"For Your Eyes Only" | ||||
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Single by Sheena Easton | ||||
from the album For Your Eyes Only | ||||
B-side | "For Your Eyes Only" (instrumental) | |||
Released | 15 June 1981 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Genre | Pop, [2] soft rock [3] | |||
Length | 3:04 2:54 (7") | |||
Label | Liberty (original), RT Industries (current) | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Christopher Neil | |||
Sheena Easton singles chronology | ||||
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James Bond theme singles chronology | ||||
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Audio sample | ||||
"For Your Eyes Only" is the theme to the 12th James Bond movie of the same name,written by Bill Conti and Mick Leeson,and performed by Scottish singer Sheena Easton. The song reached number four on the US Billboard Hot 100,and number eight on the UK singles chart. [4] [5] It was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards in 1982.
Conti –who was also responsible for the film's score –had originally written the song thinking about Donna Summer or Dusty Springfield,singers he thought "fit the Bond style". Film studio United Artists suggested Sheena Easton,an up-and-coming singer who had recently scored a No.1 hit in America with "Morning Train". Conti heard Easton's debut album Take My Time and felt unimpressed but decided to work with her in the song after meeting Easton in person.
Leeson's lyrics originally used "for your eyes only" only as the final line,as the lyricist felt he could only use the phrase as a conclusion. After credit sequence artist Maurice Binder complained about having to synchronize the unveiling of the title with it being said in the theme song,Conti decided to work with Leeson to write lyrics that opened with "for your eyes only". [6] The US band Blondie had previously been asked to write the title song but it was rejected in favour of Conti's by the Bond producers. (Blondie's recording of a completely different song,also called "For Your Eyes Only",appeared on their 1982 album The Hunter).
Easton is the only artist (to date) to be seen singing the theme song to a Bond movie during its opening titles,as Maurice Binder liked Easton's appearance and decided to add her to the credits. [7] Her seductive appearance in these clips was,according to Roger Moore,sexier than any of the Bond girls,although Easton herself states that the filming process was very unglamorous. [8] [9] In particular,Binder had to attach Easton to a chair so she would be immobile during a take where the camera zooms on the singer's lips. [7]
This was one of the few Bond themes not to have a contribution by John Barry. The song was produced by Christopher Neil,who was Easton's regular producer at the time.
The song was released as a single in June 1981,at the same time as the film's launch. It became a worldwide hit,reaching the top ten in the UK,number 1 in the Netherlands and top five in the US. It remains one of Easton's biggest hits and is included on compilation soundtrack albums. [10]
Record World said that Easton's vocal shows "overwhelming vocal range and power." [11]
Two different music videos for the song were released. The first was the Maurice Binder title sequence from the film,but with the credits removed (therefore just showing Easton performing the song). The second was more conventional and was directed by Steve Barron.
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The Best of Bond... James Bond is the title of various compilation albums of music used in the James Bond films made by Eon Productions up to that time. The album was originally released in 1992 as The Best of James Bond, as a one-disc compilation and a two-disc 30th Anniversary Limited Edition compilation with songs that had, at that point, never been released to the public. The single disc compilation was later updated five times in 1999, 2002, 2008, 2012, and 2021. The 2008 version was augmented with the addition of a DVD featuring music videos and a documentary. Another two-disc edition, this time containing 50 tracks for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, was released in 2012.
Sheena Shirley Easton is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series The Big Time: Pop Singer, which recorded her attempts to gain a record deal and her eventual signing with the EMI label. Her first two singles, "Modern Girl" and "9 to 5", both entered the top ten of the UK singles chart simultaneously. She became one of the most successful British female recording artists of the 1980s. Easton became the first and only recording artist in Billboard history to have a top five hit on each of Billboard's primary singles charts: "Morning Train ", "We've Got Tonight" with Kenny Rogers and "Sugar Walls".
Since its inception in 1962, the James Bond film series from Eon Productions has featured many musical compositions, many of which are now considered classic pieces of British film music. The best known piece is the "James Bond Theme" composed by Monty Norman. Other instrumentals, such as "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and various songs performed by British or American artists such as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger", Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Twice", Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die", Carly Simon's "Nobody Does It Better", Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only", Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill", Tina Turner's "GoldenEye" also become identified with the series.
