The soundtrack to '' Licence to Kill'', the 16th Eon Productions James Bond film, was released by MCA Records in 1989. Because the usual James Bond composer John Barry (who had scored almost every film from '' From Russia with Love'' onwards) was not available at the time as he was undergoing throat surgery after suffering a rupture of the esophagus in 1988, the soundtrack's more upbeat and suspenseful score was composed and conducted by Michael Kamen. Initially

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

and Vic Flick were asked to write and perform the theme song to '' Licence to Kill''. The theme was said to have been a new version based on the " James Bond Theme". The guitar riff heard in the original recording of the theme was played by Flick. A track purporting to be the unused Clapton/Flick theme was uploaded to the music sharing website SoundCloud in January 2022 and was later confirmed to be genuine. The prospect, however, fell apart and Gladys Knight's song and performance was chosen, later becoming a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom. The song was composed by

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jazz ...

, Jeffrey Cohen and Walter Afanasieff, based on the "horn line" from '' Goldfinger'', which required royalty payments to the original writers. At 5 minutes 13 seconds it is the longest Bond theme, though 45 single releases featured a shorter edit, running 4 minutes 11 seconds. The version used in the movie itself was edited to 2 minutes 53 seconds. Uniquely, the credits for the song (writers and performer) are not included in the opening titles. The music video of " Licence to Kill" was directed by

Daniel Kleinman Daniel Kleinman (born 23 December 1955) is a British television commercial and music video director who has designed every title sequence for the ''James Bond'' series of films since ''GoldenEye'' (1995), with the exception of '' Quantum of ...

, who later took over the reins of title designer from

Maurice Binder Maurice Binder (December 4, 1918 – April 9, 1991) was an American film title designer best known for his work on 16 James Bond films including the first, '' Dr. No'' (1962) and for Stanley Donen's films from 1958. Early work He was born in Ne ...

for the

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Bond film, '' GoldenEye''. All the instrumental tracks are amalgams of various sequences and musical cues from the film rather than straight score excerpts. The end credits of the film feature the song "

If You Asked Me To "If You Asked Me To" is a song written by American songwriter Diane Warren. It was originally recorded by American singer Patti LaBelle for her ninth studio album ''Be Yourself (Patti LaBelle album), Be Yourself'' (1989), and also for the soundtra ...

" sung by

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

. Though the song was a top ten R&B charter and a minor pop hit for LaBelle, in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, the song was covered by and became a much bigger hit for singer Céline Dion. The track "Wedding Party", used during the wedding of Felix Leiter to Della Churchill, makes reference to the track "Jump Up" from the first Bond film, '' Dr. No''.

Track listing

# " Licence to Kill" – Gladys Knight # "Wedding Party" – Ivory # "Dirty Love" –

Tim Feehan Tim Feehan (born April 27, 1957 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, mix master and Los Angeles area studio owner. Career Tim Feehan graduated from the University of Alberta in 1980 and began his recording/songwriting ...

# "Pam" # "

" –

# "James & Felix on Their Way to Church"contains the James Bond Theme, originally composed for the ''Dr. No'' soundtrack # "His Funny Valentine" # "Sanchez Is in the Bahamas/Shark Fishing" # "Ninja" # "Licence Revoked"contains the James Bond Theme, originally composed for the ''Dr. No'' soundtrack

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Licence To Kill (Soundtrack) Soundtrack albums from James Bond films Soundtrack 1989 soundtrack albums MCA Records soundtracks Michael Kamen albums

Track listing

See also

References