The title song, “Nobody Does it Better” was performed by Carly Simon and was the first theme song to be titled differently than the name of the film, although the phrase “the spy who loved me” is in the lyrics. The song became a hit that is still popular today and has been featured in numerous films including the recently released Mr & Mrs Smith, Little Black Book, Lost in Translation and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. In 2004, the song was honoured by the American Film Institute as the 67th greatest song as part of their 100 Years Series.

The soundtrack to the film was composed by Marvin Hamlisch, who filled in for veteran John Barry due to his being unavailable for work in the United Kingdom due to tax reasons. The soundtrack, in comparison to other Bond films of the time, is more disco-oriented and included a new disco rendition of the James Bond Theme entitled “Bond 77”.

An element of the Barry style remains in the suspenseful film sequence in which Bond and Anya Amasova try to track down Jaws at an antiquated site in Egypt. The accompanying Hamlisch music echoes Barry’s “Stalking,” from the pre-credit fantasy sequence of From Russia with Love, featuring Bond and villain Red Grant.

Track listing

1. “Nobody Does It Better” — Carly Simon
2. “Bond 77” (James Bond Theme)
3. “Ride To Atlantis”
4. “Mojave Club”
5. “Nobody Does It Better” (Instrumental)
6. “Anya”
7. “The Tanker”
8. “The Pyramids”
9. “Eastern Lights”
10. “Conclusion”
11. “End Titles”-Nobody Does It Better — Carly Simon

In addition, Hamlisch incorporates into his score several pieces of classical music. As Karl Stromberg feeds his duplicitous secretary to a shark, the villain plays Bach’s Air on the G String — famous for accompanying the disaster-prone characters in TV adverts for Hamlet cigars. He then plays the opening string section of the second movement, Andante, of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 ‘Elvira Madigan’ as Atlantis rises from the sea. Nocturne No. 8 in D-Flat, Op. 27 No. 2 by Chopin crops up later, as reportedly does an excerpt from Saint-Saëns’ The Aquarium from The Carnival of the Animals. Finally, Hamlisch cheekily segues his score into an excerpt from that for David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia when Bond and Anya Amasova are wandering through the desert; according to a documentary on the DVD, this idea was originally a joke by one of the film editors who played the music over the dailies of the scene.

See also:

• Bond films: Soundtrack
• Spy Who Loved Me, The: Film