James Bond’s Spycraft Sound

EPISODE 242

The latest installment of the James Bond franchise, No Time To Die, closes the book on the Daniel Craig era of the international superspy. The film’s theme song, “No Time to Die,” by Billie Eilish, Finneas, and Hans Zimmer, also marks the conclusion of one of the great musical sagas in recent cinema. Monty Norman’s and John Barry’s now-iconic “James Bond Theme,” written for 1962’s Dr. No, has remained a constant across six decades of espionage and one-liners. But every new Bond theme has also developed subtle variations on the original that reflect the character’s changes over time. On this episode of Switched On Pop, we uncover what inspired the theme, how it’s changed, and why it almost never happened.

FURTHER JAMES BOND THEME READING

The James Bond Songs: Pop Anthems of Late Capitalism by Adrian Daub and Charles Kronengold

The Music of James Bond - Jon Burlingame

SONGS DISCUSSED (playlist)

John Barry Orchestra - James Bond Theme, Beat Girl

Monty Norman - Under The Mango Tree, Dr. No's Fantasy

Miles Davis Quintet - It Never Entered My Mind

Roy Orbison - Crying

Lesley Gore - It's My Party

Dizzy Gillespie - A Night In Tunisia

Johnny Smith - Walk Don't Run

John Barry Seven - Walk Don't Run

Henry Mancini - Peter Gunn

Shirley Bassey - Goldfinger

Bernard Herrmann - Prelude (from Psycho)

John Barry - Death Of Tilley

Nancy Sinatra - You Only Live Twice

Garbage - The World Is Not Enough

Gladys Knight - Licence To Kill

Chris Cornell - You Know My Name 

David Arnold - The Name's Bond... James Bond

Jack White, Alicia Keys - Another Way to Die

Adele - Skyfall

Sam Smith - Writing's On The Wall

Billie Eilish - No Time To Die

Hans Zimmer - Gun Barrel