Thought : A Bond Theme sung by Elvis Presley

GordoLeiter

Elvis was around during Connery,Lazenby and some of Moore's era and ive always thought that he would have made a great Bond theme singer if he was given the chance. The song "Trouble" by Elvis would have been a good theme song for Man With The Golden Gun.

What you guys think, would he have been a good choice?

JuliusNo

I agree he would have been a good choice. Don't think "Trouble" would of fit it too well though. I'm sure he (or his writers) could of come up with something quite good though.

Napoleon Plural

I don't think the two quite went together, Bond was more of the Beatles era and Elvis lacked that self-mocking, ironic vibe as far as I can see. He was in a way too big for Bond, who as a fashion was very modish, quite sharp in the 60s. The 70s? Well, the last film Elvis ever saw was The Spy Who Loved Me. So he was was a fan of sorts but I don't see him as quite the right fit.

Number24

I'm aware this is an old thread, but I'm watching Bad Luhrman's "Elvis" and I started thinking. What Bond movie would fit for Elvis Presley? What Elvis song would fit?

My suggestion is "A little less conversation" for DAF. The song is three years older than the movie, but ...

The lyrics fit a Bond movie well. "A little less conversation, a little more action, please" is a great mission statement for James Bond. the first verse is "A little less conversation, a little more action, please

All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me

A little more bite and a little less bark

A little less fight and a little more spark

Close your mouth and open up your heart and, baby, satisfy me

Satisfy me, baby". If one changes "a little less fight" to "a little more fight" it would be perfect.

DAF has Las Vegas as an important location, and at that point Elvis was associated with that city. The song also has a sense of fun that fits the fun, often comedic vibe of DAF.

Barbel

As NP suggests above, Elvis was too big for Bond or indeed any other film that he wasn't otherwise involved in. There is no way that his manager Colonel Tom Parker would have allowed him to sing a title song for a film without the finances involved being too big for a producer to agree to them.

Edit- Imaginary Conversations - Page 84 — ajb007

emtiem

Yeah, it's a shame we missed out on so much that could have been great with Elvis- most famously A Star Is Born with Streisand.

He would have been pretty perfect for Bond too, I agree. I can imagine him doing a great version of something like Moonraker, although obviously that came along a little late for him. But Elvis and Barry- yes please. Maybe even have him do a Madonna and turn up in the film itself: Elvis as Bond's CIA contact 😁 He'd have been pretty great!

Number24

Elvis would be a FBI contact! 😁

emtiem

That's just his cover 😄

Number24

That's a really clever cover! 😂

Silhouette Man

There is a Bond connection as the last film Elvis saw before he died in August 1977 was TSWLM, as noted by NP above. He's also mentioned in Raymond Benson's second Bond novel The Facts of Death (1998). My personal favourite song from Elvis is Way Down and I wouldn't have minded hearing more songs from him in that mould.

Revelator

"Surrender" is an Elvis song that could fit an early 60s Bond film. The opening sounds Bondian at least:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaiykvAIO8U

For a mid-70s Bond film there's the lascivious "If You Talk in Your Sleep":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Pi4no9QRmg

HarryCanyon

Now you've got me wondering what Led Zeppelin or Queen songs would have made good Bond theme songs...

Napoleon Plural

That second Elvis song is tops - but somehow what comes through is that Elvis was the top male icon and would seem to be competing with rather than augmenting Bond's sexuality. Not downplaying the machismo of Tom Jones or the like. But it would be like Elvis the King serving Bond the Commander.

Quentin Quigley

I grew up with a lot of Elvis music in the household and pictures on the wall (my mum's a fanatic), and I got a bit of stick for that from my friends, who claimed I was the lovechild! One of my absolute favourites is 'Edge of Reality', which has that grand, sweeping sound of the late '60s. I feel a lot of urgency in this one, and can kind of see how a Bond title sequence would revolve around it.

There's an actor in 1979's Moonraker playing one of Q's assistants in Rio during the bolas demonstration who bears a resemblance to Elvis, and I often wonder if that was the producers way of tributing him following his death. Some screenshots of the character of focus with similar face and sideburns:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53794522550_7fd0aab34e_o.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53794420774_d0cf284ac8_o.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53794330303_96da714c68_o.jpg