THAT GREAT BOND SOUND

[defrog]

So John Barry is gone, nebris  informs me.

And naturally I felt I should post something. Barry is, of course, best known for soundtracking James Bond up to the late 80s, and he was responsible as anyone for shaping the whole aesthetic of a Bond film, to include the theme songs. Barry had a knack for creating music that sounded so epic that it was as if they invented Cinemascope just so his music would fit on the screen, but he could also give it a hipster edge (at least in the 60s, when Swinging London was in effect).

Of course, his resumé also includes Howard The Duck, Starcrash and a Razzie award for The Legend Of The Lone Ranger. But hey, they can’t all be zingers.

As for his Bond work, everyone has a favorite theme song. For me, I think “Goldfinger” is probably the ultimate Bond theme – it sounds epic even before Shirley Bassey kicks in and blows the roof off. That said, I’m also partial to “The Man With The Golden Gun” (Lulu!).

(Interestingly, my favorite overall Bond soundtrack is Live And Let Die – because just about the only way you could make John Barry more awesome was to add wah-wah.)

But for all that, I’m going to post the theme song from Barry’s first film score, Beat Girl – which I’ve posted before, but it’s worth reposting if only to watch Gillian Hills dancing to it.

Also, have fun spotting Oliver Reed.

Epic soundtracks,

This is dF