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Rejected Songs & Official Remakes & Rare Cover Versions

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  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,044
    mattjoes wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    mattjoes wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    mattjoes wrote: »
    John Barry's 1972 version of Diamonds Are Forever



    @Torgeirtrap

    Wonderful! Thanks @mattjoes - really enjoyed the sound of this one! Did a bit of research on Spotify after listening through the video, and found the same track on an compilation album (with several artists) called Music For Lounging.

    Here's a link for those who use Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4yp4mVErmp7McrKowLYLrf?si=iGtZXzICRUmi8hKTxmVXFQ

    Wonder if there's any other interesting Barry versions on Spotify…
    _______________
    Edit: I also found the George Martin LALD suite track discussed on the 'Last James Bond track or theme you listened to...' thread on Spotify:
    https://open.spotify.com/track/3MX3FONmE6GSGiVymXW88p?si=BRJ6_PDxQWWGp9tsetx9aw
    You're welcome, @Torgeirtrap! Here's the other Bond track John Barry did in Persuaders style, the 1974 version of We Have All the Time in the World:



    @vzok, I don't know the name of the album in which these tracks were originally released. My copies come from a 2001 album called Lounge Legends: (https://www.discogs.com/John-Barry-Lounge-Legends/release/1471120). I also know they were included in two 1991 compilations, titled The Best of John Barry (https://www.discogs.com/John-Barry-The-Best-Of-John-Barry/release/5521209) and The Very Best of John Barry (https://www.discogs.com/John-Barry-The-Very-Best-Of-John-Barry/release/3327565)

    I may have to do some further research in this matter, because I really want to know. As I said earlier, I do know DAF was released in 1972, and WHATTITW in 1974.

    I'll share the Alpine Drive theme later.

    Fantastic! Thanks again for sharing, @mattjoes!
    Did a search on Spotify for this particular recording of We Have All the Time in the World, but couldn't find anything. Some other recordings of the same song are there of course - Barry included.
    Yeah, it's pretty rare, it seems. I think it is likely that record labels preferred to include the more timeless orchestral version rather than this one in their compilation albums, which would explain its rarity. Though I do love both versions.

    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    My dad bought this record when I was a kid, and I got it from him later. Sadly it was stolen a Christmas in the nineties.Great versions of The Godfather and Also Sprach Zarathustra as well.

    Love the bassline intro.
    Love it. Thanks for sharing.

    ---

    @vzok, I did some further research and I think it's very likely the DAF track was originally released on this Polydor record. It features a version of DAF paired with This Way Mary, from Mary, Queen of Scots. I'm pretty sure the version of This Way Mary included was this one, which as you can hear, isn't orchestral like in the film, but instead has a similar sound to the version of DAF I shared. This rearrangement was probably done to give the theme more mainstream appeal. So it would make sense that both tracks on the record had the same type of arrangement.

    It's also possible, though not nearly as certain in my view, that the WHATTITW track was originally released on a 1974 album, also from Polydor, called Play It Again.

    I forgot to mention I knew the years of these particular versions of the themes (and also that they were from Polydor) thanks to the booklet of the Best of John Barry album, which I found online somewhere.

    Great research. Thanks.

    Hadn’t heard that version of This Way Mary before.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited July 2018 Posts: 17,756
    mattjoes wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    mattjoes wrote: »
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    mattjoes wrote: »
    John Barry's 1972 version of Diamonds Are Forever



    @Torgeirtrap

    Wonderful! Thanks @mattjoes - really enjoyed the sound of this one! Did a bit of research on Spotify after listening through the video, and found the same track on an compilation album (with several artists) called Music For Lounging.

    Here's a link for those who use Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/4yp4mVErmp7McrKowLYLrf?si=iGtZXzICRUmi8hKTxmVXFQ

    Wonder if there's any other interesting Barry versions on Spotify…
    _______________
    Edit: I also found the George Martin LALD suite track discussed on the 'Last James Bond track or theme you listened to...' thread on Spotify:
    https://open.spotify.com/track/3MX3FONmE6GSGiVymXW88p?si=BRJ6_PDxQWWGp9tsetx9aw
    You're welcome, @Torgeirtrap! Here's the other Bond track John Barry did in Persuaders style, the 1974 version of We Have All the Time in the World:



    @vzok, I don't know the name of the album in which these tracks were originally released. My copies come from a 2001 album called Lounge Legends: (https://www.discogs.com/John-Barry-Lounge-Legends/release/1471120). I also know they were included in two 1991 compilations, titled The Best of John Barry (https://www.discogs.com/John-Barry-The-Best-Of-John-Barry/release/5521209) and The Very Best of John Barry (https://www.discogs.com/John-Barry-The-Very-Best-Of-John-Barry/release/3327565)

    I may have to do some further research in this matter, because I really want to know. As I said earlier, I do know DAF was released in 1972, and WHATTITW in 1974.

