30 replies to this topic

[Jim]

Hello chumsters.

So, to keep me quiet over the weekend, the good lady wife bought me the remastered version of Pulp's "difficult twelvetieth album" This Is Hardcore, upon which (in the excellent second disc) they deliver of their "Tomorrow Never Dies".

Now...

Back in the day, when I had hair and it was that tremedous 1997 vibe, I bought their "single" Help The Aged (a wonderfulness, for those seeking tip top tunery), to which the b-side was "Tomorrow Never Lies" (do note the spelling, oh go on, do).

So this means...

At some point beyond Jarvis Cocker's obvious complete psychological breakdown (and this is a magnificent album, y'hear) - they re-recorded it.

Fine, so it really would not have suited the combat-trousered shooting-gooks grade-H extravaganza that the film "turned out to be", but even if it is melodically challenging, it remains lyrically interesting.

[marktmurphy]

Does the arrangement differ?

I find myself occasionally liking St Etienne's version. It's wrong in places but towards the end has a lovely sweeping 'up' chord which would have been great with a full orchestra.

[Jim]

Does the arrangement differ?

Yes, it does.

It starts extremely slowly, and in a traditionally Pulp-way "expands" (Pulp-ish, Pulp-esque, oh never mind) "provincially", "tragically", oh the domain of the utterly mediocre, that anyone (i.e. the daft sods that invited them to do a Bond song) who listened to - cough- the "more famous songs" from Different Class (being snobby here, but that's not what Pulp were) and had not bothered to listen to anything else they had done - might be alienated by.

Basically, they patently wanted Disco 2000 and they got - this.

In other words, that jet engine shattering the screen really would not have worked with this. About a minute and a half in, it becomes "Bondy" but up to then... nah.

[Santa]

Oh wow! Pulp, St Etienne, Suede. Those were the days.

[Jim]

Oh wow! Pulp, St Etienne, Suede. Those were the days.

Suede. Ooh.

"Everything Will Flow". A Bond song manque if there ever was one.

The days are still here, my lovely.

Although any mention of St Etienne means that you must be taken out into a car park and have your spleen kicked out through your nostrils. I mean, really.

[Santa]

Brett and Bernard for Bond 22? Now there's an idea.



One year at Glastonbury, I think it was, they had to do a bunk over a fence. We saw Sarah Cracknell's crack. My mate will still be thinking about it on his deathbed.

[Jim]

Brett and Bernard for Bond 22? Now there's an idea.



One year at Glastonbury, I think it was, they had to do a bunk over a fence. We saw Sarah Cracknell's crack. My mate will still be thinking about it on his deathbed.

Hmm. Nice. Was that 1997?

Do Brett and Bernard "get along" any more?

"The Wild Ones" - oh, it's just lovely. Just brought that up on the computer thingy after about three years - oh...

...just lovely.

[Santa]

Do Brett and Bernard "get along" any more?

Did you not hear their new band "The Tears"? Mind you, they could easily have argued again. Bit hormonal, those two. More suited to PB's Bond.



I'm more of an Animal Nitrate girl. Revisit that and you won't get out of your timewarp for a week.

[Jim]

Do Brett and Bernard "get along" any more?

Did you not hear their new band "The Tears"? Mind you, they could easily have argued again. Bit hormonal, those two. More suited to PB's Bond.



I'm more of an Animal Nitrate girl. Revisit that and you won't get out of your timewarp for a week.

The big old girls. Tchoh!, eh. But, true, they would do storming Bond song.

What does it take it take to turn you on?

[Bond#9-GeorgeKemp]

Bring back memories it does. If someone could upload it and post a link that'd be awesome.

[Lazenby880]

Back in the day, when I had hair and it was that tremedous 1997 vibe

There was a *nothing* tremendous about the 'vibe' of 1997.

I recently heard kd Lang's Surrender, a song which would have been a vast improvement on the Sheryl Crow thing. A bit obvious, perhaps, but still better than Crow's trying rendition of a Bond song.

Weren't Suede a bit, y'know, ?

