BOND THEMES

Tags

Chris Cornell, James Bond, music, RogerMoore, Shirley Bassey

It is such sad news that SIR ROGER MOORE passed away yesterday, May 23, 2017. While personally I find the original James Bond films with Sean Connery more to my liking and the James Bond of today more suspenseful than the Moore films, it appears that I am in the minority as Mr. Moore was voted “BEST BOND” in an Academy Awards poll, and in 2008 still had 62% of the votes.  My thanks to Sir Roger for keeping the franchise thriving.

Sir Roger, knighted by QUEEN ELIZABETH in 2003, played Bond seven times, starting with LIVE AND LET DIE in 1973 after Connery left the role. Sir Roger continued in the role with THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974), THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977), MOONRAKER (1979), FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981), OCTOPUSSY (1983) and A VIEW TO A KILL (1985) when at 58 years of age Sir Roger announced his retirement from the role.

Now, what does this have to do with music one might ask? BOND has everything to do with music. After Shirley Bassey’s incredible version of GOLDFINGER which soared up the charts in 1964, most artists begged for a shot at “the title”. And here they are for better or worse, in chronological order as to see who was popular at the time. Interesting to note Shirley Bassey returned for a grand total of 3 and Chris Cornell passed away a few days before Sir Roger.

1962: DR.NO The James Bond Theme by The John Barry Orchestra

1963: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE: From Russia With Love by Matt Monro

1964: GOLDFINGER: Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey

1965: THUNDERBALL:Thunderball by Tom Jones

1967: YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE: You Only Live Twice-Nancy Sinatra

1967:CASINO ROYALE:Casino Royale-Herb Albert and The Tijuana Brass

1969:ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE: We Have All The Time IN The World-Louis Armstrong

1972: DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER:Diamonds Are Forever- Shirley Bassey

1973:LIVE AND LET DIE: Live And Let Die-Paul McCartney and Wings

1974:THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN: The Man With The Golden Gun:Lulu

1977:THE SPY WHO LOVED ME: Nobody Does It Better-Carly Simon

1979:MOONRAKER:Moonraker-Shirley Bassey

1981:FOR YOUR EYES ONLY-For Your Eyes Only-Sheena Easton

1983:OCTOPUSSY: All Time High-Rita Coolidge

1983:NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Never Say Never Again-Lani Hall

1985:A VIEW TO A KILL: A View To A Kill-Duran Duran

1987:THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS: The Living Daylights-a-ha

1989:LICENSE TO KILL: License To Kill-Gladys Knight

1995:GOLDEN EYE: Golden Eye-Tina Turner

1997:TOMORROW NEVER DIES:Tomorrow Never Dies-Sheryl Crow

1999:THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH:The World Is Not Enough-Garbage

2002:DIE ANOTHER DAY:Die Another Day-Madonna

2006:CASINO ROYALE:You Know My Name-Chris Cornell

2008:QUANTUM OF SOLACE: Another Way To Die-Jack White & Alicia Keys

2012:SKYFALL:Skyfall-Adele

2015:SPECTRE:The Writing’s On The Wall-Sam Smith

JUST ELVIS

Tags

Elvis, music, trivia

In Tune And In Time…

The career of Elvis Presley is a well documented one. From humble beginnings as a child in Tupelo,Mississippi to the pinnacle of popular music, followed by a slow decent in the charts,to a very dramatic “come back” and ultimately his untimely death at an early age of 42, Elvis was and still is an iconic figure whom many considered THE KING. Yet, How well do you know or remember his career?

Here we go with what I call…. JUST ELVIS:

(1)The last ELVIS single,released a few days after his death, was: A)MY WAY   B)HIT THE ROAD JACK    C) GOD IS GOOD    D) THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET.

