Film Music Reporter

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced an event to pay homage to the memorable title songs and indelible scores of the James Bond films. The Music of Bond: The First 50 Years hosted by music historian and writer Jon Burlingame will feature many of the people who made the music, including lyricist Don Black (title songs for Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man with the Golden Gun and The World Is Not Enough) and guitarist Vic Flick who played the guitar riff for the original version of the James Bond Theme. The 22 films of the original Bond series featured numerous hit songs, such as Goldfinger performed by Shirley Bassey, You Only Live Twice performed by Nancy Sinatra and Live and Let Die by Paul McCartney & Wings. The series also featured classic scores by composers including John Barry, Marvin Hamlisch, Bill Conti and David Arnold. Thomas Newman is currently working on the music for the latest Bond adventure Skyfall in London. The event will take place on Friday, October 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. To find out more about the celebration and to order tickets (starting September 4), visit the Academy’s website.