonna’s understanding of the film’s story. The music video is also a confusing take on this opening scene, with Madonna herself actually replacing the tortured Bond, and not playing the fencing instructor character that allowed her to cameo in the actual film.😛

62. Madonna ‎– Die Another Day

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re jumping ahead to the 1990s and listening to music featured in GoldenEye!

In 1997, the video game GoldenEye 007 was finally released for the Nintendo 64 home video game console. The game was based on the Bond film from two years earlier, and it raised the bar for not just being another movie tie-in, but it also redefined graphics and gameplay. A hugely popular game for several years, in fact, it is the top-selling game on the Nintendo 64 console that does not star Mario.

In 2020, Respawned Records secured the rights to all music and arrangements from the game. They re-recorded orchestral interpretations of the iconic themes by John Barry and Monty Norman, among others.

They have re-released the album several times over the past few years. Each release is in limited quantities and features different colors on the vinyl itself. My “Facility” or “Tuxedo” version (it’s labeled both ways for some reason) is limited to 175 copies. The music is excellent. It transports me right back to playing this game with family and friends in the late 90s and early 2000s.😁

61. Rich Douglas – GoldenEye N64 Orchestrated

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re still listening to music featured in The Living Daylights!

Though The Living Daylights features a lot of classical music over its two-hour runtime, this next piece of source music is the easiest to find. It’s the first music you hear after the main titles fade out around 10:22 into the film. While the scene takes place in Czechoslovakia, you’re actually hearing the Berlin Symphony Orchestra play Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.

My vinyl copy of this music, recorded a decade earlier by the Vienna Philharmonic, features another Austrian composer from the 1700s on the B-side to complement Mozart – Joseph Haydn. Haydn’s final symphony, Symphony 104, is included in full, is also heavy on the cello. Likely Hayden’s most famous work since premiering in 1795, it’s just not in any movies that I know.

I was pretty stoked to find this 1965 recording of the Philadelphia Orchestra featuring both pieces on cello.

60. Mozart / Haydn – Vienna Philharmonic – Mozart Symphony No. 40 In G Minor / Haydn Symphony No. 104 In D Major

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re moving ahead a couple of years to music featured in The Living Daylights!

Two years after ‘A View to a Kill,’ composer John Barry kept up with the Tchaikovsky source music in Timothy Dalton’s first run at Bond in The Living Daylights. In the film, Kara Milovy, played by Maryam d’Abo, is a professional cellist who also doubles as a KGB agent. This story element gives plenty of opportunities for classical music.

One scene sees Kara practicing Dvořák’s ‘Concerto In B Minor For Cello And Orchestra.’ Later, near the film’s finale, Kara performs a cello solo in Tchaikovsky’s ‘Variations on a Rococo Theme.’ This performance is conducted in an onscreen cameo by John Barry himself.

I was pretty stoked to find this 1965 recording of the Philadelphia Orchestra featuring both pieces on cello.

59. Dvořák / Tchaikovsky – Philadelphia Orchestra – Cello Concerto / Variations On A Rococo Theme

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re still listening to music featured in A View To A Kill!

Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky left quite a legacy of music from the Romantic Period before his passing in 1893. Some of his compositions you’re likely familiar with include ‘Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,’ ‘The Nutcracker,’ and the ‘1812 Overture.’ His work still remains relevant and popular more than 100 years later, with more than 5 million streams on Spotify each month.

While ‘A View to a Kill’ composer John Barry never directly credited Tchaikovsky explicitly as an influence, he has acknowledged Dmitri Shostakovich, also known as the ‘Tchaikovsky of the 20th Century’, as shaping his Romantic vernacular.

The campiness of the Roger Moore Bond films was a perfect fit for multiple famous Tchaikovsky ballet scores. Both ‘Romeo and Juliet’ as well as ‘Swan Lake’ show up when Bond is wooing KGB agent Pola Ivanova in a Japanese spa. The music builds up before Ivanova delivers the memorable line “The bubbles tickle my… Tchaikovsky.” 😄

The same ‘Fantasy Overture’ from Romeo and Juliet was also used in Moonraker in a light-hearted scene when Jaws meets his love interest, Dolly. There are a plethora of ways you could listen to Tchaikovsky, but this 1960 release has the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture on the B-side, and is also in heavy rotation around Christmastime with The Nutcracker Suite on the main side.

58. Tchaikovsky, Philharmonia Orchestra, Igor Markevitch – Romeo And Juliet / Nutcracker Suite

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re still listening to music featured in A View To A Kill!