[stamper]

Yeah, that's right, 1997 sucked big time. That Sheryl Crow thing was a big mistake in retrospect, KD lang song in the opening credits would have ensured the movie was better as a whole, with the recurring songline coming back as a motif on many parts of the score. Sheryl Crow is just a shark anyway. If you want shark in James Bond, just hire her !

[Santa]

Back in the day, when I had hair and it was that tremedous 1997 vibe

There was a *nothing* tremendous about the 'vibe' of 1997.

Weren't Suede a bit, y'know, ?

Darling, you're too young to have been able to appreciate those days. Although I personally would say 1997 was a bit too late. 1990-1995 were the best years.



Oh is this the way they say the future's meant to feel?
Or just 20,000 people standing in a field.
And I don't quite understand just what this feeling is.
But that's okay cos we're all sorted out for E's and wizz.
And tell me when the spaceship lands cos all this has just got to mean something.

In the middle of the night,
it feels alright,
but then tommorow morning.
Oh then you come down.

Oh yeah the pirate radio told us what was going down.
Got the tickets from some ed up bloke in Camden Town.
Oh and no-one seems to know exactly where it is.
But that's okay cos we're all sorted out for E's and wizz.
At 4 o'clock the normal world seems very, very, very far away.
Alright.

In the middle of the night,
it feels alright,
but then tommorow morning.
Oh then you come down.

Just keep on moving...
Everybody asks your name,
they say we're all the same and it's "nice one,"
"geezer"
but that's as far as the conversation went.
I lost my friends, I dance alone,
it's six o'clock, I wanna go home.
But it's "no way," "not today,"
makes you wonder what it meant.
And this hollow feeling grows and grows and grows and grows,
and you want to phone your mother and say,
"Mother, I can never come home again,
cos I seem to have left an important part of my brain somewhere,
somewhere in a field in Hampshire."
Alright.

In the middle of the night,
it feels alright,
but then tommorow morning.
Oh then you come down.

What if you never come down?

[Lazenby880]

Darling, you're too young to have been able to appreciate those days.

Aww, check you trying to be patronising. Cute.

Why have you regurgitated random Pulp lyrics? They were okay, if rather overrated. This Is Hardcore is probably their best album, certainly better than Different Class, although I must confess that I do find Tomorrow Never Lies somewhat wearisome. Pulp's version of All Time High, on the other hand, is fun.

Edited by Lazenby880, 18 September 2006 - 11:56 AM.

[spynovelfan]

There used to be an audio-blog called 'We love 1997' that only had songs from that year.

Suede did actually record a Bond song, called BENZEDRINE BITCHES, which they sometimes performed live. The lyrics went:

'Scratching my scar beneath these gunmetal skies on a moist day
Waiting for the rush of the drug that I'm craving to give me a reason
To continue this unfulfilled existence as an instrument so blunted
By sexual sleaze and the ways that you please oh take me away

You Benzedrine bitches
Have me in stitches
Oh, your saucery eyes come as no surprise...'

[Santa]

Darling, you're too young to have been able to appreciate those days.

Aww, check you trying to be patronising. Cute.

Why have you regurgitated random Pulp lyrics?

Not random, not overrated, the story of my life. You're kind of proving my above point for me .

[Loomis]

I remember Pulp.

"Common People" - which I believe AA Gill or someone recently called the best song of the '90s (not that AA Gill is always right, but, on this occasion, at least, he ain't far wrong) - is by miles their finest moment, followed by "Disco 2000", "Mis-Shapes" and "Sorted For Es and Whiz". As for the rest of their stuff, well, I never really bothered to give them a thorough evaluation (fnarr).

On a vaguely related note, does anyone remember Gene?

Suede's best songs were B-sides. "The Killing of a Flash Boy" is one of those tracks that shows they did indeed have Bond potential. Not sure why the terrific Saint Etienne get such a kicking from the normally reliable Jim-meister. The Tears - save for "Refugees" - were (are?) disappointing.

