Goodbye 2014

In response to my wife's request, this will be short and to the point.  It was a great year as my third and final child, Sawyer Dean, was born.  Emery is a wonderful big sister to the new baby and Jack is ... well, Jack is Jack.  He is our toughest kid right now, but I don't think it is because he feels any sort of middle child syndrome.  I rather just think he is full of energy and like all 3-year-olds is testing his boundaries.

 

Starting the middle of January I will be moving buildings at work to start a new position.  It is called Loan Action Specialist, but that is just a fancy term for someone who verifies the reasons loan officers deny or cancel loans.  It is somewhat of a compliance role, which isn't completely different from the quality assurance job I am supposed to be doing now.  I say "supposed to be doing" because instead of quality assurance I am checking legal documents to verify we have all the information necessary when a loan's servicing is purchased.  This is the job of Record Services, which is monotonous, mundane, and ususally done by temps.

 

The birth of my child and changing jobs were the two big events of 2014.  I did have some success in a yearly poker tournament I play in.  It was the second year of the tournament and the first time I finished third.  This year I improved and came in second place, winning $800.

 

Hope your year was also a good one and next year is even better.  Everyone have a safe New Year's Eve.

The Die Another Day Theme

Following an unsuccessful bid to garner success with the previous 007 theme song for The World Is Not Enough from alternative-rock band Garbage, MGM wanted a high-profile artist to perform the 20th James Bond film's theme, "Die Another Day."  It was decided the Queen of Pop, Madonna, was the right choice for the film series' significant milestone.  Receiving co-writing and producing credit was Mirwais Ahmadzai and Michel Colombier composed the track.

While "Die Another Day" was nominated for two Grammies and a Golden Globe, critics were mixed on its sound.  Some liked Madonna's exodus from the traditional Bond sound, but others found its electronic and stuttered editing uninspired.  One of the latter critics was Die Another Day soundtrack composer David Arnold, who, it has been rumored, loathed the tune so much he refused to include it in the film's score.  Along with award nominations praising its quality, the song also received a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Original Song.

Madonna included the song on her ninth studio album, along with her greatest hits album in 2009, and the single made its way to number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.  It was also the top selling dance song in the United States in 2002 and 2003.  It reached the top spot on music charts in Canada, Italy, Spain, and Romania and was a top ten hit in several more countries worldwide.  In the UK, it debuted at number three.  "Die Another Day" was certified silver in France, gold in Australia, Belgium, and Greece, and double platinum in Canada.

Not counting Sheena Easton's appearance in the opening credits of For Your Eyes Only, Madonna has the distinction of being the only theme song performer to have a cameo in the film.  She plays Verity, a fencing instructor at Blades Club in London.  The song also is the only one in the series that include s a scene from the film being shown as the credits roll.

Born October 23, 1960, in Switzerland to an Afghan father and Italian mother, Mirwais Ahmadzai, is a leader in the French style of progressive electronic dance music.  In the 1980s, Mirwais began as a guitarist in the punk band Taxi Girl and later formed the acoustic group Juliette et les Independents.  He then set off on a solo career in the 1990s.

His collaboration with Madonna began in 2000, and he has produced and co-written songs for three Madonna albums.  His work on Madonna's album Music garnered three Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year.

His other work includes producing tracks for Fischerspooner and Uffie.  He has also produced remixes of songs from Madonna and Franz Ferdinand.

Michel Colombier is a French composer, songwriter, arranger, and conducter whose filmography includes scores for Against All Odds, Purple Rain, The Golden Child, Major League II, Barb Wire, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back.  Colombier was born May 23, 1939, and died November 14, 2004.  Colombier was married to Dana Colombier and had two children.

With the same first and middle name as her mother, Madonna Louise Ciccone was born August 16, 1958.  Madonna gained fame as a singer in the 1980s by pushing social conventions in her music and reinventing herself over the years.  Her music videos were fixtures on MTV when released, despite controversial imagery and suggestive lyrics.

Prior to signing a solo deal with Sire Records in 1982, Madonna worked with music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy.  Recognized as the greatest-selling female musical artist of all time by Guiness World Records, she has sold more than 300 million records worldwide.  She has released 12 studio albums with an upcoming album scheduled for 2015.  According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Madonna is the best-selling female artist of the 20th century and the second best-selling artist in the United States, only behind Barbra Streisand, with 64.5 million certified albums.  Billboard ranked her second behind the Beatles on the Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists.  The magazine also declared her the top-touring female artist of all time.

Along with being a gay icon, her legacy includes influencing current artists Adam Lambert, Backstreet Boys, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Fergie, Gloria Estefan, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kesha, Kylie Minogue, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, New Kids on the Block, Nicki Minaj, 'N Sync, Paula Abdul, Pink, Rihanna, Spice Girls, and Taylor Swift.

Madonna has won seven Grammy awards, with an additional 21 nominations, received seven Golden Globe nominations, with two wins, two Ivor Novello Award wins, was named MTV's Artist of the Decade in 1989, and countless other accolades throughout her career.  She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility and is a founding member of the UK Music Hall of Fame.

