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COLLECTING 007 – UK Records
WRITTEN &
COMPILED BY KEVIN HARPER |
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Although the compact disc
had been introduced in 1982, it was not until the end of the
decade when the format overtook vinyl as the dominant medium for the
distribution of commercial music. The first James Bond single released on
compact disc was Gladys Knight's ‘Licence To Kill’ in 1989. Before the
eventual decline of vinyl records, the format underwent a renaissance in
the mid-1980s and the James Bond singles were released in a number of
different editions in eye-catching sleeves and coloured vinyl making them
attractive to collectors once more. The rise in popularity of the 12"
single allowed record labels to release extended versions of the title
tracks, some of which have not been commercially available in any other
format since. Instrumental versions of the main title theme were also
included and similarly these did not appear on the original soundtrack
album, nor any of the expanded CD releases.
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With the popularity of
compact disc, which offered better quality, less shelf space, and larger
storage capacity, the James Bond singles have been issued in this digital
format since 1989. The medium is still used today, although downloading
and streaming now offers another platform for music distributors to
release their product. Since the release of ‘Licence To Kill’ in 1989,
each subsequent James Bond single was issued on CD, often with a variety
of extended versions and redundant remixes to take advantage of the greater
storage capacity. The vinyl format underwent a revival in the mid-2000s,
and many more labels began issuing new music and repressing old LPs
to meet the growing demand. Consequently ‘Another Way To Die’ from
Quantum of Solace (2008), and
Adele's Oscar-Winning ‘Skyfall’ were
issued a 7" 45rpm singles alongside the standard CD edition. Also
released as a CD single and 7" vinyl edition,
‘Writing's On The Wall’ became the first James Bond song to reach number
one in the UK in October 2015. Sam Smith's Spectre title theme then went on
to win the Oscar© for Best Original Song at the 2016 Academy Awards. In
February 2020 ‘No Time To Die’ sung by
Billie Eilish also reached number
one on the UK singles chart, although the 25th James Bond film ultimately
had its release date postponed several times due to production delays, and
the global effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. No Time To Die was
finally released on September 30, 2021, and went on to win the Oscar©
for Best Original Song at the 2022 Academy Awards. |
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UK 45rpm 7"
Singles
& 12" Extended Play Records 1985 to date |
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‘A View To A Kill’
Duran Duran
Parlophone Records DURAN 007 |
Released 7 May 1985.
Highest UK chart position #2.
B-side ‘A View To A Kill’ (That Fatal
Kiss) John Barry.
Die-cut picture sleeve revealing James Bond silhouette.
Black Vinyl. |
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‘A View To A Kill’
Duran Duran
Parlophone Records DURAN G 007 |
B-side ‘A
View To A Kill’ (That Fatal Kiss) John Barry.
Gatefold picture sleeve die-cut on inner spread.
Identical disc artwork to DURAN 007 edition.
White Vinyl. |
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‘The Living Daylights’
a-ha
Warner Bros Records W8305 |
Released 22 June 1987.
Highest UK chart position #5.
B-side ‘The Living Daylights’
(Instrumental) John Barry.
Available in glossy card picture sleeve or matt paper version. |
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‘The Living Daylights’
a-ha
Warner Bros Records W8305V |
Also released as a
special edition 7" single with gatefold die-cut sleeve. Although the
release had its own catalogue number, the actual record label bears
the standard release number W8305. |
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‘The Living Daylights’
12" extended mix edition
a-ha
Warner Bros Records W8305T |
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12" extended mix
edition
Side A: ‘The Living Daylights’ (extended mix) [6:45]
Side B: ‘The Living Daylights’ (7" version) [4:11]
‘The Living Daylights’ (Instrumental version) [4:37] |
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‘The Living Daylights’
a-ha
Warner Bros Records W8305TP |
Also issued as a 12"
Limited Edition Maxi-Single Picture Disc.
Track listing identical to W8305T
Clear plastic sleeve |
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‘If There Was A
Man’
The Pretenders for 007
Real Records YZ 149 |
Released August 1987.
Highest UK chart position #49.