    I'll share the Alpine Drive theme later.

    Fantastic! Thanks again for sharing, @mattjoes!
    Did a search on Spotify for this particular recording of We Have All the Time in the World, but couldn't find anything. Some other recordings of the same song are there of course - Barry included.
    Yeah, it's pretty rare, it seems. I think it is likely that record labels preferred to include the more timeless orchestral version rather than this one in their compilation albums, which would explain its rarity. Though I do love both versions.

    That's a likely reason, yes. Easy to enjoy this Persuaders styled version though - even more so if you like the series!
  • renno61renno61
    Posts: 157

    Poets of the fall cover of you know my name .
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    I'm away from my Bond music collection, so I can't upload the GF track yet (and a few others), but I wanted to share some tracks that are already online and belong on this thread.

    Shirley Bassey's Italian-language version of DAF. It's pretty great.


    A re-recording of Space March by John Barry. A bit of trivia: this track was included in at least two compliation albums, but in one of them, the fade out at the end is missing, so the orchestra keeps playing at the same volume and then stops suddenly and awkwardly.


    A re-recording of FRWL also by Barry. It was heard at the beginning of a Bond trailer-- I believe it was for the Bond 50 collection.


    ---

    That Eva Almer theme is pretty mediocre. The chord progression in the chorus sounds wrong to me.
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    edited July 2018 Posts: 10,591
    Does anyone actually have any more detail regarding the Eva Almer tune? The production of it seems so pedestrian to me, it's hard to believe it was actually considered.

    Also, who the hell is Eva Almer and how did she almost end up with the Bond gig?
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    edited July 2018 Posts: 7,021
    jake24 wrote: »
    Does anyone actually have any more detail regarding the Eva Almer tune? The production of it seems so pedestrian to me, it's hard to believe it was actually considered.

    Also, who the hell is Eva Almer and how did she almost end up with the Bond gig?
    From the YouTube comments section:
    Christian Wolf wrote:
    As some people have asked How it came to be that a somewhat unknown composer and artist from Sweden came so close in getting their song into the movie.
    Here is the story.
    First it was intended for Amy Winehouse to do the title song.
    They worked hard but in the end they came out dry due to her being so difficult to work with. Months before the premiere they still didnt have a title song and became distressed with this fact. In their desparation they reached out to several music agencies around the world in wich one of them I was attached at the moment.
    I simply got an email requesting a Bond song with the title Quantum of solace from my agency.
    Now I had an old song, back then called "Forever in Denial" that everyone told me was a Bond song so I rewrote it, reorchestrated it and rerecorded it as a demo with Eva.
    She wrote the lyrics after the directions we got from the mail, basing it on Bonds despair over loosing vesper and his intent for revenge. Brilliantly Eva used several lines from Casino Royale and Bonds own words in the lyrics.
    First I presented an instrumental version of the song but the agency told me it had to be complete with vocals and lyrics, so we worked hard for a cpl of weeks to be able to come up with the demo you now have.

    After presentation we got words of that they were very interested in the song and that they really liked it. Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months and I assure you I was biting my fingernails every day during this time.

    Then I got a mail from the agency that our song has hit the finals. Now it was between us and a cpl of others that the decision had to be made about.
    As I heard there was three or four contributions that they were chosing from and Ours was one of them. You cant get a better thrill than this. I was on needles for weeks before I got the notion that they went for Jack White and Alicia Keys.

    Now I dont think their song was bad at all, I just thought it wasnt what the company asked for in their initial mail. At the time I wanted to present Our contribution and let the masses file their judgement, So I made this video of the movies intro but with our music.

    I hope this clears out some of the questions regarding how it came to be...

    /Chris

    I don't buy it, myself. The Bond song is a piece of marketing. The song sells the film and the film sells the song. The Bond people were never going to hire an unknown like Almer, and they were never going to take the composition and hand it over to a famous singer. Any singer they hired would've refused to perform a theme they had no involvement in writing. Singers today have their own people, their own team that they work with. They can write a song. And even if they didn't do it themselves, they weren't going to accept a theme from a total unknown.

    I could be wrong, of course, but I find the explanation unlikely and highly questionable.

    Edit: Furthermore, worst case scenario, they could've asked David Arnold to write a theme. They didn't need go looking for outside people. Makes no sense.

