The Classic POP OF . . . BOND (All James Bond Soundtracks)

1963: From Russia
With Love
The first film to be scored
by John Barry and with Matt
Monro delivering a rousing
vocal for the end titles.

1964: Goldfinger
Every musical element gels
for the first time and sets
the template for the genre
of music that is Bond. The
first of three title songs by
Shirley Bassey.


1965: Thunderball
Tom Jones delivers one of
the vocal performances of
his life, holding his final
note so long and so high that
he almost passes out in the
recording studio.

1967: Casino
Royale
Spin-off spoof spawns some
classic tracks by Bacharach
& David, Herb Alpert and
the Oscar-nominated The
Look Of Love by Dusty
Springfield.

1967: You Only Live
Twice
Possibly the definitive Bond
soundtrack and theme, the
title song being performed
by Nancy Sinatra. With John
Barry at the helm and living
it up with the closing Twice Is
the Only Way to Live.

1969: On Her
Majesty’s Secret
Service
A departure from the
formula and all the better
for it. An orchestral opener
and a tear-jerking closer by
Louis Armstrong, We Have
All The Time In The World.

1971: Diamonds
Are Forever
Shirley Bassey returns for a
second title song, though the
innuendo in the lyrics got
the producers in a spin and
it almost ended up on the
cutting room floor.

1973: Live And Let
Die
He’s still performing it live
to this day, and with good
reason. Macca delivers the
title song and George Martin
takes the reins from John
Barry with the orchestra.

1974: The Man
With The Golden
Gun
John Barry calls this his
weakest soundtrack, but
it was cool enough to be
sampled by The Prodigy
on The Fat Of The Land.

1977: The Spy Who
Loved Me
Marvin Hamlisch follows The
Sting with a disco-infused
soundtrack featuring Carly
Simon’s Oscar-nominated
Nobody Does It Better.

1979: Moonraker
Another title song –
complete with end-titles
disco version – with
Shirley Bassey on the mic,
but only because both
Sinatra and Kate Bush
declined the honour...

1981: For Your Eyes
Only
Rocky (and Dynasty!)
soundtrack artist Bill Conti
takes Bond soundtracks into
the Eighties, winning an
Oscar nomination for Sheena
Easton’s title track.

1983: Octopussy
Looking back, not the most
memorable of soundtracks
or songs with Rita Coolidge’s
All Time High. The original
choice for the vocalist was
Mari Wilson.

1983: Never Say
Never Again
Like 1967’s Casino Royale,
this was a spin-off film and
the soundtrack was panned
at the time, but Lani Hall’s
title song still has a certain
charm to it.

1985: A View To
A Kill
This one needs no
introduction for Classic Pop
readers, but imagine how
much more amazing the
soundtrack could have been
if Grace Jones had featured
as well as Duran?

1987: The Living
Daylights
A-ha and John Barry
famously clashed over the
writing of this one, and the
group’s preferred version
was saved for their own Stay
On These Roads album.

1989: Licence To Kill
The producers turn down
Vic Flick and Eric Clapton
and sabotage their chances
of another big pop hit by
fronting up the movie with
songs by Gladys Knight, Patti
LaBelle and The Pretenders.

1995: GoldenEye
Genius French film composer
Éric Serra takes the Bond
soundtrack rulebook and
rips it to shreds, to cosmic
effect. A true one-off.

1997: Tomorrow
Never Dies
The first of a quintet of
quintessential soundtracks
by David Arnold. Pulp and St
Etienne both submitted title
songs but finally lost out to
Sheryl Crow.

1999: The World Is
Not Enough
Don’t let the title song by
Garbage put you off – the
real gem here is the David
Arnold/Don Black Only
Myself To Blame, sung by
Scott Walker.

2002: Die Another
Day
Both proved highly
contentious choices, but
we loved both Madonna’s
opening song and the
burst of The Clash’s London
Calling that pops up midway
through the film.

2006: Casino
Royale
Dark, yes, dangerous,
sure, but unlike Daniel
Craig’s grasp of the role,
Chris Cornell’s title track
was forgettable. Though
Martyn Ware would argue
otherwise...

2008: Quantum Of
Solace
David Arnold bows out
gracefully, less so the title
song (by Jack White &
Alicia Keys). If only Amy
Winehouse had been able
to deliver the goods as
originally planned.

2012: Skyfall
Having previously
scored The Shawshank
Redemption and American
Beauty, Thomas Newman
soundtracks his first Bond
film… with a little help
from Adele.

2015: Spectre
Thomas Newman’s at the
helm again, with Ellie
Goulding, Sam Smith,
Coldplay and Ed Sheeran all
having been rumoured to be
delivering the title song.