Monday, January 31, 2011

RIP John Barry

10:45 AM / General / Comments7 Comments

The composer best known for his Bond scores died this morning at the age of 77.

The BBC Archive has republished a nice tribute to his Bond themes from 1995, hosted by Lois Maxwell (Moneypenny).

 
7 Comments

1. Toecutter said:

This is sad. I always wanted him to come back and do another Bond.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service, best Bond score.

(Posted on Monday, January 31, 2011 at 4:33 PM)

2. Neil said:

Was very impressed that this was the third major headline, that I heard on 3 seperate Radio 4 news bulletins throughout the day (UK). Kinda cool...respect that money simply can't buy, and it shows the massive appeal and influence of John Barry's work.

(Posted on Monday, January 31, 2011 at 10:10 PM)

3. Marcus said:

I also agree that On Her Majesty's Secret Service was his best Bond score (as well as the best Bond score of the whole franchise), along with You Only Live Twice.

Let's not forget his non-Bond work, his sci-fi themes that were clearly better than the movies they belonged to (Star Crash, Black Hole), his Oscar-winning work (Out of Africa, Dances With Wolves) and much more... he clearly knew how to build up tension through music.

The man also composed some of television's most memorable theme tunes, such as The Persuaders! (one of the best intros of any TV show, IMO)

RIP indeed.

(Posted on Monday, January 31, 2011 at 11:39 PM)

4. Author Profile Page Avanze said:

Heard the sad news earlier today. Personally I loved Midnight Cowboy, but especially, I have to say, the excellent Game of Death soundtrack.

That said, I will never tire of his music for the rest of my life.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 3:05 AM)

5. FoxyMulder said:

The Game Of Death soundtrack is just music taken from On Her Majesty's Secret Service and recycled, incidentally that is one of the very best Bond scores.

I'm fond of his work on Born Free, The Quiller Memorandum, Body Heat, Zulu, Raise The Titanic, the seventies version of King Kong and Dances With Wolves.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 11:19 AM)

6. Kuroneko said:

And let's not forget the main title theme for "The Ipcress File", a prole bespectacled Bond; every note therein distills the essence of sixties cool.

Dick Lester's "The Knack" is another personal favourite of mine; lighthearted and playful but by no means a minor entry in Barry's canon.

(Posted on Tuesday, February 1, 2011 at 11:47 PM)

7. Marcus said:

I forgot to mention one of my Top 5 Barry scores: Body Heat. He could do film noir as well, you try conducting a seductive saxophone score that doesn't sound cheesy.

(Posted on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 4:49 AM)

 
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