15 replies to this topic

[Mr Twilight]

Why did Tina Turner make GoldenEye and not U2? I do think Tina Turner made a great job and in fact it's one of my favorites but why didn't U2 take the job themself?

[Iceskater101]

Was U2 offered for the job? I didn't realize he was.

[Mr Twilight]

Well it was Bon and Edge who wrote it and there is a demo with them out...there so that is why I wonder

[The Shark]

That's why.

[x007AceOfSpades]

I know The Rolling Stones were offered to do the song for the film and declined. This has always been a question I've had, and after seeing that video Shark, I now know why.

[S K Y F A L L]

The Rolling Stones, really? I'm glad they didn't. I also always wondered this and after hearing 2/3's of the song understand why. I'd be also interested to know why they choose Madonna for DAD after she did the theme for The Spy Who Shagged Me, were they trying to make DAD more like Ausitn Powers?

[tdalton]

I'd always been under the impression that Bono and the Edge didn't write "GoldenEye" with the idea that they would be performing it themselves. The lyrics, to me, sound as though they're coming from a female perspective ("other girls, they gather around him / if I had him I wouldn't let him out" as an example), which would lead me to believe that this particular "GoldenEye" song was meant to be sung by a female vocalist from the beginning. I would be curious to know, however, if "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" was ever considered or submitted as a possible theme for the film.

[Shaun Forever]

Cannot imagine in a million years, the Rolling Stones doing a Bond song.

[stromberg]

I know The Rolling Stones were offered to do the song for the film and declined. This has always been a question I've had, and after seeing that video Shark, I now know why.

Someone (mtm?) suggested the Stones to do the Skyfall theme, as they also have their 50th anniversary this year. Kind of liked the idea.

Read an interesting story today: Shirley Bassey was never comfortable with the MR theme, as the song wasn't written for her but for Johnny Mathis. On the GE premiere, she made a remark about Tina Turner being in the same situation, because the GE theme was written for Take That. Anybody heard of this before?

[Loomis]

Read an interesting story today: Shirley Bassey was never comfortable with the MR theme, as the song wasn't written for her but for Johnny Mathis. On the GE premiere, she made a remark about Tina Turner being in the same situation, because the GE theme was written for Take That. Anybody heard of this before?

I doubt that Take That were considered for GOLDENEYE or any other Bond song, if only because, while they're huge in Britain, they have next to no profile in the United States. I may be wrong, but I don't think they've ever really done any business over there.

I suspect that any act that does a Bond song is chosen partly on the basis of having at least some kind of recognition factor in America.

[Pussfeller]

Read an interesting story today: Shirley Bassey was never comfortable with the MR theme, as the song wasn't written for her but for Johnny Mathis.

I didn't know that. I had heard that Frank Sinatra, of all people, was approached to sing Moonraker.

[Professor Pi]

According to The Music of JAMES BOND by John Burlingame, the studio went with Bono and the Edge after the Rolling Stones rejected the offer.  Bono had just vacationed at Fleming's GoldenEye estate and was eager to write a Bond song, coming off the heals of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" from Batman Forever.  Tina Turner is his neighbor in the South of France and he played the song for her and she liked it.

 

As for Moonraker, it was originally written with Frank Sinatra in mind, who initially agreed to it, with lyrics by Paul Williams.  Sinatra changed his mind, so then they tried Johnny Mathis and asked Williams to alter the lyrics, who then balked.  Kate Bush was their next choice but reportedly too busy.  When all hope was lost, John Barry happened to bump into Shirley Bassey at the Beverly Hills Hotel and asked if she wanted to do another Bond song.  She agreed and Hal David was asked by Barry to write lyrics--which he did in one weekend without reading the book, seeing the script, or hearing the demos because they were due to record it on a Monday or Tuesday.  But the music was essentially the same.

[Shaun Forever]

Kate Bush doing a Bond song? that could have been really good.

[scissorpuppy007]

"And if I only could, make a deal with Bond. While Blofeld swaps his faces."

[Hockey Mask]

That's why.

That is horrible.

[scissorpuppy007]

 The Bono demo needs to be put into context. Bono never intended to sing the song for the film, Bono and The Edge were only interested in "composing" music for films at the time. The voice Bono used for the demo is similar to his character from the Zootv Tour mr macphisto, he obviously didn't see himself as the singer for the final product.