O.H.M.S.S by THE AUTOBAHN OF LIFE

50 years ago today George Lazenby turned up to the premier of OHMSS with his beard


and here's a little featurette


and here is the theme tune, as covered by The Autobahn of Life

DO YOU KNOW HOW CHRISTMAS TREES ARE GROWN by CECILIA LUND

The second release from Cecilia Lund is a cover of the under represented Bond theme - Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?. It’s a must for fans of glacial Swedish poptronica.



The sixth James Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, was released 50 years ago (on 18th Dec 1969). It was George Lazenby’s only stab at the role, and had a very different fell to the previous Sean Connery films. The film follows the plot of the 1963 book very closely, there aren’t the familiar gadgets, and it didn’t have a typical James Bond Theme, instead having an instrumental main theme, and two recurring tunes throughout the film – Louis Armstrong’s "We Have All the Time in the World" and a John Barry / Hal David song entitled "Do You Know How Christmas Trees Are Grown?" performed by Danish singer Nina.

"I have to stick my oar in the musical area double strong to make the audience try and forget they don't have Sean ... to be Bondian beyond Bondian." – John Barry

wiaiwya, a London based record label, has set itself the task of releasing a never ending James Bond covers album, called A Girl And A Gun (the phrase 'all you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun' is attributed to Jean-Luc Godard) – as every new Bond film is released, a new batch of specially recorded cover versions will be added to the track listing. Among the 40-odd tracks already on the album are Darren Hayman’s Goldfinger, The Left Outsides’ Diamonds Are Forever and Ed Dowie’s chapel organ take on the Bond Theme.

oh, and there's some other James Bond news today too - the first trailer for No Time To Die

DO YOU KNOW HOW CHRISTMAS TREES ARE GROWN by NINA

it's wintery and from the Morecombe and Wise show

SPYFALL

NO TIME TO DIE teaser trailer

No Time To Die poster

SPECTRE by RADIOHEAD

those nice chaps at Radiohead done gave us a Christmas present, and some clever fellow down a Q division put it together with the SPECTRE opening credits

JAMES BOND WILL RETURN

the A Girl And A Gun album can only be complete when there are no more James Bond themes to cover (god forbid!)


so please keep popping back to check for updates, keep supporting the amazing acts that have recorded their own versions of these themes, and keep telling your chums about this album

thanks - and JAMES BOND WILL RETURN

JAMES BOND THEME by ED DOWIE

we had a very special album launch at the Union Chapel on Saturday 007th November, here are some excellent photos (by Paul Hudson) of the cast of thousands, including Ed Dowie who recorded his version of the Bond theme on the chapel organ

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE by THE LEAF LIBRARY

The eagle eyed among you will have noticed that the last theme to be covered it the Matt Monro classic, From Russia With Love... so here we go, Ladies and Gentlemen - THE LEAF LIBRARY!


I’d like to be able to say that we’ve recorded this version because of my name-based kinship with Matt Monro, or that I personally identify with trying to bump off a British agent with a deadly shoe whilst dressed as a maid. But no, someone else got to The Living Daylights before we did. Dalton’s always been my man – melancholy, minimal and with really good hair. Plus, copping off with a la-di-da cellist always heavily appealed to me. (As it is I ended up with a violinist so can’t complain too much). Anyhoo, ‘From Russia With Love’ was the track we were allocated and there was no way I was going to let ‘M’ Jervis down.


I vaguely remembered the film from sleepy afternoons at gran’s house (mainly the ridiculous shoe/chair fight and JB’s subsequent smug smirk as they chug off into the Venice lagoon) but I didn’t know the song at all. Not the most memorable at the best of times, it has a weirdly vaporous quality that sees it drift away and instantly forgotten as the last note fades. I was so bored by it I couldn’t even be bothered to look up the chords online so we dispensed with trying to recreate it altogether. Instead I found a random Russian folk tune, played in the modern, highly polished style so beloved of our friends behind the curtain, and stretched it to a truly evil 750%, before setting my henchman Lewis loose with all his Russian-themed Ableton synth plugins. Add to that Kate’s gloriously deadpan and detached vocals (literally phoned in) and that’s about the whole of it. I’ve actually really grown to love the lyrics, as wishy-washy as they are, and Matt’s Wikipedia entry makes for some entertaining reading (including being billed on Peter Sellers album as Fred Flange). I like to think our version invokes the sounds of dying nuclear reactors and humming Siberian shortwave radio masts, so let’s just say that it does.

