Every time we get a new Bond film, it means we get a new Bond song. Billy Eilish has provided the moody, subtle opening track for the upcoming No Time To Die, but it will be interesting to see over the upcoming weeks who else laid a track down for consideration.
Doing a Bond song is considered by some to be a great privilege and as such their tend to be a few singers and bands who campaign to be given the opportunity whenever a new 007 adventure approaches. So join us now as we take a look at some of the artists who didn’t quite make the cut.
Radiohead – Spectre (Spectre 2015)
Fans had been clamoring for a Radiohead Bond song for years, and from the looks of it so had Radiohead themselves! Thom Yorke once said the Man Of War which was written in the ’90s was a homage to Bond songs, and the band was also known to do a cover of Carly’s Simon’s Nobody Does It Better, The title track of The Spy Who Loved Me.
Despite halting work on their upcoming album in order to record the track, Spectre was not used for the film of the same name for being “too dark,” so the band released it as a free download on Christmas Day 2015.
Johnny Cash – Thunderball (Thunderball 1965)
The original song intended for Thunderball was “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” when legendary Bond composer John Barry couldn’t work out a tune about the film’s story or a literal ball of thunder. That didn’t stop the man in black from having an attempt.
Cash’s Thunderball is very much a Cash song, a galloping country balled complete with horns and backing choir, that tells the tale of the movie. A great Johnny Cash song, but not really a great Bond song, the film eventually used a theme sung by Tom Jones.
Pulp – Tomorrow Never Lies (Tomorrow Never Dies 1997)
Tomorrow Never Dies had quite a few contenders for the title song (there will be another on this list before it is done) and nearly all of them were better than what we ended up with. According to mi6-hq.com, when talking to Time Out magazine about the track, Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker had this to say about his band’s attempt.
“It was weird. They set up a kind of American Idol situation, where they asked about nine different artists to come up with a Bond song. They listen to nine different attempts of working tomorrow never dies into a lyric. We were told on a Wednesday that the deadline was Friday. Consequently, I was really pissed off when they went with Sheryl Crow instead.”
Shirley Bassey – No Good About Goodbyes (Quantum Of Solace 2008)
This one is a real shame. Shirley Bassey is the queen of Bond themes, having performed the title tracks for Diamond’s Are Forever, Moonraker and quite possibly the most iconic Bond song of all time, Goldfinger.
Despite working on the track with film composer Dave Arnold, the studio sadly went with Alicia Key and Jake White instead. Dame Shirley even managed to fit the word Solace into the chorus, which is something the eventual winner couldn’t do!
Alice Cooper – The Man With The Golden Gun (The Man With The Golden Gun 1974)
During the early 70’s shock rocker Alice Cooper was on top of his game and was reportedly contracted by EON productions to record a Bond song. However, according to Cooper in an interview with the A.V Club, he delivered the track too late!
“It actually came in a day too late,” Cooper said. “By the time [the producers] heard it, they’d already signed for Lulu’s song. I went, “You’re gonna take Lulu over this? ’Cause it was perfect for The Man With the Golden Gun. It had helicopters, it had machine guns — it had the Pointers Sisters, Ronnie Spector and Liza Minnelli doing background vocals! We went to every single one of those John Barry albums to try and invent the perfect James Bond song.”
Blondie – For Your Eyes Only (For Your Eyes Only 1981)
After being approached to record the song for For Your Eyes Only, Debbie Harry and the rest of the legendary rock band Blondie did just that, delivering a song which sounds very Bondy whilst staying true to the group’s core sound.
However, the producers wanted to band to simply record a track that was already written by film composer Bill Conti and lyricist Michael Leeson. The band backed out and Sheena Easton was brought in instead to perform one of the more forgettable Bond songs.
Ace Of Bass – Goldeneye (Goldeneye 1995)
After being away from our screens for almost a decade, Goldeneye heralded the return of Agent 007 and needed a big name and song to mark the occasion. Turns of that band was NOT Ace Of Bass!
Rumour has it Arista records, who Ace Of Bass was signed to, thought the band was “too big” for a Bond song, but it’s more likely the song was rejected because it wasn’t very good (nothing ages a track more than the lyrics mentioning what decade it is). The band re-recorded the track as “Juvenile” and released a far superior version on their 2002 album Da Capo.
Muse Supremacy (Skyfall 2015)
Muse’s Supremacy is a track from the band’s album “The 2nd Law” and many fans thought that it had the feel of a Bond song and, according to an interview with the BBC back in its release, drummer Dom Howard thought the same!
“It’s got a little bit of a Bond vibe – it all goes a bit crazy Live And Let Die in the middle. My view is they should use it for the next James Bond film, but I don’t know what’s going on with that. I heard Adele was doing it.”
The Pet Shop Boys- The Living Daylights (The Living Daylights 1987)
Put this one in the rumor category as not much is officially known about this instrumental demo song by The Pet Shop Boys.
Legend has it the band were under the impression they were going to be scoring the entire soundtrack and not just the opening theme. When the studio’s informed them this wasn’t the case the band decided to back out. Years later the demo was salvaged and reworked into the track This Must Be The Place I’ve Waited Years To Leave. The 80’s disco synth vibe would have been an interesting choice for sure, maybe not the right one for 007.
KD Lang-Surrender (Tomorrow Never Dies 1997)
We end this list with another hopeful candidate for TND, but this one went as far as to actually be featured in the movie, albeit during the end credits and not the opening titles.
The reason we’re including in this list is that although it wasn’t technically rejected, there is no doubt that it should have been the opener. One of the best Bond songs ever recorded, to the point that the movie utilizes the songs melody and motif’s in its original score. KD Lang’s wonderful vocals enhance the big band, slightly dark, defiantly adventurous sound that was a perfect mood setter.
