Two things:
(1) Over the past several months I've been filling in some holes in my Bond soundtrack collection. I'm not all the way there yet, but I've now got an unbroken run of Dr. No through License to Kill. That run also happens to comprise the Bond films I had in my childhood and high school. Listening to each of them over the last few months has triggered more than a few memories; this music is in the background of all my memories. Which I suppose is true of any music that you heard a lot, growing up, wherever you are and whatever it is; it's something more than nostalgia, it literally is the soundtrack of your life despite not having been designed to actually be that.
Is this a Captain Obvious intro? You should have seen the one I wrote and deleted about puberty and the "torrents of spring." No need to thank me. Anyway, I'm unbelievably fortunate mine was Bond. And the whole of John Barry's Bond at that, which, to appropriate what James Michener said of his own upbringing with opera, is its own "make-believe world, reserved for us lesser types who can anesthetize our sense of reason, betraying an inability to separate common sense from reality. I have been damaged, in some ways, by my fixation on (Bond), for it has helped to delude me into seeing human experience in a more dramatic form than facts would warrant; it has edged me always closer to romanticism and away from reality."
(2) I used to love making mixtapes in the 90s, and the high point of my mixmaking was likely when I lived in Dayton 1996-1999. I had my stereo hooked into both the 4-track and my roommate's laser disc player, and I spent many a smoky hour huddled over them with the headphones on, changing discs, running dialogue over music, mixing it all up, etc. Most of these sonic experiments no longer exist (unfortunately), but I enjoyed making them. It wasn't enough to give someone a tape with music; it had to have some mash-up of Simpsons dialogue, music, and/or what-have-you.
This sort of thing aside, though, the more traditional mixtape was made by simply arranging two complementary playlists within 45-minute boundaries. (To paraphrase Sepp Herberger, "the ball is round, the game lasts ninety minutes, and everything else is just theory.") If you could communicate some sense of yourself through the selections, or compartmentalize a band or genre for the listener, all the better.
Which brings us to the point of today's festivities:
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| The Ultimate |
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| 007 Mixtape |
I doubt anyone could truly condense the James Bond Experience onto two 45-minute sides, especially using only the soundtracks up to License to Kill. But even if such a thing were possible, I didn't do it here; the title is pure Stan Lee. (What am I going to do, call it "The Not-So-Band Bond Mixtape?" Walk don't run for your very own copy!) I wanted it to be more than a collection of Bond tunes; my goal was to leave the proverbial never-been-to-Earth-before listener with some sense of what the franchise feels - and certainly sounds - like. Tell me how I did or what you'd have done differently in the comments.
I created a YouTube playlist for all this, and you can (hopefully) find it here. The links will undoubtedly open unto "This Video Was Removed" verbiage somewhere down the line anyway. So it goes. If you send me a blank cassette and postage paid, I'm happy to personalize your own copy. (I might even send it back!)
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| Art is not eternal. |
Most screencaps
Now... You've unwrapped your blank cassette, hooked everything up, and have lined up all the soundtracks on CD and all the movies on laser disc to meticulously pause-record the dialogue where indicated. You're ready to begin.
SIDE ONE
(Gunbarrel music from your film of choice followed by audio from Moonraker:)
"Mr. Bond, you defy all my attempts to plan an amusing death for you."
1.1. "A View to a Kill" - Duran Duran and John Barry. 4:02
(A View to a Kill, 1985)
Who wrote this bass line, Barry or them? The liner notes for the soundtrack tell us the composer helped "unify" the band's musical ideas and that he supplied the arrangement. It's killer, though.
Andy Taylor was, like all sensible people, a huge Barry fan with an encyclopedic knowledge of his career. You can hear some of this influence of John Barry on Duran Duran's first few albums. ("Tel Aviv", for example, or "Save a Prayer" minus those Nintendo arpeggios. Or actually - replace the Nintendo with orchestral strings and the Barry comes through clearly.)
1.2. "Into Miami" - The John Barry Orchestra. 0:57
(Goldfinger, 1964)
Perfection. Short and sweet. Too short, goddamnit. Every plane landing in Miami or every taxi leaving the airport should have to play this.