I have never been to Russia although I have read the Master and Margherita. That’s alright, isn’t it?

DEATH OF FIONA by CEE BEE BEAUMONT

just a week to go til the A Girl and a Gun launch at the Union Chapel in London - 007th November, from midday

there's a timely radio doc, narrated by Samantha Bond called Somebody Did It Better available in the UK on iPlayer about the songs that didn't make it as Bond themes.

and here's a piece on a new book called The James Bond Songs: Pop Anthems of Late Capitalism

THUNDERBALL by THE VATICAN CELLARS

(thanks to Jeff Mellin in Q division who has worked his magic with Daniel Craig)

yep, it's finally here - TODAY IS A GIRL AND A GUN RELEASE DATE, and to celebrate, here's the Vatican Cellars take on Thunderball:



thanks to everyone who has kindly given their time and hard work to this album; the writers, illustrators, designers and musicians who made these amazing covers of the fantastic Bond themes - just as a reminder (and in order of release):

27-Mar Jack Hayter - Die Another Day
03-Apr Robert Rotifer - GoldenEye
10-Apr the Weisstronauts - James Bond Theme
17-Apr Simon Fox - All Time High
24-Apr Michaelmas - We Have All The Time In The World
01-May the Sly and Unseen - A View to a Kill
08-May Darren Hayman - Goldfinger
15-May Citizen Helene - For Your Eyes Only
22-May Deerful - Three Blind Mice
29-May the Great Electric - James Bond Theme
05-Jun Spaceship Mark - The Man with the Golden Gun
12-Jun Papernut Cambridge - The Man with the Golden Gun
19-Jun Elderly - Live and Let Die
26-Jun Seks Bomba - Casino Royale
03-Jul Jeff Mellin - You Only Live Twice
10-Jul picturebox - Surrender (from Tomorrow Never Dies)
17-Jul Ralegh Long - Tomorrow Never Dies
24-Jul Ani Glass - Tomorrow Never Dies
31-Jul DJ Downfall feat. Theoretical Girl - Moonraker
07-Aug the Left Outsides - Diamonds Are Forever
14-Aug Pam Berry - Underneath The Mango Tree
21-Aug Charm Bracelet - For Your Eyes Only
28-Aug Maija Sofia - Never Say Never Again
04-Sep Snow Leopard Brotherhood - The Living Daylights
11-Sep Tim the Mute - Licence to Kill
18-Sep Keiron Phelan - Another Way To Die
25-Sep Rory McVicar - Writing's On The Wall
02-Oct Ms Goodnight - Skyfall
09-Oct Rebecca Jade - You Know My Name
16-Oct the Fenestration - The World Is Not Enough
23-Oct the Vatican Cellars - Thunderball
30-Oct Cee Bee Beaumont - Death of Fiona
06-Nov the Leaf Library - From Russia With Love
07-Nov Ed Dowie - James Bond Theme (Union Chapel Organ version)

please tell your chums to drop by and download the complete album (and to pay-what-they-want), and to come along to the launch party at the Union Chapel on the 007th November

THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH by THE FENESTRATION

the 30th free download Bond theme comes from the Fenestration, and is their take on the theme for the World Is Not Enough, originally by Garbage:


we've had a bit of press coverage too; the splendid Say It With Garage Flowers blog have interviewed Ian Button from Papernut Cambridge, Robert Rotifer and me about the album, Bond themes and Bond films

in other news, SPECTRE is out in ten days and tickets have been bought for the 27th... excitement is mounting, so here are some trailers to whet the appetite:


and finally (just because) here's the tune Scott Walker recorded for the love theme (and potential closing credits) of the World Is Not Enough - there's no greater fool in the fool's hall of fame:

