National Public Radio’s Scott Simon conducted a thoroughly delightful interview during this morning’s Weekend Edition Saturday with British historical novelist Sebastian Faulks, who has written the next James Bond novel, Devil May Care.
Scott talked with Faulks mostly about Engleby, the latter’s new novel. But they also touched on the often egregious inaccuracies in modern journalism, Ian Fleming’s playful recommendations on “how to write a thriller,” and whether Faulks is reconciled to the fact that, within a few months from now, everywhere he goes he will be met by the familiar bars of that Monty Norman/John Barry James Bond theme.
Tune in to this whole Weekend Edition interview here.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I believe Monty Norman wrote the James Bond theme, originally for the soundtrack of the first Bond, "Dr. No.
Thank you for making that correction. I picked up the composer's name from the video clip to which I link at the end of this post. But the clip's identification is evidently wrong.
And in fact, there's a whole story about the Bond theme that I didn't know until just now. Apparently, a version was originally composed by Monty Norman, but at the producers' request, it was rearranged by John Barry. Court cases, however, have affirmed Norman's right to be identified as the original author, though Barry continues to insist it was his work, instead.
Since Barry's various orchestrations of the theme (he composed the soundtracks for 11 of the Bond flicks) can be said to be more familiar to viewers than Norman's original--whatever that may have sounded like--I have chosen to split the difference in amending this post. I've given first credit to Norman, but also acknowledge Barry's influence on the theme as we know it today.
If you'd like more information about this controversy, look at either or both of these sources:
http://www.ianfleming.org/mkkbb/afjbfaq/5.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_Theme
I hope that satisfies everyone.
Cheers,
Jeff
Post a Comment