Hi everyone,
I wanted to start a discussion on the remastering of Bond soundtracks that have yet been released in particular here, the Spy Who Loved Me soundtrack. I'm an owner of the original cd album which was good but almost the entire score is missing from the cd! What prompted me to start this forum after years of wishing was having just bought an expanded spy who loved me soundtrack for £15.00 only to find that it's a fake, badly recorded and put together. I admit I was pretty angry when it arrived. I felt like I had been cheated after the original description was both inaccurate and misleading, claiming to be an actual extended version. There wasn't a single extended track included and only dvd rips not to mention the inclusion of a duplicate track cleverly disguised under a different track title. This is shocking and someone should know about it.
So here's my thinking. Presuming the masters still exist, what would have to happen for the soundtrack to be professionally expanded and released either as a limited run or else wise?
Here is what we have and what we don't:
Original Album Released:
The Spy Who Loved Me Main Title Song
Bond 77
Ride to Atlantis
Mojave Club
Nobody Does It Better (Instrumental)
Anya
The Tanker
The Pyramids
Eastern Lights
Conclusion
Nobody Does It Better (End Titles)
What has never been released and missing from the current release:
Gunbarrel/Submarine Hijacked
Moscow/Anya's Musical Box/Lovers/Ski Chase
Over the Edge
Trible X's Debriefing
Stormberg's Atlantis/Traitor/Orders
Bond in Egypt
Pyramid Murder
Desert Truck Trail
On Jaws Trail
Broken Down Truck/Lawrence of Arabia Homage
Boat Romance/Microfilm
Temple Ruins/Opposite Number
Travelling by Train/Sardina Introduction
Travelling to Atlantis
Meeting Stromberg
Bike Chasing Lotus
Car Chase
Underwater Lotus/Sub Chase
Lotus on the Beach
The Tanker (Film Version)
Prison Break
Submarines Depart
Candid Camera/Breaking into the Control Room
Loading Torperdos
Bond to Enemy Ship/Stromberg's Demise/Torpedos Approaches
End Titles (Film Version)
I might have missed a few, let me know if you can think of anymore.
Alan
I'd love to see this soundtrack finally get the treatment it deserves.
Comments
Word of advice: avoid anything released on the Harkit label. All DVD rips with soud fx posing to be the real deal. They've already laid their stinkin' paws on Dr. No and From Russia With Love, since both scores have recently fallen into public domain.
Thanks Wint, any information would be useful.
I've never came across the Harkit label but will keep aware of it. I did recently two remastered albums for Dr No and From Russia with Love and was tempted to buy them but when I played the preview samples, I soon realised that the music was simply ripped from the cd. Better than nothing but not ideal.
I wasn't aware that the Dr No and From Russia with Love soundtracks had fallen into the public domain. I did a search on the US copyright registration database of records and many of the tracks had been renewed in 1990 though the music itself may have fallen into the public domain rather than the recordings. Anymore information on this would be interesting to know.
The link you sent Murdock was very impressive considering that the music is unofficial and I'm bewildered to how it was actually achieved. What I thought was most interesting was how many tracks were present that aren't even included on the album I just bought claiming to be extended. This fan made version is better alone. I'd love to see The Spy Who Loved Me remastered properly and also include the classical music used in the movie. Thanks for link!
Mod edit: Multiple posts merged into one.
I decided to put together my own compilation of this soundtrack using tracks from the original soundtrack released in addition to using the left and right rear channels from the ultimate edition DVD and other sources such as the expanded CD released unofficially combined together to try and recreate the entire SWLM soundtrack.
Here is my personal track listing which I've compiled:
Total Run-time: 1hr 36 mins and 9 secs.