(2) ELVIS had an amazing recording career with 38 TOP TENS, eighteen #1 hits. Yet Musicologists debate this number because one record, the a-side of which was HOUND DOG was #1 for 5 weeks, while it’s B-side was #1 for the next 6 weeks. The B-side was…A)BLUE MOON B) HEARTBREAK HOTEL C) BLUE SUEDE SHOES D) DON’T BE CRUEL

(3) Elvis had a few big hits on SUN RECORDS before RCA purchased his contract. THE KING’s first RCA hit was A) HOUND DOG B)HEARTBREAK HOTEL C)LOVE ME TENDER D)BLUE MOON .

(4) ELVIS recorded 24 songs during 1953-1955, some were self-financed demos. Of the 24, ten were released as 5 singles(a-sides,b-sides) on the SUN label. Today one of those 45’s or 78’s could fetch thousands of dollars for collectors (especially SUN209 released July 19,1954). The b-side was BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY….The A-side was  A) Hound Dog B) THAT”S ALL RIGHT  C) LOVE ME TENDER  D)BLUE SUEDE SHOES .

(5) Sam Phillips sold ELVIS’s contract to RCA for a significant amount of money according to the time, plus $5000 which he owed ELVIS in royalties. That amount of sale was A)$ 1,000,000   B)$5,000,000  C) $100,000  D) $35,000

(6) ELVIS’s harmony group was known as  A)The Beale Street Boys B) The Jordanaires C) The Memphis Mafia D) The Chiffons

(7) ELVIS served in the military from 1958 thru 1960. He left with the rank of…..A)Colonel B) PRIVATE C)CORPORAL D) SGT.

(8) THE MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET ,of which ELVIS was affiliated, got together at SUN Studios on December 4,1956.This quartet consisted of Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and…. A) CHUCK BERRY  B)JERRY LEE LEWIS  C)FATS DOMINO  D)WILLIE NELSON .

(9) and (10) and BONUS:

This TRAVELIN’MAN outsold everybody during the 1950’s except ELVIS and PAT BOONE. He usually performed at the end of the hit TV show, NAME THE SHOW …. NAME THE ARTIST… and NAME HIS BROTHER …..

The previous query: Finish this:

In his 1960 hit  Brian Hyland mentioned an ITSY BITSY TEENIE WEENIE……(Yellow Polka Dot Bikini). Ooh La La…..

Gary Lewis and the Playboys sung…..Everybody loves a clown…(but why don’t you).

FYI: This first TOP TEN hit for Gary Lewis and The Playboys was actually recorded by the legendary Wrecking Crew with heavily overdubbed vocals added to the very weak vocals by Gary Lewis; and of course  The Playboys were nowhere near the record(s). Actually arranged by Leon Russell, this hit was written by Bob Brass, Irwin Levine, and another famous musician who also provided the organ parts for Bob Dylan’s LIKE A ROLLING STONE, AL KOOPER.

To Jim Morrison….People are strange when you are lonely, faces look ugly (when you’re alone).

Sir Paul once stated…..She was just seventeen…(you know what I mean)

If you need a little lovin’, call on me, and  If you want a little hugging, call on me….Finish the phone number…..634-5……….(789).

In THUNDER ROAD Bruce Springsteen tells us…….Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays Roy Orbison’s singing..(.For The Lonely).

The Easy Beats FRIDAY ON MY MIND………Monday morning feels so bad, everybody seems to nag me,Coming  Tuesday I feel better even…(my old man looks good.

Chuck Berry’s SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN has us…..Really rockin’ on Bandstand, Philadelphia P.A,deep in the heart of Texas…(round Frisco Bay).

Hi everybody ,I’m Archie Bell and The Drells of Houston Texas, and we don’t only sing, we dance just…(as good as we walk)

The ROLLING STONES……Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a man of……..(Wealth and taste).

BONUS ROUND: The Shangri La’s had a hit June of 64 with THE LEADER OF THE PACK. What was The Leader’s name? (JIMMY)………..

Who did the girls question about “really going out with him?”…(.Betty, Is That Jimmy’s ring you are wearing?)…..

and ” by the way where did she meet him?…(.at the candy store).

Hope all is well….”tomorrow is another day”.