Sammy Younan
Girth Radio Presents…
Radiohead and James Bond…the game is afoot!
While a big James Bond fan I’ve struggled with the Daniel Craig era…the mirth is MIA. There’s a loud desperation from the franchise like it’s forgotten what it’s worth; like a pretty girl who has forgotten she is beautiful (and that her worth is not derived or defined solely by her beauty).
Yes it’s trying too hard…however: Adele’s Skyfall is an extraordinary contribution.
So there is some value in extending the saga (not lots but some); it ain’t all wrong. Then they followed that powerful theme with Sam Smith’s tepid Spectre (which is kinda accurate it’s just a ghost of a James Bond song, some presence no genuine power). Granted A-ha also contributed a James Bond theme song (but it is kinda decent, fits for the era) many will enter few will win. There’s actually a robust legacy of rejected Bond songs…
This happened with Radiohead who provide no explanation why their James Bond theme song was rejected…they just offer the gift of the music.
Fun Facts
- Accepted Bond theme contributors include: Louis Armstrong, Tom Jones, Carly Simon, Sheena Easton, Garbage, Jack White and Chris Cornell
- Rejected Bond song: Run James Run by Brian Wilson released on the Beach Boys’ album Pet Sounds
- Rejected Bond song: The Man with the Golden Gun by Alice Cooper; appears on their 1973 album Muscle of Love
- Rejected Bond song: The Juvenile by (wait for it) Ace Of Base (there it is!)…originally written in 1995 (as The Goldeneye); then re-written as The Juvenile and released in 2002 on Da Capo
