“It was clear, relatively early on, that she was just not well enough to carry on, but I think that would have been astonishing.” Arnold had been working with producer Mark Ronson, Winehouse’s longtime collaborator. ( Pulp and Radiohead are two well-known near-misses.) Arnold’s own “dream” theme would have been with Amy Winehouse, he says in fact they explored the possibility for Quantum of Solace in 2008, three years before she died.

There is such bottomless interest that even rejected or suspected themes make headlines – just like speculation over who will replace Craig. With 'Skyfall', 'Writing’s on the Wall', “No Time to Die”, it’s like these songs went deeper and deeper into Bond’s psyche.” It speaks to the modern-day draw of 007: as much about what makes him tick as whether he can get the girl, or defeat the baddie. “That led us into a world of introspection with Bond that we had never had before: you understood something about him. This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from. And, though much about Bond has stayed the same over the past 60 years, the stories told about him have changed, says composer David Arnold. “Essentially it’s all about storytelling… It’s not a pop song, or a dance record it is a piece of drama,” he says. (Harding points out that that dissonant chord similarly features in Hitchcock’s Vertigo.)Įlsewhere, Hale made musical choices to support the lyrics, such as mirroring the reference to “a million shards of glass” with a cascade of high violins and flutes. It creates an uneasy and unsettle-seeming sound, “giving you a whole narrative”. Harmony in particular is integral to the 007 sound, says Hale, as established with the iconic “James Bond chord” – technically known as an EmMaj9. Of course you will have your own style – but it’s important to be respecting that heritage.”įor Hale, tasked with fleshing out that sparse piano melody, the question was not just which instruments to use – strings, timpani, tam-tam, bass drum, low brass, French horns, trumpets – but how. “I think every songwriter since then is very aware of the privilege, and the honour, of carrying on in that line. “For the most part, it was John Barry’s musical voice coming through,” says Hale. The blaring trumpet was the hallmark of one player, Derek Watkins, who played on every Bond film from Dr No to Skyfall until his death in 2013.įor performers and songwriters, popular and classical musicians alike, Bond represents a small, prestigious cohort including some of the best musicians alive – and the pressure to do them justice.

“What you should really be saying is: ‘That’s John Barry’.” Bond is such a cultural touchstone, it has enshrined individual musicians and even sounds, such as the thundering tam-tam that heralds 'Goldfinger'.

“He went to dictate – to establish – a musical tone and language where you go: ‘That’s Bond’,” says Hale. No on, Barry extended Norman’s surf-guitar theme with percussion, strings and brass and jazz influences, creating a blueprint distinct enough for all subsequent Bond composers to follow. (Consider how readily it’s parodied.) From 1962’s Dr. That is the achievement of John Barry, the York-born composer who, from the 1960s through to his death in 2011, shaped what we think of now as the sound of spies.

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