I have it on extremely good authority that Bernard Butler and Morrissey came reasonably close to collaborating a few years ago. I was told - and while this seems very unlikely (since Morrissey almost always sings his own lyrics, although perhaps he'd have tweaked the words if he'd recorded this song), the person who told me would certainly have known what he was talking about - that La Moz was originally going to sing "Yes", which Butler ended up recording with David McAlmont.... who, in a spooky coincidence, also submitted material for TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

If we're talking Sounds of '97 for Bond, might I suggest Blur's "Beetlebum" (with a different title and lyrics, natch), and, instead of Moby's reworking of The James Bond Theme (I've said it before, and I'll say it again: why the heck isn't this superb track actually in the film?), something along the lines of The Chemical Brothers' "Block Rockin' Beats".

Not many non-Brits contributing to this thread. Odd.

[spynovelfan]

KILLING OF A FLASH BOY is probably my favourite Suede song, but I think MY DARK STAR is their best Bond theme manqu

[Santa]

On a vaguely related note, does anyone remember Gene?

I do. Not bad at all, if a little feminine.

Not sure why the terrific Saint Etienne get such a kicking from the normally reliable Jim-meister. The Tears - save for "Refugees" - were (are?) disappointing.

Agreed on both counts.

I have it on extremely good authority that Bernard Butler and Morrissey came reasonably close to collaborating a few years ago. La Moz was originally going to sing "Yes", which Butler ended up recording with David McAlmont.... who, in a spooky coincidence, also submitted material for TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

I heard exactly the same thing.

Does anyone else remember Chapterhouse, House of Love, Ride?

[Loomis]

Gene were a fantastic group, despite sounding like they were the Smiths reverse-engineered. The live version of OLYMPIAN when the crowd comes in gives me goose-bumps every time.

"London, Can You Wait?" might have done as a secondary or closing credits Bond song, although obviously the sub-Morrissey stuff about "my kith and kin" would have to have gone, and the "he" changed to "she" in order to create a good-old fashioned rampantly heterosexual Bond ditty:

My kith and kin
I have sinned
I didn't hear the siren, or see him giving in
My kith and kin
I have sinned again
He said
"London can you wait
For all the things I have to say
London can you wait?"

My kith and kin
I have sinned
The alarm rang loud, the lights were on
And I didn't see a thing
My kith and kin
Death just walked in, again
He said,
"London, can you wait
for all the things I need to say
How long can you wait?"

I was having the time of my life
So why did you have to die?
I'm lost
Again

Early 21st century rather than late '90s, but UNKLE's "Reign" (featuring Ian Brown and Mani of The Stone Roses) is probably the most staggeringly *ahem* Bond song mon-kay song I've ever heard.

Does anyone else remember Chapterhouse, House of Love, Ride?

Chapterhouse and House of Love, no (well, I knew of them, but I never listened to their music), Ride, yes. "Going Blank Again" is an excellent album.

[Santa]

Early 21st century rather than late '90s, but UNKLE's "Reign" (featuring Ian Brown and Mani of The Stone Roses) is probably the most staggeringly *ahem* Bond song mon-kay song I've ever heard.

Reign has an excellent Bond sound but, and I think we've had this conversation before, I can't live with a Bond theme tune with a Manc accent. Sorry. So maybe a good solution would be UNKLE with... Brett? Jarvis? Sarah Cracknell?

[spynovelfan]

Have you heard Saint Etienne's TOMORROW NEVER DIES, though? It's pretty dire. Very silly lyrics, sounds flat. She'd have made a good Bond girl, though. I've not heard Pulp's TND, but their TNL is quite good, if a bit of the wrong feel for Bond. I like the line 'There's always someone gonna shoot you down...'

I used to like The House of Love, but wasn't into Chapterhouse or Ride. To a lesser extent James, to whom Coldplay owe a startlingly obvious but never stated amount (and a-Ha - all of Coldplay are massive a-Ha fans. It's true! Look it up if you don't believe me and then nod understandingly next time you hear Trouble). I used to have a 7" single by a Scottish band called Goodbye Mr Mackenzie of a song called BLACKER THAN BLACK. Now they might have been able to do a Bond tune... *

The group who really could have done a cracker of a Bond theme, of course, were the Stone Roses. Oddly, they also have a (pretty tenuous) Fleming connection. Bear with me. They took their name from a 1950s thriller by a British spy writer called Sarah Gainham. Gainham was married to Fleming's friend, MI6 agent Anthony Terry, who showed him round Berlin and helped him with the geography of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. Gainham was also involved in spying, and told a fascinated Fleming about a hideous Russian agent she and her husband had known in Vienna, describing her hair and physical appearance. Fleming used them for Rosa Klebb.