1.3. "Fillet of Soul - New Orleans / Live and Let Die" - George Martin and Friends / B.J. Arnau. 3:20
(Live and Let Die, 1973)
I was unable to find a link to the first part of this, but here is B.J. Arnau's cover of the title track. Your hypothetical mixtape audience might resent your not giving them the straight-up McCartney version, but a) this version's awesome, b) it's what this part of the mixtape needs, and c) who the hell doesn't have McCartney's version? Give me a break. If you don't have it, you don't want it.
Anyway, the other stuff sure sounds like vintage 70s McCartney to me. Got that same sort of groove as something like "Letting Go." Apologies I can't link to it; it's track 8 on the soundtrack.
1.4. "We Have All the Time in the World" - Louis Armstrong. 3:10
(On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969)
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| "Nobody chooses when." |
1.5. "007" - The John Barry Orchestra. 2:37
(From Russia with Love, 1963)
The other James Bond theme. Did it ever sound cooler than it does here? Probably not. We'll see it again on Side 2, though, from a different movie. And speaking of cool:
1.6. "Goldfinger (instrumental)" - The John Barry Orchestra. 2:10
(Goldfinger, 1964)
Man! That discordant break around the one-minute mark (and especially the return of the theme right after it with those short high string accents) is just cool as hell. I believe if you look this song up in the Big Book of James Bond, the text reads something like "At least 50% of the explosive popularity of the Bond franchise in the early-to-mid-60s was due entirely to these four or five seconds in John Barry's composition."
If I do say so myself - and this is the magic of mixtapes, friends - that segue from the end of "007" into the beginning of "Goldfinger (instrumental)" is pretty awesome.
(Audio from Goldfinger, because you kinda have to:)
"You expect me to talk?"
"No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die."
1.7. "Hip's Trip" - The John Barry Orchestra. 3:23
(The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974)
This music has been in my head - particularly when I'm by myself in a warehouse or dockside setting, particularly near my old place in Providence, RI - since I was a kid. Doesn't seem to be going anywhere soon.
(Audio from The Trip:)
"Come, come, Mister Bond..."
For those of you who haven't seen it, The Trip is a series of six half-hour episodes starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as themselves on the (fictional) assignment of reviewing the restaurants of culture of northern UK (series one), Italy (series two), and Spain (series three.) They have many escalating impersonation competitions, and Rob in particular can't stop trying to out-do Coogan's Roger Moore impersonation, culminating in a pivotal scene in the last episode of series three.
I probably wouldn't use all of that link, just some portion of it.
1.8. "Over and Out" - The John Barry Orchestra. 2:06
(On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969)
Something about the combination of this title and this music makes this a pop art masterpiece for me. It's a cool piece of music all of its own, but there's something communicated by that title that I just can't put into words. This whole two minutes and six seconds is very trance-y and existential for me.
1.9. "Jump Up" - Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. 2:09
(Dr. No, 1962)
Ah, the old sudden switcheroo of mood or production - the stuff of mixtape glory. I'll have more to say on Dr. No when we get to Side Two.
1.10. "Flight Into Space" - The John Barry Orchestra. 6:32
(Moonraker, 1979)
I must have watched this mash-up of ISS footage scored to this song two dozen times in the past ten days. Not only does it accentuate the majesty of the music - though it does that quite wonderfully - it turns down the volume on a lot of the inessential effluvium of day-to-day nonsense. Just John Barry and the ISS and the whole iceberg-of-what-that-entails-just-underneath-the-waves-of-awareness. Forgive the "blaaow!"ness, but this is hopeful and deeply centering stuff, my friends.
1.11. "Bond Lured Into Pyramid" - The John Barry Orchestra. 2:08
(Moonraker, 1979)
Barry's most beautiful composition? Definitely in the running. A masterpiece. The music is so wonderful, in fact, that it actually manages to pave over the absurdity of the sequence for which it was scored. It would take a movie as exquisitely ridiculous as Moonraker and a scene as wtf-tastic as Bond Lured Into Pyramid (and Fight With Python!) to prevent the immediate and overwhelming acknowledgement of this as some of the sweetest music ever arranged.
1.12. "If There Was a Man" - The Pretenders. 3:00
(The Living Daylights, 1987)
Another fine segue, if I do say so myself. This re-purposing of Barry's waltz ("Into Vienna" - or perhaps one grew from the other? Not sure) really grew on me after repeat listenings.