Besides music, Madonna's other ventures include film work, fashion design, writing children's books and founding the entertainment company Maverick.  Her filmography includes Dick Tracy, A League of Their Own, and Evita, for which she won one of her Golden Globes.

While her marriages include actor Sean Penn and director Guy Ritchie, both of which ended in divorce, her list of romantic entanglements include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., comedienne Sandra Bernhard, Warren Beatty, Antonio Banderas, Lenny Kravits, Vanilla Ice, Willem Dafoe, Jose Canseco, Dennis Rodman, and Alex Rodriguez.  Madonna has two children, one with fitness trainer Carlos Leon and the other with Ritchie.

The World Is Not Enough Theme

Don Black returned after more than 25 years to write lyrics for the theme song to The World Is Not Enough, which had the same title.  David Arnold composed “The World Is Not Enough” and it was performed by Garbage, which also produced the theme song with Arnold.  The lyrics were written from Bond girl Elektra King’s point of view, played by Sophie Marceau in the film.

 

 

“The World Is Not Enough” was well received by critics and found its way into the top 40 of 10 singles charts and the top 10 of another four charts, with it reaching number one in Iceland.  Although Garbage’s album tracks vary across several genres and are produced in a post-modern style, the film’s theme song was written to fit the series’ traditional design.  Ultimately it appeared in two “Best of 1999” polls, at 87 on Canadian radio 89X’s “Top 89 Songs of 1999” and Illinois’ Q101 “Top 101 of 1999” at 100.  In 2012, sports and pop-culture blog Grantland listed it as the second best Bond theme song behind “Goldfinger.”

 

Following release of the film, two song-writers sued Eon, MGM, Universal Music, and Universal Studios for copyright infringement regarding a four-note sequence found in “The World Is Not Enough,” claiming it was a derivative of their song “This Game We Play.”  The accusers went so far that they posed as employees of composer James Horner in an attempt to catch Don Black and Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson on tape revealing when he had composed the film’s theme song to strengthen their case.  Ultimately it was decided those involved in writing and recording “The World Is Not Enough” had no prior knowledge of “This Game We Play” and the court rejected the plaintiffs’ claim.

 

Don Black had previously written lyrics for “Thunderball,” “Diamonds Are Forever,” and “The Man with the Golden Gun.”  His full biography can be found here.

David Arnold, born January 23, 1962, oversaw the composition of five James Bond soundtracks on a row, starting from Tomorrow Never Dies and going to Quantum of Solace.  Other major Hollywood soundtracks he has written include Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla, Shaft, Zoolander, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Hot Fuzz.  Television credits include British television’s Little Britain and Sherlock.

 

Arnold started composing while working with director Danny Cannon, who initially created short films for which Arnold was asked to contribute music toward.  Shortly following his major film debut, he was hired for Stargate, which excerpts from the soundtrack are the third most commonly used for film trailers.

 

It was the producing of Arnold’s fan-inspired album “Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project” that led to his hiring for Tomorrow Never Dies.  Original 007 music man John Barry was complimentary of the work and recommended Arnold to Bond producer Barbara Broccoli.  His other credit to the Bond series is contributing to the main themes for Activision’s GoldenEye 007 video game.

 

Work outside of film includes being appointed Musical Director for the 2012 Olympic Games and 2012 Paralympic Games in London.

 

Arnold has collaborated with Pulp, Natasha Bedingfield, Melanie C, Bjork, Chris Cornell, and Shirley Bassey.  He is a member of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and has received an honorary degree from University of West London.  His awards include Grammy, Ivor Novello, BBC Radio, and Creative Arts Emmy wins and a BAFTA nomination.

 

With a Scottish lead singer, many believe Garbage is a band formed in the United Kingdom, however, in actuality it was started in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1993.  The other three members of the band, bassist Duke Erikson, guitarist Steve Marker, and drummer Butch Vig are American musicians.  All four members are involved in the songwriting and producing process.

 

 

The band’s musical style has varied over the years, including genres ranging from trip hop, grunge, and 1980s rock to techno, power pop, and shoegazing.  According to record producer Steve Marker, Garbage has attempted to "take pop music and make it as horrible sounding as we can."

 

Through some tumultuous times and a few breakups, the band has released five studio albums and sold more than 17 million units worldwide, with its debut album being a surprise hit, being certified double platinum in the UK, United States, and Australia.  The group has received seven Grammy nominations, two BRIT nominations, 16 MTV Video Music Award and MTV Europe Music Award nominations, with an additional two wins, two Broadcast Music, Inc. award wins, and three Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award wins and an additional nomination.

The Tomorrow Never Dies Theme

While the soundtrack’s composer David Arnold had written a theme tune for 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies to be performed by k. d. lang, a decision was ultimately made to go with Sheryl Crow’s “Tomorrow Never Dies,” co-written by Mitchell Froom.

