he world of James Bond is so deeply integrated into our popular culture that mere facets of it spark an immediate comprehension when cited: Bond Girls, Bond Gadgets and Bond Songs. The Bond Song most often recalled when thinking of James Bond is, of course, the James Bond Theme, which was first heard over the opening titles of the first 007 film, Dr. No (1962). There’s actually a remaining controversy to this day over who composed the theme—perhaps the single most famous piece of music in motion-picture history. The composer of Dr. No’s soundtrack, Monty Norman has been officially credited with the theme and legally owns it. However, the popular story behind the controversy is that the producers were unhappy with Norman’s theme and asked English composer John Barry to compose another version: the version that would become the James Bond Theme heard during Dr. No’s credit sequence and all subsequent Bond films. John Barry would remain forever tight-lipped on the subject, but was once quoted saying the following: "If Monty Norman wrote [the James Bond Theme], why isn't he still scoring the rest of the movies?" This was a good point, for it was John Barry and not Monty Norman who was asked to compose the soundtrack for the second 007 film, From Russia With Love (1963) and ten Bond films subsequently. Regardless of who penned the composition, there’s no doubt that John Barry’s version of the James Bond Theme is the definitive version and moreover, there’s no doubt that John Barry is the definitive Bond Song composer and a man whose musical talents are largely responsible for the 007 mystique.


In the late 1950s, John Barry was leader of a rock & roll outfit named The John Barry Seven, but he always had aspirations to score for motion pictures. Barry and his band were signed to EMI, released a few singles, and took part in some television performances. In 1960, Barry had his first opportunity to score a movie (featuring a rock & roll sound) and further opportunities followed, until his big break in 1962 when he worked on the James Bond Theme for Dr. No. Having both classical and rock & roll sensibilities, Barry was the perfect composer for 1960s cinema. The predatory guitar-line of the James Bond Theme not only bridged the raw surf music approach of the time with sophisticated orchestration and swinger jazz; it helped to set a more sexually aggressive tone in soundtrack work—in music in general—one that complemented a burgeoning sexual revolution, seen in the Bonds films and well off the silver screen. With the opportunity to score an entire Bond film, Barry raised the bar with his work on From Russia With Love; now it was more than one piece of music that set the tone for 007, it was the whole soundtrack—a creeping, seductive set that would forever dictate the sound of a Bond film. An instrumental version of the song, “From Russia With Love”, was exotic and sexually charged with kinky organ and beguiling strings; it was also played during the opening credits, which danced with gyrating female shapes (another thing that would be forever emulated in the Bond franchise). At the end of the film, a more standard and inferior version of the song is heard with vocals performed by a Frank Sinatra sound-alike, Matt Monroe.


In 1964, John Barry had to raise the bar even higher and he did just that with his score to the third Bond film, Goldfinger. The movie made more money than the first two films combined, turned 007 into a cultural phenomenon and is the reason why they’re still making Bond films today. Timing also played a hand in Goldfinger’s success; the British invasion was in full swing and all things English were in vogue; there’s even a reference to the Beatles in Goldfinger (Sean Connery’s Bond jests that he needs “ear-muffs” when listening to the Fab Four). Goldfinger was also the film that distinguished a Bond Song apart from the James Bond Theme. British cabaret singer, Shirley Bassey belted dramatically over a stern and ominous horn line and the combination yielded the quintessential Bond Song. “Goldfinger” was a top ten hit and became Shirley Bassey’s signature song in the States. In addition to the “Goldfinger” distinction, Bassey would be the only vocalist to sing multiple Bond Songs: “Diamonds Are Forever” and “Moonraker” respectively—although younger people may know Bassey more for singing on the Propellerheads’s “History Repeating” (from their Decksanddrumsandrockandroll album, which also featured a big beat remix of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”). With the success of both the song and film Goldfinger, the concept of a Bond Song became an integral part of the Bond formula...although not every Bond Song fared so well on its own.


By this point, John Barry was also viewed as an integral part of the Bond formula and he composed the soundtrack for 1965’s Thunderball. Though the film entertained many, Barry delivered one of his few disappointing scores and chiefly because he didn’t stray enough away from the Goldfinger sound. The Thunderball theme sounds like a watery version of Goldfinger with another belting singer, this time the panty-receiving Tom Jones. The song and attached score worked well in the context of the movie, but failed to make any waves otherwise. In two years, however, John Barry would redeem himself by scoring what could be the best Bond Song and score: 1967’s You Only Live Twice. The song, “You Only Live Twice”, was enriched by a sweeping string melody that foreshadowed Barry’s Out Of Africa score and was later pinched for Robbie William’s “Millennium” single. Nancy Sinatra, who was coming off her hit “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”, crooned “You Only Live Twice” and surely made her father proud with her cool and understated performance. The film, You Only Live Twice, saw Bond taking his adventures to Japan and this was apparently the inspiration Barry needed to compose one of his most expansive soundtracks. The theme song glides on the above mentioned string melody, which transforms into a distorted guitar line during the verses as an acoustic rhythm section creates a melancholy backdrop (Barry would use a similar backdrop again for the Midnight Cowboy theme). Throughout the theme song and most of the soundtrack are Japanese touches and instrumentation, creating the only Bond score that offers as much exotic escapism as the actual film; in addition, You Only Live Twice is one of the few soundtracks that warrants repeat listening on its own. The piece “Capsule In Space” is a haunting and villainous piece of music that—like most of Barry’s score work—would be emulated in later Bond films (and would also be used for the breakdown of the Propellerheads’s version of “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”). “Fight At Kobe dock” and “The Wedding” are pieces that at times transcend what’s being shown on screen, while “Mountains and Sunsets” and its lyrical use of the “You Only Live Twice” string melody captures the imagery of the Japanese locale sublimely. During this time, John Barry began making a name for himself independently from the Bond films, composing acclaimed scores for films like “Born Free” and “The Lion In The Winter”, however, Barry would always remain loyal to the film series that made him a sought-after talent and he would periodically return to the world of 007 throughout the 1970s and 1980s.


