Licence to sing

There has been a lot this year about Bond’s anniversary. Not only is it marked by the released of Skyfall, and the rather fun knowing nods to the past contained within Skyfall, there have also been various special features in magazine articles, BBC radio and now on BBC TV. There is really something quite distinctively stand-out about the music of Bond – the minor keys, the power ballads that seem to do more fighting than loving, the bitter sweet lyrics due in no small part to Bond’s own determined but never-destined-to-be-happy character – what’s not to love? So it was hardly a surprise when BBC4, home of music retrospective specials, decided to spend an hour in the company of the history of the music of the Bond films.

Kicking off with the queen of the theme, Shirley Bassey, The Welsh diva set the tone for the night. The format is simple: performance of a Bond track either as a live television recording or music video, peppered with pop-up facts appearing on screen chronicling snippets about that particular track and the film it’s paired with. Did you know that Shirley Bassey has sung the theme tune for three of the Bond films? Neither did I. I do now.

“The power ballads that seem to do more fighting than loving”

It’s all quite good fun, with hints at the antipathy towards the A-ha theme for The Living Daylights, how Rita Coolidge got the gig to sing ‘All Time High’ because she was a favourite of someone high up’s niece, and how Tina Turner’s turn was written by Bono and The Edge. The themes and their singers that got away are equally engaging – who wouldn’t want to hear Iggy Pop’s submission to represent The Man With The Golden Gun? Unfortunately the also-rans don’t feature other than as curious info bites, so Lulu’s belting voice wins out again.

Covers also play a cameo as Moby’s James Bond theme (you know, the actual ‘dum diddley dum dum, dum, dum dum dum diddley dum dum dum’ one that turns up in every flick) performance on Top Of The Pops is an early arrival, later to be followed by the Fun Lovin’ Criminals featuring Ian McCulloch with their rendition of ‘We Have All The Time In The World’. Even this laid back ditty minus the primo belting vocals hangs on to an edge of menace with its far too lightly touching optimism.

…Sing James Bond is good fun, but more than that it’s good Christmas fun. I’m not quite sure how it happened but somewhere along the line Bond became synonymous with weekend afternoons in front of the telly. Put a whole load of those together and you end up with a glorious holiday feel. Add the Bond element of itself and you have that hidden danger of what might happen and a mood turn on a sixpence – and you’ve got what many experience as a family Christmas. Ta da! Perfect fare for the run-up to Crimbo.

This isn’t a must-see drama, it’s low key and – for those that, like me, enjoy having something appropriate on the TV when embarking on the massive task that is wrapping up presents – a rather good mood setter. Cheers BBC.
…Sings James Bond, BBC4, Friday 14 December 2012