 

 

Although reviews were critical of Crow’s song, claiming lang’s version, which was eventually moved to the end credits of the film and renamed “Surrender,” was a superior theme song for the film, “Tomorrow Never Dies” found its way into the Top 20 of several European music charts, including the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland, Poland, and Switzerland.  However, the song failed to make it on the Billboard chart in the U.S.  Despite the lack of radio interest in the United States, “Tomorrow Never Dies” did receive Golden Globe and Grammy nominations, but lost out to Titanic’s “My Heart Will Go On” both times.

 

The melody of “Surrender” can still be heard in Arnold’s score for Tomorrow Never Dies.  The full song can be heard here.

Mitchell Froom is an American musician and record producer and was born June 29, 1953.  Froom’s musical career started as a keyboardist in a few bands throughout California.  His first producing credits were for the first three Crowded House albums, which led to work with Richard Thompson, Los Lobos, American Music Club, and Suzanne Vega, whom he married in 1995.

 

Froom has produced more than 60 albums since the early 1980s.  While partnered with engineer Tchad Blake, Froom worked with artists that included Paul McCartney, the Bangles, Elvis Costello, the Corrs, Indigo Girls, Randy Newman, Pearl Jam, and Bonnie Raitt.  Froom’s Grammy nominations include Record of the Year and Producer of the Year.  His song “Noodletown,” from one of his two solo albums, won an Emmy when it was used as the theme song for PBS’ Sessions at West 54th.

 

Having been married three times, Froom has three children, one from each marriage.  He is currently married to singer Vonda Shepard, most famously known for her regular performances on Ally McBeal.

Sheryl Suzanne Crow, born February 11, 1962, is an American singer and guitarist, whose songs incorporate elements of pop, rock, folk, country, and blues.  With the release of eight studio albums, two compilations, a live album, and numerous contributions to soundtracks, Crow has sold more than 17 million records in the United States and 50 million worldwide and had seven number one hit singles.

 

Prior to becoming a full-time singer, Crow worked as a music teacher in Missouri.  Her teaching job during the day gave her the time on weekends to sing in various bands.  She also started out by performing backing vocals for Tina Turner, Don Henley, Stevie Nicks, and Bob Dylan.

 

Winning nine Grammy Awards, out of 32 nominations, Crow has worked with the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Prince, Eric Clapton, Luciano Pavarotti, Willie Nelson, B. B. King, George Strait, Tony Bennett, Kid Rock, Sting, Loretta Lynn, and Miranda Lambert.  In 2012, VH1 included Crow at 25 on its list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music.

 

Crow has appeared on television, including 30 Rock, Cougar Town, Hannah Montana, and One Tree Hill.  Her music has been featured in films that include Boys on the Side, Big Daddy, Cars, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and Alfie.  She also wrote the theme song for Katie Couric’s talk show, Katie, which won a Daytime Emmy Award.

 

While Crow has never been married, she has been romantically involved with actor Owen Wilson and cyclist Lance Armstrong.  Crow has adopted two children and the family lives on a 154-acre ranch outside of Nashville.

The Goldeneye Theme

With the announcement that Tina Turner had been selected to perform the title song for an upcoming James Bond production, U2 lead singer and guitarist Bono and the Edge wrote "Goldeneye."  British composer Nellee Hooper produced and mixed the theme song.

 

Although the 1995 film Goldeneye ushered in a new actor to play 007 in an era where the Cold War was no longer a threat, audiences were quite receptive to the change.  As much as the film was enjoyed, so was Turner's single, which after the movie was released "Goldeneye" was included on Turner's following album, Wildest Dreams.

"Goldeneye" was a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom and made its way inside the top five in several European countries, including Austria, Finland, Poland, and Switzerland.  In the United States it was only able to peak at 22 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs.

Paul David Hewson, better known to the world as Bono, was born May 10, 1960.  While mostly known for being the vocal frontman for the Irish band U2, Bono is also a venture capitalist, businessman, and philanthropist.

Writing nearly all the lyrics for U2's songs, Bono's lyrics are often rich in social, political, and religious themes.  Along with his work as a member of U2, Bono has also worked with Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Luciano Pavarotti, B. B. King, Green Day, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Tony Bennett, Jay-Z, and Rihanna.

Bono's philanthropy includes a great amount of activism in Africa, with the founding of DATA, EDUN, the ONE Campaign, and Product Red.  The National Journal named Bono the most politically effective celebrity of all time.

Television and film appearances include The Simpsons, Entourage, and Across the Universe.

In 2002, Bono was named one of the Top 100 Britons in a general public poll, despite being Irish.  The UK's Queen Elizabeth II granted him a knighthood, he has been made a Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters, and in 2005 he shared the Time Person of the Year with Bill and Melinda Gates.  In a Rolling Stone list of the top singers of all time published in 2008, Bono was listed at 32nd.

Bono married Alison Stewart and the couple have four children.
 

David Howell Evans, who, like Bono, uses a stage name that has taken on a life outside of his musical act, is best known as the Edge.  Edge , born August 8, 1961, is the band's guitarist, keyboardist, and vocalist.  Edge has included several genre styles in his music, including African roots, industrial, and alternative rock.  His work with artists outside of U2 include Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Jay-Z, and Rihanna.  In 2011, Rolling Stone named Edge the 38th best guitarist of all time.