*Shirley Manson, of course, was in that band.

[Loomis]

Reign has an excellent Bond sound but, and I think we've had this conversation before, I can't live with a Bond theme tune with a Manc accent. Sorry. So maybe a good solution would be UNKLE with... Brett? Jarvis? Sarah Cracknell?

Daniel Craig should sing it, whether he can sing or not. The reaction of the haters would be.... it'd be beautiful.

[Lazenby880]

You're kind of proving my above point for me .

Sure, love.

Also did the rather dull version of DAF on SHAKEN AND STIRRED.

Is it just me or does he sound like a woman on that song? When I first listened to his version on Arnold's Shaken And Stirres CD I honestly thought the singer was a female with a strong voice.

[marktmurphy]

I have it on extremely good authority that Bernard Butler and Morrissey came reasonably close to collaborating a few years ago. I was told - and while this seems very unlikely (since Morrissey almost always sings his own lyrics, although perhaps he'd have tweaked the words if he'd recorded this song), the person who told me would certainly have known what he was talking about - that La Moz was originally going to sing "Yes", which Butler ended up recording with David McAlmont

That would have put a rather different spin on it; it's a very positive song, but with Steve singing I can imagine it might have seemed a bit subversive.

I remember seeing someone very middle class wearing the Pulp T-shirt saying 'I'm Common' at university, and not being able to work out how many layers of irony were going on.

I was wondering about William Shatner's (superb) cover version: do they actually use the word 'common' in the States?

[Loomis]

I used to like The House of Love, but wasn't into Chapterhouse or Ride. To a lesser extent James, to whom Coldplay owe a startlingly obvious but never stated amount (and a-Ha - all of Coldplay are massive a-Ha fans. It's true! Look it up if you don't believe me and then nod understandingly next time you hear Trouble).

I don't care for Coldplay, but I absolutely love "Trouble". And "Yellow". The rest of it can pretty much push off.

The group who really could have done a cracker of a Bond theme, of course, were the Stone Roses.

While I'm probably one of the biggest Stone Roses fans on earth, I disagree. None of their classics - "I Wanna Be Adored", "She Bangs the Drums", "Made of Stone", "I Am the Resurrection", "What the World Is Waiting For", "Fools Gold", "Breaking Into Heaven", "Ten Storey Love Song", "Love Spreads", etc. etc. remotely puts me in mind of Bond. Believe me, I yield to no one in my passion for this band, but I just don't see any Bond music potential at all.

Ian Brown solo's a different kettle of fish, though.

[spynovelfan]

'And the time has come
To shoot you down...'?

I also think MADE OF STONE sounds quite Bondish in an epic uplifting LIVE AND LET DIE meets NOBODY DOES IT BETTER way, with some ominous lyrics: 'Your final flight can't be delayed...'

But really, I just wanted to get the Sarah Gainham thing in.

Mark, YES is a positive song, but only in the same way I WILL SURVIVE is, surely. It's a bitter diatribe against someone who he was previously in love with but scorned him and who is now patronisingly pretending to be concerned for his welfare. I think Moz would have been great for it, but I do like the Phil Spectory Motown thing we got instead.

You know what would have been a brilliant Bond song? MOTORCYCLE EMPTINESS by the Manic Street Preachers. Replace the lyrics, obviously, which are complete rubbish anyway, and call it ASTON MARTIN EMPTINESS or something. But seriously, what a tune.

[Loomis]

'And the time has come
To shoot you down...'?

Erm, no. Good song and everything, but it doesn't strike me as Bondian any more than, say, "The Real Slim Shady" strikes me as Bondian.

Sorry.

[spynovelfan]

Yeah, but what do you know? You think COLONEL SUN is Bondian!

[Loomis]

How very dare you! And accusing someone of mistakenly thinking something is Bondian is pretty rich coming from a chap who doesn't appear to feel that THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH is so utterly wretched as to merit being buried on Mars.