AFOS: "Dance Into the Fire" live-tweet recap

Yesterday on Twitter, I live-tweeted an afternoon re-airing of the 2008 Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series episode "Dance Into the Fire." (Repeats of AFOS: The Series air Wednesdays at 10am and 3pm on AFOS.)

Below is the recap of my 90-minute "Dance Into the Fire" live-tweet. (My typos during the live-tweet remain unchanged, like "Madonna referenced the Luke/Vader duel... Uh, what does that have to with 007?" and "The hiring of Daniel Craig and the grittier writing of Craig's 007 movies has really reinvigorated David Arnold's 007 score music." Oh Twittersphere, why do you infect me with absent verbs and subject-verb disagreement?)

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I'll be live-tweeting my own Fistful of Soundtracks: The Series episode in 30 min., for the two of you listeners out there who give a shit.
2:30 PM Oct 14th from web

Technically, #100 ("Dance Into the Fire") was the final AFOS:The Series episode, so I wanted it to involve a genre I enjoy: 007 score music.
2:31 PM Oct 14th from web

On my blog in '08, I said #100's the last AFOS ep b/c I got tired of the format. What I didn't say was it was also due to monetary reasons.
2:32 PM Oct 14th from web

I can't say I love the 007 series (only 7 of the 22 installments are actually good movies), but I love the music from those films.
2:33 PM Oct 14th from web

My AFOS live-tweet will be like Pop-Up Video. A tweet with a factoid or opinion about the Bond song will pop up while it's being streamed.
2:34 PM Oct 14th from web

An hour and a half of all 22 of Eon Productions' 007 opening title themes, right now on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel!
3:00 PM Oct 14th from web


Monty Norman's Bond theme in Dr. No is classic, but good God, the rest of his Dr. No score isn't as listenable as John Barry's scores.
3:03 PM Oct 14th from web

The version of the FRWL title theme that's on disc is missing the film version's organ solo. What a kick to that poor musician's solo organ.
3:04 PM Oct 14th from web

John Barry was da man during the late '60s, shagging Jane Birkin and if the rumors were true, Shirley Bassey.
3:07 PM Oct 14th from web

The Goldfinger opening theme is kind of an overplayed song. I'll fess up to overplaying it myself on the radio too.
3:07 PM Oct 14th from web

007 guitarist Vic Flick said Tom Jones fainted after hitting the high note at the end of the recording of the Thunderball theme.
3:10 PM Oct 14th from web

Somewhere, a Jones fan reads this and wishes she were there to revive him by putting her panties up to his nose. "Are you OK? Sniff these!"
3:11 PM Oct 14th from web

My favorite part of the You Only Live Twice theme is the electric guitar riffs. John Barry originally wanted Aretha Franklin to sing "YOLT."
3:13 PM Oct 14th from web

The On Her Majesty's Secret Service theme is one of 3 instrumental 007 opening themes b/c it's hard to find a word that rhymes w/ "service."
3:17 PM Oct 14th from web

They could have rhymed "service" with "nervous," but no one's ever nervous in a Bond song. They're always confident about their lovemaking.
3:17 PM Oct 14th from web

I like the Shirley Bassey Diamonds Are Forever theme more than Bassey's more famous Goldfinger theme because it's fonkay.
3:20 PM Oct 14th from web

"Live and Let Die" is the only 007 theme with a reggae beat, unless you count Bob Marley's rejected song about shooting Sheriff J.W. Pepper.
3:25 PM Oct 14th from web

Sheriff J.W. Pepper, who epitomizes everything that's lame about Roger Moore's Bond movies, is one sheriff no one would mind shooting.
3:26 PM Oct 14th from web

Not all the themes J. Barry touched turned to gold. His Man w/ the Golden Gun theme sucks. That's partly b/c Lulu sung it w/ a sore throat.
3:28 PM Oct 14th from web

Alice Cooper's rejected Man w/ the Golden Gun theme, which wasn't sung w/ a sore throat: http://bit.ly/2rOvAK
3:29 PM Oct 14th from web


I'll forever associate Carly Simon's Spy Who Loved Me theme with the badass parachute jump by Roger Moore's stuntman that precedes it.
3:30 PM Oct 14th from web

Safeway killed whatever smidgen of coolness Carly Simon's Spy Who Loved Me theme had left by playing it to death in an ad campaign.
3:31 PM Oct 14th from web

@JavierHernandez Thanks, man. This might sound crazy, but LALD is actually one of the few 007 score CDs I don't own yet.
3:34 PM Oct 14th from web in reply to JavierHernandez

I've never seen Moonraker, but a movie w/ laser gun battles shouldn't open w/ a ballad so tepid, even though Shirley Bassey brings it again.
3:35 PM Oct 14th from web