Among the band's many philanthropic endeavours, Edge also co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Edge has been married twice, having met his second wife, Morleigh Steinberg, when she worked as a belly dancer on the band's Zoo TV Tour.  They have two children together.
 

In 1976, Bono and Edge, along with Edge's brother Dik Evans and Adam Clayton, answered a school bulletin to form a rock band with Larry Mullen Jr.  Dik eventually left the group and with only four in the band they named themselves U2.

U2 has released 13 studio albums and are one of the best selling bands of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide.  The group has won 22 Grammy Awards, which is more than any other band, and the 2003 Golden Globe for Best Original Song, "The Hands That Built America," from Gangs of New York.  U2 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, their first year of eligibility.  Other accolades include 11 Q Awards, seven BRIT Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, three NME Awards, two Juno Awards, and one American Music Award.

 

Rolling Stone and VH1 put U2 at number 22 and 19, respectively, on its lists of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" and in 2004 Q listed them as the fourth biggest band based on album sales, time spent on the UK charts, and largest audience for a headlining show.  In 2010, eight of U2's songs appeared on Rolling Stone's updated list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and five of the bands albums made the magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2012.

Bono and Edge have also written the music and lyrics for Broadway's Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London Stage adaptation of A Clockwork Orange as well as being co-owners of the Clarence Hotel, a refurbished 49-bedroom five-star hotel in Dublin.

Anna Mae Bullock was born November 26, 1939, but she is best known by her stage name of Tina Turner. Along with singing and dancing, Turner is also an actress and author.

Turner's career began in the mid 1950s as a featured singer in Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm, known as Little Ann. It wasn't until 1960 that she took to the stage as Tina Turner, as part of Ike & Tina Turner Revue. The group had a sting of hits in the 1960s and early 1970s, including "A Fool in Love," "River Deep - Mountain High," "Proud Mary," and "Nutbush City Limits."

Ike and Tina were wed in Tijuana in 1962, however, Ike claims the marriage was never legal. According to Turner in her autobiography I, Tina, she claimed several instances of severe domestic abuse that led to the split and subsequent divorce from Ike in 1978. During her time with Ike, Turner built a cocaine habit and attempted suicide once by taking 50 Valiums prior to a show.

She rebuilt her career with new hits, among them "Let's Stay Together" and "What's Love Got to Do with It," and live performances.

Crowned the Queen of Rock and Roll, Turner has won eight Grammy Awards and sold the most concert tickets of any solo artist ever. Her record sales have totaled more than 100 million worldwide, Rolling Stone named her the 63rd greatest artist of all time and in 1991 she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Three of Turner's singles are in the Grammy Hall of Fame. She has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and St. Louis Walk of Fame.

Her filmography includes a role in the rock musical Tommy, a starring role in the Mel Gibson blockbuster Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, and cameos in Arnold Schwarzenegger's Last Action Hero and Ally McBeal.

Turner has two sons, one with Kings of Rhythm saxophonist Raymond Hill and the other with Ike Turner. Following a 27-year romantic relationship, Turner married German music executive Erwin Bach in 2013.

Nellee Hooper, born in 1963, is a producer, remixer, and composer whose work began in the late 1980s as a DJ and member of a band that would become Massive Attack.  His film work as a soundtrack composer began with Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, which won him a BAFTA.

Hooper has produced six Grammy-award winning albums and, along with U2, has collaborated with Madonna, No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins, Sinead O'Connor, and Bjork.  He has received Q Magazine's Best Producer Award and twice been Music Week Producer of the Year.

The Licence To Kill Theme

Although original “James Bond Theme” guitar player Vic Flick and Eric Clapton were initially approached to compose a theme song based on a new version of the 007 film series theme song made famous in 1962’s Dr. No, the idea fell apart and Gladys Knight was ultimately selected to sing something different written by Narada Michael Walden, Walter Afanasieff, and Jeffrey Cohen.

 

“Licence to Kill” made its way into the Top 10 in the United Kingdom and the song is based on the horn line from “Goldfinger,” which resulted in royalties for the original writers John Barry, Leslie Bricusse, and Anthony Newley.  The theme song is the longest in the series, coming in at five minutes and 12 seconds.  It is also noteworthy that the music video for “Licence to Kill” was directed by Daniel Kleinman, who would go on to design the title sequences of six of the following seven Bond films.

Narada Michael Walden, born simply Michael Walden on April 23, 1952, is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter whose career spans three decades.  Walden was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s.

 

Walden has owned and operated Tarpan Studios, a recording studio in San Rafael, California, since the mid-1980s.  His accolades include multiple gold, platinum, and multi-platinum awards and Grammys for Producer of the Year, Album of the Year, and R&B Song of the Year.  He was also named one of the “Top Ten Producers with the Most Number One Hits” by Billboard.  His number one hits over the years have included collaborations with Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Sister Sledge, and The Pointer Sisters, with his musical genres ranging from rock and pop to jazz and jazz fusion.

