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Last nights Bond music anniversary gala on BBC4

actonsteveactonsteve
edited December 2012 in News Posts: 1,492
Did anyone see this?

We did. We settled down with a Chinese takeaway and enjoyed all 1 1/2 hours of it. Hosted by Pushy Galore herself, Ms Blackman, looking like the Queen in all her jewells and makeup it was great from start to finish.

Carl Davis was the conductor and pretty much did them all from Dr No to the finale of Skyfall. He was helped by two vocalists Lance Ellington and Mary Carewe. Lance did well especially with TB, FRWL, and strangely enough TLD but it was Mary in full diva moder which shook the place up with some stunning renditions of LTK, FYEO, and the best rendition of MR I have heard outside of Bassey. I have started to reevaluate TWINE song now that it is not sung by Garbage. And her Skyfalll brought the house down.

If you have access to BBCiplayer below is the connection. But let us hope someone sticks it up on Youtube soon. More please BBC...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01p97hp/James_Bond_50th_Anniversary_Gala_Concert/
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Comments

  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    edited December 2012 Posts: 13,978
    I didn't think Carewe was all that good. I got more enjoyment of of the BBC Bond song archival footage afterwards. Watching Tom Jones belt out Thundeeeeeeerbaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllll in 1966, while the female audience toss their underwear at him. I know what that feels like, it happens to me every day.
    I also Sky+'d the John Barry interview that was shown first, but repeated after the archival documentary.
  • doubleoegodoubleoego #LightWork
    Posts: 11,139
    I only caught bits of it as I had to go out but can someone YouTube this? Also does anyone know if it will be repeated along with the archive stuff that was shown after?
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    edited December 2012 Posts: 9,117
    Just watching it on Iplayer now.

    Don't know who wrote Honour's commentary but there are some rather dubious moments.

    Firstly she states that OHMSS was a failure with not even a mention of George and then seems to suggest that the reason Brozza relinquished the role was due to injuries from - get this - doing all his own stunts?

    Presume everyone wanted a nice feel good evening so we are being treated to an airbrushed version of history. I'm assuming Nikki van Der Zyls invite got lost in the post!
  • actonsteveactonsteve
    Posts: 1,492
    TheWizardOfIce wrote:
    Don't know who wrote Honour's commentary but there are some rather dubious moments.

    Firstly she states that OHMSS was a failure with not even a mention of George and then seems to suggest that the reason Brozza relinquished the role was due to injuries from - get this - doing all his own stunts?

    "OHMSS a forgettable film with an unforgettable song" was what the script said.

    FYEO is "Rogers finest Bond film.." so the script got that right.

  • SuperheroSithSuperheroSith SE London
    Posts: 578
    actonsteve wrote:
    FYEO is "Rogers finest Bond film.." so the script got that right.
    Nope, LALD is.
  • Dalton12Dalton12
    Posts: 1,107
    SuperheroSith wrote:
    actonsteve wrote:
    FYEO is "Rogers finest Bond film.." so the script got that right.
    Nope, LALD is.

    Nope FYEO is.
  • Samuel001Samuel001 Moderator
    Posts: 13,355
    This was a great night of entertainment, though a pity about three of the themes were left out. Why not expand it to two hours?
  • thelivingroyalethelivingroyale
    Posts: 12,837
    Dalton12 wrote:
    SuperheroSith wrote:
    actonsteve wrote:
    FYEO is "Rogers finest Bond film.." so the script got that right.
    Nope, LALD is.

    Nope FYEO is.

    Nope, TSWLM is.
  • acoppolaacoppola London Ealing not far from where Bob Simmons lived
    Posts: 1,243
    TheWizardOfIce wrote:
    Just watching it on Iplayer now.

    Don't know who wrote Honour's commentary but there are some rather dubious moments.

    Firstly she states that OHMSS was a failure with not even a mention of George and then seems to suggest that the reason Brozza relinquished the role was due to injuries from - get this - doing all his own stunts?

    Presume everyone wanted a nice feel good evening so we are being treated to an airbrushed version of history. I'm assuming Nikki van Der Zyls invite got lost in the post!

    Maybe she was joking about the forgetability of OHMSS? Or it was sarcasm?