Barry carried his creative charge from You Only Live Twice over to the final Bond film of the 1960s: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). The movie was a departure from the Bond formula, not only because it starred one-time-only-Bond George Lazenby but also because it was a much darker affair: 007 actually gets married and the his wife (played by The Avengers’ Diana Riggs) is shot dead at the end of the film. Due to this, Barry composed a darker and more wistful score than usual and the results—both in terms of the film and soundtrack—were stirring. Perhaps because it was hard to rhyme something with “Service” or most likely, because Barry wanted to go back to Bond basics, the theme for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is purely instrumental. Since this was a new Bond, Barry might have wanted to create a new theme for this Bond; the theme being introduced during the opening titles, much like the James Bond Theme was introduced in Dr. No. Similar to the film it represented, “On Her Majesty’s Service” was far darker than any of the themes before it; after a few hits of striking horns, a fuzz guitar and bass begins to creep eerily, and then the theme charges forth with a driving rhythm and foreboding horn line. On par with “Goldfinger” and “You Only Live Twice”, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is one of the best themes in the 007 canon and it proves without question that Barry was a master of evoking the aesthetic and personality of a film. Another notable piece of music from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was the tear-jerking “We Have All The Time In The World”, which was the love song for Bond and his ill-fated bride and was sung by Louis Armstrong. Adding another level of poignancy to the song, “We Have All The Time In The World” was recorded a few short days before Armstrong passed away.


After On Her Majesty’s Service failed to make a bundle at the box-office, the producers of the Bond franchise became even more reliant on a successful formula than before and perhaps it was due to this, John Barry’s interest in the series began to wane; as exemplified by his subsequent 007 score work that was infrequent and uneven. Barry composed one last gem, the majestic “Diamonds Are Forever” for the 1971 Bond film, which made good use of singer Shirley Bassey again, but when the Barry/Bassey team rejoined for 1979’s Moonraker, the theme song sounded like an exercise in galactic musak. In 1974, Barry composed a full-out bad song for a full-out bad Bond film: The Man With The Golden Gun. The theme song sung by British singer, Lulu, was as forgettable as the film, which threatened to derail the franchise. The two most popular Bond Songs of the 1970s were not composed by John Barry and the attached soundtracks weren’t as well, marking the end of Barry’s supremacy over the sound of 007. In 1973, Paul McCartney had another hit in his arsenal, but this one was the theme for a James Bond film: Live and Let Die (1973). The song injected a youthful vigor into the Bond Song formula and helped to redefine the 007 sound for a new decade. Appropriately, McCartney and producer George Martin took a page from the Abbey Road end medley and created a roller-coaster ride of musical styles: cabaret, rock, symphonic and even a funky little reggae break—tightly compressed into a three minute mini-opus. The song was a big hit, becoming a staple at McCartney concerts and between the original single and Guns N’ Roses remake, “Live and Let Die” remains the most played Bond Song on the radio. In 1977, the Bond franchise needed a hit film or else the franchise was doomed; not only was The Spy Who Loved Me the hit that was needed—cementing Roger Moore in the role of 007—it was also garnished by a hit song: “Nobody Does It Better”. Sung by Carly Simon, this memorable yet middle-of-the-road ballad was composed by Marvin Hamlisch, the noted composer of Broadway shows like A Chorus Line and film scores like The Sting. Overall, The Spy Who Loved Me had a more whimsical and at times disco-influenced soundtrack than past Bond films—demonstrating that as Bond progressed through the 1970s, the music got somewhat funkier.