 

Along with Licence to Kill, his other soundtrack work includes Beverly Hills Cop II, The Bodyguard, for which he won his Record of the Year Grammy, 9½ Weeks, Free Willy, Mannequin, and Bright Lights, Big City.

Walter Afanasieff was born Vladimir Nikitich Afanasieff on February 10, 1958, and is best known for his long-time association with Mariah Carey.  Afanasieff started as a working jazz musician in 1980 and later formed The Warriors with Walden and guitarist Joaquin Lievano.  This led to Walden and Afanasieff’s future workings together, including Whitney Houston’s self-titled debut album in 1985, which is his best-selling album to date.

 

Afanasieff’s relationship with Mariah Carey led to her most successful song, “Hero,” which he co-produced, co-wrote, and on which he played all of the music tracks.  “Hero” reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained there for four weeks.  Afanasieff and Carey, along with Boyz II Men, hold the record for the longest run at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 16 weeks total with “One Sweet Day.”

 

Along with Carey and Whitney Houston, Afanasieff’s other collaborations include Richard Marx, Lionel Richie, Luther Vandross, Destiny’s Child, Kenny G, Michael Bolton, Toni Braxton, Andrea Bocelli, Barbra Streisand, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Babyface, and Josh Groban.

 

Afanasieff won the 1999 Grammy Award for producing “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion for the film Titanic.  Other successful soundtracks include Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Hunback of Notre Dame.

 

Unfortunately it is difficult to find any biographical information for Jeffrey Cohen.  He is a soul and funk songwriter who worked extensively with Walden.  His discography credits include working with Aretha Franklin, Lionel Richie, Santana, The Pointer Sisters, Sister Sledge, Patti LaBelle, and the San Francisco 49ers football team.

 

Gladys Knight, born May 28, 1944, is known as the Empress of Soul.  She is a four-time Grammy award winner and reached the pinnacle of her success in the 1960s and 70s with her group Gladys Knights & the Pips.

 

After winning Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of 7, Knight and her family formed the Pips a year later, going on tour by the end of the 1950s.  Gladys Knight & the Pips joined Motown Records in 1966 and recorded several hit singles, including Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” and the Grammy Award-winning “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye).”

 

The group toured as the opening act for Diana Ross and The Supremes, to which, according to Knight in her memoirs, Ross kicked her off the tour because the audience was more receptive to Knight’s soulful performance and overshadowed Ross.

 

Gladys Knight & the Pips later moved record labels, to Buddah Records, and scored another Grammy Award with “Midnight Train to Georgia.”  Following by legal issues to record away from the band, Knight eventually reunited with the group and in 1980 signed with Columbia Records.  The Pips retired following a 1988 tour, to which Knight embarked on a solo career.

 

Knight has sung alongside Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Patti LaBelle, Ray Charles, and Johnny Mathis.  Her television acting credits include Benson, The Jeffersons, A Different World, Living Single, The Jamie Foxx Show, Las Vegas, and 30 Rock.

 

Gladys Knight & the Pips was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.  Knight has received four Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the Society of Singers ELLA Award.  She was also included on Rolling Stone’s list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.

 

Knight has been married four times and has three children, 16 grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Latest Bond Movie Is Titled 'Spectre'

Along with the official title of the film, Spectre, Bond 24's cast was unveiled, confirming Christoph Waltz, David Batista, and Lea Seydoux, and revealing the newest additions of Monica Bellucci and Adam Scott, who is best known as Moriarty from the British TV series, Sherlock.

A brief synopsis was included at the press event: A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation.  While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.

 

At this point I will say that if you haven't seen previous James Bond movies, especially from the 1960s, then this is your spoiler alert.  I will pose my idea of when the film will take place in the 007 timeline based on the above poster.

 

Still here?  Okay then, let's get rolling.

 

At first glance the poster simply looks like a bullet hole through glass, but on closer inspection it seems the cracks in the glass form tentacles.  It is similar in design to the SPECTRE logo that members would wear on a ring.  It looked like this:

If you group the above picture along with the final image from the sixth James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, you might see where I am going with this theory.  The image I am referring to is this:

Prior to the announcement this morning, it was rumored that Christoph Waltz would be playing Bond arch villain, Ernst Stavro Blofeld.  Bringing Blofeld back to the series could pose a few continuity problems, but the image from the poster for Spectre leads me to think the events of the movie will take place following the death of Tracy.  How SPECTRE is involved in the plot I couldn't say, but the broken glass that looks like the SPECTRE logo has to mean more than just a cool design for a poster.

The Living Daylights Theme

Despite the Norwegian band A-ha’s insistence that John Barry had no creative input for “The Living Daylights,” the soundtrack’s composer is included, along with A-ha guitarist Paul Waaktaar-Savoy, in the credits for writing the 15th James Bond film’s theme song.  Along with co-writer, Barry received credit as producer of the track, while A-ha was selected to perform the tune, which makes them the only non-British, non-American musical act to perform a James Bond theme song.  The group had such a disappointing working relationship with Barry that they released a second version of the song on their third album in 1988.  You can listen to the re-worked version here.

