James Bond Special : You Only Live Twice (1967)

In You Only Live Twice, Bond is sent to Japan to investigate the disappearance of American and Soviet spacecraft. As ever, SPECTRE is the culprit behind the incident which was carried out to provoke a war between the superpowers. The screenplay was written by author Roald Dahl and marks the first time that the film is only loosely based on the novel.

The distinctly Asian flavour is reflected in the two Bond girls.

Aki, an agent with the Japanese SIS, was played by Akiko Wakabayashi. Unfortunately, Aki meets her doom ... as she slept with Bond, drops of poison are dripped down a thin cord ... meant for Bond but instead enters Aki's lips.

Naturally, Bond wastes no time in finding a replacement for Aki upon her demise in the form of the equally delectable Kissy Suzuki, an Ama diving girl. Kissy was played by Mie Hama.

It is also notable to mention the appearance of German actress Karin Dor as SPECTRE assassin, Helga Brandt. Unfortunately, after a failed attempt on Bond's life, Helga was fed to the piranhas.

The title song was sung by Nancy Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra. The single, too, had an oriental flavour and made No.11 in the UK.

Of course, the year before, Nancy Sinatra had hit the top of the charts with her worldwide smash, These Boots Are Made For Walkin', and she got the gig off the back of her hit single, beating Aretha Franklin to it.

James Bond Special : Thunderball (1965)

Thunderball was the fourth instalment in the Bond franchise and supposedly the most successful financially taking inflation into account. The film has Connery's Bond searching for two NATO atomic bombs stolen by SPECTRE who asked for £100 million in diamonds for ransom in exchange for not blowing up Miami. Much of the action in the film takes place underwater.

In the film, Bond is assisted by Domino, the mistress of SPECTRE's Number Two, Emilio Largo. Several actresses were considered for the role including Julie Christie, Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway but finally the role was given to Miss France and First Runner-Up in Miss World 1958, Claudine Auger. The name of the character was changed from Dominetta Palazzi to Dominique Derval to reflect Auger's nationality but her voice was still dubbed.

The three actresses who were considered for the role of Domino :-

Julie Christie

Raquel Welch

Faye Dunaway

The other notable Bond girl in the film was Luciana Paluzzi who played SPECTRE assassin Fiona Volpe. In Never Say Never Again (the re-make of Thunderball) her name was changed to Fatima Blush and she was played by Barbara Carrera.

I must admit that I have not actually watched Thunderball but I do remember the theme song by Tom Jones. Initially a song called Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang was written as the theme (recorded by Shirley Bassey but re-recorded by Dionne Warwick) but the producers wanted the title of the film in the theme song. Country singer Johnny Cash submitted a song entitled "Thunderball" to Eon Productions incorporating the plot of the film but the song was never used. Instead John Barry and Don Black hurriedly wrote a song which was recorded by Tom Jones.

 

It seems that during recording Jones fainted when singing the last note of the song. What a big girl's blouse, Tom ol' chap.

James Bond Special : Goldfinger (1964)

This third Bond film involved a plot by the villain, Auric Goldfinger, to invade Fort Knox and contaminate the US gold reserves in order to boost the value of his own stockpile. It is widely thought to be one of the finest and iconic instalments in the franchise.

The film was responsible for one of the iconic moments in history involving Bond girl Jill Masterson who reached a rather "glittering" end. Jill was played by British actress Shirley Eaton who, although appearing in a number of successful films, will forever be remembered as "the golden girl".

However, the star of the film was, of course, Pussy Galore who was played by Honor Blackman who had, at the time, found fame as the leather-wearing high-kicking Cathy Gale in The Avengers. The name Pussy Galore caused quite a controversy and it was suggested that the name Pussy be changed to Kitty. However, it is said that the name was retained after a photo of Ms. Blackman and Prince Philip was published in the papers under the heading "The Prince & Pussy".

Pussy Galore is considered the second sexiest Bond girl (after Honey Ryder) and many people's favourite despite her being completely clothed throughout the film.












The title theme was sung by Dame Shirley Bassey and is widely considered to be as iconic as the golden girl herself. It was written by John Barry with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Bassey's sexy growl suited the song to a tee.

The song gave Bassey her only American Top 40 hit (reaching no. 8) while in the UK the song reached no. 21.

Incidentally, Honor Blackman also had her moment in pop history when Kinky Boots, a single she recorded with her Avengers co-star, Patrick Macnee, in 1964 charted at No.5 in 1990 after being re-released. As a matter of trivia, Patrick Macnee also had a role in a Bond film (A View To A Kill) as did his co-stars Blackman, Diana Rigg and Joanna Lumley.

James Bond Special : From Russia With Love (1963)

The second instalment in the Bond franchise had Sean Connery's Bond in danger of assasination by SPECTRE as revenge for his killing of Dr. No. The delicious assasin sent to despatch Bond was Soviet agent Tatiana Romanova played by Italian actress Daniela Bianchi.