1.13. "Oddjob's Pressing Engagement" - The John Barry Orchestra. 3:08
(Goldfinger, 1964)
Is there a tad passive-aggressiveness in this title? I can hear Goldfinger saying it sarcastically, perhaps forever needling his assistant about that one time he had to call off work for the afternoon and he never lets him forget it. "Oh, is this another pressing engagement, Oddjob??"
This is a fun piece of music, and it hallmarks Barry's ease with weaving the theme song through the traditional Bond soundscape. Speaking of:
1.14. "Wine with Stacey" - The John Barry Orchestra. 1:55
(A View to a Kill, 1985)
Exactly.
1.15. "End Title - The Man with the Golden Gun" - Lulu with the John Barry Orchestra.
(The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974)
I'd probably start this song here for inclusion here. That's the 1:51 mark in case I failed to cue it up right. As much as I love the beautiful treatment of the melody in the first few minutes, a quick check of my calculator for times here (and factoring in at least a minute or so for the audio samples and what not) I might be over the limit.
Also, the first part of "End Title" is kind of repetitive to "Wine with Stacey," not for its content but for end-of-side-one purposes.
SIDE TWO
(Audio from Moonraker: "His name's Jaws; he kills people." Followed immediately by the crescendo of the Jaws theme (1975, i.e. John Williams) with screams and what not. That's the sort of thing I liked to mix together on mixtapes.)
2.1 "Ride to Atlantis" - Marvin Hamlisch. 3:34
(The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977)
I always remember this one as a little better than it actually is. Is it that it goes on too long? Or fails to develop into much more than a cool couple of phrases? (Phrases which remind me more and more of the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme, or like a different-key almost-cousin of the theme. It's hard to explain, but the more I listen, the more I hear it.) Nevertheless, it's a good side 2 opener and has its charms. Here's a pretty classy arrangement by the Prague Philharmonic.
(More audio from The Trip: From "Come, come, Mister Bond..." through Rob's death gasps.)
2.2 "Tanaka's World" - The John Barry Orchestra. 2:09
(You Only Live Twice, 1967)
I think this one needed a little buffer between it and "Ride to Atlantis." It's such a tense dreamscape. From the moment I thought of this mix, it was songs like this I wanted to showcase. The variations in the repeating flute melody are wonderful and add to the tension.
2.3 "The Man with the Golden Gun" - The Ventures. 3:16
(Now Playing, 1975)
(Now Playing, 1975)
You're probably thinking I'm over-representing this one. And you're right - I mean, it's hardly the song of the franchise or anything and here it is, appearing twice, in some fashion. But this is a hell of a cover. Such swagger! Squinting and nodding by a fireplace in some Scottish caste with a tumbler of Scotch by the armchair.
2.4 "The Venerable Sir James Bond" - Burt Bacharach. 2:21
(Casino Royale, 1967)
I'd probably only include the first 45 or 46 seconds of this one. I've told the story almost anytime the 60s Casino Royale comes up, but I saw this on cable my junior year in high school and could never place the song in the years after.
2.5 "Diamonds Are Forever (Bond and Tiffany)" - The John Barry Orchestra. 3:39
(Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)
Barry at his Henry Mancini-iest, perhaps. I love this one. Beautiful arrangement, absolutely masterful use of the orchestra. It doesn't get much smoother than when the string sections weave the main title theme around itself about halfway in. Then back to the tension. The soundtrack is about eighty times better than the film; that ratio is unique to Diamonds Are Forever, I think.
2.6 "Slumber, Inc." - The John Barry Orchestra. 2:22
(Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)
This is the kind of stuff that I used to love to put on mix tapes. I'd almost leave it off this particular one, as I don't think it's pivotal Bond by any means. But I like it as a segue between the previous and:
2.7 "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" - Shirley Bassey and John Barry. 2:29
(Thunderball, 1965)
I bet you were wondering if there were going to be any vocals on Side Two! Wonder no more. "He can soothe you like vanilla / the gentleman's a killer." Pretty awesome.
2.8 "To Hell with Blofeld" - The John Barry Orchestra. 5:09
(Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)
I'd probably lose the first two-minute-forty of this one. I don’t like making such edits and wouldn’t do them lightly, but it’s really the re-statement of the Bond theme(s) here, and the heroic Bond-on-horseback feel of the “007” reprise that I like for this part of Side 2.