 

Although “The Living Daylights” peaked at number five in the UK, spent time at the top of the musical charts in Norway, broke in the top ten in several European countries, and is a fan favorite among 007 moviegoers, the song failed to break into the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.

 

The song’s music video was shot in the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios, which was built specifically for the Bond franchise in 1976.

 

This was the final Bond soundtrack Barry would be a part of.  The list of Bond films he worked the music for includes Dr. No, From Russia with Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Diamonds are Forever, The Man With the Golden Gun, Moonraker, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, and The Living Daylights.  His full biography can be read here.

 

A-ha formed in Oslo in 1982 and was founded by Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen, and Paul Waaktaar-Savoy.  The group is the biggest music export from Norway.  A-ha’s breakout album was their biggest success, yielding two number one hits.  Of those two hits, one is “Take On Me,” probably best known for its ground-breaking music video that included pencil-sketch animation and live-action combination called rotoscoping.  The music video, which is still considered to be one of the best of all time, became such a hit in the United States it received eight MTV Video Award nominations, winning six.

 

The group released nine studio albums and was together until 2010, with a five-year stretch from 1994 to 1999 where the band went on a hiatus.  The band has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide, was nominated for a Grammy Award and American Music Award, won 10 Spellemannprisen Awards, which is the Norwegian equivalent of a Grammy, and holds a Guinness World Record from 1991 for drawing the largest paying audience at a concert with 198,000 people in Rio de Janeiro.  In 2012, the three members of A-ha were appointed Knights of the 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav for their contribution to Norwegian music.

 

A-ha songs have been covered by a range of artists and bands, including Coldplay, Madonna, Tori Amos, the Jonas Brothers, Pitbull and Christina Aguilera.

The A View To A Kill Theme

After Duran Duran bassist John Taylor, somewhat drunkenly, asked 007 producer Cubby Broccoli at a party when he was going to hire someone decent to do a James Bond theme song, the English rock band was hired to work with composer John Barry.  The group went on to write one of the most successful theme songs in the series.

"A View to a Kill," recorded with a 60-piece orchestra, reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number two on the UK music charts, both record highs for a James Bond theme song.  Other chart topping locations included Canada, Italy, and Sweden.  The single was nominated for a Golden Globe and was the last song recorded by the group prior to their reunion in 2001.

Like normal in this blog series, with any Bond theme song that John Barry is associated with you can read his full biography here.

Forming in 1978, Duran Duran is one of the most popular rock groups of the 1980s, with 14 singles to reach the top 10 on UK charts and 21 songs in the Billboard Hot 100.  The group was one of the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States that took place from the summer of 1982 to the autumn of 1986.  The group faced controversy with its music videos that included partial nudity and suggestive sexuality, but they were also the first to hire professional directors and use 35mm cameras, which gave their music videos a more polished look than their contemporaries.

Duran Duran's first self-titled record was released through EMI in 1981 and the very first single, "Planet Earth," was a hit, reaching number 12 on the UK charts.  However, it was the album's third single, "Girls on Film," that made the most commotion.  The video (pictured) featured topless women mudwrestling, pillow fighting, and other sytlised depictions of sexual fetishes.  It was originally made to play in nightclubs that featured video monitors and for pay TV stations such as the Playboy channel, but as it was released two weeks after the launch of MTV it made its way to cable, although heavily edited.  The song eventually peaked at number three on the UK charts.

The band's second album saw four singles make their way into the UK's Top 20, including the massively popular "Hungry Like the Wolf."  Following the release of a third studio album and world tour, drummer Roger Taylor retired from the band due to exhaustion and guitarist Andy Taylor also left.

The roster changed between 1986 and 2001, but eventually the original five reunited for a brief time.  In 2006, Andy Taylor again left, with the band claiming an "unworkable gulf" developing between its members and Andy Taylor.

Since its formation, Duran Duran has released 12 studio albums.  Working with fashion designers to build a sharp and elegant style, the band went on to great success that included two Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, an MTV Video Music Award for Lifetime Achievement, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Octopussy Theme

Following a one-film layoff from the series, composer John Barry returned for Octopussy, where he, Tim Rice, Stephen Short, Rita Coolidge wrote, recorded, and mixed the movie’s theme song, “All Time High.”  For obvious reasons the film’s title was not used for the theme song.  The song’s title was selected among six options that Rice provided to Barry.

 

Prior to Coolidge being selected to perform the theme song, British singer Mari Wilson was in contention.  Wilson evoked a retro image that harkened back to the mid-1960s when the Bond series originated, but it was the lack of a United States profile that ultimately led to her dismissal.  Bond producer Cubby Broccoli later admitted he had also considered American singer Laura Branigan for the job, which Barry and Rice both stated would have been acceptable with them.

