James Bond Interlude

Compiled by Lukas Kendall

The new, expanded Living Daylights CD has been out for a few weeks, and reaction has been positive. Why do we mention this album so much, as well as other recent Rykodisc CDs? Well, here at FSM we have been contributing liner notes and research/advice for the Ryko/MGM series, and frankly anything we work on is going to be good, because we are smart, and we want to talk about how smart and great we are. See, everyone does, but at least we admit it. And, we'll add this: we are smart because we listen to you guys all day long, and hear what you want!

In all seriousness, the new Living Daylights CD is what I consider a well-produced CD reissue, and we are proud to have been associated with it. When I was in college, like many other fans I had missed out on buying the original Warner Bros. CD of TLD, and actually went to the campus radio station to find a copy on beat-up vinyl which I dubbed to cassette. (I also found weird stuff like Barry's Howard the Duck and Goldsmith's Sebastian.) So to have this CD available everywhere at a normal price, and with an extra half-hour of music, first of all I'm happy because I like to listen to it, and it also gives me nice warm fuzzies.

From: Kevin J. Urbanek/Hawkeye <urbanek.3@pop.service.ohio-state.edu>

I do believe I saw your and Jeff Bond's names in the Living Daylights CDs credits. Thank you both for your efforts in getting the expanded CD released. It's wonderful to finally hear it... Now, get out there and get "View to a Kill" pressed! ;-) Barry's Bond scores are fantastic, and the music during the fight on the bridge music is very distinctive yet reminiscent of "OHMSS." I'd love to have that.

Anyway, got "Daylights" from amazon.com, as it appears to be nowhere in Northeast or Central Ohio. Their prices were better than CDNow; I also ordered "Bullitt" for $20 (British export) which sells for $30 at CDNow. Yikes. You have a great site. Keep it up, and keep up working on the rereleases (I'm still ecstatic over the expanded issue of "Raiders of the Lost Ark.")

Readers should be aware that The Living Daylights - and all of Ryko's albums - are available directly from the company's mail order division: 1-888-2-EARFUL (1-888-232-7385). If you can't find a copy in stores locally, call them!

To update fans on all of the other Bond soundtracks, there is no update. Octopussy and The Living Daylights are the two soundtrack which Ryko has had access to, and they've gone ahead and re-released them. Everything from Dr. No through For Your Eyes Only, plus A View to a Kill, is in a sort of limbo that is the result of an ongoing legal disagreement. No matter how much Ryko would want to re-release them, until the aforementioned is resolved, nothing will be happening.

For the folks wondering why the Living Daylights CD has the original album tracks followed by the bonus music (and not the whole thing in chronological order), Ryko is contractually bound to retain the original album sequence up front. So it is NOT some diabolical SPECTRE plot. The liner notes to the CD indicate how the program the tracks in chronological order.

From: JimPlante@webtv.net (James Plante)

I first learned about Rykodisc's expanded soundtrack CD for The Living Daylights at your site. When the release date came, I hunted around the local music stores for it, but to no avail. I finally came back to your site and used one of your recommended on-line CD services, "CD Universe", in Connecticut. I made my first on-line purchase, and had the disc in 3 days. Thank You so much!

I'm very fond of John Barry's work, particularly the Bond scores, and when I bought this soundtrack on vinyl 11 years ago, I thought that it was one of his best.

Ryko has blown me away with the quality of this disc. The remastering has made Barry's score so much more crisp and defined. One particulary great improvement is the enhancement of his synthesized bass lines on tracks like "Necros Attacks." These tracks have even more punch now than before. All of the familiar Barry Bond material is in this score (big brass, his stringed "James Bond Theme" arrangement), but given some extra kick with sequenced drums and bass. The bonus material is fantastic, as is the packaging and liner notes / movie stills.

Thanks for the tip on the release date, and keep up the great work, fellas!

From: STLATSHAW@aol.com

So it's a delightful evening in Hollywood and I'm listening to the amazing Rykodisc reconstruction of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. It's been over six months since TOMORROW NEVER DIES the movie and soundtrack CD have been issued... the movie's made extraordinarly tall piles of money all over the world and they just got another 40 odd bucks from me for the TND laserdisc. And I am nothing short of amazed at the wretchedly incomplete nature of the TND soundtrack. It's like 1965 all over again. What could it possibly take (and what little could it possibly cost, given the profit margin of TND) to get the other half of David Arnold's score on CD? Even in a limited edition? Am I REALLY asking too much? Really?

