Episode 18: James Bond - Part 1

Art of the Score

In Episode 18 we begin one of our most ambitious musical projects yet – the music of the James Bond franchise. Over the next three episodes, we’ll be looking at the sounds of Bond, James Bond, across 50 years, 24 films, and a great many composers, theme songs, and one-liners. In this first episode, we’re covering everything from the birth of the cinematic Bond to the end of the Sean Connery era, with a particular focus on how John Barry created that classic – and timeless – Bond sound. Episode notes: 4:45 – Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass make an unscheduled appearance 6:35 – The evolution of the Bond franchise and its importance in film history 10:23 – “The best Bond film is the next Bond film” 12:40 – The birth of the Bond theme, with Monty Norman’s sitar 15:30 – John Barry’s swinging ‘60s style 22:23 – Monty Norman’s Dr. No score 24:10 – ‘Three Blind Mice’ and Norman’s Jamaican grooves 26:30 – Bond and orchestra swat a bug 31:12 – Lionel Bart’s ‘From Russia With Love’, the first title song 38:15 – John Barry’s 007 theme 42:11 – John Barry’s idiosyncratic action cues and quotations of the main theme 45:47 – James Bond’s travelogue music 51:13 – Goldfinger’s swinging ‘Into Miami’ 55:55 – ‘Alpine Drive’ and ‘The Raid on Fort Knox’ 1:00:34 – Thunderball’s alternate themes 1:07:14 – Barry’s underwater fight scenes 1:10:05 – The brass-fanfared evil lair 1:13:08 – You Only Live Twice’s slow-moving villainous space capsule 1:20:48 – Nancy Sinatra’s ‘You Only Live Twice’ 1:23:05 – The ‘Japanese’ music in You Only Live Twice 1:27:43 – On Her Majesty’s Australian Service 1:31:09 – ‘We Have All The Time In The World’ 1:35:04 – “This never happened to the other synth” 1:41:00 – The horny saxophone 1:43:11 – Diamonds Are Forever 1:46:33 – The creepy saxophone We love to hear from our listeners – get in touch via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and if you like The Art of the Score, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and comment.