Ms. Bianchi had just emerged as 1st runner-up in Miss Universe 1960 and this was her first major English role (though her voice was dubbed in the film). However, she did not find much international  fame after this film apart from her role in 3 episodes of Dr. Kildare.

 The title track for the film was composed by Lionel Bart (who also did Oliver!) and sung by Matt Monro. However, it was felt that the lyrics of the song, while using the title, did not reflect the storyline (this was to be rectified in the next film, Goldfinger) so for the opening sequence an instrumental was used.

Nevertheless the song is a classic and became a huge hit for Monro (even though the song actually only made it No. 20 in the charts).

Incidentally, Monro represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest the year after and came in second behind Italy with "I Love The Little Things".

Sam Brown : Stop!

Talking about sophisticated classy ballads, I must say it doesn't get any classier than Sam Brown's 1989 hit Stop! which reached No. 4 in the UK charts. This song was so brilliant that I was sure Ms. Brown was destined for big things with her sexy growly voice.

Unfortunately, it was not to be and, as I recall, she only had one other hit with her No. 15 cover of Marvin Gaye's Can I Get A Witness. Check out the video here :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmHGAdkToaw&feature=player_embedded

Sam continued singing and released singles and albums although she never quite reached the dizzy heights she reached with Stop! and here's the music video for you to re-live that moment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4yOa3tBrB8&feature=player_embedded

Music Video Bloke : Holden Nowell

Carly Rae Jepsen hit it big this year with her debut single "Call Me Maybe" which rocketed her to the top of charts almost everywhere including in the UK.

The video featured Carly Rae drooling and panting over her hunky next-door neighbour played by Calgary-born model Holden Nowell.



The moment Carly Rae (and possibly many other females) had a cardiac arrest.



In the video, Carly Rae is seen spying over her lust-icon as he was mowing the lawn and washing his car. And when he took off his shirt to show off his toned body, our little voyeur almost had a heart-attack (and I'm sure so did millions of other young females watching the video).

Holden's been featured in quite a few campaigns and we'll probably see him around and, who knows, perhaps he may be taking off his shirt again on one of the numerous "nekkid" shows available these days like Teen Wolf.  

 

 Sadly for Carly Rae, in the music video her love remained unrequited even though she managed to persuade her gymfit show-off to come watch her perform with her band. Unfortunately, as she turned to write down her phone number to ask him to call her, maybe the unthinkable happens as ... (well, watch the video for yourself)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fWNaR-rxAic

 

Tommy Page : Shoulder To Cry On

Remember Tommy Page from the late 80s and early 90s? This guy has two of the cheesiest slushiest ballads  ... I'll Be Your Everything (which topped the US charts) and this song, A Shoulder To Cry On, which instantly became one of my guilty pleasures. Amazingly this song failed to chart in the UK!!!

Page had other hits but fame was not to be and he settled for an executive post at Warner Bros. Records where he helped launch the careers of other mega-stars like Michael Buble, Alanis Morisette and Green Day.

However, this will always remain my guilty pleasure ... now where are those nachos

Check out the video here :-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AlGvRwalchQ

  

Cyndi Lauper : True Colors

In 1983, Cyndi Lauper had been known for her super-fun hit Girls Just Want To Have Fun which became her signature tune. But she also showed that she could rawwk a serious ballad and this 1986 hit from the album of the same name, in my opinion, is one of her finest ballad moments.

Written by the songwriting team of Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly who was also responsible for the equally anthemic hits Eternal Flame by The Bangles and Like A Virgin by Madonna this beautiful song propelled Cyndi Lauper to the top of the US Charts. Strangely though this song only made No. 12 in the UK but then the UK charts are strange that way.

Check out the video which manages to retain Lauper's quirky character ... gorgeously strange.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPn0KFlbqX8&feature=player_embedded

 

Labrinth feat. Emeli Sande : Beneath Your Beautiful

Scottish singer-songwriter Emeli Sande had written hits for a number of artistes including Gabrielle, Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle. However, in 2011, she was to have her own moment in the spotlight as the featured voice in Professor Green's No. 1 hit "Read All About It". Her own success was to follow when she had a No. 2 hit with "Next To Me".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-_oLfC5Z_Ys

 

Labrinth (real name Tim McKenzie) became one of the few non-singing contest signings to Simon Cowell's Syco label. His first appearance in the charts was his No. 1 collaboration with British rapper Tinie Tempah entitled "Pass Out" followed by his No. 3 hit "Let The Sun Shine". Several more hits were to follow until this gorgeous ballad featuring the haunting vocals of Emeli Sande propelled them back to the top of the charts. Check out the song ... beautiful in its simplicity ... with a music video to match.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqIxCtEveG8&feature=player_embedded