The murky origins of the James Bond theme: a sequel

Eleven months ago, we posted about the murky origins of the James Bond Theme which included a link to a portion of a U.K. documentary.
The gist of the documentary was that while Monty Norman wrote the theme originally, John Barry contributed a great deal with the way he arranged and orchestrated it. And it should [...]

Salute to Maurice Binder’s non-007 work

The late Maurice Binder is closely associated with the world of James Bond, starting with his gunbarrel logo that began Dr. No to the main titles of 14 007 movies. But Binder did many creative main titles for other films that ought not be overlooked.
Binder did some interesting collaborations with composer Henry Mancini. For example, [...]

Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary: even Michael Jackson wanted to get into the act?

Over at Examiner.com, they’re running a story saying Michael Jackson had wanted to perform the song Goldfinger. The quoted source for this? None other than Shirley Bassey, who became a star performing the title song of Goldfinger, first released in the U.K. in September 1964 and in the U.S. in December of that year.
A sample [...]

John Barry to receive Max Steiner award

John Barry, the 11-time 007 composer and five-time Academy Award winner, is about to pick up another piece of hardware: the Max Steiner Life Achievement award.
Barry was scheduled to get the award at the Hollywood In Vienna program on Oct. 14. However, because of an illness by his wife, he can’t make it. Barry will [...]

Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary (conclusion): the film’s legacy

This week marks the 45th anniversry of Goldfinger’s U.K. premier. What’s the film’s legacy? Try these on for size:
1. Most obvious, it was the first 007 mega-hit.
Dr. No and From Russia With Love had been successful, but Goldfinger turned 007 into a worldwide phenomenon. It set a record at the time for recouping its costs [...]

Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary (cont.): the first hit 007 song

Nearly 45 years after it was introduced, Goldfinger’s title song still resonates with the public. As we’ve written about before, the song was nearly killed because co-producer Harry Saltzman hated it. But there was no time to record a replacement. So it remained and became a big hit.
The previous 007 film, From Russia With Love, [...]

HMSS nominations for top composers for 1960s spy entertainment

In a previous post, we touched upon this subject. The more we thought about it, the more we thought we had an excuse to make another post. So, without further ado:
1) John Barry: arranger, The James Bond Theme, in Dr. No; composer, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s [...]

Countdown to Goldfinger’s 45th anniversary part I

Whether you like the movie or not, Goldfinger in 1964 was the first mega-007 hit. There may be better Bond movies (From Russia With Love and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service come to mind), but Goldfinger made James Bond a cinema super star.
Next month is the 45th anniversary of the film’s world premier. In honor [...]

OHMSS voted No. 1 007 soundtrack

A recent poll at LastBroadcast puts John Barry’s soundtrack for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service as the best in the 007 series.
An excerpt:
Comfortably winning with around a third of all votes, composer John Barry’s 1969 score for George Lazenby’s debut/swansong features some of the series’ most recognisable music, despite the film itself often being overlooked [...]

Moonraker’s 30th anniversary

Hard to believe (at least for those of us who saw the initial theatrical release) but this is the 30th anniversary of Moonraker.
The fourth Roger Moore 007 movie often doesn’t get a lot of love (CLICK HERE for one example). Still, the movie has its fans who speak up for it on message boards.
The movie [...]