    Edit 2: I can't believe all those people praising the Almer theme in the comments section, and saying it's better than Another Way to Die. Just because it sounds superficially Bondian, that doesn't mean it's good.
  • jake24jake24 Sitting at your desk, kissing your lover, eating supper with your familyModerator
    Posts: 10,591
    Interesting, thanks @mattjoes.

    Agreed regarding the theme. It's totally poor and seems more like a fan-made effort. AWTD is way superior, IMO.
  • Some_Kind_Of_HeroSome_Kind_Of_Hero
    Posts: 6,844
    Agree with you, @mattjoes, on both counts.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    (All arrangements by John Barry)

    Goldfinger suite, including Alpine Drive and Dawn Raid at Fort Knox. From a 1964 record.



    In the intro of Dawn Raid, I dig the bassoon/clarinet playing the three-note phrase at the end of each bar.

    ---

    From Russia with Love.



    I love this version!

    ---

    From Russia with Love. From a 1963 single by the John Barry Seven and Orchestra.



    It appears to be the same recording as above, only without the organ. I've had both versions for a while and I hadn't noticed!

    ---

    007 on electric guitar and with different percussion. From a 1963 single by the John Barry Seven and Orchestra.



    ---

    Thunderball instrumental.



    ---

    We Have All the Time in the World. From a 1969 single.



    The tambourine gives this version a more rhythmic feel. I prefer it to the film version, actually.

    ---

    Who Will Buy My Yesterdays? From 1970's Ready When You Are, J.B.



    The B-section (exclusive to this version) is gorgeous; some of Barry's most seductive work.

    ---

    Next time I'll post the 1970 version of Try, also from Ready When You Are, J.B. It's the only OHMSS theme from that album which isn't on YouTube.
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    John Barry's 1970 recording of Try, from Ready When You Are, J.B. It's mostly the same as the original, though the bass is more playful, and as one would expect, the improvised part is different, and it adds some fun piano figures.

  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,756

    For us punk fans.
  • GerardGerard
    Posts: 5,993
    Today, while storing my comics, I decided to put on my Meco Pop Goes to the Movies EP (Vinyl, bought in the 80s), and I found out that there were two Bond tracks in it. Listen, and you can't miss them :

  • vzokvzok
    Posts: 4,044
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited July 2019 Posts: 17,756


    Kim Wilde could have been a good choice for a Bond theme in the 80's.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
  • mattjoesmattjoes Julie T. and the M.G.'s
    Posts: 7,021
    I absolutely adore this instrumental version of YOLT by The Ventures. Brings out all that's beautiful about the song.

  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    Posts: 4,341
    Incredible hardrock take on the Goldfinger theme by guitarist Ben Monder (scroll down in article).

  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    edited January 2020 Posts: 4,341
    A new version of You Only Live Twice, by guitarist Bill Frisell and sung by his daughter Petra Haden. Stunning. Love the ending.

  • GerardGerard
    edited April 2020 Posts: 5,993
    Here's a version of "Diamonds Are Forever" I never expected to hear :



  • GerardGerard
    edited April 2020 Posts: 5,993
    For those not in the know : yes, that was Katherine Jenkins in the british edition of The Masked Singer. You know, I didn't think she would be a great fit for a Bond song, but after that, I'll have to eat my words.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    Posts: 17,756
    Hilarious seeing her perform Diamonds Are Forever dressed as an octopus. I don't think I've ever seen that show before.
  • GeneralGogolGeneralGogol
    Posts: 928
    Anyone else love making Bond-related playlists? I tried making a "completist" chronological playlist combining all the official themes, secondary themes, themes to unofficial films, and rejected/rumoured/alternative themes, plus a few other additions. Other than the official 25, so far my list includes:

    Kingston Calypso (Byron Lee)
    Jump Up (Byron Lee)
    Under the Mango Tree (Diana Coupland)
    Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Shirley Bassey)
    Casino Royale (Herb Alpert)
    The Look of Love (Dusty Springfield)
    Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown (Nina)
    TMWTGG (Alice Cooper)
    Make It Last All Night (Rage)
    For Your Eyes Only (Blondie)
    Never Say Never Again (Lani Hall)
    California Girls (The Beach Boys)
    Where Has Everybody Gone (The Pretenders)
    If There Was a Man (The Pretenders)
    This Must Be the Place I Waited Years to Leave (Pet Shop Boys)
    If You Asked Me To (Patti LaBelle)
    The Experience of Love (Eric Serra)
    The Juvenile (Ace of Base)
    Surrender (k.d. lang)
    Tomorrow Never Lies (Pulp)
    Only Myself To Blame (Scott Walker)
    Millennium (Robbie Williams)
    London Calling (The Clash)
    No Good About Goodbye (Shirley Bassey)
    Rain On Your Parade (Duffy)
    Supremacy (Muse)
    24 (Lana Del Rey)
    Man of War (Radiohead)
    Spectre (Radiohead)

    I'll also be adding some tracks from David Arnold's Shaken and Stirred album.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    edited August 2020 Posts: 4,247
    Great Compilation @GeneralGogol, I have them all( Except Rage's Make It Last All Night, Herb Alpert's Casino Royale & Scott Walker's Only Myself To Blame) in my Smartphone. I've always wondered what Pet Shop Boys would have done with a Bond theme, I think their above song was rumoured for TLD. Along with Depeche Mode, I also love Pet Shop Boys....I think they're both similar in style.

    Yeah, there are also great songs on Arnold's Shaken and Stirred album. I have them too.
  • mtmmtm United Kingdom
    edited August 2020 Posts: 16,383
    There was a song on Don Black's radio show last night by Dorothy Squires (once the wife of a certain megastar!) which had a rather familiar opening bar(!):



    Not sure what the story is there but it seems bloody cheeky! :D
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    I've always wondered what Pet Shop Boys would have done with a Bond theme, I think their above song was rumoured for TLD. Along with Depeche Mode, I also love Pet Shop Boys....I think they're both similar in style.


    I have heard this before, but to me this comparison is unfathomable. I love Depeche Mode as much as I loathe The Pet Shop Boys. I see no similarities whatsoever.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    I've always wondered what Pet Shop Boys would have done with a Bond theme, I think their above song was rumoured for TLD. Along with Depeche Mode, I also love Pet Shop Boys....I think they're both similar in style.


    I have heard this before, but to me this comparison is unfathomable. I love Depeche Mode as much as I loathe The Pet Shop Boys. I see no similarities whatsoever.

    Yeah, I know what you mean. Depeche Mode are darker, but Pet Shop Boys have a lighter style. But what I find similar in them is, they both sound futuristic. I love them a lot.
  • GeneralGogolGeneralGogol
    Posts: 928
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    I've always wondered what Pet Shop Boys would have done with a Bond theme, I think their above song was rumoured for TLD. Along with Depeche Mode, I also love Pet Shop Boys....I think they're both similar in style.


    I have heard this before, but to me this comparison is unfathomable. I love Depeche Mode as much as I loathe The Pet Shop Boys. I see no similarities whatsoever.

    Yeah, I know what you mean. Depeche Mode are darker, but Pet Shop Boys have a lighter style. But what I find similar in them is, they both sound futuristic. I love them a lot.

    I find DM to have produced by far the greatest number of Bondian-sounding songs without having recorded an actual Bond theme. Such a shame they never got a chance!
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    GeneralGogol wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    I've always wondered what Pet Shop Boys would have done with a Bond theme, I think their above song was rumoured for TLD. Along with Depeche Mode, I also love Pet Shop Boys....I think they're both similar in style.


    I have heard this before, but to me this comparison is unfathomable. I love Depeche Mode as much as I loathe The Pet Shop Boys. I see no similarities whatsoever.

    Yeah, I know what you mean. Depeche Mode are darker, but Pet Shop Boys have a lighter style. But what I find similar in them is, they both sound futuristic. I love them a lot.

    I find DM to have produced by far the greatest number of Bondian-sounding songs without having recorded an actual Bond theme. Such a shame they never got a chance!

    They were asked in 1999, but rejected the offer.
  • GadgetManGadgetMan Lagos, Nigeria
    Posts: 4,247
    GeneralGogol wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    GadgetMan wrote: »
    I've always wondered what Pet Shop Boys would have done with a Bond theme, I think their above song was rumoured for TLD. Along with Depeche Mode, I also love Pet Shop Boys....I think they're both similar in style.


    I have heard this before, but to me this comparison is unfathomable. I love Depeche Mode as much as I loathe The Pet Shop Boys. I see no similarities whatsoever.

    Yeah, I know what you mean. Depeche Mode are darker, but Pet Shop Boys have a lighter style. But what I find similar in them is, they both sound futuristic. I love them a lot.

    I find DM to have produced by far the greatest number of Bondian-sounding songs without having recorded an actual Bond theme. Such a shame they never got a chance!

    Yeah, huge shame! Depeche Mode would do a Bond theme in their sleep. All their songs have a Dark Bondian feel to them....But I think Violator is their Bondian sounding Album.
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