However, one has to take into account that the meaning of chart positions has considerably changed throughout the decades the Bond songs were listed.
This listing has to be interpreted like a box office listing without inflation, ticket prices etc.
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Given the advent of streaming, chart positions matter possibly even less now - particularly for film themes where the song is often with the OST
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The thing is, there is now an incredibly valuable tool to analyse market penetration: how many different people listen to the song, how many talk about it (also here), how many like/hate/are indifferent about it. What are their general interests, income, age, gender, affiliations andandand… The possibilities to mine this data for further reference are indeed endless.
What’s a chart compared to this?
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Was scrolling through YouTube and this mashup caught my attention. They overlaid NTTD with SF and the result is pretty interesting.
Check out from 1m22s…
We get a glimpse of what a little more pace and percussion could bring to the song.
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Also, which songs charted ahead of Bond titles? Rank doesn’t mean a lot compared to sales.
And did Celine Dion’s If You Asked Me Too chart higher than Patti LaBelle’s? I remember hearing Celine’s cover a ton in 1992.
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NTTD theme song sung in the style of Chris Cornell:
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Not even the real Chris could have made this dud sound interesting…but with the higher tempo you at least don´t want to slash your wrists while listening
I’ve never wanted to slash my wrists while listening…
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Actually that’s my fault. The Celine Dion version is the one that reached number 4. The original Patti Labelle version only reached 79 on the Hot 100.
I never understood why EON picked two R&B artists, Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle, for a movie with such Latin American settings and influences. Gloria Estefan would have been perfect on If You Asked Me Too. Though Celine Dion’s cover was pretty good and could have been an official Bond song. Not sure anyone could have salvaged Licence to Kill title though.
I’ve always thought that with a title like Licence To Kill, it should have been a more up-tempo, rockier theme song. I would have gone with someone like Heart to do it. Ann Wilson could have really belted out a whopper of a song. Alas we got a little ballad that makes little sense with the title despite the solid effort by Gladys Knight to prop up the song.
I have to confess I actually liked the song Licence to Kill a lot at the time. It also was a regular on a number of radio stations and perhaps even better liked than the film it came with. And then of course it was for long years the last Bond song, that gave it a ‘special’ place in the canon, perhaps together with a soft spot for a rather pedestrian film.
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I think they didn’t really think of the Latino influence back then they probably just thought America in general and looked at Soul/RnB singers etc… Of course what we do know is the ill fated Eric Clapton recording that was meant to be the title track
Heart did have “If Looks Could Kill”. Great idea!
And has anyone ever heard this? I don’t think it’s ever been released anywhere.
I’ve learned to appreciate what it tried to do since, mimicking Goldfinger and incorporating a variation on the Bond theme. And it got better after hearing AWTD!
I’ve always thought of “If You Asked Me To” as the last Bond song, even though not a proper title, but certainly the last “heard.” Goes well with The Pretenders’ “If There Was a Man” too.
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I understand that the sessions never resulted in a full song and therefore were ended.
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Such a shame! I loved his work on the movie Rush 1991, and of course the lethal weapon franchise.
Billie performing the song live on tour for the first time
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If you ever wanted to go to a Billie Eilish concert to hear her sing…that wasn’t your chance.
This is not a political statement nor is it a diss on the decision to move the release date, but you can almost hear the lost revenue pouring out of those young people’s mouths. Pretty much every kid in that audience was singing that song word-for-word and with real emotion. The question becomes - will that same level of interest and enthusiasm exist for that demographic come November? I pray it does.
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