For Your Eyes Only (1981) brought the Bond franchise into its third decade and as the image of Bond was updated slightly for the eighties, so was the sound of the now indispensable Bond Song. Recommended by John Barry, the Bond producers selected Bill Conti to compose the score and title song, which Sheena Easton sang (betwixt her good girl “Morning Train” and bad girl “Sugar Walls” periods). The song, “For Your Eyes Only”, with its new-age synthesizer work, sparse piano punctuations and beseeching chorus, had all the splendor of an Abba production—becoming a hit and later karaoke favorite. Interestingly, For Your Eyes Only was the only Bond film that showed the singer’s image singing during the opening titles; maybe this was due to the sequence doubling as Sheena Easton’s “For Your Eyes Only” video, but it may also have something to do with the Scottish siren being additional eye-candy in Bond Girl fashion. 1983 showed two Bond films hitting theatres, one of which was the Sean Connery returning as Bond vehicle, Never Say Never Again. Because the film wasn’t a United Artist release, Never Say Never Again did not have access to the James Bond Theme and even with Connery, there seemed to be a lack of a Bond feel to the movie, confirming the importance of the music in the 007 franchise. The next Roger Moore outing—and official Bond release—Octopussy (1983) brought John Barry back to the soundtrack table. However, the theme song for the film, “All Time High” not only failed to deliver a song containing the word “Octopussy”, it was a lukewarm copy of “Nobody Does It Better”. Sung by R&B singer, Rita Coolidge, “All Time High” charted decently during its release, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression as a Bond Song or any other kind of song. In 1985 Barry would get back into the swing of things with the next film, A View To A Kill, which featured a theme song that topped the charts. A collaboration between Barry and the popular band, Duran Duran, “A View To A Kill” was the most hard-hitting Bond Song since “Live and Let Die”; fueled by a primal drum beat, punchy brass hits and moody synths, the song evoked the 007 mystique while giving it a New Wave makeover. Seemingly rejuvenated, Barry delivered his best Bond score since On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, even if the film itself showed signs of the franchise losing steam. Most impressive, is the way Barry reworks the “View To A Kill” melody into a melancholic piece of orchestration, bestowing more depth to certain moments in the film than deserved.


The next Bond movie, The Living Daylights (1987), introduced Timothy Dalton as a more serious and solemn 007. Unlike A View To A Kill, which had Barry setting a somber tone against an otherwise campy movie and Bond, The Living Daylights and its lead worked quite well with Barry’s moving and understated score. The only piece of music that fell a bit short was the main theme. Written by Barry but performed by the one-hit-wonder band, Ah-ha, “The Living Daylights” didn’t have the punch nor the melodic appeal of “A View To A Kill”. After The Living Daylights, John Barry would never score another Bond film or compose another Bond Song again; it was truly the end of a 007 era. It was regretful, because the next Bond outing, 1989’s License To Kill could have used the Barry touch. The main theme was performed by soul diva, Gladys Knight and composed by so many people, I’m not even going to bother citing them; this is funny since the song blatantly rips off “Goldfinger” and though it uses an effecting bite, “License To Kill” doesn’t get any originality points. Many Bond fans felt License To Kill didn’t have enough of the Bond mystique and the franchise slipped into an even longer slump than it was in after The Man With The Golden Gun.


In the early 1990s, grunge rock and gangsta rap inundated a popular culture that now stood in stark contrast to everything the Bond movies represented: slickness, grandeur, hi-tech espionage, etc. It wouldn’t be until after the early 1990s wave of disenfranchisement had crashed that James Bond would return in the form of Pierce Bronson, in 1995’s Goldeneye. The movie was a blockbuster and offered a slightly updated Bond for yet another decade. The theme song, however, sounded more like a throwback than a rebirth. Sung by Tina Turner, “Goldeneye” was composed by Bono and the Edge, who had originally wanted Whitney Houston to sing the song. Another “Goldfinger” clone, “Goldeneye” is Bond Song-By-Numbers and quite uninspiring (this was a foreshadowing of the mediocrity Bono and the Edge would later indulge in). In 1997, Sheryl Crow and producer Mitchell Froom came up with the theme for Tomorrow Never Dies. Though superior to “Goldeneye, “Tomorrow Never Dies” was another piece of nostalgia that didn’t work at all with the fast-pace, contemporary movie it was attached to. The Bond films aren’t period pieces; they’re constantly being updated for each new decade; those composing Bond Songs throughout the 1970s and 1980s understood this; those composing Bond Songs throughout the 1990s didn’t understand this or didn’t care to understand it. In 1999, David Arnold composed the theme for The World Is Not Enough, which the band Garbage performed. Yet again, despite a slight undercurrent of techno, “The World Is Not Enough” was pseudo-John Barry and did little to establish a new and fresh sound for the Bond Song.


In the Fall of 2002, Madonna released “Die Another Day”, which she co-wrote and produced with Mirwais Ahmadzai for the 20th Bond film of the same title. Like Duran Duran and John Barry did with “A View To A Kill”, Madonna and Ahmadzai evoke the 007 mystique while giving it a techno makeover; a dramatic backdrop of strings suggest the urgency of a world-round pursuit; swirling synth work and a sharp beat recalls the sexual edge of the guitar on the James Bond Theme, without recalling the actual sound. With “Die Another Day”, the Bond Song is gifted the modern edge it had been lacking since “A View To A Kill”. In terms of score work, the 007 franchise still hasn’t found a worthy successor to John Barry, but maybe “Die Another Day”—which is already a hit—will inspire some young composer out there who’ll dare to fill John Barry’s shoes without imitating the man. Regardless, both the film Die Another Day and its theme song, brings James Bond safely into the 21st Century.