The James Bond film franchise is notable for its distinctive theme songs, often performed by the top singers of the day. Some themes have been more popular than others – Sheena Easton’s performance of Bill Conti’s “For Your Eyes Only” received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, Duran Duran and John Barry’s “A View To A Kill” topped the singles charts in America (the only Bond theme to hit #1), whereas Madonna’s theme for “Die Another Day”, despite being the best-selling Bond theme in nearly 20 years, was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song (2002) in addition to a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Duran Duran’s “A View To A Kill” topped the singles charts in US.

The main theme for Dr No is the James Bond Theme, although the opening credits also include an untitled bongo interlude, and concludes with a vocal Calypso-flavoured rendition of “Three Blind Mice” titled “Kingston Calypso” that sets the scene and is repeated throughout the film. Because of this, Dr No is the only film to have two opening themes.

Several of the later films have alternative theme songs, often during the closing credits. The Living Daylights (1987) featured The Pretenders performing “If There Was A Man,” composed by John Barry with Chrissie Hynde. Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) included KD lang’s “Surrender” during the closing credits, a song which was originally proposed by composer David Arnold to be the title sequence theme instead of the Sheryl Crow title song, but was replaced when the producers wanted a bigger name for the song. The “Surrender” theme is heard throughout the score while the melody of Sheryl Crow’s song is not used again during the film.

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) featured an instrumental theme tune, something which remains unique amongst the post-From Russia With Love Bond films, and included a vocal theme in the form of Louis Armstrong’s performance of “We Have All the Time in the World”, written by John Barry and Hal David.

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), For Your Eyes Only (1981) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) each resulted in alternative theme songs which were submitted to the producers, but never used. Alice Cooper’s alternative theme for The Man with the Golden Gun appeared on his 1973 album Muscle of Love while the Blondie version of For Your Eyes Only can be found on 1982’s The Hunter. Several artists, some of them already involved with David Arnold’s Shaken and Stirred Bond compilation project, were asked to submit theme songs for Tomorrow Never Dies. Pulp’s “Tomorrow Never Lies” – dating from a time when this was the film’s title – was released as a B-side on their 1997 single “Help the Aged”, and on the vinyl version of their 1998 album This is Hardcore. Another contender by Saint Etienne, entitled simply “Tomorrow Never Dies,” turned up on their Built on Sand album, with the liner notes revealing that Pierce Brosnan kept the master tape of the song. Other artists who submitted Tomorrow Never Dies themes included The Cardigans and Space. Sheryl Crow’s theme was ultimately used.

The originally intended theme song for Thunderball was entitled “Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” a reference to a nickname given to Bond by an Italian journalist in 1962. Halfway through the scoring process, it was decided that having a title song that wasn’t the name of the film would not work, so “Thunderball” was commissioned. “Mr Kiss-Kiss, Bang-Bang” still plays a prominent role in the score, however, the actual track sang by Dionne Warwick was not released till the 1990s.

Welsh singer Shirley Bassey has performed the most Bond themes – she recorded the themes to Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, and Moonraker. Bassey also recorded her own version of “Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” for Thunderball, but her version was replaced by Warwick’s rendition. Likewise, Bassey’s original recording wasn’t released until 1992 where both vocal renditions finally found their way onto a collector’s CD set.

An alternative but never used title song for You Only Live Twice, sung by Julie Rogers was also not released until the 30th anniversary of the cinematic James Bond and can only be found on this aforementioned CD.

Soundtracks:

1. Dr No
2. From Russia with Love
3. Goldfinger
4. Thunderball
5. You Only Live Twice
6. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
7. Diamonds Are Forever
8. Live and Let Die
9. The Man with the Golden Gun
10. The Spy Who Loved Me
11. Moonraker
12. For Your Eyes Only
13. Octopussy
14. A View to a Kill
15. The Living Daylights
16. Licence to Kill
17. GoldenEye
18. Tomorrow Never Dies
19. The World Is Not Enough
20. Die Another Day
21. Casino Royale
22. Quantum of Solace

See also:

• 007 Theme, The
• Bond films: Soundtrack
• Bond films: Suspense motif
• James Bond Theme