THROWBACK THURSDAY: Marvin Hamlisch – Bond 77 [July 1977]
A quirky Throwback Thursday this week – it is Christmas after all! – as we look back on perhaps the one and only time that 007 went full-on DISCO.
Musically, Roger Moore’s third outing as James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me, is perhaps better known for its Carly Simon-led title track (which narrowly missed out on an Academy Award). But for the purposes of this article, we’re focusing on an altogether more funky cut… Bond 77.
With the pop charts of July 1977 dominated by the likes of The Jacksons, Hot Chocolate, Brotherhood of Man and Donna Summer (with I Feel Love, no less), it was perhaps apt that the summer’s big movie featured a disco reworking of the famous Bond title track.
Here it is, in full Technicolor glory, backing one of the most famous Bond opening scenes of all time (alternatively, click here to listen to the track on its own):
Bond 77, like most of the soundtrack, was composed by Marvin Hamlisch, a longtime conductor and composer, who is one of only two people to have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards, as well as a Pulitzer Prize.
It being the year of flared trousers and even more flared attitudes, Bond 77 isn’t the only funked-up track on The Spy Who Loved Me, either – Eastern Lights, which appears near the end of the film, sounds like Bootsy Collins jaunting down Marrakesch high street.
And as for the movie itself? Pyramids, submarines, Jaws (!), Soviet temptresses, sharks, Barbara Bach… what’s not to like?
We think Alan Partridge probably explained it better than we ever could. Shaken, not stirred… 🙂
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