As a life-long James Bond fan I, like many other fans, are very much looking forward to seeing the latest film in the franchise: “No Time to Die”. However, as the film’s cinematic release has been delayed for quite a while I thought it timely to design and publish a bespoke playlist to enjoy in the meantime.

As a young child growing up I was very much into watching repeats of 1960s TV and Film; in particular Gerry Anderson’s Thunderbirds. I remember because I was learning piano and guitar at the time and every week before my lessons I would put a VHS tape in to record the show as it coincided with my tutor’s visit. When my lesson ended I would rush to the VCR and watch puppets being blown-up; very entertaining. As I grew a little older ITV started showing the James Bond films, which were broadcast past my bedtime, so I taped them. Regretfully I taped over Thunderbirds, however, I do now have both Bond and Thunderbird collections on DVD thankfully.

Later, as I began my career in the music industry, I spent many years collecting and listening to each James Bond soundtrack. In my opinion these are works of genius and still inspire me today. I’ve spent many long “drives in the country” listening to these fantastic musical compositions and arrangements. During a grand tour round the Alps a few years back I realised that it was becoming a slight hassle having to change James Bond CDs while shifting down gears to cope with 30% gradients on multiple hairpin bends. Hence the reason for creating this extra-long, smooth playlist with no interruptions. You shouldn’t even need to adjust your player’s volume control.

Driven by Bond! is very much about the music, so you won’t find any of the iconic theme songs on this particular playlist; it does, however, feature some truly fantastic scores from 18 James Bond Films. Whilst I do enjoy much of the music composed for the other films, I feel that my chosen tracks from these specific soundtracks, complement each other very well indeed. I wanted to create a playlist that felt like a complete album in terms of production style, tone, feeling and continuity. It was almost like scoring for an epic James Bond adventure.

When it comes to James Bond music nobody does it better than John Barry who scored 11 films. Barry also composed a piece of music known as the 007 theme, which recurs in five of these films. I love this theme; it’s really dramatic and exciting, so I thought it would be a really good piece to include as periodic theme at appropriate moments throughout the playlist.

Several excellent composers have also scored for the James Bond franchise. I specifically like the soundtracks by Sir George Martin, Bill Conti, Michael Kamen, and David Arnold. I believe their Bond compositions and arrangements are very much based on what John Barry had done before. These composers have then put their own stamp on the music giving each film a slightly different tone, but with the underlying James Bond music still there at the right moments; specifically the famous James Bond Theme written by Monty Norman for the first film Dr No, arranged by John Barry.

Although specifically designed for driving, one may listen to this great playlist anywhere, anytime and enjoy it. So, create your own 007 adventure, feel inspired, love and appreciate the music. Long live James Bond Music.

FRASER JOHN LINDSAY
Director
Fraz Records

www.frazrecords.com
www.mixcloud.com/frazrecords

FRAZ RECORDS
BESPOKE PLAYLIST 2.
DRIVEN BY BOND!:
(71 TRACKS)
CAT: FRAZDBB007