 

“All Time High” is the first Bond theme to receive a music video.  The song’s title was used in promotional material as a slogan for the film.  While not much of a hit with general audiences in America, reaching only 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, it did reach the number one spot for four weeks on Adult Contemporary radio.  While a hit in other European counties, “All Time High” rose no higher than 75 on the UK chart, making it one of the lowest ranking James Bond themes ever.

 

Being that Octopussy was the 10th Bond movie for John Barry to work on his biography has been covered already.  You can find it in full here.

 

Timothy Miles Bindon Rice is a British lyricist and author and was born November 10, 1944.  Rice is a recipient of an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Tony Award, and Grammy, and his most popular works are with Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and additional songs for the 2011 West End revival of The Wizard of Oz.  He is also known for his work with Walt Disney Studios, which includes songs for Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.

 

Rice’s career began as a management trainee with EMI Records, but he later left EMI with record producer Norrie Paramor to work as an assistant producer.  His collaborations include working with Cliff Richard, Elton John, Alan Menken, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA, and Rick Wakeman.

 

Rice was knighted for services to music in 1994, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame, is a Disney Legend recipient, and is a fellow of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

 

Marrying in 1974, his marriage to Jane McIntosh dissolved in the late 80s after it was revealed he had been having an affair with actress/singer Elaine Paige.  However, the divorce was never finalized and the two remain, technically, married still.  The couple had two children.

Stephen Short is a Grammy Award-winning record producer and operates Ping Pong Music, an artist management company.  Several of his works have gone on to win Grammies, Oscars, and Golden Globes.

 

Short’s career in music began at Trident Studios in London in 1977, where he worked with artists like Genesis, Queen, and Wings.  One of his earliest production credits was in 1978 with Donna Summer on “Last Dance.”  In the 1990s Short redirected his focus on production, leading to work with Phil Collins, dc Talk, and Chaka Kahn.

 

His current emphasis is on young talent, discovering new artists and bands, such as This World Fair and Camera Can’t Lie.

Rita Coolidge, born May 1, 1945, is an American recording artist and songwriter, gaining fame in the 1970s and 80s with charted hits in pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz.  The artist began her career as a background singer, featured on records for Leon Russell, Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Graham Nash, and Stephen Stills.

 

Kris Kristofferson and Coolidge were married in 1973, after meeting on a flight three years earlier.  While partnered with Kristofferson, Coolidge won two Grammy Awards for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.  The first was in 1974 for “From the Bottle to the Bottom” and the second was in 1976 for “Lover Please.”  However, the two divorced in 1980.

 

Coolidge saw her greatest success from 1977-78 with four consecutive top 25 hits, three of which were cover songs.

 

Kristofferson and Coolidge had one daughter together.  She was also romantically involved with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash, which the transition from one to the other has been cited as a contributing factor behind the 1970 breakup of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.  Coolidge has since married again in 2004.  She currently resides in Fallbrook, California.

 

Coolidge is a painter and has exhibited her work.  She also formed Walela, a Native American music trio, in 1997 with her sister and niece.

The For Your Eyes Only Theme

Although the American new wave band Blondie wrote a song for the 12th James Bond movie, For Your Eyes Only, producers opted to go with a theme written by the soundtrack’s composer Bill Conti and Michael Leeson.  Sheena Easton was selected to perform the theme song, and she has the distinction of being the only theme song performer to be seen onscreen during the opening credits, a decision made by credit sequence artist Maurice Binder.

 

 

“For Your Eyes Only” was an international hit, reaching number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, eight on the UK Singles Chart, and the top 10 in several other counties.  It also received an Academy Award Best Song nomination, but lost to “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” from Arthur.

 

Conti originally wanted to bring in a singer who fit the “Bond style,” such as Donna Summer or Dusty Springfield.  After studio executives suggested Sheena Easton, who had recently seen her song “9 to 5,” renamed “Morning Train (9 to 5)” to avoid confusion with the Doll Parton song, reach number one on the American charts, Conti listened to Easton’s debut album but was unimpressed.  However, he decided to work with her after meeting with her in person.

You can listen to Blondie's submission for the film here.

William Conti was born April 13, 1942.  After graduating from Louisiana State University and studying at the Julliard School of Music, Conti’s big break in the movie industry came with scoring Rocky, which at the time was a small United Artists film.  The movie went on to become a critical and audience favorite.  Conti’s training montage tune, “Gonna Fly Now,” topped the Billboard singles chart and earned him his first of three Academy Award nomination.  Conti went on to serve as soundtrack composer for all the Rocky sequels, excluding Rocky IV.

 

Along with Rocky films and For Your Eyes Only, which he got to work on because John Barry refused to return to the series for tax reasons, Conti’s other film work includes scoring The Right Stuff, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Score, The Karate Kid, 1999’s remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, and the TV series Dynasty.  He also wrote the theme song to the original version of American Gladiators.

 

In addition to the three Oscar nominations, Conti also received three Golden Globe nominations and 13 Emmy nominations, with all but one of those being for his work as musical director at the Academy awards, a role he has served in a record 19 times.  This year Conti was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.

 

Michael Leeson is a lyricist and screenwriter, whose film and television credits include The Cosby Show, The Partridge Family, Happy Days, The War of the Roses, and The Bill Engvall Show.

