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Existing songs as part of Bond soundtracks

thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
edited February 2017 in Bond Movies Posts: 12,837
If a mod or anyone can think of a better title then please change it, I had no idea how to phrase it.

I was thinking today about the scene where London Calling plays in DAD and realised that and TLD are the only films of the franchise I can think of that used an existing song as part of the soundtrack (and not over the credits or anything).

How would we feel about them doing this more often? I don't mean for the title song or anything but just for a scene in the film.

Personally I'd be all for it. I think music can be used to great effect on film and on TV (Life On Mars was full of it, Breaking Bad's ending is also a good example). If overused it could feel cheap and tacky, and obviously a big part of Bond is the music so I wouldn't want to sacrifice much of the original scores, but the odd song could be used to great effect imo. I'm sure we've all listened to songs in the past and thought of Bondanian scenarios they'd fit wih
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Comments

  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 6,022
    You don't remember AVTAK ? Or MR ? Or TSWLM ? Or CR '67 ? There has been more than just two movies using existing songs as part of the soundtrack. Not always for the best, might I add.
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    Posts: 12,837
    Oh god, I think I must have repressed the AVTAK scene.

    Genuinely can't recall songs being used in TSWLM and MR though. I think the TLD one stuck out because of how it was brilliantly intergrated into Barry's score, and the DAD one did because it was a song I'm familiar with.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,264
    I must say, London Calling is my favourite in this respect. Well used indeed! I don't mind it, though it always takes some getting used to for me...
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    edited February 2017 Posts: 23,883
    thelivingroyale wrote: »
    Genuinely can't recall songs being used in TSWLM and MR though.
    There was the 'Lawrence of Arabia' theme in TSWLM, and the 'Magnificent Seven' & '2001: A Space Odyssey' theme in MR (not songs, I realize).

    I'm not too keen on the idea, lest it overcomes or overwhelms a scene. I'm thinking of some of the 80's films & tv shows that used this (Stallone used it a lot in Rocky as did Miami Vice). Tarantino does it a lot too.

    In moderation, it's ok, but there has to be a specific reason for it. The DAD example worked very well.
  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,045
    What is the existing song in TLD?
  • pachazopachazo Make Your Choice
    Posts: 7,314
    At this point, I'd rather have the whole soundtrack be filled with existing songs rather than have Newman return!

    I'm kidding, naturally. To answer the question though, I'm not opposed to it if used scarcely and fittingly, like the DAD example. Unfortunately, with today's over reliance on nostalgia, I could see it quickly getting out of hand.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited February 2017 Posts: 18,348
    vzok wrote: »
    What is the existing song in TLD?

    The Pretenders with 'Where has Everybody Gone?' plays throughout the film. They also did the end song 'If There Was a Man'.

  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,221
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    vzok wrote: »
    What is the existing song in TLD?

    The Pretenders with 'Where has Everybody Gone?' plays throughout the film. They also did the end song 'If There Was a Man'.

    My impression was that it was written for the movie. It also features on the soundtrack album.
  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    Posts: 4,348
    Of course Skyfall had 2 songs, "Boum" by Charles Trenet and "Boom Boom" by The Animals. And in OHMSS there was "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?" performed by Nina and someone whistles "Goldfinger" to himself.
  • bondjamesbondjames You were expecting someone else?
    Posts: 23,883
    GoldenGun wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    vzok wrote: »
    What is the existing song in TLD?

    The Pretenders with 'Where has Everybody Gone?' plays throughout the film. They also did the end song 'If There Was a Man'.

    My impression was that it was written for the movie. It also features on the soundtrack album.
    Yes, I would categorize this with Armstrong's We Have All The Time In The World. Both written specifically for the film. Same goes for Nina's song.
  • DaltonCraig007DaltonCraig007 They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."
    Posts: 15,723
    Just for fun: can Vijay playing the Bond theme on his flute and Bond recognizing it count as an 'existing' song used in a Bond film? This isn't your normal use of the Bond theme playing on the soundtrack, but it is actually being 'recognized' by characters inside the film.
  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,045
    There have been a fair few classical pieces used, if we are counting them as existing "songs".
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    edited February 2017 Posts: 6,432
    Themes from Lawerence of Arabia and The Magnificent Seven appear in TSWLM and Mr respectively, the latter worked less IMO.

