"Goldfinger" is the title song from the 1964

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

film of the same name. Composed by John Barry and with lyrics by

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films '' D ...

and

Anthony Newley Anthony Newley (24 September 1931 – 14 April 1999) was an English actor, director, comedian, singer, and composer. A "latter-day British Al Jolson", he achieved widespread success in song, and on stage and screen. "One of Broadway's greatest ...

, the song was performed by

Shirley Bassey Dame Shirley Veronica Bassey (; born 8 January 1937) is a Welsh singer. Known for her career longevity, powerful voice and recording the James Bond music, theme songs to three James Bond films - the only artist to officially perform more than o ...

for the film's opening and closing title sequences, as well as the soundtrack album release. The single release of the song gave Bassey her only ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top forty hit, peaking in the Top 10 at No. 8 and No. 2 for four weeks on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart, and in the United Kingdom the single reached No. 21 on the UK Singles Chart. The song finished at No. 53 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In 2008, the single was inducted into the

Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...

Background

One source of inspiration was the song "

Mack the Knife "Mack the Knife" or "The Ballad of Mack the Knife" () is a song composed by Kurt Weill with lyrics by Bertolt Brecht for their 1928 music drama ''The Threepenny Opera'' (). The song tells of a knife-wielding criminal of the London underworld n ...

", which '' Goldfinger'' director

Guy Hamilton Mervyn Ian Guy Hamilton (16 September 1922 – 20 April 2016) was an English film director. He directed 22 films from the 1950s to the 1980s, including four James Bond films. Early life Hamilton was born in Paris on 16 September 1922, son of ...

showed composer John Barry, thinking it was a "gritty and rough" song that could be a good model for what the film required. Lyricists

and

were not shown any film footage or script excerpts, but were advised of the fatal gilding suffered by the Jill Masterson character, played by Shirley Eaton. Bricusse later recalled that once he and Newley hit upon utilizing "the

Midas Midas (; ) was a king of Phrygia with whom many myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. His father was Gordias, and his mother was Cybele. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek m ...

touch" in the lyric, the pattern of the song became evident and the lyrics were completed within a couple of days at most. The first recording of "Goldfinger" was made by Newley on 14 May 1964, with Barry as conductor, which produced two completed takes. Barry recalled that Newley gave a "very creepy" performance which he (Barry) considered "terrific". Newley's recording, however, was made purely as a demo for the film's makers. According to Barry, Newley "didn't want to sing it in the movie as they ewley and Bricussethought the song was a bit weird".

was Barry's choice to record the song. He had been the conductor on Bassey's national tour in December 1963 and the two had also been romantically involved. Barry had played Bassey an instrumental track of the song before its lyrics were written. The singer recalled that hearing the track had given her "goose bumps". She agreed to sing the song whatever the lyrics might eventually be. Bassey recorded the track on 20 August 1964 at London's CTS Studios in

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

. The producer credit named Bassey's regular producer

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beatle ...

, but the session was, in fact, overseen by Barry. Vic Flick,

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

and

Big Jim Sullivan James George Tomkins (14 February 1941 – 2 October 2012), known professionally as Big Jim Sullivan, was an English guitarist. Best known as a session guitarist, he was one of the most in-demand studio musicians in the UK in the 1960s ...

are all said to have been at the sessions. Page recalls attending the sessions, but session musicians on the

