Part 001 -010

DR.NO

001 –  ‘Jump Up’ Bryon Lee and The Dragonaires (Recorded in June 1962, released on soundtrack LP in 1963) United Artists/reissued on Liberty.

We start off with the calypso party sounds of the Jamaican band Bryon Lee and The Dragonaires and their ‘Jump Up’ dancefloor classic. Bryon and his men would perform on most of the soundtrack – though most of this is unaccredited – and appeared performing this particular number to the sozzled, and mostly colonial, partygoers in key scenes from the Dr.No movie.

Trivia: Dr.No Soundtrack reached no.82 on American Billboard chart – US release of the film wasn’t until the 8th May 1963.

002 – ‘Opening credits of Dr.No.’ Monty Norman, John Barry and Bryon Lee and the Dragonaires (Recorded in 1962, only some of this appears on original soundtrack album released in 1963) United Artists/Liberty.

The original James Bond signature melds with the calypso theme, before finishing on the ‘Three Blind Mice’ opening film scenes. That infamous theme was originally attributed to Monty Norman, but was arranged by John Barry and played by his orchestra. Amazingly Barry was left unaccredited, and the argument over who actually wrote the movie world’s most iconic mnemonic still raged (there were numerous court cases and copyright injections) for years. Cheating to a point, the opening credits are actually made-up of three individual pieces of music.

Trivia: ‘Underneath The Mango Tree’ from the same soundtrack album, was performed by Monty Norman’s wife Diana Coupland.

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

003: ‘Girl Trouble’  John Barry (Recorded in March 1963) United Artists/ reissued on Liberty.

The slowly stirring tension of John Barry’s gypsy cat-fight score features teetering strings, rumbling Ben Hur-esque timpani and a sulking cello, to evoke a controversial spectacle. Barry would now dominate the Bond soundtracks for years to come, taking over completely from Monty Norman, who penned the original signature 007 themes on the first movie. Deciding to abandon his search for localised music played by authentic bands from the films setting, as Norman did with Dr.No, Barry conducted his own Turkish mood compositions.

Trivia: Soundtrack reached 39 in the UK, 27 on Billboard charts in the US.

004: ‘007 Takes The Lektor’ John Barry (Recorded in March 1963) United Artists/ reissued on Liberty.

Bounding along on rumbling timpani, and horn swells, the leitmotif Bond theme is taken on a majestic gliding action-packed segue way. You feel the triumphant energy and bravado ring out from the speakers on this booming orchestral score from the second Bond movie From Russia With Love.





GOLDFINGER

005: ‘Goldfinger (Instrumental)’  John Barry (Recorded in August 1964) EMI.




The swanky, jazz-lit, Shadows redolent version of the original Goldfinger theme is brimming with sassy bravado, and tops the Bassey version for me.

Trivia: The original UK soundtrack album is missing a lot of music from the final reel of the actual film; in 2003 the remasterd CD version included four of these missing tracks.

006: ‘Alpine Drive – Auric’s Factory’ John Barry (Recorded in August 1964) EMI.

Depending on where it’s listed, Alpine Drive is often also referred to as the Into Miami interlude; a piece of sassy music used in both segments. The swinging brass and alluded sexiness of John Barry’s instrumental motif is self-evident, ushering in 007’s entrance with a touch of jazzy haughtiness and charming candour.

007: ‘The Death Of Goldfinger/End Titles’  John Barry (Recorded in August 1964) EMI.

Barry riffs on his elegant, striking, sexy swaying Goldfinger theme tune, scoring a punctuated brass and cello death scene followed by the seductive charm and come-down of the final signature motif.

Trivia: Unbelievably, the Goldfinger soundtrack spent 70 weeks in the Billboard top 200 charts; bouncing around from its no.1 spot to the gradual fringes.

THUNDERBALL

008: ‘Mr.Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Alternate Main Title – Instrumental)’ John Barry/ co-written by Leslie Bricusse  (Recorded in 1965) Capitol.

Originally destined for the main title sequence and theme, ‘Mr.Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ – a salacious moniker conjured-up by an Italian journalist in 1962 for 007 –  was eventually usurped by the, ‘I knew Elvis’, Welsh crooner Tom Jone’s balled-out, ‘Thunderball’. The story goes that Barry couldn’t fashion a song to fit the Thunderball title and storyline, so embarked on creating this instrumental with the help of Briscusse; adding lyrics at a later date. Both Shirley Bassey and Dione Warwick recorded versions, but the studio insisted on Thunderball being in the title, so these were dropped and never released until the 1990s. Under immense pressure Barry quickly wrote the now eponymous theme tune with the help of lyricist Don Black, and the rest became history.

009: ‘Death Of Fiona’ John Barry (Recorded in 1965) Capitol.

Due to the circumstances surrounding the hastily re-written Thunderball theme tune, the tie-in soundtrack was compromised as Barry had already written various takes and vignettes centred on the original Mr.kiss Kiss Bang Bang motif. ‘Death Of Fiona’, a slinky bongos driven, sexy cha-cha-cha take with a thrust of feverish brass at the point of, was one of those varied riffs on the main envisaged titles.

YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE

010: ‘Capsule In Space’ John Barry (Recorded in April 1967) United Artists.

Space is deep, or at least evocative in this incidental piece of trepidation and menace, scored by John Barry for Bond’s fifth outing. Building timpani, strings and a searching piano point the way to the outer reaches of the atmosphere, perfectly capturing the shock and awe of Blofeld’s latest megalomaniac plot to start WW III.