01. Gunbarrel - 0.27
02. Submarine Hijacked (includes SFX, DVD Rip) - 0.16
03. Missing Submarine (DVD Rip) - 0.46
04. Ski Chase (DVD Rip with heavy SFX and missing opening few guitar notes) - 1.28
05. Ski Jump (DVD Rip) - 0.14
06. Main Titles (Film Version/DVD Rip) - 2.34
07. Tragic News (DVD Rip) - 0.45
08. Betrayal (DVD Rip) - 0.51
09. Underwater Atlantis (DVD Rip) - 1.23
10. Bond in Egypt (DVD Rip with SFX) - 0.31
11. The Pyramids (DVD Rip/Film Version) - 2.20
12. Conclusion (Original Soundtrack CD) - 1.31
13. Mojave Club (Original Soundtrack CD) - 2.15
14. Murder in the Club (Film Version/DVD Rip with SFX and Dialogue) - 1.32
15. Eastern Lights (Original Soundtrack CD) - 3.39
16. Arrival at the Ruins (DVD Rip) - 0.48
17. Trouble with Jaws (DVD Rip) - 1.25
18. Egyptian Builders (DVD Rip) - 0.18
19. Clapped Out (DVD Rip) - 0.34
20. Lawrence of Arabia (DVD Rip) - 0.45
21. Boat from Cairo (DVD Rip) - 2.35
22. Headquarters (DVD Rip with slight SFX) - 0.55
23. Train to Sardina (DVD Rip) - 1.02
24. Journey to Atlantis (DVD Rip with SFX) - 0.38
25. Meeting Stormberg (DVD Rip) - 1.04
26. Motorcycle Chase (DVD Rip) - 0.20
27. Uninvited Guest (DVD Rip) - 0.33
28. Underwater Battle (DVD Rip) - 2.40
29. Lotus at Beach (DVD Rip) - 0.58
30. Captured (DVD Rip with SFX) - 1.25
31. The Tanker (Original Soundtrack CD) - 4.26
32. Submarines Depart (DVD Rip with SFX and Dialogue) - 1.06
33. Prison Breakout (DVD Rip) - 0.46
34. Attack on the Control Room (DVD Rip with SFX) - 0.30
35. Diffusing the Bomb (DVD Rip) - 0.33
36. Breaking into the Control Room (DVD Rip) - 1.20
37. New Targets (DVD Rip with SFX) - 1.11
38. Tanker Explodes (DVD Rip) - 1.10
39. Stromberg's Demise (DVD Rip with Dialogue) - 1.07
40. Man Eats Shark (DVD Rip) - 0.51
41. End Titles (Film Version) - 1.41
42. Bond 77 (Original Soundtrack CD) - 4.22
43. Nobody Does It Better (Original Soundtrack CD) - 3.31
44. The Pyramids (Original Soundtrack CD) - 1.28
45. Anya (Original Soundtrack CD) - 3.22
46. Ride to Atlantis (Original Soundtrack CD) - 3.31
47. Nobody Does It Better Instrumental (Original Soundtrack CD) - 4.47
48. Bach - Air on the G String (Youtube) - 3.10
48. Piano Concerto No 21 (Youtube) - 6.43
49. Chopin Nocturne No 8 in D Flat Major Op 27-2 (Youtube) - 5.34
50. End Titles (Original Soundtrack CD) - 3.25
51. The Pyramids (Film Version Extended, DVD Rip with SFX and Dialogue) - 4.40
There's still a few cues missing from this list such as Anya's musical box, the entire car chase which I couldn't obtain at any level without simply capturing the audio from that scene. I think that now includes everything.
And the masters are not lost.
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By the way, touching on an earlier point, those DVD/Blu-Ray rips of the score have little sound deletion. The rear channels were already clean. It's damned difficult to get rid of a sound effect just with sound editing. If it's a subtle sound, EQ might help. If it's a loud gunshot, it's probably impossible to delete... with the technology we have today, anyway. There are no miracles in these sort of things.
I guess it was still the thing at that time to try and present a movie soundtrack album in a way that it would appeal to more than just soundtrack fans. That was certainly what the record company exec had in mind with his choice of tracks for the Dr No album.
Re-recording the tracks (as Hamlisch did here) was one way to make them sound less like incidental music.
Another favourite from the 60s and 70s was to include dialogue from the movie. I'm surprised that Bond didn't go down that route as there is so much quotable dialogue.
Oh, and on the point of using dialog on the soundtracks, please no. The 1966 Batman TV series soundtrack was almost completely ruined by that nonsense.