Recently I had some down time that I used to compile my Top 10 James Bond theme songs.

I loved last year’s “Skyfall,” which won Adele the Oscar for Best Original Song. But in the context of a half-century of Bond films, I couldn’t rank it higher than sixth. Perhaps it has to do with the years of my childhood, but nine of my Top 10 are pre-1990.

Here are my Top 10 James Bond themes:

1. “All Time High” – Rita Coolidge – Octopussy, 1983 (Sir Roger Moore)
2. “Nobody Does It Better” – written by Marvin Hamlisch and sung by Carly Simon – The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977 (Moore)
3. “For Your Eyes Only” – Sheena Easton – For Your Eyes Only, 1981 (Moore)
4. “We Have All the Time in the World” – Louis Armstrong – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, 1969 (George Lazenby)
5. “Live and Let Die” – Sir Paul McCartney – Live and Let Die, 1973 (Moore)
6. “Skyfall” – Adele – Skyfall, 2012 (Daniel Craig)
7. “A View to a Kill” – Duran Duran – A View to a Kill, 1985 (Moore)
8. “Goldfinger” – Dame Shirley Bassey – Goldfinger, 1964 (Sir Sean Connery)
9. “License to Kill” – Gladys Knight – License to Kill, 1989 (Timothy Dalton)
10. “The Man with the Golden Gun” – Lulu – The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974 (Moore)

Thoughts:

• Among Bonds, Moore is the runaway theme-song winner on my list with six; Pierce Brosnan was shut out, and the rest scored one each.
• I could make a case for flipping Nos. 1 & 2, as I like “All Time High” and “Nobody Does It Better” about equally.
• No. 10 was a tough call, with “The Living Daylights” (A-ha) losing out.
• I based my rankings totally on the songs, not the movies, otherwise “A View to a Kill” and “The Man with the Golden Gun” never would have made it.
• Yes, I know “We Have All the Time in the World” was, technically, the secondary theme for OHMSS. Deal with it. If I really went off the reservation, “Underneath the Mango Tree” from Dr. No would make the list.
• Bassey also did the themes for Diamonds Are Forever and Moonraker.
• I have no idea who Lulu is/was either.
• Click here for a medley of all the 007 theme songs, from Dr. No through Skyfall.

Please use the Comment section below to offer your agreements, disagreements and alternatives.

###

Tags: 007, A View to a Kill, A-ha, Adele, All Time High, Carly Simon, Daniel Craig, Duran Duran, For Your Eyes Only, Gladys Knight, Goldfinger, James Bond, License to Kill, Live and Let Die, Louis Armstrong, Lulu, Marvin Hamlisch, Nobody Does It Better, Octopussy, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Paul McCartney, Pierce Brosnan, Rita Coolidge, Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Sheena Easton, Shirley Bassey, Skyfall, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Spy Who Loved Me, We Have All the Time in the World