    Barry took alot of inspiration from many great composers for MR a great soundtrack.

    I think DN vocal tracks were specifically written for the film, I may be wrong
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited July 2021 Posts: 18,348
    fire_and_ice wrote: »
    Themes from Lawerence of Arabia and The Magnificent Seven appear in TSWLM and Mr respectively, the latter worked less IMO.

    Barry took alot of inspiration from many great composers for MR a great soundtrack.

    I think DN vocal tracks were specifically written for the film, I may be wrong

    Yes, they were. You're not wrong. :)
  • talos7talos7 New Orleans
    edited February 2017 Posts: 8,255
    Just a Closer Walk with Thee" is a traditional gospel song that has been covered by many artists. Performed as either an instrumental or vocal, "A Closer Walk" is perhaps the most frequently played number in the hymn and dirge section of traditional New Orleans jazz funerals
  • DoctorKaufmannDoctorKaufmann Can shoot you from Stuttgart and still make it look like suicide.
    Posts: 1,261
    bondjames wrote: »
    thelivingroyale wrote: »
    Genuinely can't recall songs being used in TSWLM and MR though.
    There was the 'Lawrence of Arabia' theme in TSWLM, and the 'Magnificent Seven' & '2001: A Space Odyssey' theme in MR (not songs, I realize).

    I'm not too keen on the idea, lest it overcomes or overwhelms a scene. I'm thinking of some of the 80's films & tv shows that used this (Stallone used it a lot in Rocky as did Miami Vice). Tarantino does it a lot too.

    In moderation, it's ok, but there has to be a specific reason for it. The DAD example worked very well.

    There is also a cue from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: in MR the code to nget into the lab in Venice. But then, is this really a song? Of course CALIFORNIAN GIRLS from AVTAK comes to all minds. And there wer quite some incidental music in QOS (one can check on IMDB)... And in TSWL there are other muci pieces apart frm LAWRENCE OF ARABIA: JS Bachs AIR, Chopin's NOCTURNE, Mozart's PIANO CONCERTO No. 21.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    A couple of Jamaican songs to be added for NTTD. Does anyone feel compelled to make a full list for the series?
  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 6,022
    CR '67 : The theme from Born Free is used in the scene where the heads of intelligence gathering organizations arrive at the estate of Sir James Bond.

    And we hear a snippet of the song "What's new, Pussycat" during the Berlin scene.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,624
    Tomorrow Never Dies uses (I think) Piano Concerto 5 by Beethoven as part of its score.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,624
    I forgot TND also has music by Aurora and “It Had To Be You”, but those are both source music pieces and probably don’t really count as being what we’re talking about.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    edited March 2021 Posts: 13,940
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    A couple of Jamaican songs to be added for NTTD. Does anyone feel compelled to make a full list for the series?
    This is an interest of mine @Thunderfinger, I meant to do it eventually. I can execute an actor at a time.
    No Time To Die, I'm aware of
    • "Rastafari Way" - Teacha Dee
    • "Boom Shot Dis" - Kully B and Gussy G [not sure if it's in the film, but this song used in the promotional video is too good not to include]
    Expected for the dance club, the Spectre ballroom meeting.