B-side ‘Into Vienna’ John Barry |
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‘If There Was A
Man’
The Pretenders for 007
Real Records YZ149TX |
Also issued as a 12"
edition which included ‘Where Has Every Body Gone’ sung by Chrissie
Hynde |
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‘Licence To Kill’
Gladys Knight
MCA Records MCA 1339 |
Released 30 May 1989.
Highest UK chart position #6.
Issued with Gold and Red picture sleeves. B-side ‘Pam’
Michael Kamen and the National Philharmonic Orchestra |
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‘Licence To Kill’
Gladys Knight
MCA Records MCASP 1339 |
Also issued as a
special limited edition which contained a one-sided lyric sheet and
two postcards of the poster artwork. |
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‘Licence To Kill’
12" extended mix edition
Gladys Knight
MCA Records MCAT 1339 |
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12" extended mix
edition
Side A: ‘Licence To Kill’ (extended version) [5:13]
Side B:
‘Pam’ [3:50]
‘Licence To Kill’ (7" version) [4:11] |
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‘Licence To Kill’
Gladys Knight
MCA Records MCAT 1339 |
MCA also issued a
second 12" single with the same catalogue number but with a red
sleeve. The record contained the extended version of ‘Licence To
Kill’, and two other Gladys Knight tracks on side 2: ‘You’ and ‘Love
Is Fire (Love Is Ice)’. |
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‘If
You Asked Me To’
Patti La Belle
MCA Records MCA 1357 |
MCA also issued a 12" version (MCAT 1357) which contained ‘If You
Asked Me To’ [3:56], ‘If You Asked Me To (Dub)’ [4:08] &
‘If You Asked Me To (Instrumental Suite)’ [4:14]. The 12" vinyl
edition was identical to the CD version (DMCA 1357) |
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Licence To
Kill (1989) was the last James Bond film to have its title
song released as a vinyl single until Quantum of Solace in
2008. During the early 1990s when the James Bond films were
absent from cinema screens, the compact disc format became the
preferred medium for commercial music sales, and the title
songs for the next five James Bond films were only issued on
compact disc. 7" vinyl singles were issued as promotional records
made available to radio stations. The CD single editions featured
redundant remixes and were issued by the recording artistes own
record label. ‘GoldenEye’ (1995) sung by
Tina Turner had no less
than four additional remixes of the title track.
‘Tomorrow
Never Dies’ by Sheryl Crow was released on two CD singles in 1997.
The first had the title track and three other Sheryl Crow songs,
with a second enhanced version which included the music video in
Quicktime format. Popular American singer-songwriter and
composer ‘Moby’ (Richard Melville Hall) released his own
re-version of Monty Norman's ‘James Bond Theme’ which became a hit
in 1997. The ‘James Bond Theme (Moby's re-version)’ appeared on
the original soundtrack album for Tomorrow Never Dies,
although the track does not feature in the film. The CD single of
Moby's interpretation featured five additional remixes of the
track. K.D. Lang's end title song ‘Surrender’ was not issued as a
separate single in the UK. The original soundtrack album for
Tomorrow Never Dies itself was issued twice on CD - the first
was the official A&M Records release in 1997, and a second album
from Chapter III Records in 2000, which removed the three songs,
added more of David Arnold's score and included an interview with
the composer.
‘The World Is Not Enough’ had the
Garbage title song remixed by
British Electronic Pop group U.N.K.L.E, and the CD single also
included the orchestral track ‘Ice Bandits’ by
David Arnold.
Madonna's ‘Die Another Day’ was issued as two separate CD singles
in 2002, with additional remixes which in turn were also issued as
12" vinyl records. The
Chris Cornell (1964-2017) single ‘You Know
My Name’ from Casino Royale (2006) was issued as a
two-track CD single featuring the title song (which was a
different version to that heard in the film) and an acoustic track
‘Black Hole Sun’. Casino Royale was the first James Bond
film not to include the title song on its original soundtrack
album. |
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Since
1995 the James Bond singles have all been
released on compact disc, but more recent titles
also had a
vinyl single issued alongside the
standard CD version. Other territories have also
had alternate versions issued throughout the years on different formats. |
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‘Another Way To Die’
