Friday Food for Thought: August 26, 2022 – Lost Bond Theme Songs Edition

Hello Friends, welcome to Friday Food for Thought. Every Friday I’ll help start your weekend by sharing four people, thoughts, or things that are on my mind this week. Click here for my previous post. This week, after re-watching a few of the early James Bond movies, I’ve been listening to songs that were considered, but not selected, as themes for various Bond films. There have been quite a few, but these are four of my favorites. Feel free to share this with friends, or offer suggestions via the comments. Let’s begin!

1) Quantum of Shirley:

Shirley Bassey has performed three Bond theme songs over the years, the only artist to do so. This song – No Good About Goodbye – was considered for the Quantum of Solace theme, and I’m sorry it wasn’t chosen. Dame Shirley could sing a list of cake mix ingredients and it would sound better than the screechy mess that made the final film. (In fairness, QoS soundtrack composer David Arnold claims No Good About Goodbye was not a rejected theme, but it sure sounds like one. Either way, it’s Shirley Bassey, so who cares?)

2) For Our Ears Only:

I was a fan of Sheena Easton even before she recorded the For Your Eyes Only theme, becoming the first singer to appear during the opening credits. Still, this alternate theme, composed and performed by Blondie, sounds good to me. I wasn’t a fan of Blondie at the time, but I’ve come to appreciate them over the years. Supposedly, For Your Eyes Only‘s producers only wanted Deborah Harry, who insisted on performing with her group.

3) You Only Listen Twice:

I confess, I had never heard of Detroit’s Lorraine Chandler until this week, but she recorded a possible theme for You Only Live Twice, as did British vocalist Julie Rogers. The producers wanted Frank Sinatra to sing the theme, but he declined, which is how his daughter Nancy Sinatra ended up recording the official version. Chandler has a lovely voice and I really dig her version. She began her career as a songwriter before recording her own tunes, and sadly just passed away in 2020.

4) What Rhymes With Thunderball?:

The song Johnny Cash wrote and recorded for Thunderball is epic in scope but just wouldn’t have fit Bond’s urban sixties style. It’s unfortunate the song couldn’t have been repackaged for a western. (“Bond! Thunderball is rustling cattle off the back forty!”) Thunderball seems to have been a challenge in terms of theme song selection. In addition to Cash’s version, both Shirley Bassey and Dionne Warwick recorded an entirely different song, Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, but the producers decided the song should reflect the film’s title, which is how Tom Jones ended up risking life and limb to record the final version.

Honorable mention: I’m not really a fan of Radiohead, but their take on a theme song for Spectre is still better than the drivel we ended up with. I’ve enjoyed the Daniel Craig Bond movies, but that era has had the most hit-or-miss theme songs of the entire franchise.

That’s all for this week. Have a good weekend!

This post contains NO affiliate links. All suggestions are based on my own personal experience, your experience may vary. Nothing herein is intended to serve as medical, legal, financial, or any other advice for which you should consult professionals and not some random guy on the Internet.