Anyone who knows me might ask by now “How come there are no Beatles songs in your Movie Music list?” And that would be a good question. There have been a number of movies featuring Beatles music, some featuring many (Across the Universe (amazing), Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band(horrible)) and some featuring one or more (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Exceptional), I Wanna Hold your Hand (not so exceptional)). Except for Across the Universe (which is all Beatles music), I don’t feel that any of these are memorable moments in film, so I won’t be including them here (although I must note Ferris Bueller’s Day off, and that moment is a memorable movie moment, but I want to focus elsewhere).
I am however going to include Paul McCartney in my list today so there is at least a connection to the Beatles. Perhaps the most successful movie franchise in history is the James Bond movies. I am not going to say anything good or bad on the films themselves, other than there were some good ones and some bad one. One thing that is unquestionable is that as a series of movies, the Bond films have had more hit songs that any series of movies. It got to the point that I would almost want to see the new Bond film just to hear what hit song would be part of the movie.
So what follows is a list of seven songs from seven different Bond films. Most of the songs titles are the same as the movie they were in, and all are great songs, most becoming big hits for the performers. They are listed in chorological order, not in any ranking (although my favorite is of course the McCartney song. What is amazing about this list is not only how good the music is, but the stars that they hired to write and sing the music. From Sir Paul to Madonna, almost every song is sung by another superstar. Shirley Bassey takes a prize for singing more than one (three!). You may notice that the first two movies are not listed. They did not include a major song in the movice.
Enjoy!
Goldfinger sung by Shirley Bassey
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7leX_BBcOA]
Thunderball sung by Tom Jones
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIbwgnhiRyc]
You Only Live Twice sung by Nancy Sinatra
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_byjAZ9FlU]
We Have all the Time in the World sung by Louis Armstrong
from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Js2TdZGk0]
Diamonds are Forever sung by Shirley Bassey
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHG06wnos30]
Live and Let Die sung by Paul McCartney and Wings
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynfCkpUYyJs]
The Man With the Golden Gun sung by Lulu
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poMM5RM6MO4]
Nobody Does it Better sung by Carly Simon
from The Spy Who Loved Me
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab_prnDQu10]
Moonraker sung by Shirley Bassey
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZifMBUKabws]
For Your Eyes Only sung by Sheena Easton
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzTO2bQPUFc]
All Time High sung by Rita Coolidge
from Octopussy
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32KZASXnQzo]
A View to a Kill sung by Duran Duran
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJybIQf1npw]
The Living Daylights sung by A-Ha
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmcITpbdj5c]
License to Kill sung by Gladys Knight
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI5cPmxXIjc]
GoldenEye sung by Tina Turner
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGOZMZYZ3dk]
Tomorrow Never Dies sung by Sheryl Crow
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1qaDtiVr4w]
The World is Not Enough sung by Garbage
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pomvAfjXe1M]
Die Another Day sung by Madonna
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtmmZElCH14]
You Know My Name sung by Chris Cornell
from Casino Royale
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWwN4AKlS9I]
Another Way to Die sung by Jack White and Alicia Keys
from Quantum of Solace
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM5UJvnbbuY]