| The Spy Who Loved Me | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 1977 | |||
| Recorded | April 1977 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Producer | Frank Collura (Reissue) | |||
| Marvin Hamlisch chronology | ||||
| ||||
| James Bond soundtrack chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from The Spy Who Loved Me | ||||
| ||||
The Spy Who Loved Me is the soundtrack for the tenth James Bond The Spy Who Loved Me . The soundtrack is one of only two Bond soundtracks to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The other score nominated was Skyfall (2012).
The theme song "Nobody Does It Better" was composed by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager,and was performed by Carly Simon. It was nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song but lost to "You Light Up My Life". It is one of six Bond theme songs to be nominated for the award,alongside "Live and Let Die" in 1973,"For Your Eyes Only" in 1981,"Skyfall" in 2012,"Writing's on the Wall" in 2015 and "No Time to Die" in 2020. "Skyfall" went on to win the award in 2013,"Writing's on the Wall" in 2016 and "No Time to Die" in 2021.
It was the first theme song with a title different from the film's,although the phrase "the spy who loved me" is in the lyrics. Hamlisch states in the documentary on the film's DVD that the song's opening bars were influenced by a riff in a Mozart tune. The driving disco rhythm to "Bond '77" is very similar to the Bee Gees' 1976 single "You Should Be Dancing".
The theme song became a hit that is still popular today and has been featured in numerous films including Mr. &Mrs. Smith (2005), Little Black Book (2004), Lost in Translation and Bridget Jones:The Edge of Reason (2004). In 2004,the song was honoured by the American Film Institute as the 67th greatest film song as part of their 100 Years...100 Songs countdown.
It also latterly featured in a UK TV commercial for the England-based Unigate Dairy powdered milk brand 'Five Pints' where,as the commercial tailed out,the relevant session singers could be heard singing "Five Pints...you're the best".
The film's soundtrack was composed by Marvin Hamlisch,who filled in for usual Bond composer John Barry,as Barry was unavailable for work in the United Kingdom due to tax reasons. The soundtrack,in comparison to other Bond films of the time,is more disco-oriented and included a new disco rendition of the "James Bond Theme",titled "Bond 77" which Hamlisch said was influenced by "You Should Be Dancing" by The Bee Gees [2]
An element of the Barry style remains in the suspenseful film sequence in which Bond and Amasova try to track down Jaws at an antiquated site in Egypt. The accompanying Hamlisch music echoes Barry's "Stalking," from the pre-credit fantasy sequence of From Russia with Love ,featuring Bond (Sean Connery) and villain Red Grant (Robert Shaw).
A large percentage of the music in the film was re-recorded for the soundtrack album and,therefore,does not sound exactly like the music in the film,the track "Bond '77" being the most obvious. It is a cue that was recorded several times specifically for different moments of the film (the opening ski chase,the car chase on land,then underwater and the gun battle with the troops on the Liparus). The soundtrack album uses a different 'medley' version,slower in pace,which features aspects of most of the variations of the track used throughout the film,compiled into one piece. This version was also released as a 7" single on United Artists records (the track "Ride to Atlantis" was the B-Side). The main theme by Simon also differs in the film;it has a fade out on the album/single but in the film's opening titles,it has a more abrupt ending,finishing with a long electronic note. The track "Anya" on the album does not feature in the film. There are also many cues used in the film that have yet to appear on any soundtrack release.
In addition,Hamlisch incorporates into his score several pieces of classical music. As Stromberg feeds his duplicitous secretary to a shark,the villain plays Bach's "Air on the G String". He then plays the second movement's opening string section,Andante,of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 as Atlantis rises from the sea.
"Nocturne No. 8 in D-Flat,Op. 27 No. 2" by Chopin crops up later,when Bond first meets Stromberg,as reportedly does an excerpt from Saint-Saëns' "The Aquarium" from The Carnival of the Animals.
Finally,Hamlisch cheekily segues his score into an excerpt from that of David Lean's 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia when Bond and Anya Amasova are wandering through the desert;according to a documentary on the DVD,this idea was originally a joke by one of the film editors who played the music over the dailies of the scene. It became a trend,with the subsequent two films in the series similarly referencing 'classic' film music within their scores. Mojave club,the tanker and Eastern lights were written by Paul Buckmaster,who also contributed with arrangements and orchestrations.
| Chart (1977/78) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report) [3] | 56 |
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.
John Barry Prendergast was a British composer and conductor of film music.
