All The James Bond Themes Ranked (Part One)!

Whether you've watched one James Bond film or all 26, most can generally reach agreement that the franchise has a reputation for theme songs that are famous and among the best movie themes of all-time.  Join us for our three-part series as we enjoy all of the theme songs (some movies had more than one) that have made up a big part of our lives!

Note:  We ranked these songs differently than in most of our specials.  Rather than go purely by the quality of the song and its audio appeal, we judged the songs based on how well they fit the James Bond character, the movie in which they are featured in, and how they fit into the opening credits and video where they are used in that way.  

 

 #28:
"Under The Mango Tree"
Cibelle
From Dr. No

Dr. No was the one that started it all off in 1962, with Sean Connery establishing the great James Bond character right off the bat.  The movie also stars Ursula Andress, Jack Lord as CIA operative Felix Leiter and Joseph Wiseman as Dr. No.  Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced the movie; it was a partnership that continued through 1975.

The song appears fairly early in the movie, as Bond wakes up to spot a bikini-clad Andress (as Honey Rider) coming out of the water with some seashells.  "Are you looking for shells?" she asks.  "No, I'm just looking."

The song appears for a second time sung by Diana Coupland, composer Monty Norman's wife and a veteran British stage and screen star, on the LP Bond plays in Miss Taro's home.  

   

 #27:
"Never Say Never Again"
by Lani Hall
From Never Say Never Again

Never Say Never Again (from 1987) is a remake of the 1965 Bond movie Thunderball, and reportedly is based on a comment from Sean Connery that he would "never again" play James Bond.  The movie also stars Max von Sydow, Klaus Maria Branauer, Kim Basinger, Barbara Carrera and Bernie Casey, former running back with the Los Angeles Rams, who plays Felix Leiter, Bond's CIA contact and friend.

Lani Hall, the lead singer of Sergio Mendes from 1966-71, had the honor of singing the title song which also was featured in the opening credits in the movie.

 

 #26:
"The Living Daylights"
by A-ha
From The Living Daylights

This next theme comes from the 15th movie in the series from 1987, starring Timothy Dalton, who plays a serious James Bond in his first and only foray as the character, as well as Maryam d'Abo, Joe Don Baker and Art Malik.

A-ha, the British techno group of the '80's, performed the theme in the opening credits.  This is the last song of 11 that John Barry wrote for the series.  "The Living Daylights" reached #1 in A-ha's native Norway, #2 in Ireland, #3 in Sweden, Denmark and Finland and #5 in the U.K.

   

 #25:
"Die Another Day"
by Madonna
From Die Another Day

The 2002 installment in the series was the fourth and final appearance from Pierce Brosnan as our hero and the last with Samantha Bond as Miss Moneypenny.  Die Another Day also featured Halle Berry as an NSA agent, Judi Dench as M, John Cleese, Toby Stephens, Rosamund Pike and Rick Yune.

21 of the 26 theme songs share the same title as the movie, including this one at #26 from Madonna, who also appeared in the movie.

"Die Another Day" reached #2 in Denmark, #3 in the U.K., #4 in Sweden, Switzerland and Scotland, #5 in Australia and #8 in the United States.  It was nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globe Awards and received Grammy nominations for Best Dance Recording and Best Short Form Music Video.

   

 #24:

"The Man With The Golden Gun"

by Lulu

From The Man With The Golden Gun

The Man With the Golden Gun from 1974, the ninth in the series, is the second to feature Roger Moore as the new Bond with Britt Ekland cast as Bond's assistant.  Christopher Lee drew great reviews as Francisco Scaramanga, the assassin with the golden gun and one of the top villains in the series.  Scaramange wields a gun made out of solid gold and can accomplish his mission with a single shot.  Hervé Villechaize (later featured on the television series Fantasy Island), played Scaramanga's sidekick.  

