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COLLECTING 007 – UK Records
WRITTEN &
COMPILED BY KEVIN HARPER |
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Every James Bond film
from Dr. No (1962) to Licence To Kill (1989) had its
original soundtrack recording released as a 33rpm 12" Long Playing Record.
Beginning with the release of GoldenEye (1995) the soundtracks
were
only issued on Compact Disc. The resurgence in the popularity of vinyl
records in recent years has resulted in the re-release of several classic
James Bond soundtracks in this format, with the track listings identical
to the
original version.
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Although the title song
for each film had been issued as a 45rpm 7" single by the artistes own
recording label, contractually their performance was also included on the
soundtrack LP as the opening track. All James Bond soundtracks up until For Your Eyes Only (1981) were released
by United Artists Records. Subsequent soundtracks have been issued by the
title artistes own record label. The double-sided LP format also dictated the
track listing of the album, with side two usually opening with an
instrumental version of the main theme, or another song featured in the
film. LP's were also restricted to a playing time of around 45-minutes
over the two sides and the inclusion/omission of some tracks from some
scores became a source of debate among fans for many years. It was only in
the 40th anniversary year of James Bond in the cinema that remastered
extended Compact Disc versions of the soundtracks were released. Lukas
Kendall's groundbreaking 2002 series of James Bond soundtracks issued by
Capitol-EMI restored many of the missing tracks, and in some cases doubled
the length of the original album. Contractually the track listings for the
original part of the album remained the same, with bonus tracks appearing
at the end of the programme. Some album tracks were also expanded or
adapted from their original release but retained their relative place in
the listing. Until the release of the expanded CD's the James Bond
soundtracks available on vinyl record were the closest thing to owning the
film in the days before VHS videotape and DVD's. For many fans the
soundtrack albums remain an integral part of the James Bond experience and
collectible items in their own right.
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UK 33rpm 12" Long Playing Records |
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The soundtrack LP's for
the first five James Bond films were issued in both mono and stereo
versions but the only difference to the record sleeve was a different catalogue number and
revised lettering. Collectors
should note that the US LP
releases of Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice originally
had a
different track listing to their UK counterparts. The UK LP omitted
John Barry's jazz instrumental version of the main theme although this did
appear on the 7" EP. The US LP of
Goldfinger included the jazz instrumental but omitted the tracks ‘Golden Girl’, ‘Death of Tilly’, ‘The
Laser Beam’ and ‘Pussy Galore's Flying Circus’. The US LP of You Only
Live Twice featured Nancy Sinatra's reprise of the title song as the
last track of the album, whereas the UK version replaced this with John
Barry's ‘Twice Is The Only Way To Live’. The 2002 Capitol-EMI remastered
CD's restored all these missing tracks.
Licence To Kill (1989) marked the
last time a James Bond original soundtrack have its first release issued
as a vinyl LP until the long-awaited No Time To Die (2021). All
subsequent films have had their albums released exclusively on compact disc with the title song artistes releasing their own CD singles, padded out with remixes
and redundant extended versions of the title song. Although all James Bond
title themes have been released as a 7" singles since 1989; these were not
all commercially available, and frequently only supplied as promotional
copies. |
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Dr. No
Original Motion Picture Sound Track Album
United Artists Records ULP 1097 Mono (1962)
United Artists Records SULP 1097 Stereo (1962) |
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From Russia With
Love Sound Track
United Artists Records ULP 1052 Mono (1963)
United Artists Records SULP 1052 Stereo (1963) |
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Goldfinger
Original Motion Picture Score
United Artists Records ULP 1076 Mono (1964)
United Artists Records SULP 1076 Stereo (1964) |
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Thunderball
Original Motion Picture Score
United Artists Records ULP 1110 Mono (1965)
United Artists Records SULP 1110 Stereo (1965) |
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You Only Live
Twice Original Soundtrack
Recording
United Artists Records ULP 1171 Mono (1967)
United Artists Records SULP 1171 Stereo (1967) |
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On Her Majesty's
Secret Service
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UAS 29020 Stereo (1969) |
The original UK pressing featured a gatefold sleeve with an
illustration of George Lazenby as James Bond by Yves Thos |
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Diamonds Are
Forever
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UAS 29216 Stereo (1971) |
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Live And Let Die
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UAS 29475 Stereo (1973) |
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The Man With The
Golden Gun
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UAS 29671 Stereo (1974) |
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The Spy Who
Loved Me
Original Motion Picture Score
United Artists Records UAG 30098 Stereo (1977) |
The original UK
pressing featured a gatefold sleeve
with a selection of stills from the film |
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Moonraker
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
United Artists Records UAG 30247 Stereo (1979) |
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For Your Eyes
Only
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Liberty Records LBG 30337 Stereo (1981) |
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Octopussy
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
A&M Records AMLX 64967 Stereo (1983) |
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A View To A Kill
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Parlophone 064 24 0349 1 Stereo (1985) |
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The Living
Daylights
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Warner Bros Records WX 111 Stereo (1987) |
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Licence To Kill
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
MCA Records MCG 6051 Stereo (1989) |
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Original
soundtrack?