 

Leeson’s musical work with writing partner Peter Vale, after meeting Vale at the University College London, includes Eddie Money’s “Take Me Home Tonight,” “Would I Lie to You” by Charles and Eddie, and work with Ray Charles, The Commodores and Paul Young.

 

Leeson has been on the Board of the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters and received a BMI TV Music Award, two Emmy awards, and a Humanitas Prize.

Sheena Shirley Easton, born April 27, 1959, is a Scottish recording artist and actress.  Easton rose to public fame when she was the focus of an episode of the first British reality television program, The Big Time: Pop Singer.  The show followed Easton’s attempt to gain a record contract, eventually showing her signing with EMI Records.  Easton’s debut singles reached the UK Top 10, making her the first UK female artist to appear twice in the same Top 10.

 

Easton has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, is a six-time Grammy nominee, winning two, and received five U.S. gold albums and one U.S. platinum album.  From her 16 studio albums and 45 singles, 15 songs have reached the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100.  She also had 25 Top 40 hits in international territories around the world.  Easton was the first artist in history to have a top five hit on five different Billboard charts consecutively.

 

Her discography includes working with Kenny Rogers, Prince, Babyface, and Christopher Neil.  Easton’s television work includes a five-episode appearance on Miami Vice and voice work for the All Dogs Go to Heaven series and Gargoyles.

 

Easton has been married four times, with no nuptial lasting more than 18 months.  She has two adopted children.

The Moonraker Theme

Although a 007 veteran and having already recorded one of the most popular James Bond theme songs, Shirley Bassey was not the first choice to sing “Moonraker,” her third and last song of the series.  Frank Sinatra was originally considered and Johnny Mathis was also approached.  Mathis was set to record the tune, but at the last minute decided to bow out.  This left the producers scrambling to find a replacement.  Kate Bush declined, so John Barry, who composed the Moonraker soundtrack, offered the chance to Bassey.  Due to the short notice, Bassey didn’t have time promote the single or provide any intellectual input to make it her own, which probably attributed to the song’s failure to chart well.

 

 

Paul Williams (pictured below) originally wrote lyrics for the theme song, but his work was discarded and Hal David, who had worked on “We Have All the Time in the World” from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, ended up contributing the final lyrics.

 

The only significant note regarding the film’s theme song is that the opening notes were used in a 2007 tourism commercial for the Dominican Republic, which is to say that the song had little impact on popular culture.

 

For complete biographies of the soundtrack’s composer John Barry, lyricist Hal David, and singer Shirley Bassey, go here, here, and here.

Christoph Waltz Joins Bond 24

The latest reports have Christoph Waltz being signed to a somewhat mysterious role in the newest James Bond film, currently titled Bond 24.  The part Waltz is portraying is being described as "extremely cunning" and "a nemsis of sorts," but as to whether it is the main villain is unclear.

Waltz is an Austrian actor who has been working since the late 1970s, but his breakout role that caught the attention of Ameican audiences was in Quintin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  Since that time he has been busy, mostly portraying villains, and won a second Best Supporting Actor Oscar in Tarantino's follow-up film, Django Unchained.  Other Hollywood productions Waltz has been seen in include The Green Hornet, The Three Musketeers, Epic, The Zero Theorem, Muppets Most Wanted, and most recently Horrible Bosses 2.

This will be Waltz's first time to work with director Sam Mendes and he joins a cast that already includes Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris, Ben Wishaw, Lea Seydoux, and Dave Bautista.  Principal photography will begin December 6 with a UK release set for October 23, 2015, and stateside release date of November 6, 2015.

Cute Emery Story

A few weekends ago Emery and Jack went to my mom's house to spend some time with their cousins, Colt, Ella, and Carly.  My mom shared a story from that day that was too cute not to share.

 

First there is a bit of character development that needs to be known.  One of my brother's childhood friends has a son named Knox.  Knox knows Colt, Ella, and Carly through Bart's friendship with his dad and Emery and Jack know Knox because he used to go to Jack's daycare, which Emery has spent time at in the past.  Now you are pretty much up to speed on everyone.

 

While eating dinner, the five children were all sitting around the table talking about whatever it is kids talk about these days.  At some point they got to Knox.  Jack's limited vocabulary regulated him to just repeating over and over again that "Knox is my friend."  The other kids were all talking about Knox in some way or another and the conversation was a jumbled mess with voices being spoken over one another.

 

All of a sudden, Emery threw her hands out to the side and said, "Wait a minute!  Wait a minute!  Wait just a minute!  How does everyone here know Knox?"  I'm not sure what answers the other kids gave, but I'm pretty sure Jack replied, "Knox is my friend."  I picture Emery looking something like this when she brought things to an immediate halt.

But you know ... just, being a girl and all.  And not being in the middle of a street.  In fact, now that I am studying this picture, what kind of parent chooses to take photos of their kid standing in the street over actually getting them out of danger?  Whatever,  Survival of the fittest will probably take care of that family sooner or later.