The Hunter is the sixth studio album by American rock band Blondie, released on May 24, 1982, by Chrysalis Records. It was Blondie's last album of new material until 1999's No Exit. It was recorded between December 1981 and February 1982.
"9 to 5" is a song written and recorded by American entertainer Dolly Parton for the 1980 comedy film of the same name. In addition to appearing on the film's soundtrack, the song was the centerpiece and opening track of Parton's album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, released in late 1980.
"9 to 5" (or "Morning Train") is a song by Sheena Easton from 1981 album Take My Time. It was written by British songwriter Florrie Palmer and recorded and released as single in 1980, becoming Easton's biggest hit. It peaked at number three in the United Kingdom in August 1980 and was certified gold. In February 1981, it was released in the United States and Canada under the title "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" to avoid confusion with Dolly Parton's recent hit "9 to 5". It reached number one in both countries, becoming Easton's only chart-topper in those nations.
A Private Heaven is the fifth studio album by Scottish pop singer Sheena Easton, released on 21 September 1984 by EMI America Records. The album featured two US Top 10 hit singles: the lead single "Strut" and the controversial "Sugar Walls". "Swear", a third single, peaked at No. 80.
"To Sir with Love" is the theme from James Clavell's 1967 film To Sir, with Love. The song was performed by British singer and actress Lulu, and written by Don Black and Mark London. Mickie Most produced the record, with Mike Leander arranging and conducting. The song peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, and became the best-selling single of 1967 in the United States.
"We've Got Tonite" is a song written by American rock musician Bob Seger, from his album Stranger in Town (1978). The single record charted twice for Seger, and was developed from a prior song that he had written. Further versions charted in 1983 for Kenny Rogers as a duet with Sheena Easton, and again in 2002 for Ronan Keating.
For Your Eyes Only is the soundtrack for the 12th James Bond film of the same name.
For Your Eyes Only may refer to:
Christopher Neil is an Irish-born British record producer, songwriter, singer, and actor.
"Just the Two of Us" is a 1980 song written by Bill Withers, William Salter, and Ralph MacDonald, and recorded by Grover Washington Jr. with Withers on vocals. Elektra Records released it in Washington's 1980 album Winelight and as a February 1981 single.
Do You is the sixth English-language studio album from Scottish singer Sheena Easton. It was originally released in November 1985 by EMI Records, and later reissued and remastered by One Way Records in 2000, with additional B-sides and extended mixes. The album was produced by Nile Rodgers. Not as successful as her previous album, Do You peaked at number 40 in the US, but was certified gold and featured the top 30 hit "Do It for Love".
Madness, Money & Music is the third album by singer Sheena Easton. It was released in 1982 and produced by Christopher Neil. The album includes the singles "I Wouldn't Beg for Water" and "Machinery", as well as the UK single "Are You Man Enough".
You Could Have Been with Me is the second studio album by the Scottish singer Sheena Easton. It was released on 21 September 1981 by EMI.
Take My Time is the debut album by UK pop singer Sheena Easton. Released in January 1981, the album reached number 17 in the UK and earned her a Gold Disc. Two months later, a ten track version of the album was released in the US and Canada as Sheena Easton. The album went gold in the US and platinum in Canada.
This is a complete discography of recording artist Sheena Easton, a Scottish singer with a discography that consists of 15 studio albums and 16 compilation albums. Easton released her debut album, Take My Time, in 1980, and the single "Morning Train " reached number 12 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in 1981. Her success continued primarily through the 1980s, where Easton garnered 5 Gold and 1 Platinum album certifications in the United States, with 7 Gold singles and 20 US Top 40 singles as well as 7 US Top Ten singles. Whilst her success was somewhat limited in her native Scotland and the United Kingdom, she scored one number one song in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1981 and 1991.
"Modern Girl" is the debut single by Scottish pop singer Sheena Easton. The song was originally released in February 1980, reaching #56 in the UK charts, before being re-released to top ten success in August of the same year. The song would also go on to reach the US top 20, when it was released in 1981 as her second single, following the #1 hit "Morning Train ".
The Bond Collection, a.k.a. Bassey Sings Bond, is a 1987 studio album by Shirley Bassey, notable for having been released without the artist's consent and subsequently withdrawn from sales by court order.
Sheena Easton's soft-rock power ballad matches the glossiness of For Your Eyes Only...
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