Goldfinger (song)
Encyclopedia
"Goldfinger" was the title song from the 1964 James Bond
film Goldfinger
. Composed by John Barry
and with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
and Anthony Newley
, the song was performed by Shirley Bassey
for the film's opening and closing title sequences, as well as the soundtrack album release. The single release of the song gave Bassey her only Billboard Hot 100
top forty hit, peaking at number eight and at number two for four weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart ; in the United Kingdom, the single reached #21. In 2008, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
," the successful theme song from Breakfast at Tiffany's. John Barry reacted badly to said lyric. One of the inspirations for the song was "Mack the Knife", which director Guy Hamilton
showed Barry as he thought it was a "gritty and rough" song that could be a good model for what the film required. Originally, Newley recorded the song, but it was re-recorded by Bassey with production by George Martin
, and Jimmy Page
as a session guitarist. This version was recorded in mono and is a different recording than the stereo version on the soundtrack album. Both mono and stereo versions appear on the compilation Goldsinger. Newley's version was later released in 1992 to mark the 30th Anniversary of James Bond on film, in a compilation collector's edition: The Best of Bond...James Bond
.
recorded a version in 1964, which even charted along with Bassey's original.
The Honeycombs
did an instrumental cover of it on their 1965 Japanese tour which also appeared on their album In Tokyo which was released in Japan only.
In 1980 Shirley Bassey performed the song on The Muppet Show
.
After the release of the later James Bond theme song "Licence To Kill", from the 1989 film
of the same name, it was felt to significantly reuse important elements of "Goldfinger", and so the songwriting credits for the former were adapted for all subsequent releases.
The song was to feature prominently in another film: Little Voice
, appearing in the film in much the manner of its first use – but with Michael Caine
slamming the door that becomes the song's first chord blast, rather than, of course, Sean Connery
.
The song has been covered by Howard Devoto
's post-punk
band Magazine
.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
covered the song in concert in 1997, and it is featured on their career-spanning live set, The Live Anthology
.
Parodies of the song include "Dr. Evil
", written by They Might Be Giants
for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
, and "Max Power", from the The Simpsons
episode "Homer to the Max
".
Hank Marvin
did an instrumental version of the song on his 2000 album Marvin at the Movies.
In the "Shutout In Seattle" episode of popular US sitcom Frasier
the song is featured in the final scene, with Frasier Crane
, Niles Crane
and Martin Crane
singing along to a piano accompaniment.
The song was remixed by Propellerheads
for the 2000 album Diamonds are Forever: The Shirley Bassey Remix Album. It was also sampled by reggaeton artist Tego Calderón
on his song "Alegría", off of his 2007 album El Abayarde Contraataca
. It has also been covered in a heavy metal fashion by Finnish
rock group Leningrad Cowboys
on their album Zombie's Paradise.
In 2011, Céline Dion included the song as part of a James Bond Medley in her new show, Celine, in Las Vegas.
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film Goldfinger
Goldfinger (film)
Goldfinger is the third spy film in the James Bond series and the third to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Released in 1964, it is based on the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. The film also stars Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title...
. Composed by John Barry
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
and with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse
Leslie Bricusse is an English composer, lyricist, and playwright.Although best known for his partnership with Anthony Newley, Bricusse has worked with many other composers. He was educated at University College School in London and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge...
and Anthony Newley
Anthony Newley
Anthony George Newley was an English actor, singer and songwriter. He enjoyed success as a performer in such diverse fields as rock and roll and stage and screen acting.-Early life:...
, the song was performed by Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
for the film's opening and closing title sequences, as well as the soundtrack album release. The single release of the song gave Bassey her only Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
top forty hit, peaking at number eight and at number two for four weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart ; in the United Kingdom, the single reached #21. In 2008, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Production
Upon being asked to create a theme song for the film-in-progress, Bricusse and Newley looked at each other instantly and sang out, "Goldfinger . . . wider than a mile," reprising "Moon RiverMoon River
"Moon River" is a song composed by Johnny Mercer and Henry Mancini in 1961, for whom it won that year's Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was originally sung in the movie Breakfast at Tiffany's by Audrey Hepburn, although it has been covered by many other artists...
," the successful theme song from Breakfast at Tiffany's. John Barry reacted badly to said lyric. One of the inspirations for the song was "Mack the Knife", which director Guy Hamilton
Guy Hamilton
Guy Hamilton is an English film director.Hamilton was born in Paris, France where his English parents were living. Remaining in France during the Nazi occupation, he was active in the French Resistance...
showed Barry as he thought it was a "gritty and rough" song that could be a good model for what the film required. Originally, Newley recorded the song, but it was re-recorded by Bassey with production by George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
, and Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
as a session guitarist. This version was recorded in mono and is a different recording than the stereo version on the soundtrack album. Both mono and stereo versions appear on the compilation Goldsinger. Newley's version was later released in 1992 to mark the 30th Anniversary of James Bond on film, in a compilation collector's edition: The Best of Bond...James Bond
The Best of Bond...James Bond
The Best of Bond...James Bond is a title used more than once for a compilation album of the soundtracks to the James Bond made at the time. It was originally released in 1992 as The Best of James Bond, as a one-disc compilation and a two-disc 30th Anniversary Limited Edition compilation with songs...
.
Release
The release on vinyl of Bassey's (mono) version, UA 790, sold more than a million copies in the United States (Guinness Book of Records), and it also reached number one on the Japanese charts and the top ten of many European countries. The song has become Bassey's theme song and she has performed it in most of her concerts since the 1960s, often as an opening number.Other versions and adaptations
Billy StrangeBilly Strange
William E. "Billy" Strange is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and actor.-Recordings and songwriting:...
recorded a version in 1964, which even charted along with Bassey's original.