Although the James Bond albums always bear the words ‘Original
Motion Picture Soundtrack [or Score]’ this is not actually the case.
As with all motion picture recordings, the music heard in the film is
usually different to that which appears on the soundtrack album. Two separate
sessions usually take place; one where the music that the
director, composer and film editor have spotted, timed and chosen for
the final sound mix is recorded, and another session often with
different musicians when the soundtrack album recordings are performed.
Some soundtrack album recordings often combined several different tracks
for a more pleasurable listening experience, omitting many of the shorter
cues which only appear in the film as brief
punctuation to a scene, or to support the action on screen. Composers
themselves will sometimes create
album versions of certain music tracks that bear little resemblance to
what appeared in the film. Other tracks are combined into suites, or
cross-faded to create a new hybrid track.
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For the release of
the expanded and remastered James Bond compact discs issued by
Capitol-EMI in
2002, producer Lukas Kendall in most instances had access to the recording session
master tapes,
and was able to include many pieces not used on the original
soundtrack album. Several cues, most notably the gunbarrel sequences,
have been restored to their rightful place at the start of many tracks
and most films now have this iconic piece of music included on the
compact disc version of the soundtrack album. Other tracks such as
the opening of ‘A Drop In the Ocean’ from
You Only Live Twice and ‘Moon Buggy Ride’ from Diamonds Are
Forever, now have additional passages of music included.
Perhaps the
most frustrating James Bond soundtrack release is The Spy Who Loved
Me composed by Marvin Hamlisch. As the soundtrack album is a
re-recording, many tracks sound very different to how they appeared in
the film, whilst others are unique to the LP. Even the great Bernard
Herrmann, who re-recorded his own Psycho score several times,
could never replicate the ferocity and tempo of the original film
recording sessions. Although the Bond LP's
are now for the most part greatly expanded from their original release,
and appear on compact disc in vastly superior sound quality to the
earlier releases, many audiophiles are returning to the long playing
record format, and several soundtracks have been reissued on vinyl in
recent years. Naturally the LP format means fewer tracks, but
sometimes less is more. Many classic albums have a much better
listening experience in their shorter version than those expansions
with every single note of music placed in the correct
running order. The recent expanded re-releases of David Arnold's The World Is Not Enough
and
Die Another Day from US label
LaLaLand Records have everything fans could possibly want and more,
now spread across two CD's. Although the master tapes for The Man With
The Golden Gun do exist and were available to Lukas Kendall in
2002, there were insufficient funds remaining to complete the project
and they went back on the shelf. Who knows? Maybe one day we'll see
further expanded remastered James Bond CD's, as there is still much
unreleased music from the earlier films that deserves to be heard.
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There is one James Bond record
however that always stood head and shoulders above all else, and whose sound
quality on vinyl made it one of the most
sought-after
recordings of all time. The film is the one that most fans
prefer to forget, but who can forget the outstanding quality of the
music? It can only be 1967's Casino Royale - the film that was
too much for one James Bond!
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UK EP's and Compilation albums |
US Soundtrack albums |
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