    Casino Royale
    • "Linstead Market" - traditional, performed by Gary Troman.
    Quantum of Solace
    • "Zanmi" - Nickenson Prudhomme and Marc Lubin
    • "Business Before Pleasure" - George Akaze & His Augmented Hits
    • "24 È Tan Pou Viv" - Wyclef Jean and Jerry Duplessis
    • "Regresa" - Augusto Polo Campos; performed by Jaime Cuadra
    • "Cholo Soy" - Luis Abanto Morales; performed by Jaime Cuadra, Giancarlo Morocco and Luis Abanto Morales
    • "El Provinciano" - Laureano Martínez Smart; performed by Jaime Cudra and Luis Abanto Morales
      "10" - Antonio Pinto
    • Tosca - Giacomo Puccini; performed by Wiener Symphoniker (as The Vienna Symphony Orchestra), Britten Festival Chorus and Bregenz Festival Choir
    Skyfall
    • "Konyali" - Ensemble Hüseyin Türkmenler (from the album Turkish Bellydance)
    • "CNN Breaking News Theme #2" - Herb Avery
    • "Moonlight" - Jun Chen
    • "Boum!" - Charles Trenet
    • "Boom Boom" - John Lee Hooker; performed by The Animals
    Spectre
    • "Te He de Querer" (2000) - Alfonso Esparza Oteo (performed by Los Organilleros)
    • "La Llorona" - performed by Gloria de la Cruz, accompanied by Los Trobadores de Rogelia Gaspar
    • "Cum Dederit (Andante)" [Nisi Dominus (Psalm 126), R.608] - Vivaldi; performed by Andreas School, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer
    • "One Furtive Tear (L'elisir d'amore)" - G. Donizetti; performed by Geoff Love a& His Orchestra
    • "New York, New York" - John Kander & Fred Ebb; performed by Ray Quinn
    • "Libiamo ne'lieti calici" [La Traviata/Act 1] - Verdi; performed by Lcuiano Pavarotti, Dame Joan Sutherland, The London Opera Chorus, The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
    • "Virgin Cocktails" - Yann McCullough & Paul Chandler
    • "Call and Response" - lyrics by Bill Bernstein & Tambuco


  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    @RichardTheBruce , great job. One can always depend on you for this kind of thing.
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    edited March 2021 Posts: 13,940
    Well you light the fuse, @Thunderfinger.

    Here's the method I arrived at: check the screen credits; Wikipedia wasn't so useful but I tried a couple films; best source I found was IMDb (through Trivia, there is a soundtrack link). Also open to suggestions of course. And I used @mtm's Beethoven mention, not recorded elsewhere now verified. This site is also helpful: https://www.naxos.com/musicinmovies.asp


    Dalton and Brosnan.
    The Living Daylights
    • "Rule, Britannia!" - James Thomson (poem) and Thomas Arne (music); (performed by Timothy Dalton?)
    • Symphony No. 40 in G minor (1st movement only) - Mozart
    • String Quartet No. 2 in D major - Borodin
    • Cello concerto in B minor - Dvořák
    • Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) - Mozart
    • Rococo Variations - Tchaikovsky
    • Wein, Weib und Gesang! (Wine, Woman and Song!) - J. Strauss II
    • Les patineurs (The Skaters) - Waldteufel
    Licence to Kill
    • "Mexican Waltz" - Tony Tape (pseudonym of Gerhard Narholz) (1976)
    • Sonoton Musikverlag Andantino - Dick Walter
    • "Game Show" - Ray Davies
    • "Star Prizes" - Tony Kinsey (1982)
    • Für Elise - Ludwig van Beethoven
    • Lohengrin: Bridal Chorus - Wagner
    • "La Bamba" - Traditional
    • "Sacred Heart" - Christopher Blackwell

    GoldenEye
    • "Stand By Your Man" - Billy Sherrill and Tammy Wynette; performed by Minnie Driver
    • Preobrajensky March - Isaak Dunaevskiy
    Tomorrow Never Dies
    • "It Had to Be You" - Isham Jones and Gus Khan; produced and performed by Simon Greenaway
    • Symphony No. 3 (2nd Movement) - Beethoven
    • Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, "Emperor": II. Adagio un poco mosso - Beethoven
    The World Is Not Enough
    • [None identified]
    Die Another Day
    • "London Calling" - The Clash

  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    Posts: 16,624
    You missed this awesome track from Living Daylights :)

    https://www.dewolfemusic.com/search.php?id=18362780&code=eym2ev
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,940
    Well as Bond said regarding the three bezants--that is certainly a valuable bonus, @mtm, thanks.

    "Sacred Heart" - Christopher Blackwell. Added above. The Ghetto Blaster.


