The James Bond theme that Shirley Bassey “hated”
Over the course of its 60-year existence, the James Bond franchise has developed a number of tropes that have become a key part of both the character and the brand, with the theme songs just as important to the ongoing adventures of 007 as the opening credits, gadgets, and quips.
Remarkably, despite the long-running series offering up countless classic musical accompaniments to play over the introductory titles, it wasn’t until the 23rd instalment that a James Bond movie won an Academy Award for ‘Best Original Song’.
Apparently making up for lost time, the iconic spy saga has gone on to achieve that feat three times in a row, with Adele’s win for ‘Skyfall’ being followed by Sam Smith’s ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ and Billie Eilish’s ‘No Time to Die’ taking home the gold. There are dozens of artists to have contributed to the theme songs over the years for better or worse, but one of them is comfortably more iconic than the rest.
Shirley Bassey was the first – and still only – singer to perform more than one Bond song, with ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ comfortably among the most enduringly popular. Unfortunately, the third time didn’t mark the charm, with the title track for Moonraker not even close to being as well-received as her previous contributions.
In her defence, Bassey was drafted in at short notice, having only agreed to perform ‘Moonraker’ weeks before the film of the same name was due to premiere in cinemas. Frank Sinatra was reportedly one of the names considered, while Kate Bush turned down the overtures of Eon Productions.
As a result, Bassey doesn’t have the same personal connection to the song as she did with ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, to the extent it would be almost a decade and a half until she performed it live, but even at that it came as part of a James Bond medley that incorporated all three of her tunes.
In The Sound of 007 documentary, Bassey didn’t hold back on her thoughts on ‘Moonraker’. “Hated it”, she said. “That’s why I’ve never sung it in my act”.
In a television special, the singer would also admit that “it really wasn’t my song” after being brought in as a last-minute replacement, which is why she made the decision to completely omit it from her on-stage exploits.
Two out of three isn’t bad, but with Bassey clarifying that the only reason she agreed to record ‘Moonraker’ was as a favour to John Barry when the composer was left without a singer and the impending release of the movie closing in fast.
It’s understandable that she doesn’t even consider it on the same level as ‘Goldfinger’ or ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, and even if it isn’t the worst 007 theme there’s ever been, it’s far from being one of the best, either.
