The James Bond series of films from EON Productions has had numerous signature tunes over the years, many of which are now considered classic pieces of cinematic music. The best known of these pieces of music was the James Bond Theme. Many other pieces of instrumental music have also become identified with the series, such as The 007 Theme, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, and various theme songs such as Shirley Bassey’s “Goldfinger” and “Diamonds Are Forever”, Nancy Sinatra’s “You Only Live Twice”, Paul McCartney’s “Live and Let Die”, Tina Turner’s “Goldeneye”, Carly Simon’s “Nobody Does it Better” (from The Spy Who Loved Me), Sheena Easton’s “For Your Eyes Only” and Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill”.
The biggest contribution to the James Bond series, save for the “James Bond Theme”, are works from John Barry. In addition to his uncredited contribution to Dr No, Barry composed eleven Bond soundtracks and is credited with the creation of “007” (dominated by brass and percussion) and the popular orchestral theme On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Next to Barry, David Arnold is the series’ most regular composer. He has composed the score for four James Bond films in succession, from Tomorrow Never Dies to the series’ most recent entry, Casino Royale. His Barry-esque orchestrations combined with electronic rhythm elements gave the Brosnan era its musical identity.
Other major composers and record-producers include George Martin, Bill Conti, Michael Kamen, Marvin Hamlisch and Éric Serra.
Soundtracks: