A cryptic message from the past sends James Bond on a rogue mission to Mexico City and eventually Rome, in the new 007 movie 'Spectre'.
As secrecy shrouds the artist behind the theme song for Spectre, Neil McCormick looks at the formula for making it a cinematic hit.
A new James Bond song is about to be unleashed upon the world. The theme tune to Spectre has been recorded in conditions of secrecy more associated with the spy trade than the music business.
Rumours abound about the identity of the latest stars granted a licence to thrill. Will it be experimental rock group Radiohead keening ominously about the end of the world? Or Ellie Goulding vamping it up? Other names in the frame include British soul singer Sam Smith, moody teenage star Lorde and dramatic art rockers Florence + the Machine.
Such is the hype around the Bond theme that last week, following big wagers on Radiohead and Goulding, bookmakers William Hill suspended betting. It is hard to think of any other movie where a title tune could provoke such intrigue. But then, no other film franchise is as inextricably linked with pop music.
Over 53 years and 24 official Bond movies, the title sequences have provided an opportunity for music's biggest stars to sing paeans to a cold-blooded assassin. On the face of it, James Bond is an unlikely pop icon. He is an old-fashioned heroic archetype: macho, violent, sexist, ice cool to the point of emotionless, a military man with a streak of personal vanity and a snobbish taste for the trappings of wealth and luxury.
Our own Lorde is among those rumoured to have recorded the theme song. Photo / AP
In Ian Fleming's books, the character expressed no interest in music whatsoever. In films, he is occasionally spotted at a classical concert or opera, usually on a murderous assignment. In
Goldfinger
(1964), Sean Connery's Bond illustrated his disdain for pop by saying unchilled champagne was "as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs". Nine years later, a Beatle would be singing his praises.
Paul McCartney's theme for 1973's Live and Let Die illustrates a peculiar dichotomy at the heart of a Bond song. Pop music tends to be underpinned by idealism, the notion love will conquer all. Yet here was an icon of 60s hippie values glorifying revenge and murder. So much for letting it be.
The Bond themes are an early example of the kind of cross-marketing that has become prevalent in pop, of mutual benefit to star and moviemaker. The artist gets a massive advertising budget and global exposure, while the film company uses the unveiling of the theme as a key element of its publicity campaign. The title song helps keep the franchise hip.
There is enormous kudos attached to writing and performing a Bond theme. "Every time we do [a new film], you get asked by some of the biggest artists in the world [if they can write the theme]," says film composer David Arnold, who scored five Bond films from 1997-2008. "It's frankly embarrassing to be saying to some of these people, 'I'm sorry, you're not right.' They may be enthusiastic, brilliant and selling hundreds of millions of records, but I look at it like casting a movie: who can exist alongside this film and feel like they are part of the fabric of it?"
So what makes a
Bond
song? "It is quintessentially sexy and British, if you can be sexy and British at the same time," says Arnold.
James Bond (Daniel Craig) is back in Spectre.
There was a particular flavour established by composer Monty Norman and arranger John Barry's theme for
Dr No
in 1962, all slow-moving, sinister orchestral chords, high-impact brass and racy surf guitar. This remains 007's signature theme, integrated throughout every soundtrack. Barry went on to score 11 Bond movies, creating a strong template for the title song with Matt Monro's noirish ballad
In 1971, Barry and lyricist Don Black composed what many consider the definitive Bond song, Diamonds Are Forever, a theatrical ballad with sinister harp arpeggios, explosive trumpet bursts and a toweringly camp performance from Bassey.
American composer Thomas Newman admitted he found it daunting taking over the Bond reins with Skyfall in 2012. When pop producer Paul Epworth was brought in to work on the title song with Adele, he watched 13 Bond films in a row to "decipher the musical code", eventually determining that they rely on "a minor ninth as the harmonic code". It became a huge hit worldwide, selling five million copies.
Whoever has tackled the new song, it's safe to assume the film title will not play a key part. Spectre is an acronym for Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. Try singing that with a straight face.
