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The death of Sean Connery at age 90 got me to thinking of just how many hits the James Bond franchise has generated since it began in earnest in the 60s. Here's just a few:
Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey
Live & Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings
Nobody Does It Better – Carly Simon
You Only Live Twice – Nancy Sinatra
A View To A Kill – Duran Duran
Skyfall –Adele
And that’s just a partial list. I always found it interesting how much a part of those films the intro music became. Getting to sing a James Bond film tune became something of a special honor, almost like making it to the Super Bowl. You weren’t always guaranteed a big hit, but it sure didn’t hurt to have that exposure.
Every James Bond theme ever and where they charted
(from Officialcharts.com)
YEAR TITLE ARTIST CHART PEAK WEEKS IN TOP 100
1963 From Russia With Love Matt Monro 20 13
1963 James Bond Theme John Barry Orchestra 13 11
1964 Goldfinger Shirley Bassey 21 9
1965 Thunderball Tom Jones 35 4
1967 You Only Live Twice Nancy Sinatra 11 19
1969 We Have All The Time in the World Louis Armstrong 3 (in 1994) 19
1971 Diamonds are Forever Shirley Bassey 38 6
1973 Live and Let Die Paul McCartney & Wings 9 14
1975 The Man With The Golden Gun Lulu n/a 0
1977 Nobody Does It Better Carly Simon 7 12
1979 Moonraker Shirley Bassey n/a 0
1981 For Your Eyes Only Sheena Easton 8 13
1983 All Time High Rita Coolidge 75 5
1985 A View To A Kill Duran Duran 2 16
1987 The Living Daylights A-ha 5 9
1989 License To Kill Gladys Knight 6 11
1995 Golden Eye Tina Turner 10 9
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies Sheryl Crow 12 9
1999 The World Is Not Enough Garbage 11 10
2002 Die Another Day Madonna 3 17
2006 You Know My Name Chris Cornell 7 19
2008 Another Way To Die Alicia Keys & Jack White 9 14
2012 Skyfall Adele 2 32
2015 Writing's On The Wall Sam Smith 11 7
2020 No Time To Die Billie Eilish 1 TBC
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I always liked the end of the video for Duran Duran's 'A View To A Kill', when a sultry brunette asks the band's lead singer "Aren't you...?", and he responds "Bon, Simon Le Bon". Pretty clever, I think.
Last edited by Roman (November 1, 2020 7:02 am)
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Roman wrote:
I always liked the end of the video for Duran Duran's 'A View To A Kill', when a sultry brunette asks the band's lead singer "Aren't you...?", and he responds "Bon, Simon Le Bon". Pretty clever, I think.
Yes! Yes! Great ending!
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I think out of all mentioned I have to pick "Live and Let Die" as my favorite.
"Nobody Does It Better" would be #2.
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It's me Karen wrote:
I think out of all mentioned I have to pick "Live and Let Die" as my favorite.
"Nobody Does It Better" would be #2.
Yeah, I would agree. Those are the best of all of them to me. In fact, I liked the theme songs better than the movies!
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For fear of being admonished because I know Nancy Sinatra is not high on many people's list of the Top artists of all time, I really like "You Only Live Twice."
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Little Rich wrote:
For fear of being admonished because I know Nancy Sinatra is not high on many people's list of the Top artists of all time, I really like "You Only Live Twice."
Seriously, that would have been my third choice.
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Little Rich wrote:
For fear of being admonished because I know Nancy Sinatra is not high on many people's list of the Top artists of all time, I really like "You Only Live Twice."
I went to diner with a co-worker and his wife. For some reason, Nancy Sinatra’s name came up. He said he had only ever heard two songs by her, These Boots Are Made For Walkin' and, as he put it, that one she did with her dad (Something Stupid). I told him that wasn’t true and he went off for several minutes claiming I was wrong and I always did this stuff, ending his rant with “Just how in the hell would you know what I’ve heard and what I haven’t”. I reminded him he was a James Bond fan and she did the theme to You Only Live Twice. He replied he hated it when I was right.
I’d bet that he had also heard Some Velvet Morning, Jackson, How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?, and Sugar Town, but I decided not to push it.
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Taz wrote:
Little Rich wrote:
For fear of being admonished because I know Nancy Sinatra is not high on many people's list of the Top artists of all time, I really like "You Only Live Twice."
I went to diner with a co-worker and his wife. For some reason, Nancy Sinatra’s name came up. He said he had only ever heard two songs by her, These Boots Are Made For Walkin' and, as he put it, that one she did with her dad (Something Stupid). I told him that wasn’t true and he went off for several minutes claiming I was wrong and I always did this stuff, ending his rant with “Just how in the hell would you know what I’ve heard and what I haven’t”. I reminded him he was a James Bond fan and she did the theme to You Only Live Twice. He replied he hated it when I was right.
I’d bet that he had also heard Some Velvet Morning, Jackson, How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?, and Sugar Town, but I decided not to push it.
I loved the heck out of "Sugar Town" and "Something Stupid".
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Since Nancy Sinatra entered this discussion, I'll mention my favorite that she did. It only reached #49 in Billboard since it was the flip side of "Sugartown". It has managed to attract over 10 million views on YouTube, it's her duet with Lee Hazelwood, "Summer Wine". It was a "must listen" whenever it showed up in my car radio back in '67.