Plus "To Hell with Blofeld" is a great thing to write into the track titles on the back of the tape. I almost included "Arrival at the Island of Octopussy" and "Search for Vulcan" for the same reasons - plus, they're great tunes. But neither made the final cut, alas.
2.9 "Closet Romantic" - Damon Albarn. 3:06
(Trainspotting soundtrack, 1995)
I’ve always loved this tune. This part, especially, and all after. It’s possible this is a misstep, but it seemed to fit with each batch of tunes I tried out. (You should see my scratch-pad - it'll be in the Dog Star museum, along with the Springsteen and Captain's Blog spreadsheets and other memorabilia.)
(Audio: "Okh-toh-puss-y, Okh-toh-puss-y" by Louis Jourdan, followed by some kind of "pussy" medley from Goldfinger and then eventually back to Octopussy for the "Jay-mes!" and swooning soccer moms saxophone of the very end of the film. I might even have run all of this simultaneously through the 4-track and had one track with the "Heave!" rhythm. Or maybe some wakka-wakka fuzztone guitar. I'm not saying this is top drawer work, here, but the mix I "hear" in my head for it might be the right bridge between the above and:)
2.10 "The Sniper Was a Woman" - The John Barry Orchestra. 2:16
(The Living Daylights, 1987)
A woman!! A woman. Good stuff, though. This is a subtle tune, but it's really very, very metal. That low-strings riff is so awesome. Everything builds so perfectly cinematically here. John Barry: often imitated, seldom matched, hardly ever improved. This is a fitting "Here's how you do it" for his final outing as Bond composer.
(Audio: Drax's speech to the troops from near the end of Moonraker. Possibly even overlaid so it plays over the first minute of:)
2.11 "007 and Counting" - The John Barry Orchestra. 3:31
(Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)
Is it odd that there's so much Diamonds Are Forever on here but not the Shirley Bassey main title? Probably. Who's going to argue with music this cool, though? People are so goddamn ungrateful.
2.12 "Chateau Flight" - The John Barry Orchestra. 2:30
(Thunderball, 1965)
I'm not convinced this is really the best spot for this song, but a) I had to get it in here, and b) it has that whole explosive second half, so that makes it an easier segue.
2.13 "Underneath the Mango Tree #1" - Byron Lee. 2:45
(Dr. No, 1962)
Outside of the main theme (and "007") this is the tune, oddly enough, that I think of when I think James Bond. This is undoubtedly the result of watching Dr. No so much on VHS. Here's some behind-the-scenes-bullpen McMayhem for you: the first Bond film I (probably) saw was For Your Eyes Only, on VHS, in 1982. But around the same time, Moonraker was playing for some reason at the movie theater on Rhein Main Air Force Base, and my Dad and I saw it. (He took me out of the theater during one of the sex scenes - I remember standing awkwardly by the cinema doors - but not for the dobermans-maul-Corinne-Dufour scene.) The following year, we had Octopussy on VHS before it ever got to our theater in Germany, and in-between, I watched Dr. No a gazillion times.
So what's my first / intro Bond film? I'm not sure. It feels like Dr. No more than than the other three, but the jury's been out since the 80s. The wheels of justice have rusted on this one. We'll probably never know.
2.14 "From Russia with Love (Main Titles)" - the John Barry Orchestra. 2:29
(From Russia With Love, 1963)
If I had a favorite Bond movie in high school, this was it. Before I ever had the soundtrack, I had held up a recorder to the TV so I could get the theme from when Bond checks into the hotel. If I didn't love these main titles so much - particularly the way the main Bond theme comes back with the gong and orchestral guns blazing, towards the end - that would be the part, dialogue included, that I'd include here.
Originally, I thought Matt Monro's main theme would be better here, but I tried the flow of songs with the main titles and liked it better. Sorry, Matt.
(Audio from The Cannonball Run: "Wait'll I tell my friends I was sitting next to
George Hamilton."
"George Hamilton?!")
2.15 "Nobody Does It Better (Instrumental)" - Marvin Hamlisch. 4:47
(The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977)
So soundtrack-y! But a really wild arrangement. Crank this, and you can really feel your body responding to it. The whole thing seems like a simulation, actually, of physical stimulation: what it sounds like when hairs stand on end, blood circulates, heart races, gasping intakes of breath, etc. If they used this in medical schools to help simulate the inner workings of the body for aspiring surgeons, it'd make sense.
