Wings killed the Bond songs...
Napoleon Plural
LondonPosts: 10,274MI6 Agent
Bear with me on this.
Live and Let Die is a great tune, exception to the rule, and a top 5 Bond song.
But really, Bond themes should be cabaret style, as in camp, sexy, dangerous, saucy, larger than life. Bassey, Jones, even Matt Monroe, they're cabaret cruise ship singers, with a bit of Vegas.
Now you can go away from that, and I've argue even Duran Duran have a touch of the flamboyance about them. But whenever they try to get a straight pop star to do them, it fails imo. It turns out never as good as some other song they've done, and that even applies to Duran Duran themselves.
Of course, the films have lost that wonderfully understated camp, that archness and delicacy of the early films. Those wonderful set designs, that lavish look.
I guess the mix has gone, but with the likes of Adele it's all reheated porridge as far as I can see, and when other artists come in and have a go, be it Madonna or Garbage, it's all a bit flat. I want a Bond film a bit like The Untouchables - slick, good looking but nothing in it wholly unplausible or daft. And remember the swagger of the music as the camera tracks the daily newspapers up the stairs where Capone is lying in bed with a smoke? Like that.
I agree that songs can be used to promote the movie, but I don't think they should be competing in the hit parade directly. It's like they'll always come off second best.
Live and Let Die is a great tune, exception to the rule, and a top 5 Bond song.
But really, Bond themes should be cabaret style, as in camp, sexy, dangerous, saucy, larger than life. Bassey, Jones, even Matt Monroe, they're cabaret cruise ship singers, with a bit of Vegas.
Now you can go away from that, and I've argue even Duran Duran have a touch of the flamboyance about them. But whenever they try to get a straight pop star to do them, it fails imo. It turns out never as good as some other song they've done, and that even applies to Duran Duran themselves.
Of course, the films have lost that wonderfully understated camp, that archness and delicacy of the early films. Those wonderful set designs, that lavish look.
I guess the mix has gone, but with the likes of Adele it's all reheated porridge as far as I can see, and when other artists come in and have a go, be it Madonna or Garbage, it's all a bit flat. I want a Bond film a bit like The Untouchables - slick, good looking but nothing in it wholly unplausible or daft. And remember the swagger of the music as the camera tracks the daily newspapers up the stairs where Capone is lying in bed with a smoke? Like that.
I agree that songs can be used to promote the movie, but I don't think they should be competing in the hit parade directly. It's like they'll always come off second best.
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Comments
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Songs like FRWL, GF, TB and YOLT and DAF for that matter - they're classics but not trying to be pop songs or in the hit parade.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
As a pop song, with all that hype, it failed to reach no 1 and I don't think it's that good - judged as a pop song. As with all these, they just tend to be not as good or even Bondlike as other songs by the same artist. I can see a Bassey vibe to SF, but it's watered down Bassey, almost like Tina Turner's GE.
That's why it would be better to go balls out for a cabaret type act like Michael Buble or Paloma Faith or Lana Del Ray (or are those seen as poppy too), to make it clear it's going off piste.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
But I can see what I'm saying. It's like the pts, they used to be offbeat and strange, introducing you to an odd, stylish world. Now they're just, here's our calling card, here's our actionfest.
Roger Moore 1927-2017