@JavierHernandez I didn't know that. I gotta hear that version!
3:39 PM Oct 14th from web in reply to JavierHernandez

I like Bill Conti's For Your Eyes Only gunbarrel music because of the cowbell.
3:40 PM Oct 14th from web

The For Your Eyes Only theme was the first 007 song that had a music video on the then-new MTV. Roger Moore, side-by-side with Billy Squier!
3:41 PM Oct 14th from web

I'll admit to being one of the millions of viewers who wondered if Sheena Easton was naked during the the For Your Eyes Only video.
3:41 PM Oct 14th from web

Yeesh, the Octopussy theme "All-Time High" is so yacht-rocky I keep expecting Michael McDonald to sing backup.
3:45 PM Oct 14th from web

Duran Duran's A View to a Kill theme is my favorite 007 theme with lyrics even though some of the lyrics are nonsensical ("A sacred why"?).
3:49 PM Oct 14th from web

@JavierHernandez Thanks. That was sweet. Thom Yorke would be a great choice as a future Bond opening title theme singer.
3:50 PM Oct 14th from web in reply to JavierHernandez

Like Safeway did with "Nobody Does It Better," Chris Kattan killed whatever smidgen of coolness a-ha's "Take on Me" had left, so...
3:52 PM Oct 14th from web

... the only a-ha songs I like are "The Sun Always Shines on TV" and the Living Daylights theme, John Barry's final 007 theme.
3:52 PM Oct 14th from web

The 007 music went through a bit of an identity crisis during the years between John Barry's departure and the addition of David Arnold.
3:56 PM Oct 14th from web

Gladys Knight's awesome and there's a nice Goldfinger reference, but the License to Kill theme sounds more like The Bodyguard than Bond.
3:57 PM Oct 14th from web

The GoldenEye theme was sung by Tina Turner, written by Bono and the Edge, produced by Nellee Hooper, and catered by Taylor's Fish & Chips.
4:05 PM Oct 14th from web

When Sheryl Crow tries to hit high notes in "Tomorrow Never Dies," I keep thinking of the Citizen Kane opera singer wife singing in pain.
4:09 PM Oct 14th from web

k.d. lang's "Surrender," restored to the Tomorrow Never Dies opening credits by a YouTuber: http://bit.ly/k7yjn
4:10 PM Oct 14th from web

"Surrender," the World Is Not Enough theme and the Casino Royale theme were all produced by David Arnold, which is why they don't suck.
4:13 PM Oct 14th from web

Woops, I spelled it "License" instead of "Licence." Colour me ignorant.
4:16 PM Oct 14th from web

In her "Die Another Day" video, Madonna referenced the Luke/Vader duel from The Empire Strikes Back. Uh, what does that have to with 007?
4:17 PM Oct 14th from web

A lot of 007 fans hate on Madonna's "Die Another Day." It's not a shitty song. It just doesn't sound very 007-like.
4:17 PM Oct 14th from web

Aw, Chris Cornell and David Arnold's Casino Royale theme "You Know My Name." Now that's more like it.
4:22 PM Oct 14th from web


The hiring of Daniel Craig and the grittier writing of Craig's 007 movies has really reinvigorated David Arnold's 007 score music.
4:23 PM Oct 14th from web

@pfunn GoldenEye is actually the only PB 007 flick that I think has held up well. His other three movies are so schizophrenic in tone.
4:24 PM Oct 14th from web in reply to pfunn

A lot of 007 fans also hate on "Another Way to Die," but at least it sounds more like a spy movie theme than say, "All-Time High."
4:26 PM Oct 14th from web

I like Jack White's shout-out to the On Her Majesty's theme during a brief guitar riff in "Another Way to Die." End of AFOS ep live-tweet!
4:29 PM Oct 14th from web

