BEVERLY HILLS — As part of the global 50th anniversary celebration of James Bond, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present "The Music of Bond: The First 50 Years," on Friday, October 5, at 7:30pm at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The date is exactly 50 years after the UK opening of the first Bond film, Dr. No. The evening will pay homage to the memorable title songs and scores that have become as celebrated as the films themselves.
Hosted by music historian and writer Jon Burlingame, the program will feature many of the people who made the music, including composer Bill Conti (For Your Eyes Only), songwriter Carole Bayer Sager (Nobody Does It Better from The Spy Who Loved Me), lyricist Don Black (title songs for Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun and The World Is Not Enough) and guitarist Vic Flick, who laid down the famous guitar lick for the James Bond Theme. There will also be a special video message from actor Roger Moore.
Over the 22 films released to date as part of the official James Bond series, there have been several constants: suave but deadly leading men, gorgeous and sexy Bond girls, over-the-top villains and incredible music. Bond theme songs, sung by such leading performers as Nancy Sinatra (You Only Live Twice), Shirley Bassey (Goldfinger), Paul McCartney and Wings (Live and Let Die), Carly Simon (Nobody Does It Better) and Sheena Easton (For Your Eyes Only), consistently landed on the pop music charts. Duran Duran's A View to a Kill became the first Bond song to hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Those notable elements combined with the remarkable scores by composers including Conti, John Barry, Marvin Hamlisch and David Arnold has resulted in a body of work that continues to play a major role in popular film culture.
Tickets for "The Music of Bond" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. They may be purchased online at www.oscars.org.