Shirley Bassey -- Goldfinger

 

Welcome to the weekly Reminiscings of Youth where I present some of the memorable non-kayo kyoku songs of my childhood, youth and perhaps young adulthood. This week, we're going back into the 007 file which has gotten three entries thus far and today is No.4 which involves the third entry in the franchise, the 1964 "Goldfinger".

First off, let me say that I still have a great love for the first two movies, "Dr. No" and "From Russia With Love", but it's been said that with "Goldfinger", the James Bond movie formula was finally realized. The romancing and the coolness/dark humour of Bond were always there but from this movie, we finally got to see the secret gadgets, the testy exchanges between Q and Bond, and a villain that cast his dark shadow throughout the entire movie.

Plus, we got the first sung Bond song in the opening credit sequence, a nifty one with some of the scenes of what we were going to view projected onto a model painted in gold. According to the Wikipedia article for the song, the theme went through some sturm und drang among the production folks but for everyone paying for the experience, Shirley Bassey hit it out of the park and it's been the gold standard (no pun intended) for all of the Bond themes to follow. 

Written and composed by John Barry, Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse, the song had all of what a 007 movie needed: class, swagger, intrigue and danger. And when I finally got to see the movie on ABC (until Roger Moore's final appearance as 007, "A View to a Kill", I'd never seen a Bond flick on the big screen), I enjoyed hearing the thrilling orchestral reprise of the theme in certain key scenes. The song extended Auric's already hefty presence even further. 

Once again according to the Wikipedia article, the theme managed to sell over a million records in the United States, hitting No. 8 on Billboard, and reaching the Top 10 in a number of European nations. It even hit No. 1 in Japan. 

Let's go with the 6th annual Japan Record Awards in 1964.

Best New Artist: Harumi Miyako -- Anko Tsubaki wa Koi no Hana （アンコ椿は恋の花）

Best Performance: Yoko Kishi -- Yoake no Uta （夜明けのうた）

Special Award: Haruo Minami -- Tokyo Gorin Ondo （東京五輪音頭）

Monty Norman & John Barry -- James Bond Theme

 

As I mentioned a few minutes ago, I'd caught "Top Gun: Maverick" at the theatre yesterday with a buddy so I figured that I simply had to cover the famous anthem from that movie. However, my original intention with this week's Reminiscings of Youth was to cover an even more famous theme from the movies. In fact, I'd say that this theme will go down as one of the most famous songs in moviedom.

I do this because British composer Monty Norman passed away on July 11th a few days ago at the age of 94. For all that he's created over the decades, I can say that his most recognizable creation with John Barry's arrangement is the theme song for James Bond, MI6 Agent 007. 

The James Bond theme made its debut with the debut of the James Bond movie franchise in 1962 with "Dr. No". A few years before my birth, so I missed out on catching the very first 007 flick at the theatres. Therefore, it was through the TV reruns on ABC's Sunday night movies where I caught Sean Connery as Bond. That scene above where he uttered the coolest introduction of a character's name (Bond...James Bond) is still amazing even after 60 years. The man was so charismatic that he apparently emitted the theme song along with his cologne whenever he took a walk.

Just like the fact that I've always considered the first movie incarnation of Bond via Sir Sean to be my favourite, I've always preferred the very first rendition of the James Bond theme through "Dr. No.". Neither shaken nor stirred but very steady and controlled until it's time to be unleashed. 

Miratico.com

One reason that I like the original version of the Bond song so much is that distinct twangy guitar riff provided by studio guitarist Victor Flick on his 1939 English Clifford Essex Paragon Deluxe via a Fender Vibrolux amplifier according to the Wikipedia article on the theme. That riff seems to describe the character of Bond himself stalking his prey within that mysterious atmosphere jazzily provided by Barry and his orchestra. When the horns suddenly explode, that's when the fun and bullets and fisticuffs begin.

I remember seeing bits and parts of the early Bond movies with Connery such as "Thunderball" and "You Only Live Twice" on the telly, but it wasn't until I finally saw the gun barrel sequence and the subsequent opening credits for "Dr. No" that I finally got the theme in its full glory and realized who and what James Bond represented. It's like that old saying "You always remember your first".

So, while 007 was doing his romancing and killing for queen and country, which kayo were winning prizes in Japan in that year of 1962? Let's take a look at the Japan Record Awards.

Grand Prize -- Yukio Hashi and Sayuri Yoshinaga -- Itsudemo Yume wo （いつでも夢を）

Best New Artist -- Chieko Baisho -- Shitamachi no Taiyo（下町の太陽）

Best Performance -- Michiya Mihashi -- Hoshikuzu no Machi (星屑の町)