YOU KNOW MY NAME by REBECCA JADE aka LADY LOWREY

and as we all know, Casino Royale was the first Bond film without a classic gunbarrel sequence - here's the lot of them:

SKYFALL by MISS GOODNIGHT

yep, we're sticking with Daniel Craig - here's Ms Goodnight's take on Adele's Oscar winner, Skyfall


it's especially for YOU if you've ever wondered what Fleetwood Mac would have done with a Bond theme

Benjamin Lind of the Bond Bulletin reviewed the A Girl And A Gun LP:

There isn´t just Adele or Sheena Easton, Paul McCartney or Tina Turner – there are also Papernut Cambridge, Michael Wood or Ralegh Long who equally embrace and challenge the originals as well as their own talent.

here's the latest SPECTRE featurette


and here's a quick reminder of Adele's Oscar performance:

WRITING'S ON THE WALL by RORY McVICAR

yep, the rather wonderful Rory McVicar has turned round his cover of the Sam Smith Bond theme in just over thirteen hours


and in case you've not seen, the Evening Standard (and who knows who else) have reviewed the Spectres theme by mistake (apparently not noticing the lack of Sam Smith)

WRITING'S ON THE WALL by SAM SMITH

we're going to be a little late with today's cover, but in the mean time:

ANOTHER WAY TO DIE by KEIRON PHELAN AND DRITA KOTAJI

Bang, bang, bang…

I adore James Bond films. I adore the gadgets, the guns, the sexism, the violence, the villains and I entirely embrace the emotional Fascism. Consider; cats (by nature) are sleek, self-satisfied, vicious, promiscuous, immoral death machines. Yet they are greatly loved. So; why not Bond?

The only thing I dislike about the films is that they are rarely as good as the books. To this day I can recite, verbatim, the entire meal (food, type of wine, cocktails, etc.) consumed by Bond and M in Moonraker Chapter 5, ‘Dinner At Blades’. Time was I could remember the exact four hands of cards held by Bond, M, Sir Hugo Drax and Meyer in the final Bridge rubber played in Chapter 7, ‘The Quickness Of The Hand’.

Tragic, isn’t it?

Listening to the Bond theme songs, as a totality, the remarkable thing is how consistently good they are. There are, of course, some weak spots. ‘Another Way To Die’ (from the excellent, in my opinion, ‘Quantum Of Solace’) is sometimes considered to be one of those. However, I would contend that Jack White generated an exciting and appropriately Bondesque atmosphere in this song. It’s that atmosphere, therefore, that we’ve tried to junk and replace with something entirely different. Because, James Bond never really follows the orders, does he? So, we’re playing his rules…

Keiron Phelan: Vocal, guitar, piano, organ, flute, fuzz-tone electric flute.
Drita Kotaji: Vocal
Simon Trought: Bass, drum machine.
Q Branch: by Simon Trought.

LICENCE TO KILL by TIM THE MUTE

A shy, bookish ten year old with no toys, I threw myself headlong into the exciting world of books. I would read anything at the library whose titles I vaguely recognized from pop culture. James Bond was an obvious contender, his action-man status recognized through several generations of ten year olds as an untouchable ideal of cool. When my favourite teacher took away my James Bond books and told my mum I was reading filth, I was confused. Never had I thought to feel ashamed of my own titillation at the hands of sex and violence. Suddenly, I knew myself.

some new SPECTRE artwork and a tv spot have also been released today:

THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS by SNOW LEOPARD BROTHERHOOD

this week i learned that Miffy creator Dick Bruna also designed James Bond Book covers (if you are in Holland you could always go to this)

can we get the Snow Leopard Brotherhood to cover the whole a-ha back catalogue?