AFOS: "Dance Into the Fire" playlist

1. John Barry & Orchestra, "James Bond Theme" (from Dr. No), The Best of Bond... James Bond, Capitol
2. John Barry, "Opening Titles," From Russia with Love, EMI
3. Shirley Bassey, "Main Title--Goldfinger," Goldfinger, EMI
4. Tom Jones, "Thunderball--Main Title," Thunderball, EMI/Capitol
5. Nancy Sinatra, "You Only Live Twice--Title Song," You Only Live Twice, EMI/Capitol
6. John Barry, "Main Theme--On Her Majesty's Secret Service," On Her Majesty's Secret Service, EMI/Capitol
7. Shirley Bassey, "Diamonds Are Forever (Main Title)," Diamonds Are Forever, EMI/Capitol
8. Paul McCartney & Wings, "Live and Let Die," The Best of Bond... James Bond, Capitol
9. Lulu, "Main Title--The Man with the Golden Gun," The Man with the Golden Gun, EMI/Capitol
10. Carly Simon, "Nobody Does It Better" (from The Spy Who Loved Me), The Best of James Bond 30th Anniversary Limited Edition, EMI
11. Shirley Bassey, "Moonraker," The Best of Bond... James Bond, Capitol
12. Sheena Easton, "For Your Eyes Only," The Best of James Bond 30th Anniversary Limited Edition, EMI
13. Rita Coolidge, "All Time High," Octopussy, Rykodisc
14. Duran Duran, "A View to a Kill," The Best of James Bond 30th Anniversary Limited Edition, EMI
15. a-ha, "The Living Daylights," The Living Daylights, Rykodisc
16. Gladys Knight, "Licence to Kill," Licence to Kill, MCA
17. Tina Turner, "GoldenEye," The Best of Bond... James Bond, Capitol
18. Sheryl Crow, "Tomorrow Never Dies," Tomorrow Never Dies: Music from the Motion Picture, A&M
19. Garbage, "The World Is Not Enough," The World Is Not Enough, Radioactive/MCA
20. Madonna, "Die Another Day," Die Another Day, Warner Bros.
21. Chris Cornell, "You Know My Name" (from Casino Royale), Carry On, Interscope
22. Jack White & Alicia Keys, "Another Way to Die," Quantum of Solace, J
23. k.d. lang, "Surrender," Tomorrow Never Dies: Music from the Motion Picture, A&M

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These bloggers have found the time to review each of the 22 official Bond opening title themes. They have way too much time on their hands:

Total Music Geek
Culture Kills
I Expect You to Die!

On a related note, here's one of my favorite '80s SNL sketches, a classic spoof starring Steve Martin as a cheapskate 007 (sorry, Canada and Europe).

New AFOS episode: "Dance Into the Fire"

The 100th and final Fistful of Soundtracks episode in the current format is a d00Zy: all 22 official 007 opening title themes in chronological order, from the Dr. No instrumental theme to Quantum of Solace's "Another Way to Die."

Quick--what's the only 007 main title theme in which the singer almost fainted in the recording booth after hitting a high note at the end of the theme? The answer's in the photo.

"Dance Into the Fire"--a special extra-length episode--begins streaming late Monday night at midnight and repeats Tuesday and Thursday at 4am, 10am, 3pm, 7pm and 11pm, Wednesday at midnight, and Saturday and Sunday at 7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm and 5pm.

"AFOS A-Go-Go" 11/18/08-11/24/08 playlist

1. David Arnold, "Time to Get Out," Quantum of Solace, J
2. David Arnold, "Somebody Wants to Kill You," Quantum of Solace, J
3. Edwin Astley, "High Wire," Secret Agent, Razor & Tie
4. Laurie Johnson Orchestra, "Theme from The Avengers," Top TV Themes, Castle
5. John Barry, "The Ipcress File (Main Title Theme)," Mission Accomplished: Themes For Spies & Cops, Hip-O
6. Jerry Goldsmith, "First Season Main Title," The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Film Score Monthly
7. Irving Szathmary, "Get Smart," NBC: A Soundtrack of Must See TV, TVT
8. Jerry Goldsmith, "Mince and Cook Until Tender" (from In Like Flint), Jerry Goldsmith at 20th Century Fox, Varèse Sarabande
9. Cyril Stapleton, "Theme from Department S," Top TV Themes, Castle
10. Laurie Johnson, "Jason King Theme," The Sound Gallery Volume Two, Scamp
11. George S. Clinton, "Hit & Run/Heroic Austin" (from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery), Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery & The Spy Who Shagged Me, RCA Victor
12. Michael Giacchino, "On the Train," Alias: Season Two, Varèse Sarabande
13. Isaac Hayes, "Give It to Me" (from Truck Turner), MGM Soul Cinema Volume 1, Beyond/MGM Music
14. Charles Bernstein, "Laying the Trap" (from Gator), Do You Pick Your Feet in Poughkeepsie?, Paul Nice
15. David Arnold, "Pursuit at Port Au Prince," Quantum of Solace, J
16. Ennio Morricone, "Svolta Definitiva" (from Citta Violenta), More Mondo Morricone, Colosseum
17. Chops, "Chinese School," Ping Pong Playa, Lakeshore
18. Vince Guaraldi Trio, "Thanksgiving Theme" (from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), Charlie Brown's Holiday Hits, Fantasy

"AFOS A-Go-Go" airs every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday in November (except the week of Thanksgiving) on the Fistful of Soundtracks channel.