Probably yes, you are asking too much. The Bond soundtracks are such big business, and we are still so close the movie's release, that a "Volume 2" of TND would be too difficult to mount. Later, who knows?

From: Chuck Corway <ccorway@intersatx.net>

If you fly on Delta Airlines (and I've been traveling frequently with them on business) one of the audio tracks is dedicated this month to the new MGM/Rykodisc soundtrack releases. It's only available on eastbound 757, 767, MD-90, L-1011 and MD-11 aircraft, which are equipped with in-flight entertainment systems, so if you get stuck on a 727 or an MD-80, you're out of luck (but complete track information is available on "Sky", Delta's in-flight magazine).

There is a little bit to please everybody, from the casual listener to the serious film music fan. I don't know if Delta will be continuing this audio channel after this month (it may be possible) but if there's enough interest, it might continue on.

Chuck adds that the scores represented on the channel include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Great Escape, Octopussy, In the Heat of the Night, Across 110th Street, The Thomas Crown Affair and many more--pretty much Ryko's MGM catalog to date.

Also in today's column, we present the following article, already looking ahead...

A BOND WISH LIST

by Mark Loughlin

There's a new James Bond Film coming out in late '99, and in case you haven't noticed there have been a few changes in the franchise. Besides Bond himself, the baton of John Barry has been absent now for a full decade, and it looks like he doesn't really want to come back. Barry's presence to this series is indisputable, and he will always be associated with the series and given his due respect. So now with Barry more or less out of the picture, who would be a good candidate for the job? Well, I don't think they will be giving Eric Serra a call anytime soon. David Arnold probably did the best non-Barry job so far, and he will most likely return. Arnold's blend of the old and new eclipsed the George Martin "experiment" on Live and Let Die, the Marvin Hamlisch effort on The Spy Who Loved Me and whatever it was Bill Conti tried to did For Your Eyes Only, which I acquaint more with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous than Bond. Then there was Michael Kamen's Licence to Kill, which had a nice harsh edge that I liked (unfortunately trhe movie had to play over the music). If you want to really stretch it, you can count Michel Legrand's Never Say Never Again. If you want to really really stretch it you can count Burt Bacharach's Casino Royale.

In case David Arnold for some reason does not do Bond 19, here are my personal suggestions for MGM and the Broccolis: Five realistic (meaning no Williams or Goldsmith), perhaps somewhat risky candidates for the coveted gig:

HOWARD SHORE: Imagine the big dark, sounds of Mr. Shore accompanying the newest Bond Villain. THAT would be scary. But Howard Shore is more flexible than people give him credit for. Check out how skillfully he took over for Danny Elfman on Ed Wood, and how lively The Fly was. Hollywood, should give him some more credit. He can do more than serial killers and Cronenberg.

PATRICK DOYLE: He can do the the action, but more importantly he can express the passion and longing that Bond sometimes is too stoic to express himself. Mr. Doyle also likes to try different things and knows how to keep up with the latest sounds. He also knows how to get a big sound out of the orchestra. This is a must for Bond, as Goldeneye has so vividly shown us. Listen to Doyle's Henry V or the end of A Little Princess and you will see what I mean. He's up to the task.

BASIL POLEDOURIS: Poledouris' action cues have the intense drive that is needed to keep the rent paid up over at MGM. Basil also has the guts to try and do something different, as he so skillfully showed on Breakdown. Check out the little heard Under Siege 2: Dark Territory or treat yourself to a relisten to Robocop. He could do it with his eyes closed.

GRAEME REVELL: Streetfighter is one of my guilty pleasures (VERY guilty) and the score was one of the reasons. It is big and loud and exciting. But, anyone who has heard Revell's score for The Saint knows what a perfect choice he is. The Saint WAS a Bond movie. It had the lush romantic themes, the elaborate action cues, and was enough of a departure from the traditional orchestral score to make it interesting.

TREVOR JONES: Not the Blame It on the Bellboy or Chains of Gold Trevor Jones. Think of the Angel Heart, Mississippi Burning or (more recently) Dark City Trevor Jones. Remember the phenomenal job he did on The Dark Crystal, for my money one of the best scores of the 80's. I think Jones is due for another great score of that caliber, and a Bond movie would give him the scope and challenge he needs. Let's give him a shot.

But hey, David Arnold probably got the gig the moment they heard Tommorrow Never Dies. And if this is the case, I have a one word suggestion for the title song: Bjork. She worked with Arnold on The Young Americans, so they already know each other. She was born to sing a Bond title Song...

Any reactions to the composer suggestions, or comments on The Living Daylights? Send to: MailBag@filmscoremonthly.com