A View to a Kill (soundtrack)

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A View to a Kill
Soundtrack album by
Released1985
Length38:23
LabelEMI (UK)
Capitol (US)
James Bond soundtrack chronology
Octopussy
(1983)
A View to a Kill
(1985)
The Living Daylights
(1987)
Singles from A View to a Kill
  1. "A View to a Kill"
    Released: May 1985

A View to a Kill is the soundtrack for the film of the same name, the 14th instalment in the James Bond film series.

Theme song

The theme song "

.

Duran Duran was chosen to do the song after bassist

Cubby Broccoli at a party, and somewhat drunkenly asked "When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?" [1][2]

The single was released in May 1985, and on July 13 it hit number one on the U.S.

b-side
was an instrumental piece orchestrated by John Barry, titled "A View To A Kill (That Fatal Kiss)". The song was the last track that the original five members of Duran Duran recorded together until 2001.

The video for the single was directed by the duo Godley & Creme, with shots of the band at the Eiffel Tower intercut with scenes from the movie, so that it appears that Roger Moore and Grace Jones are participating in the same storyline. The singer ends the video with a parody of James Bond, introducing himself as "Bon. Simon Le Bon."

Other music

During the opening teaser, a cover version of the 1965 Beach Boys song "California Girls", performed by Gidea Park (a tribute band), is used during a chase in which Bond snowboards; it has been suggested that this teaser sequence helped initiate interest in snowboarding.[3]

The film features Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, which is performed during the reception that Bond attends undercover at Zorin's stud in France.

In the remastered CD edition, the third track is incorrectly labeled "May Day Jumpers" on the back of the case.

Leitmotifs

Composer John Barry utilises four

007 Theme", originally composed for From Russia with Love but brought back for four subsequent Bond pictures. The action theme composed for this film is easily a memorable as those secondary themes he used in You Only Live Twice (the "Space March"), Diamonds Are Forever (a similar space-themed piece, and the "Bond Meets Bambi and Thumper" theme which echoed both the "James Bond Theme" and the title song) among others. The action theme used within A View To A Kill (in the pieces "Snow Job", "He's Dangerous" and "Golden Gate Fight") was similar in its basic composition to that used in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, although it features a wailing electric guitar in the background - at this point Barry was using more contemporary sounding instrumentation within the Bond soundtracks, something he would take further in his next and final score for The Living Daylights
.

A View To A Kill Theme

  • 1. "A View to a Kill (Main Title)"
  • 4. "Bond Meets Stacey (A View to a Kill)"
  • 10. "Wine with Stacey (A View to a Kill)"
  • 15. "A View to a Kill (End Title)"

"Set-piece Theme"

  • 2. "Snow Job’"
  • 8. “He’s Dangerous”
  • 14. "Golden Gate Fight" (0:30-3:31)

May Day Motif

  • 3. "May Day Jumps" (0:00-0:52)
  • 14. "Golden Gate Fight" (0:04-0:19)

Pegasus' Theme

  • 5. "Pegasus' Stable"
  • 6. "Tibbett Gets Washed Out"
  • 7. "Airship To Silicon Valley" (1:00-1:24)
  • 9. "Bond Underwater"
  • 13. "May Day Bombs Out"

Track listing

  1. "A View to a Kill (Main Title)"
  2. "Snow Job"
  3. "May Day Jumps"
  4. "Bond Meets Stacey (A View to a Kill)"
  5. "Pegasus' Stable"
  6. "Tibbett Gets Washed Out"
  7. "Airship to Silicon Valley"
  8. "He's Dangerous"
  9. "Bond Underwater"
  10. "Wine with Stacey (A View to a Kill)"
  11. "Bond Escapes Roller"
  12. "Destroy Silicon Valley"
  13. "May Day Bombs Out"
  14. "Golden Gate Fight"
  15. "A View to a Kill (End Title)"

See also

References

  1. ). pp 161-162
  2. ^ Paul Gambaccini Interview with John Taylor, 1985, Greatest DVD extras.
  3. ^ Snowboard Club UK FAQs Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

Further reading