    I think George's name should have been mentioned especially as they used the music from his film. What harm would it do?

  • atophamatopham
    Posts: 5
    Just catching this on iplayer now, we saw Honor Blackman at the Sage in Gateshead last year for an evening of Bond music and this gala performance script seems to be virtually identical. Still great to listen to the music though :)
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    Samuel001 wrote:
    This was a great night of entertainment, though a pity about three of the themes were left out. Why not expand it to two hours?

    Especially considering NSNA somehow made the cut!!

    And what about Surrender?
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    TheWizardOfIce wrote:
    Samuel001 wrote:
    This was a great night of entertainment, though a pity about three of the themes were left out. Why not expand it to two hours?

    Especially considering NSNA somehow made the cut!!

    And what about Surrender?

    NSNA made the cut?? What the hell?

    Did Madonna's DAD feature too?
  • JWESTBROOKJWESTBROOK
    Posts: 5,745
    Is there any way someone can manage to download it and pass the link for us non-UK fans ;)
  • MalloryMallory
    Posts: 2,165
    @BAIN123

    Yes, as an orchestral. I was pretty decent, too.

    I thought it was great. Their version of Another Way to Die was also quite good, as was Skyfall. She had better diction than Adele.
  • actonsteveactonsteve
    Posts: 1,492
    Mallory wrote:
    @ Their version of Another Way to Die was also quite good, .

    Much to my surprise, it was...
  • grunthergrunther
    Posts: 158
    Also ...Sings James Bond on iplayer
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01p97hr/..._Sings_James_Bond/
  • grunthergrunther
    edited December 2012 Posts: 158
    goodbye @bond50.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,266
    Please, do not react to trolls, it doesn't help. Not everyone has been thought good manners.
  • Monsieur_AubergineMonsieur_Aubergine Top of the Eiffel Tower with a fly in my soup!
    edited December 2012 Posts: 642
    Loved the whole evening, was gutted to realise about an hour ago that last night it was repeated... in HD this time! Damn.
    Another Way To Die was my highlight, love the song anyway but seeing the arrangement was kind of special. It has that great 70's revenge flick dirtiness about it.
    I have now ripped the audio from my soundcard and committed to CD. :-)
  • fire_and_icefire_and_ice
    Posts: 6,432
    It had its moments though at times the female vocalist reminded me of Victoria wood.

    preferred the Friday night is music night: Bond and beyond with Kermode and Mayo which aired back in September.
  • BAIN123BAIN123
    Posts: 11,189
    Just started watching it on Iplayer now. If I hear the phrase "it will leave you shaken and stirred" one more time I'm going to scream. That, along with "Licence to Thrill" are the most over-used cliches in the media.
  • BondWillReturnBondWillReturn
    Posts: 816
    JWESTBROOK wrote:
    Is there any way someone can manage to download it and pass the link for us non-UK fans ;)

    This please :) I'd really love to see it

  • RogueAgentRogueAgent
    Posts: 12,526
    Me and my girlfriend went to see this show in Birmingham a couple of years back. Enjoyed it then too! There was no Skyfall obviously, instead we had the KD Lang song "Surrender"! which was sung brilliantly then too!
  • actonsteveactonsteve
    Posts: 1,492
    fire_and_ice wrote:
    It had its moments though at times the female vocalist reminded me of Victoria wood.

    r.

    She reminded me of a poundland Cilla Black.
    :D
  • SuperheroSithSuperheroSith SE London
    Posts: 578
    thelivingroyale wrote:
    Dalton12 wrote:
    SuperheroSith wrote:
    actonsteve wrote:
    FYEO is "Rogers finest Bond film.." so the script got that right.
    Nope, LALD is.

    Nope FYEO is.

    Nope, TSWLM is.