Jack White & Alicia Keys
XL Records XLS 007 |
Released
20 October 2008. highest UK chart position #9.
B-side ‘Another Way To Die’ (Instrumental Version)
Gold vinyl 7" Limited Edition 6,000 copies |
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‘Skyfall’
Adele
XL Records XLS 593 |
Released 29 October
2012. Highest UK chart position #2.
B-side ‘Skyfall’ (Instrumental)
Oscar® Winner Best Original Song 2013 |
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‘Writing's On The
Wall’
Sam Smith
Capitol Records 4754616 |
Released 23 October
2015. Highest UK chart position #1.
B-side ‘Writing's On The Wall’ (Instrumental)
Oscar® Winner Best Original Song 2015 |
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‘No Time To Die’
Billie Eilish
Darkroom/Interscope Records 0880227
Smoke-coloured vinyl Limited Edition [6,000 copies]* |
*Released 5 October
2020.
Highest UK chart position #1 [Digital version released April 2020]
B-side ‘No Time To Die’ (Instrumental)
GRAMMY® Award for Best Song Written For Visual Media 2021
Golden Globe
Winner Best Original Song 2022
Oscar® Winner
Best Original Song 2022 |
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Released in the
UK on February 15, 2020 the title song for the 25th official James
Bond film was recorded by 18-year-old American singer and
songwriter Billie Eilish.
Co-written with
her brother Finneas O'Connell, ‘No Time To Die’ largely divided
James Bond fans but quickly topped the UK singles chart on
February 21, 2020. Although a promotional CD single was produced,
a song's popularity is now measured in the number of downloads
rather than individual sales of physical media, and just four days
after its release ‘No Time To Die’ had been streamed 5.6 million
times in the UK.
Originally
scheduled to hit UK cinemas on April 2, 2020 No Time To Die
then had its release postponed due to the global Coronavirus
pandemic. No Time To Die is therefore the only James Bond
film to have its title song reach number one in the UK chart
before actually being released in cinemas. |
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‘No Time To Die’
[Amazon Exclusive]
Billie Eilish
Darkroom/Interscope Records 0880226
Ice blue-coloured vinyl edition |
‘No Time To Die’
Billie Eilish
Darkroom/Interscope Records 0880227
Smoke-coloured vinyl Limited Edition |
‘No Time to Die’
Billie Eilish
Darkroom/Interscope Records 0880231
Picture-disc vinyl edition [clear sleeve] |
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Billie Eilish performed
the song live for the first time at the Brit awards in London on February
18, 2020 accompanied by her brother FINNEAS, guitarist Johnny Marr and
No Time To Die soundtrack composer
Hans Zimmer. The official
music video for ‘No Time To Die’ directed by
Daniel Kleinman
was released on October 1 2020, to coincide with the release of the film,
but the following day it was announced that No Time To Die would be
be delayed until 2 April 2021 in order to be seen by a worldwide
theatrical audience.
A limited edition [6,000 copies] smoke-effect vinyl
7" single #0880227, and picture disc edition #0880231 were released on
October 5, 2020 (global James Bond day) and available via independent
record stores. The single was also available exclusively from Amazon as a
7" ice blue translucent vinyl limited edition #0880226.
On March 14, 2021 it was announced
that ‘No Time To Die’ written by Billie Eilish and her brother FINNEAS had
won the GRAMMY®
Award for Best Song Written For Visual Media. Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth
had previously won this award for ‘Skyfall’ in 2014. |
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Just before the 25th James Bond film was
finally released in cinemas on September 30, 2021, it was announced that
‘No Time To Die’ had gone platinum in the UK with combined sales of more
than 600,000 units. In the week the film was released in UK cinemas ‘No
Time To Die’ re-entered the UK singles chart at number 32. In the same
week, Hans Zimmer's soundtrack reached the number one spot in the UK
classical album chart, and also entered the UK official album chart
appropriately at number 007. ‘No Time To Die’ went on to win the 2022
Golden Globe and Academy
Award for Best Original Song, becoming the third successive Oscar win in
this category for the James Bond films. |
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PART 1 – 1962-1969 |
PART 2 – 1971-1983 |
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