 

The movie was the last to be produced by Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, as Saltzman sold his 50% share after the film was released. Lulu, who gave us the all-time classic "To Sir With Love", sang the theme composed by Barry in the opening credits.

   

 #23:
"Another Way To Die"
by Alicia Keys and Jack White
From Quantum of Solace

The 2008 film Quantum of Solace was the sequel to 2006's Casino Royale and unlike its romantic predecessor, Quantum of Solace, was about revenge.  Daniel Craig returned as Bond with Olga Kurylenko as Bolivian agent Camille Montes.  Mathieu Amalric plays Dominic Greene, the villain and a leader of the crime organization Quantum.  Judi Dench returned in a larger role as M.

Jack White wrote the theme song and played guitar and drums; he and Keys recorded the video while Alicia was at the Toronto International Film Festival promoting her movie The Secret Life of Bees.  That video was nominated for Best Short Form Music Video at the Grammy Awards.  "Another Way To Die" hit #1 in Finland and reached the Top Five in Switzerland, Austria, Norway and Scotland.

   

 #22:
"Thunderball"
by Tom Jones
From Thunderball

The third and final film to be directed by Terence Young, Thunderball once again featured Sean Connery, who must find NATO atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE.  Producers Broccoli and Saltzman originally planned the movie as the first in the series, but relented when author Ian Fleming was sued in 1961 by collaborators Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham, claiming Fleming based the novel on a screenplay the trio had written for a cinematic translation of Bond.

Along with daring and dangerous action sequences, exotic locales, seductive women, great theme songs and classy cars, Bond movies had a penchant for delivering witty remarks.  In this film, Connery quickly took care of an adversary with a shot from his harpoon gun before dropping the line, "I think he got the point."

Adolpho Celi stars as SPRECTRE's number two man Emilio Largo with Claudine Auger as his mistress Domino.  Julie Christie, Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway were all considered for the role before Auger got the part.

But it is SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe (played by Luciana Paluzzi) that steals the show.  Volpe is one of the top villains of the franchise as do-it-all enforcer.  She can seduce a pilot to ensure the success of a plan and use a missile-launching motorcycle to murder a former associate.  She is able to expose Bond's frailty, getting him into bed, setting a trap and then badly wounding him.  Our hero is nearly finished on her watch.     

Rick Van Nutter plays Felix Leiter with Guy Doleman, Molly Peters, Martine Beswick,  Roland Carver, Earl Cameron, Paul Stassino, Rose Alba, Philip Locke, George Pravda and Michael Brennan also starring.  Bernard Lee plays M, the head of MI6, with Desmon Llewelyn as Q and once again Lois Maxwell is Moneypenny.

Tom Jones, the male counterpart to the booming vocals of Shirley Bassey in the previous Bond movie Goldfinger, delivered the theme song featured in the opening credits.  Jones is said to have fainted in the recording booth when singing the final note.  Jones told NPR, "I closed my eyes and I held the note for so long when I opened my eyes the room was spinning."

   

 #21:
"All Time High"
by Rita Coolidge
From Octopussy

Octopussy in 1983 was the 13th Bond film and the sixth to feature Roger Moore as 007.  Broccoli produced the movie along with Michael G. Wilson.  Maud Adams returned to the franchise as jewel smuggler Octopussy.  Louis Jordan played exiled Afghan prince Kamal Khan, joined by Kristina Wayborn, Kabir Bedi, Steven Berkoff, tennis star Vijay Amitraj and Robert Brown as M.

Octopussy also features another great Bond line.  When Khan quips to Bond that he has a "bad habit of surviving", Bond replies back, "Well you know what they say about the fittest."

Written by Barry and Tim Rice, "All Time High" was co-produced by Phil Ramone.  Coolidge enjoyed a #1 smash of four weeks on the Adult Contemporary chart and reached #7 in Switzerland and #8 in both Sweden and the Netherlands.

Join us for Part Two of the great Bond themes tomorrow, exclusively on Inside The Rock Era!