  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    edited March 2021 Posts: 13,940
    I'll also compare notes with the https://www.mi6community.com/discussion/15814/bond-film-statistics-10-bond-in-on-cars/p12 discussion.

    Open for corrections/additions.

    Here's some Moore.

    Live and Let Die
    • "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" - Traditional; arranged by Milton Batiste
    • "New Second Line" - Milton Batiste
    The Man With the Golden Gun
    • [None identified]
    The Spy Who Loved Me
    • Suite No. 3 in G Major, Air on a G String - Johann Sebastian Bach
    • Piano Concerto No. 21 'Elvira Madigan' Andante - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    • Nocturne No. 8 in D-Flat, Op. 27 No. 2 - Frédéric Chopin
    • Overture from Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - Maurice Jarre
    Moonraker
    • Raindrop Prelude (Opus 28, No. 15 in D flat Major) - Frédéric Chopin
    • Romeo And Juliet Fantasy Overture - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    • Tritsch-Tratsch Polka - Johann Strauss
    • Theme from The Magnificent Seven (1960) - Elmer Bernstein
    • Vesti la giubba from "Pagliacci" - Ruggero Leoncavallo
    • Also sprach Zarathustra (op. 30) - Richard Strauss
    • Tones from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - John Williams
    For Your Eyes Only
    • [Nothing identified]
    Octopussy
    • Entry of the Gladiators (Thunder and Blazes) - Julius Fucík; arranged by Edrich Siebert
    • "The Belle of Chicago" (1892)- John Philip Sousa; arranged by Edrich Siebert
    • "The Liberty Bell" (1893)- John Philip Sousa; arranged by Edrich Siebert
    • "Over the Waves" - Juventino Rosas; arranged by Edrich Siebert
    • "Dramatic Drumming" - M. Kansara
    • "Tom Tom Rhythms" - Sy M'Boko
    • "Clown in the Ring"(1966) - Keith Papworth
    • "Jubilee March" - Jack Trombey
    • "Spotlit Sequins" - Keith Papworth
    • "Dancing Plumes" - Keith Papworth
    • "Downtown Parade" - Keith Papworth
    • "Circus Circus Circus" - Paul Ruhland (1978)
    • "Gridiron March" - William Loose
    A View to a Kill
    • "California Girls" (1965) - Brian Wilson and Mike Love; performed by Gidea Park and The Beach Boys (1981)
    • The Four Seasons Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8: Autumn-Allegro - Antonio Vivaldi; performed by Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert
    • Swan Lake, Op. 20 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
    • The Four Seasons: Violin Concerto in E major, Op. 8, No. 1, RV 269, "La primavera" (Spring) - Antonio Vivaldi
    • The Four Seasons: Violin Concerto in F major, Op. 8, No. 3, RV 293, "L'autunno" (Autumn): III - Antonio Vivaldi
    • The Four Seasons: Violin Concerto in F minor, Op. 8, No. 4, RV 297, "L'inverno" (Winter): III. - Antonio Vivaldi
    • Wine, Women, and Song (Wein, Weib und Gesang) - Johann Strauss
    • The Marriage of Figaro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    • Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191 - Antonín Dvorák
    • Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky


  • PropertyOfALadyPropertyOfALady Colders Federation CEO
    Posts: 3,675
    Might I point out that California Girls is actually part of "California Gold" but yes, it is Gidea Park. That's off their 1981 self titled album Gidea Park.
  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,045
    Thanks @RichardTheBruce for all that information.
    Does anyone know whereabouts in TND those 2 Beethoven pieces are used?
  • RichardTheBruceRichardTheBruce I'm motivated by my Duty.
    Posts: 13,940
    PropertyOfALady wrote: »
    Might I point out that California Girls is actually part of "California Gold" but yes, it is Gidea Park. That's off their 1981 self titled album Gidea Park.
    Yes I want to absorb those corrections, appreciated @PropertyOfALady.

    Maybe identifying the DVD run time is the next level, @vzok. I'll be taking a closer look and adding Connery films this weekend.
  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,045
    Thanks @RichardTheBruce - it's great to be able to add all these tracks to the Bond playlist
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