The Honeycombs
The Honeycombs
The Honeycombs were an English beat/pop group, founded in 1963 in North London. The group had one chart-topping hit, the million selling "Have I the Right?", in 1964. After that song the interest in the group ebbed away, and they split up in late 1966...
did an instrumental cover of it on their 1965 Japanese tour which also appeared on their album In Tokyo which was released in Japan only.
In 1980 Shirley Bassey performed the song on The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
.
After the release of the later James Bond theme song "Licence To Kill", from the 1989 film
Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the Eon Productions James Bond series and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming novel. It marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in his brief tenure in the lead role of James Bond...
of the same name, it was felt to significantly reuse important elements of "Goldfinger", and so the songwriting credits for the former were adapted for all subsequent releases.
The song was to feature prominently in another film: Little Voice
Little Voice (film)
Little Voice is a 1998 British drama film with music written and directed by Mark Herman. The screenplay is based on the play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice by Jim Cartwright.- Plot :...
, appearing in the film in much the manner of its first use – but with Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
slamming the door that becomes the song's first chord blast, rather than, of course, Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
.
The song has been covered by Howard Devoto
Howard Devoto
Howard Devoto is an English rock and roll singer-songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for the punk band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, one of the first post-punk bands...
's post-punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band Magazine
Magazine (band)
Magazine are an English post-punk group active from 1977 to 1981, then reformed in 2009. Their debut single, "Shot by Both Sides", is now acknowledged as a classic and their debut album, Real Life, is still widely admired as one of the greatest albums of all time...
.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
covered the song in concert in 1997, and it is featured on their career-spanning live set, The Live Anthology
The Live Anthology
The Live Anthology is a live box set by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The box set was released by Reprise Records on November 23, 2009, in a number of formats, with the standard CD and download formats, composed of 48 tracks .The album's cover artwork and packaging was...
.
Parodies of the song include "Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil
Dr. Evil is a fictional character, played by Mike Myers in the Austin Powers film series. He is the antagonist of the movies, and Austin Powers' nemesis. He is a parody of James Bond villains, primarily Donald Pleasence's Ernst Stavro Blofeld . Dr...
", written by They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants
They Might Be Giants is an American alternative rock band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years Flansburgh and Linnell were frequently accompanied by a drum machine. In the early 1990s, TMBG became a full band. Currently, the members of TMBG are...
for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, released in 1999, is the second film in the Austin Powers series that began with 1997's Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and continued with Austin Powers in Goldmember. The film was directed by Jay Roach, co-written by Mike Myers and screenwriter...
, and "Max Power", from the The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode "Homer to the Max
Homer to the Max
"Homer to the Max" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons tenth season, which originally broadcast on February 7, 1999. Homer discovers that a television show broadcasting in Springfield, Police Cops, has a hero also named Homer Simpson. He is delighted with the positive attention he receives...
".
Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
did an instrumental version of the song on his 2000 album Marvin at the Movies.
In the "Shutout In Seattle" episode of popular US sitcom Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
the song is featured in the final scene, with Frasier Crane
Frasier Crane
Frasier W. Crane, M.D., Ph.D., A.P.A. is a fictional character on the American television sitcoms Frasier and Cheers. He was played by Kelsey Grammer for 20 years, tying the record for the longest-running character on prime-time American television, which was set by James Arness, who played Marshal...
, Niles Crane
Niles Crane
Niles Crane, M.D., Ph.D., A.P.A. is a fictional character on the American sitcom Frasier, a spin-off of the popular show Cheers. He was portrayed by David Hyde Pierce. Niles is the younger brother of Dr. Frasier Crane, the son of Det. Martin Crane and Dr. Hester Crane, husband of Daphne Moon,...
and Martin Crane
Martin Crane
Det. Martin "Marty" Crane is a fictional character on the American television show Frasier. He was played by actor John Mahoney. Martin is the father of Frasier and Niles Crane.- Biography :...
singing along to a piano accompaniment.
The song was remixed by Propellerheads
Propellerheads
Propellerheads were a British big beat musical ensemble, formed in 1995 and made up of electronic producers Will White and Alex Gifford. The term propellerhead is slang for a nerd, and when Gifford and White heard a friend from California use this in a conversation, they thought it the perfect name...
for the 2000 album Diamonds are Forever: The Shirley Bassey Remix Album. It was also sampled by reggaeton artist Tego Calderón
Tego Calderón
Tegui Calderón Rosario is a Puerto Rican rapper and actor.-Early life:Calderón was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, the son of Pilar Rosario Parrilla, a schoolteacher, and Esteban Calderón Ilarraza, a government worker for Puerto Rico's Department of Health. Moving at a young age from his native...
on his song "Alegría", off of his 2007 album El Abayarde Contraataca
El Abayarde Contraataca
El Abayarde Contra-Ataca is the fourth album of Tego Calderón's discography. It was released on August 28, 2007. The tracks in the album are a fusion of African and West Indian rhythms, salsa, merengue, Colombian and Venezuelan sounds. Tego's first single is "Tradicional A Lo Bravo", produced by...
. It has also been covered in a heavy metal fashion by Finnish
Culture of Finland
The culture of Finland combines indigenous heritage, as represented for example by the country's Uralic national language Finnish, and the sauna, with common Nordic and European culture. Because of its history and geographic location Finland has been influenced by the adjacent areas' various...
rock group Leningrad Cowboys
Leningrad Cowboys
The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock band famous for humorously making rock and roll covers of popular songs, exaggerated pompadour hairstyles, long, pointy shoes, often featuring a Russian military band, the Alexandrov Ensemble.-Beginnings:...
on their album Zombie's Paradise.
In 2011, Céline Dion included the song as part of a James Bond Medley in her new show, Celine, in Las Vegas.