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COLLECTING 007 – UK Records
WRITTEN & COMPILED BY KEVIN HARPER

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 released 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, or any of the expanded CD releases.

The Living Daylights albums/singles advertisement

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, making use 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 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.

UK 45rpm 7" Singles & 12" Extended Play Records 1985 to date

‘A View To A Kill’ 45rpm single ‘A View To A Kill’ 45rpm single back cover
‘A View To A Kill’ 45rpm single DURAN 007

‘A View To A Kill’ 45rpm single DURAN 007 disc art

‘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.

‘A View To A Kill’ 45rpm single white vinyl

‘A View To A Kill’ 45rpm single white vinyl back cover

‘A View To A Kill’ 45rpm single gatefold sleeve

‘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.

‘The Living Daylights’ 45rpm single

‘The Living Daylights’ 45rpm back cover

‘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.

‘The Living Daylights’ 45rpm single

‘The Living Daylights’ 45rpm single back cover

‘The Living Daylights’ 45rpm single gatefold

‘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.

‘The Living Daylights’ 12" single

‘The Living Daylights’ 12" single back cover

The Living Daylights 12" Extended mix

‘The Living Daylights’ 12" extended mix edition
a-ha
Warner Bros Records W8305T

 
the Living Daylights instrumental

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]

 
‘The Living Daylights’ 12" maxi single picture disc

‘The Living Daylights’ 12" maxi single picture disc

‘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

‘If There Was A Man’ 45rpm single

‘Into Vienna’ John Barry 45rpm single

‘If There Was A Man’
The Pretenders for 007
Real Records YZ 149

Released August 1987. Hughest UK chart position #49.
B-side ‘Into Vienna’ John Barry

‘If There Was A Man’ 12" single

‘If There Was A Man’ 12" single back cover

‘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

Licence To Kill single advertisement
‘Licence To Kill’ 45rpm single

‘Licence To Kill’ 45rpm single back cover

‘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

‘Licence To Kill’ 45rpm single limited edition

‘Licence To Kill’ 45rpm single limited edition lyric sheet

‘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.

‘Licence To Kill’ 12" single

‘Licence To Kill’ 12" single back cover

Licence To Kill 12" Extended mix

‘Licence To Kill’ 12" extended mix edition
Gladys Knight
MCA Records MCAT 1339

 

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]

‘Licence To Kill’ 12" single alternate version

‘Licence To Kill’ 12" single alternate back cover

‘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)’.

‘If You Asked Me To’ 45rpm single

‘If You Asked Me To’ 45rpm single back cover

‘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)
GoldenEye CD single Tomorrow Never Dies CD single 1 Tomorrow Never Dies CD single 2

Moby's James Bond theme re-version CD single

The World Is Not Enough CD single

Die Another Day CD single 1 Die Another Day CD single 2

You Know My Name CD single

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.

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.

‘Another Way To Die’ 45rpm single

‘Another Way To Die’ 45rpm single back cover

‘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
‘Skyfall’ 45rpm single

‘Skyfall’ 45rpm single back cover

‘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

‘Writing's On The Wall’ 45rpm single

‘Writing's On The Wall’ 45rpm single back cover

‘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

No Time To Die Billie Eilish

‘No Time to Diel’ 45rpm single back cover

‘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

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.

No Time To Die 45prm single editions

‘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]

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.

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.

PART 1 – 1962-1969

PART 2 – 1971-1983


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