The Criteria for Successful Bond Songs

Mr Moneypenny

http://penndogg.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/bond-songs-what-makes-them-tick/

With Adele releasing the newest Bond song to critical acclaim, it made me stop and wonder: what does it take for a Bond song to be considered a hit?

I picked a couple of my favorite Bond songs and came up with a lesson learned from each hit:

Garbage | "The World is Not Enough" - be sexy
Shirley Bassey | "Diamonds are Forever" - be haunting
Sheryl Crow | "Tomorrow Never Dies" - be true to Bond
Paul McCartney | "Live and Let Die" - be epic

(I included more rationale and audio of each song in the blog post)

Although there is no unanimous list of best Bond tracks, I'm still curious to hear what some other opinions are on what makes a stellar Bond song.

Number24

Mr Moneypenny wrote:

http://penndogg.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/bond-songs-what-makes-them-tick/

With Adele releasing the newest Bond song to critical acclaim, it made me stop and wonder: what does it take for a Bond song to be considered a hit?

I picked a couple of my favorite Bond songs and came up with a lesson learned from each hit:

Garbage | "The World is Not Enough" - be sexy
Shirley Bassey | "Diamonds are Forever" - be haunting
Sheryl Crow | "Tomorrow Never Dies" - be true to Bond
Paul McCartney | "Live and Let Die" - be epic

(I included more rationale and audio of each song in the blog post)

Although there is no unanimous list of best Bond tracks, I'm still curious to hear what some other opinions are on what makes a stellar Bond song.

I agree on the lesson you list and I really like LALD, I wonder why you chose than one for epic?
Wouldn't a song like Goldfinger be a far better example?

Mr Moneypenny

Number24 wrote:

Mr Moneypenny wrote:

http://penndogg.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/bond-songs-what-makes-them-tick/

With Adele releasing the newest Bond song to critical acclaim, it made me stop and wonder: what does it take for a Bond song to be considered a hit?

I picked a couple of my favorite Bond songs and came up with a lesson learned from each hit:

Garbage | "The World is Not Enough" - be sexy
Shirley Bassey | "Diamonds are Forever" - be haunting
Sheryl Crow | "Tomorrow Never Dies" - be true to Bond
Paul McCartney | "Live and Let Die" - be epic

(I included more rationale and audio of each song in the blog post)

Although there is no unanimous list of best Bond tracks, I'm still curious to hear what some other opinions are on what makes a stellar Bond song.

I agree on the lesson you list and I really like LALD, I wonder why you chose than one for epic?
Wouldn't a song like Goldfinger be a far better example?

I was considering star power (Paul McCartney) and commercial success when I chose LALD; and I also like the song a lot . I agree, though - Goldfinger would definitely be filed under the "epic" category. Shirley Bassey was a Bond song LEGEND.

DEFIANT 74205

My favourite Bond songs are:

Goldfinger
Thunderball
Diamonds Are Forever
Goldeneye

What do they have in common? Big, bold notes - often brassy notes, and they are sang by singers with a big, bold, strong voice. That's what defines a successful Bond song, in my opinion. Dame Shirley Bassey started it all with the epic Goldfinger, and I think that all future Bond songs should be measured against it.

As for being "sexy", I thought the Diamonds Are Forever song fit that bill quite well. With lines like

Hold one up and then caress it,
Touch it, stroke it and undress it

I wonder if it was considered somewhat "raunchy" for its time.