Licence to trill
MARION McMULLEN LOOKS AT WHO’S HIT THE HIGH NOTES FOR THE BOND MOVIES
DAME Shirley Bassey will forever be linked with 007.
The Welsh legend from Tiger Bay has belted out three classic James Bond theme songs – Goldfinger in 1964, Diamonds Are Forever in 1971 and Moonraker in 1979.
She even made a surprise appearance at the Oscars in 2013 when, at the age of 76, she gave a showstopping performance of Goldfinger as part of a celebration of 50 years of James Bond films.
The song brought the house down and resulted in a two-minute standing ovation by an audience of Hollywood A-listers.
Dame Shirley has called Goldfinger the big turning point in her career, but insists she had no idea how iconic the Bond theme songs would become. “There was no way of knowing until the film was shown,” she said.
Fellow Welsh singer Sir Tom Jones followed in Dame Shirley’s footsteps in 1965 to sing the theme tune to Thunderball. He enjoyed chart success the same year with It’s Not Unusual.
Releases of the latest Bond theme tune has become a newsmaking event over the years. British performers Adele and Sam
Smith have both taken home Oscars for their 007 performances. Adele won in 2012 for Skyfall and Sam in 2015 for Writing’s On The Wall from Spectre.
Frank Sinatra’s daughter Nancy became the first American to sing the theme tune when she provided the vocals for You Only Live Twice in 1967.
Iconic jazz singer and trumpet player Louis Armstrong had to wait 25 years for his song We Have All The Time In The World to chart from 1969 movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. It eventually became a number three hit in 1994.
Roger Moore made his 007 debut in 1973 movie Live And Let Die. Paul McCartney & Wings provided the rock and roll theme song. According to Sir Paul, director Guy Hamilton said after hearing the song for the first time “Yeah, that’s good for a demo, but when are you going to do the real record?” The track went on to become a top 10 chart hit.
Lulu has said she and Madonna should be crowned joint winners for the title of the worst Bond theme ever recorded. Lulu sang for the 1974 film outing The Man With The Golden Gun and Madonna sang and appeared on screen in Pierce Brosnan’s last 007 film Die Another Day in 2002. Sir Elton John called it the “worst Bond tune ever”. Fittingly, Carly Simon fared better with Nobody Does It Better in 1977 for The Spy Who Loved Me. Scottish singer Sheena Easton enjoyed chart success in 1981 with her theme song For Your Eyes Only. The Octopussy theme tune, All Time High, in 1983 came from American singer Rita Coolidge. British band Duran Duran performed A View To A Kill in 1985. The song was written by the band ng-time James Bond poser John Barry reached number in the American ts and number two he UK. Bassist John or is a life-long es Bond fan and is to have approached ducer Albert R roccoli at a party to ask “When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?” Duran Duran were followed by A-ha in 1987 with The Living Daylights, while singer Gladys Knight sang on the 1989 movie Licence To Kill.
Tina Turner’s 1995 hit GoldenEye was written for her by U2 bandmembers Bono and The Edge and became an international hit.
Sheryl Crow lent her voice to the 1997 movie Tomorrow Never Dies, while Garbage performed The World Is Not Enough in 1997.
Former Sondgarden frontman Chris Cornell sang You Know My Name on Daniel Craig’s 007 debut Casino Royale in 2006 and Jack White and Alicia Keys joined forces for Another Way To Die for Quantum Of Solace in 2008.
American teenager Billie Eilish says she wrote the track to the latest James Bond movie No Time To Die with her brother Finneas O’Connell in just three days when they were both on a tour bus.
At 18, the Grammy award winner is the youngest singer to record a James Bond theme tune and said 007 actor Daniel Craig had to give his approval of the track.
“James Bond is the coolest film franchise ever to exist,” says Billie, “I’m still in shock.”