Also a nice end to the tape. I think it's kind of an unexpected one, don't you? But feels right/ nice. Sweet dreams, Mr, Bond.
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Now let’s talk about some tunes that didn’t make the cut, and let's just do these in chronological order of the series (up to License:)
Dr. No: Originally, this mix ended with "Love at Last", and the earliest list I made had "Audio Bongo" (which is the kind of thing that works well when dropped into the middle of a side).
I mentioned the Matt Monro theme from FRWL already, but ditto for almost every main-title theme. I just figured those are already so well-represented; I wanted this to be more of a deep-cut sort of mix. Plus, most of the main-title-themes are represented - their melodies, anyway - in the other cuts. (You can see my favorites least-to-most of the big crooner Bond themes here.)
Goldfinger: "Dawn Raid on Ft. Knox" would definitely make the follow-up. Some would think me crazy for not including it here, but I figured I already had the motifs represented in "Goldfinger (Instrumental)" and this one's almost 6 minutes. That's a lot of side-time.
The second half of the Thunderball soundtrack (tracks 13 through 16) is pretty awesome/ dreamy and always makes me think Bond Opera. If Thunderball was ever set to stage, its overtures are well taken care of, though I suppose that goes for all of them. Anyway I would definitely be dipping into these for the follow-up. (Of course there'd be a follow-up! This would have been the cover story of MixTape Monthly, FFS.)
You Only Live Twice: All but the final incarnation of my playlist had "Fight at Kobe Deck - Helga" on side one. When it came time to remove tracks for busting the 45-minute ceiling, though, I felt this side of the Bond soundtrack catalog was better covered elsewhere. Still a cool piece of music, though. Love the way the main title theme comes blasting back with the horns as the guitar and percussion do their thing behind it.
In addition to either the main titles theme or the boblsed chase music, I'd definitely find room for "Try" from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. If only for that wicked Ron Burgundy jazz flute solo.
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| Stay classy, Sir Hilary. |
I figured we already had Bond-Mancini represented, though, so I made room for others. "Gumbold's Safe" is of course genius, but between it and "Over and Out," I picked the latter. Doesn't make it better, just more mixtape-accessible, I think.
Diamonds Are Forever: "Moon Buggy Ride" is pretty startling as a standalone piece of music. But there was already enough DAF on here. What a dumb scene, but the music is interesting, particularly when they start playing around with the motif, which is almost Zappa-esque.
Live and Let Die: "San Monique" (either of them.) Here's a fun version.
The Spy Who Loved Me: "Mojave Club" is a fun one, but I never had that on my playlist for this one. "Bond 77," though, I very much did. But it proved expendable in the final running. I used to listen to this one "Best of the Bond Themes" cassette my brother had, and this was the first track. I used to just rewind it after it was done and listen to it again; I don't know if I ever got to the other ones.
For Your Eyes Only: You might have noticed this one isn't represented at all. I think this is because it's such a uniquely self-contained soundtrack experience for the Bond films. I love it, but it's one of those "I either put all of it or none of it" situations for me. Maybe if the follow-up was a success (or needed a lot of extra tunes), I'd find a way to put everything from it on there.
I mentioned "Arrival at the Island of Octopussy" up there, but "Bond at the Monsoon Palace" is pretty awesome, too. (Kinda’ similar to “Over and Out”/ “Gumbold’s Safe” actually. From the same part of the composer’s brain.) Can't seem to find the soundtrack cut (track 6) on youtube, but you can sort of hear it here.
A View to a Kill: I had "He's Dangerous" on here up until the last minute. But I just don't love it enough to make it fit. I like it fine (particularly its 80s-guitar theatrics) it was more a good segue-track but turned out I didn't need it.
The Living Daylights: "Ice Chase" is a pretty cool way to 80s up the theme/ business. Goes on a bit too long, though. Still, it'd make a good one for the follow-up. Ditto for "Kara Meets Bond," which is a lovely composition. I think I felt this sort of thing was already represented well enough with the ones I chose, but I do love it.
License to Kill: This soundtrack is kinda meh, but I kept trying to work the Gladys Knight title theme in there. That one appeals to me as an adult but never would have appealed to me as a kid/ young adult. I had to get this one on cassette, which was interesting, as I wasn't able to tell which songs were which on Side 2, as they all run together. But, I probably wouldn't have picked anything from it anyway.
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