    Nope, LALD is.
  • seroxxseroxx
    Posts: 27
    Dear UK fans; could anybody with time and skill make a torrent of this great concert in a highest possible quality for all fans around the world?
    The concert was obviously really great and the arrangements of 2 songs found on youtube are very very well made.
    Thank you in advance for your effort!
  • rightsmartdanrightsmartdan
    edited December 2012 Posts: 38
    Ol' Lance forgot some of the words to Thunderball and so mumbled through the lines but even the mumbles were well sung. Shamefully, You Only Live Twice was missed out (yet The Look of Love and Never Say Never Again were there) but they had to draw the line somewhere. As it was, both Licence to Kill and Skyfall were the 12" versions with extra bars and chorus so they were really filling the time slot. I'd have rather dropped The Man with the Golden Gun as nobody can make this sound like anything other than the embarrassing, rushed, dated nonsense it is. It only works well when played as an instrumental in my opinion. You Know my Name and Die Another Day were done as medley versions using just the orchestra and both sounded amazing. Another Way to Die was cracking and it made me appreciate how good Skyfall would have sounded if it was sung by someone other than it's writer. What I thought was going to be a toe curlingly embarrassing event was actually bloody good and the rendition of the James Bond Theme that started it all was probably of the most faithful I've ever heard - and I've heard many, many covers. Even David Arnold hasn't yet managed to make it sound as good as this one did. Nothing was out of tune, the drums were very nearly spot on to the 1962 movie version and the energy was great. It's annoying everyone cops out and does that long Pink Panther-esque flourish as the last note and has since Arnold started doing it around 1997, I prefer the hard 'twang' full stop of the original. (Who doesn't prefer having a hard twang?) ;)
    Well worth a listen and makes me feel good about the licence fee repayment looming next month.
    As I've said elsewhere Never Say Never Again isn't the most thrilling of songs but put it this way, it has more key changes than You Know My Name and the lyrics are really quite interesting: you can't say that about A View to a Kill.
  • TheWizardOfIceTheWizardOfIce 'One of the Internet's more toxic individuals'
    Posts: 9,117
    rightsmartdan wrote:
    Ol' Lance forgot some of the words to Thunderball and so mumbled through the lines but even the mumbles were well sung. Shamefully, You Only Live Twice was missed out (yet The Look of Love and Never Say Never Again were there) but they had to draw the line somewhere. As it was, both Licence to Kill and Skyfall were the 12" versions with extra bars and chorus so they were really filling the time slot. I'd have rather dropped The Man with the Golden Gun as nobody can make this sound like anything other than the embarrassing, rushed, dated nonsense it is. It only works well when played as an instrumental in my opinion. You Know my Name and Die Another Day were done as medley versions using just the orchestra and both sounded amazing. Another Way to Die was cracking and it made me appreciate how good Skyfall would have sounded if it was sung by someone other than it's writer. What I thought was going to be a toe curlingly embarrassing event was actually bloody good and the rendition of the James Bond Theme that started it all was probably of the most faithful I've ever heard - and I've heard many, many covers. Even David Arnold hasn't yet managed to make it sound as good as this one did. Nothing was out of tune, the drums were very nearly spot on to the 1962 movie version and the energy was great. It's annoying everyone cops out and does that long Pink Panther-esque flourish as the last note and has since Arnold started doing it around 1997, I prefer the hard 'twang' full stop of the original. (Who doesn't prefer having a hard twang?) ;)
    Well worth a listen and makes me feel good about the licence fee repayment looming next month.
    As I've said elsewhere Never Say Never Again isn't the most thrilling of songs but put it this way, it has more key changes than You Know My Name and the lyrics are really quite interesting: you can't say that about A View to a Kill.

    I heartily agree with you on the twang. I'm not an Arnold hater like some but it does irk me that the twang seems to have been lost forever.
  • seroxxseroxx
    Posts: 27
    It's available online in a DivX format, not HD but still good, sound is good, a great concert, very groovy :-) !
    If you google, you may find it!
  • bobpbobp
    Posts: 8
    I was at the concert itself and it was absolutely brilliant to hear it live.

    BBC4 did not transmit the entire concert and after the Skyfall theme, whereas the tv broadcast finishes there was actually an encore that consisted of both You Only Live Twice and Surrender which brought the house down. The audience gave it a standing ovation and well deserved.

    Honor Blackman introduced Surrender by saying that most cinemagoers may not have heard this originally at the end of the film as they most probably were in a rust to exit the cinema as soon as the end titles started and that they had missed one of the best Bond songs. It was fantastic for Surrender to finally get the recognition it deserves.

    The theme for OHMSS was played just before We Have All the Time in the World and the only theme that was not played was Sheryl Crows Tomorrow Never Dies.

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