Morricone Youth's 50 Years of James Bond Film Music [ARCHIVE]

This month mark's James Bond's 50th anniversary on screen spanning from the release of Dr. No on October 5, 1962 to next week's Skyfall, on October 23, 2012, now the longest running movie franchise in history.  Tune into your source for all things soundtrack Morricone Youth HERE, when host Devon E. Levins spun his favorite Bond scores and theme songs of the past 50 years including rejected scores and a special sneak peak of the forthcoming soundtrack to be released on Sony Classical for Skyfall on November 6, 2012, consisting of original music written by leading film composer Thomas Newman.  And check out the PLAYLIST. 

From Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, Skyfallmarks the debut of distinguished director Sam Mendes in the James Bond franchise.  Daniel Craig is back as Ian Fleming’s James Bond 007, the 23rd adventure in the longest-running film franchise of all time.  In Skyfall, Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her.  As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. The film is produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and written by Neal Purvis & Robert Wade and John Logan.

 

Composer Thomas Newman’s uniquely expressive musical style fits perfectly with the humor and slickness of a Bond movie.  His expressive range goes from thunderous and dramatic for the many action sequences to broodingly atmospheric for scenes in which the dark side of the story, marked by mistrust and fear of betrayal, is at the forefront. With its big orchestral effects, this music is equal to the spectacular events that the movie portrays.  Starting with American Beauty in 1999, Thomas Newman has collaborated on all but one of Mendes’ films.  One of the most respected composers in the film business, he has scored more than fifty feature films and has been nominated for ten Academy Awards®, nine times in the category Best Original Score and once for Best Original Song. He has won a BAFTA, two Grammys and an Emmy, and has also been nominated for a Golden Globe.  Born in Los Angeles, he comes from a prominent Hollywood musical dynasty: his father Alfred Newman, brother David Newman, sister Maria Newman and uncle Lionel Newman all composed music for the movies, and his cousin is the noted singer-songwriter and film composer Randy Newman.

 

Newman’s first major work in movies was in 1984 for Reckless and quickly followed by Revenge of the Nerds.  He composed the scores for Erin Brockovich and The Good German for director Steven Soderbergh, as well as for such acclaimed films as Finding Nemo, The Player, The Shawshank Redemption, Wall-E, The Help and The Horse Whisperer.  Newman has composed for television, including the HBO Miniseries "Angels In America," and the theme for "Six Feet Under," which won him Grammys for Best Instrumental Composition and Best Instrumental Arrangement. 

 

Newman joins the exclusive club of Bond composers, notably John Barry (of course! He composed the 007 Theme no less!), George Martin, Bill Conti, Marvin Hamlisch, Michael Kamen, Eric Serra and David Arnold.  The series has produced a considerable number of classic pieces of cinematic music and signature theme songs such as Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger," "Diamond's Are Forever," and "Moonraker," Nancy Sinatra's "You Only Live Once," Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die," Carly Simon's Noboy Does It Better," Duran Duran's "A View To A Kill," Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only," Tina Turner's "GoldenEye," a-ha's "The Living Daylights," Madonna's "Die Another Day" and, next month, Adele's "Skyfall."