Best Original Song – 1977

Official Nominations: You Light Up My Life. Candle On The Water. The Slipper And The Rose Waltz. Nobody Does It Better.

You Light Up My Life won officially, but look, we all know who the real winner here is. Nobody Does It Better is one of the best Bond songs, bringing the franchise into a new era, and it works well as a standalone too. It wins, hands down. The winner has been hugely successful too, being covered by a bunch of people. I actually like it, then I’m a sucker for big ballads as you know, at least when they feel genuine and emotional, not showy and theatrical. Candle On The Water is another ballad, but it is too theatrical, too cleanly sung, and is yet another of those floating songs with no discernible melody. The Waltz song He Danced With Me is pure musical theatre wank – I’m surprised Liza Minnelli doesn’t gyrate out of the shadow and start twerking in the middle of it.

My Winner: Nobody Does It Better

My Nominations: Nobody Does It Better. You Light Up My Life. Down Deep Inside. In Heaven. Hausa Love Theme. New York New York. Someone’s Waiting For You. Stayin Alive. Night Fever. How Deep Is Your Love. More Than A Woman. If I Can’t Have You. East Bound And Down.

There’s at least one major snub here, with New York New York arguably being one of the most famous songs ever recorded. I actually always assumed it was a much older song given that it’s from a period long gone by 1977, but nope, it was made for the Scorcese musical. I’m not a fan of musicals, of swing, of jazz, or of Minnelli, and yet you can’t discount the song. Someone’s Waiting For You from The Rescuers is a little known Disney ballad – it doesn’t hit the high notes of many of their best songs but it’s still sweet and honest.

I’ve added five Bee Gees songs from Saturday Night Fever – they’re all good but as I’m adding so many I’m not going to go through each. East Bound And Down is fast, feel-good country chase music and the love theme from Hausu is bizarrely cheery and sweet. Deep Down Inside is Donna Summer, so disco, but it has nothing to do with water or eels or Nick Noltes and it is a little monotone, but it does get going later with plenty of sex noises. Speaking of sex noises, In Heaven is not one to listen to when doing the dance of naked squelching. In fact it’s not one to listen to ever, unless you’re a weirdo like me. Actually, it’s nice, if a little offbeat – even if you know zero about Eraserhead you know there’s something not quite right about the song.

My Winner: Nobody Does It Better

Let us know in the comments which songs you would pick!

Ranking The James Bond Songs # 6 – 4

6. The Man With The Golden Gun (from The Man With The Golden Gun) – Lulu

Most people hate this one with a passion, but it’s easily one of the most catchy, fun, energetic Bond songs. It’s funky with a rock and disco manic edge, great guitars, a blistering performance by Lulu. We even get a bizarre, soft, slow brief break in the middle where Lulu does a Bassey for a few moments. I’ve never quite understood why people, or so many people despise this – it hits all the right notes in my ears. I love love love each ‘golden shot’ that she sings, great stuff.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSbj2Mx2By8

5. For Your Eyes Only (from For Your Eyes Only) – Sheena Easton

I’ve always had a soft spot for this one, partly because it’s from one of my favourite films in the series, and partly because I’m a sucker for ballads. It may get awfully cheesy, but it still does the job for me. This one also gets deathly close to being dated due to the instrumentation. But it’s just so lovely and so tragic. The film begins with Bond visiting the grave of his dead wife, we see one of the series’ most brutal killers dispatch a number of other likeable characters, and a rare somber turn by Moore. I love the verse and bridge, but I feel the chorus vocals could have been reined in a little, or would be better with a different singer. I’d love to hear some covers of this – I’m sure I’d love it even more if sung by one of my favourite singers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN1WBgS9u_E

4. Nobody Does It Better (from The Spy Who Loved Me) – Carly Simon

Beginning like a forgotten ballad by Queen, Simon again may not have been the best choice to perform this, but aside from that it’s a superb song and close to stealing that definitive Bond song crown. Naturally Radiohead’s version is better, but the song itself it so good that you’d be hard pushed to find a bad version of it. Again it’s super sexy, I love the combination of piano and violin, and it’s one of the few Bond songs that doesn’t have the typical blasts of string and horn – and doesn’t miss them for a second. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNA7DcVppEs Radiohead bonus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfmQe_eBvrc

Let us know below what you think of these Bond songs as I rarely see two of these in other lists of favourites.