In 1725, Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi published his most famous work, a group of four violin concertos known as The Four Seasons – more specifically, movements named Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

Now, just what does Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons have to do with John Barry’s score to ‘A View to a Kill’? Well, the ‘Spring’ and ‘Autumn’ movements serve as source music for the film. They are performed on-screen during the reception that James Bond attends at Max Zorin’s French stud farm. You may not have noticed during Roger Moore’s last outing in the role, when Bond is meeting Christopher Walken’s Zorin for the first time, but the cues absolutely fit the lavish party.

My copy of the album is a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, pressed in 1972 by Deutsche Grammophon, recorded nearly 250 years after the music’s original release.

57. Antonio Vivaldi – Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons) 

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re moving ahead to 1985 and just listening to A View To A Kill!

This 1985 cover of Duran Duran’s main theme from ‘A View to Kill’ is a fascinating one. Released only in Europe (mine is the German version), the 12” single features an eight-and-a-half-minute version of the song, double the length of any official versions by Duran Duran. While it is an interesting take on the hit song, with its synth disco sound, I don’t believe it to be better than the original.

The cover art appears to be a stylized picture of May Day, played in the film by Grace Jones. We can all thank Jones for helping to get Dolph Lundgren into acting instead of chemical engineering. During the time Lundgren was studying at MIT, Jones spotted him in a nightclub. Shortly after, he became her bodyguard, then after they started dating, she started taking him to Studio 54. Here, he met other acting types who suggested he try out for a role in a film she was starring in. Soon after, he landed his first film role as Venz, the KGB bodyguard in A View to a Kill.

56. DJ’s Factory – A View To A Kill 

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re changing up the playlist a bit, and listening to Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Casino Royale (1967), Moonraker, and Octopussy!

This 1984 compilation updates the 1965 Billy Strange album ‘The Secret Agent File’ and replaces some of Strange’s music with tracks by Neil Norman. Norman has led an interesting career as a composer, producer and is now the president and CEO of the label for this record, GNP Crescendo Record Company.

Strange also has some new renditions of songs that were not yet out at the time of the original release. Between the two of them, they have some cool takes on themes from You Only Live Twice, Casino Royale (1967), Moonraker, and Octopussy.

55. Secret Agent File

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re still listening to Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever,  Live and Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, and For Your Eyes Only!

If this 1983 compilation album looks familiar, the artwork is nearly identical to the 1981 European release I shared yesterday. However, it swaps out a couple of pieces of the artwork.

As far as the music goes, they removed “Bond ’77” and replaced it with Rita Coolidge’s underwhelming “All Time High” from ‘Octopussy.’ Due to this post-disco era replacement, I feel like the album name change from “Greatest Hits” to “Original Themes” is appropriate. 😄

54. James Bond – 13 Original Themes

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re still listening to For Your Eyes Only, but also Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever,  Live and Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker!

This 1982 French compilation album featured title tracks from the first 12 Bond films. Originally distributed in Germany & Holland in 1981 following the summertime theatrical release of ‘For Your Eyes Only,’ I’m not sure how many months passed before this was also issued in France.

There is not necessarily anything wrong with this album, but after a dozen films in 20 years, a record of the same old title tracks is getting, dare I say it, a boring release? Well, not just yet, as this compilation is blessed with the inclusion of Marvin Hamlisch’s “Bond ’77” from ‘The Spy Who Loved Me,’ giving the listener a fair amount of funk to break up the decade of main title ballads.

53. James Bond Greatest Hits

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Today, from the Bond on Vinyl archives, we’re still listening to For Your Eyes Only!

It’s difficult to picture the film ‘For Your Eyes Only’ without composer Bill Conti’s score and Sheena Easton’s vocals on the main theme, but Easton was not actually the first choice. American rock band Blondie wrote and recorded their own original song, “For Your Eyes Only”, with Debbie Harry’s lyrics, but producers wanted Blondie to simply perform the song that had been written by Conti and lyricist Michael Leeson. The band, however, completely refused to do so and lost the gig.

Blondie’s rejected version of “For Your Eyes Only” was released the following year on their 1982 album, ‘The Hunter’. The concept album did not chart nearly as high as the band’s previous releases and was not received well by fans (at the time). Six months later, the band separated, eventually reuniting 17 years later.

It may have been confusing, but I really wish this version of the song would have also been included in the film in addition to the Easton theme. Perhaps the Blondie tune could have played over the end credits instead of the audience just hearing a reprise of the main title.

52. Blondie – The Hunter