And I bet you though I'd forgotten about this...
Urban's Bond Themes Chart Rundown No.15 - 11
15. For Your Eyes Only - Sheena Easton (1981)
I thought I was going to rank this song a lot higher because it's probably the most iconic Bond songs of the 80s. But then I listened to it again and couldn't get over how nasal Sheena Eastons vocals are. They should have got Kate Bush to sing this instead. I guess the little purple midget saw enough in her to further her career, who knows if it was because of this.
Good song, and I guess I'm being a little harsh on it because it's such an iconic theme but I can't help think could have been sung better.
Sheena Easton is also the only singer of a Bond theme to actually appear in the opening credits singing it too.
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14. The Look of Love (From Casino Royale) - Dusty Springfield (1967)
Now you may remember on the very first entry I did for this thing I mentioned that I had included an extra song into this to round it up to 25 songs, this is that song. This song was used during the movie but I think it would have worked so much better as the title theme. It's a crime that Dusty Springfield was never asked to do a proper Bond theme based on this effort because it's a glorious song written by Burt Bacharach & Hal David and was even nominated for an Oscar in the 1968 academy awards. Sadly it lost out to 'Talk To The Animals' from the movie Doctor Dolittle.
Life just isn't fair sometimes.
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13. Licence To Kill - Gladys Knight (1989)
Not much to say about this one other than this is a kind of hidden gem of a theme from one of the more forgettable Bond movies. it's very reminicent of 'Goldfinger', if anything a little too reminicent at times. You can obviously see what the movies producers were going for here. It has that kind of big 80s ballad feel to it but Gladys Knights vocals are the highlight of this and she makes the songs worth much higher than it has any right to be.
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12. GoldenEye - Tina Turner (1995)
It's often said I'm a miserable bastard that hates everything and everybody, that may be true but never say that I hold a grudge.
This song is performed by Tina Turner, a woman who in this very journal I once said of her that 'If all the master tapes of her 80s solo career were on fire I wouldn't piss on them'.
This song was also written by Bono & The Edge of U2, Bono, a man I have called a c*nt more than I would an abusive ex-girlfriend.
But here's the odd thing.....
This song is f
ucking great, it's almost as if they found the perfect singer to sing the perfect song for the relaunch of the Bond franchise in the mid 1990s. Seriously I can't fault this song at all. It has everything a classic Bond theme should have and Tina Turner redeems herself for the one and a half decades of lame material she'd been pumping out previously.
Does it redeem Bono?
F
uck no, that c*nt is a long way gone past that point, I will give him credit however and say now he's written 4 good songs instead of 3.
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11. From Russia With Love - Matt Monro (1963)
I love Matt Monroe on film soundtracks, in fact he's responsible for recording one of my favourite movie opening soundtracks when he sung 'In Days Like These' at the beginning of 'The Italian Job'. Although 'From Russia With Love' is not quite as good as that song it still manages to eminate the same kind of style & sophistication with Monroe's delivery being so uber cool and delivery you could almost say that this song is the perfect representation of Connery's Bond in aural form.