Marvin Frederick Hamlisch was an American composer and conductor. Hamlisch was one of only 18 people to win Emmy,Grammy,Oscar and Tony awards,a feat dubbed the "EGOT". He and composer Richard Rodgers are the only people to have won those prizes and a Pulitzer Prize ("PEGOT").
David Arnold is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films,as well as Stargate (1994),Independence Day (1996),Godzilla (1998) and the television series Little Britain and Sherlock. For Independence Day,he received a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television,and for Sherlock,he and co-composer Michael Price won a Creative Arts Emmy for the score of "His Last Vow",the final episode in the third series. Arnold scored the BBC / Amazon Prime series Good Omens (2019) adapted by Neil Gaiman from his book Good Omens,written with Terry Pratchett. Arnold is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters,Composers and Authors.
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 "James Bond Theme" is the main signature theme music of the James Bond films and has featured in every Eon Productions Bond film since Dr. No,released in 1962. Composed in e minor by Monty Norman,the piece has been used as an accompanying fanfare to the gun barrel sequence in every Eon Bond film besides the 2006 reboot Casino Royale.
"Nobody Does It Better" is a power ballad and the theme song for the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Composed by Marvin Hamlisch with lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager,the song was produced by Richard Perry and performed by Carly Simon. It was the first Bond theme song to be titled differently from the name of the film since Dr. No (1962),although the phrase "the spy who loved me" is included in the lyrics. The song was released as a single from the film's soundtrack album,and became a major worldwide hit.
The Spy Who Loved Me is a 1977 spy film,the tenth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions. It is the third to star Roger Moore as the fictional secret agent James Bond. The film co-stars Barbara Bach and Curt Jürgens and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. The screenplay was by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum,with an uncredited rewrite by Tom Mankiewicz.
Thunderball is the soundtrack album for the fourth James Bond film Thunderball.
For Your Eyes Only is the soundtrack for the 12th James Bond film of the same name.
Goldfinger is the soundtrack of the 1964 film of the same name,the third film in the James Bond film series,directed by Guy Hamilton. The album was composed by John Barry and distributed by EMI. Two versions were released initially,one in the United States and the United Kingdom,which varied in terms of length and which tracks were within the soundtrack. In 2003,Capitol-EMI records released a remastered version that contained all the tracks within the film.
Moonraker is the soundtrack for the eleventh James Bond film of the same name.
Octopussy is the soundtrack for the eponymous thirteenth James Bond film. The score was composed by John Barry,the lyrics by Tim Rice. The opening theme,"All Time High" is sung by Rita Coolidge and is one of six Bond film title songs or songs that are not named after film's title.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to James Bond:
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.
"Skyfall" is a song recorded by English singer Adele for the James Bond film of the same name. It was written by Adele and producer Paul Epworth and features orchestration by J. A. C. Redford. British film production company Eon Productions invited the singer to work on the theme song in early 2011,a task that Adele accepted after reading the film's script. While composing the song,Adele and Epworth aimed to capture the mood and style of the other Bond themes,including dark and moody lyrics descriptive of the film's plot. "Skyfall" was released at 0:07 BST on 5 October 2012 as part of the Global James Bond Day,celebrating the 50th anniversary of the release of Dr. No,the first James Bond film.
Skyfall:Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 23rd James Bond film of the same name. Released by Sony Classical on 29 October 2012 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2012 in the United States,the music was composed by Thomas Newman. This is Newman's first Bond soundtrack,making him the ninth composer to score a Bond film. The score won the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music. In 2013,it became one of two Bond scores to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The other to be nominated was the score from The Spy Who Loved Me (1977).
Spectre:Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 24th James Bond film of the same name. Released by Universal Music Classics on 23 October 2015 in the United Kingdom and on 6 November 2015 in the United States,the music was composed by Thomas Newman,who previously composed the soundtrack of the 23rd Bond film Skyfall,making him the third composer after John Barry and David Arnold to score more than one film in the series. The film's theme song "Writing's on the Wall" performed by Sam Smith is the fourth theme song that doesn't feature the title of its film in the lyrics. It is also the third song after "You Know My Name" (2006) and "Skyfall" (2012) that did not appear on the film's official soundtrack album.
No Time to Die:Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 25th James Bond film of the same name. Released by Decca Records on 1 October 2021,the music was composed by Hans Zimmer,making him the sixth non-British composer after Marvin Hamlisch,Bill Conti,Michael Kamen,Éric Serra and Thomas Newman to score a film in the series. The film's theme song of the same name performed by Billie Eilish,was composed with her brother Finneas O'Connell. The 12" vinyl album version features an additional four short music cues listed only as Q1,Q2,Q3 and Q4.
