Under the Covers with James Bond - "All Time High"


"All Time High" performed by Rita Coolidge for Octopussy is by far one of my favorite James Bond title songs. John Barry and Tim Rice teamed up to craft one of the better overall title pieces in the Bond music oeuvre and kept it classy, choosing to leave the entendre laden film title out of the lyrics. For a song which spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, there are surprisingly few covers of it.

If you've never seen it, check out the first music video produced for a James Bond title song.



The film released in 1983, at the beginning of the golden age of the music video, so this clip incorporating Rita Coolidge with scenes from the movie made perfect sense and would become de rigueur for future Bond themes and set the stage for the wildly popular song which would follow this in the next Bond film outing.

The only cover version of note comes (naturally) from Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project, performed by Brit alt rockers Pulp.



This one is a bit more daring than some of the other tracks we've heard from this album; opening with a languid vocal section and closing on a group and orchestra instrumental performance that ratchets up the Bondian sound considerably.

This song is definitely worth someone's time to record a new cover. No matter if it is experimental in nature or stripped down to just voice and ukulele or acoustic guitar, "All Time High" deserves that attention.


The music of James Bond will return in A View to a Kill.




Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 31, 2012 at 10:00 AM

    Rick, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This is a syrupy ballad NOWHERE as classic as "You Only Live Twice" or "For Your Eyes Only"...this is so sickly sweet! Ok, i'm fine now...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @LinerNotesOctober 31, 2012 at 5:39 PM

      I was young and impressionable when this song/movie came out. Still have a soft spot for it. :)

      Delete

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