JAMES BOND
KILLE TRACKS
After an arid decade of misses, Jack White and Alicia Keys
have revived the fortunes of the James Bond title song.
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hen Bond’s latest music maker, Jack
White, told Rolling Stone magazine
recently that he wanted to ‘join the family of Barry, Bassey, Connery and Craig”, he cleverly omitted any reference to the occasional black sheep of the 007 family.
After all, writing a great Bond theme should be easy. Start off with a dramatic orchestral intro, hire a crooner with a big voice to sing something mysterious about danger in an over the top manner (preferably including the title of the film), throw in a dash of sentimentality in the middle eight (to play during the love scene), add a fanfare ending, plenty of haunting brass. and voila — success! Right? Well, not quite.
James Bond returned in (;()I(I(’II(’_\'(’ in l‘)‘)5 after a six year break; since then, every ofiicial theme tune has been a stinker. From Sheryl Crow’s pedestrian "I‘omorrow Never Dies’, to
22 THE LIST 3O Oct—13 Nov 2008
Rodge Glass ponders the art of writing 007 themes
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“The World is Not linough‘ by (iarbage. (the only time they (lidn '1 sound scary in their whole career) the bosses have got it wrong time and again. Does anyone remember Madonna‘s tuneless dirge ‘l)ic Another Day“? In fact. does Madonna even remember it? How about (‘hris (‘ornell’s ‘You Know My Name‘ from ('asino Royall"? 'l‘hat seemed the strangest choice of all. liven roping in David Arnold, who has scored the last five Bond films. failed to save that one. But it wasn‘t always this way.
Most of the theme songs up to 1989‘s Licence to Kill were not only hits at the time of the release. but the best of them also symbolised the films they came from. They became shorthand for the time period. made careers for some (Sheena liaston), resurrected the careers of others (Gladys Knight), and were initially Bond- associated but grew to have a life of their own
too. The most popular and lasting of these are Shirley Bassey‘s ‘(ioldfinger’ and ‘l)iamonds are Forever" (recently covered by the Arctic Monkeys during their Glastonbury headline slot). but there were also the likes of Duran Duran‘s ‘A View to a Kill‘ or A-ha‘s "l‘he Living Daylights‘. both of which had all the over-the- top drama of 80s pop but suited the films they featured in as well. Back in the 70s. Paul McCartney’s live and let l)ie‘ was just about the only time he has ever managed to sound edgy. and even (‘arly Simon‘s ‘Nobody Does it Better‘ from The Spy Who lxn‘ml Me is now a wedding song staple. Not all the old themes got it right. though. 'l‘om Jones‘s 'I'lmmlarhal/ attempt is still the least popular of all. along with ‘All 'l‘ime lligh‘ from ()t'topu.s's_\'. by Rita Coolidge. now totally forgotten by all but the most avid Bond followers. But the old hit rate was a lot better than it is now. So what to do for Quantum o/‘Solat'a‘.’ (‘all in a true fan who understands the tradition, plays John Barry‘s Bond soundtracks in the back of the tour bus. and actually wants to do it. linter Mr Jack White.
‘You‘re definitely taking on a responsibility —- there's a tradition of powerful music in all these films.’ White has said of his duet with Alicia