films were separately relegated to the instrumental score versions of songs, while the main musicians (on ''Goldfinger'': Vic Flick) were given the main theme song to solely record, to be featured at the beginning of the film, leaving Page as a background acoustic contributor to Flick on the instrumental version of the song. The recording of "Goldfinger" lasted all night because Barry demanded repeated takes, not due to any shortcomings in Bassey's vocal, but musical or technical glitches. Initially, Bassey had problems with the climactic final note, which necessitated her slipping behind a studio partition between takes to remove her bra. Bassey said of the final note: "I was holding it and holding it – I was looking at John Barry and I was going blue in the face and he's going – hold it just one more second. When it finished, I nearly passed out." The iconic two-note phrase which is the basis for the song's introduction was not in the original orchestration, but occurred to Barry during a tea-break, following an hour and a half of rehearsal. By the time the musicians returned, twenty minutes later, he had written the figure into the orchestration. The single was released in mono, with the album stereo version (on the film soundtrack, ''Golden Hits Of Shirley Bassey'' and subsequent releases) using an alternate mix, in which the instrumentals are the same, but Bassey's vocal is different, being a shade less intense and having a shorter final note. Newley's version was released in 1992 to mark the 30th anniversary of James Bond on film, in a compilation collector's edition, '' The Best of Bond... James Bond''. Bassey's title theme was almost taken out of the film because producer Harry Saltzman hated it, saying, "That's the worst *** song I've ever heard in my *** life". Saltzman also disliked Bassey's subsequent Bond theme for '' Diamonds Are Forever''. However, there was not enough time for a replacement song to be written and recorded.

Release

The release on vinyl of Bassey's (mono) version, UA 790, sold more than a million copies in the United States (

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

), and it also reached No. 1 in Japan, No. 4 in Australia, and the Top 10 of many European countries including Austria (No. 7), Belgium (No. 9 on the Dutch charts), Germany (No. 8), Italy (No. 3), the Netherlands (No. 5), and Norway (No. 7). A No. 24 hit in France, Bassey's "Goldfinger" was not one of Bassey's biggest hits in her native UK, its No. 21 peak on the UK Singles Chart being far lower than that of the nine Top 10 hits she'd previously scored, but despite Bassey subsequently returning to the UK Top 10 three more times, "Goldfinger" would ultimately become her signature song in the UK as well as the rest of the world. In 2002 poll in which

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

solicited listeners' favourite piece of

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

from the last fifty years performed by a British act, "Goldfinger" by Shirley Bassey ranked at No. 46.

Other versions and adaptations

Re-recordings

Bassey re-recorded "Goldfinger" for her 2014 album '' Hello Like Before''. In doing so she addressed two notes that she thought "sounded wrong" in the original.

Recorded covers

*In 1964, Billy Strange recorded a version for his album ''The James Bond Theme / Walk Don't Run '64'', which even charted along with Bassey's original. *In 1965, John Barry and His Orchestra hit #72 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 with the instrumental title song from the movie. *In 1965, The Honeycombs did an instrumental cover of the song on their Japanese tour which also appeared on their album ''In Tokyo'' which was released in Japan only. *In 1965,

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

did an instrumental version of the song on his album '' Basie Meets Bond''. *In 1965, Jimmy Smith did an instrumental

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

organ version of the song on his album ''

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'', released on the

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

label. The recording included a full big band arrangement by

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

. It was also released as a two-sided single that same year as "Goldfinger (Part I)" and Goldfinger (Part II)". *In 1965,

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

did an instrumental version of the song on his album ''Señor 007''. *In 1965,

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

did an instrumental version of the song on his album '' Early Hits of 1965''. *In 1965, Enoch Light and The Light Brigade did an instrumental version of the song on the album ''Discoteque Vol. 2: Dance, Dance, Dance.'' *In 1965,

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band to great commercial success from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947, but ...

recorded a version on the album ''Harry James Plays Green Onions & Other Great Hits''. ( Dot DLP 3634 and DLP 25634). *In 1967, Eino Grön recorded the Finnish rendering "Hän Vaatii" ("He Required") for his self-titled album. *In 1967, Mantovani recorded an orchestral version on the album ''Mantovani/Hollywood''. *In 1978, the song was covered by

Howard Devoto Howard Devoto (born Howard Andrew Trafford, 15 March 1952) is an English singer and songwriter, who began his career as the frontman for punk rock band Buzzcocks, but then left to form Magazine, an early post-punk band. After Magazine, he went ...

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band

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, as the B-side to their single "Touch and Go", with both songs later being added to the 2007 reissue of their 1978 album ''

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the Character (arts), characters they portray. It has become a ...

''. *In 1996, Man or Astroman? did an instrumental version of the song on the various-artists compilation ''Secret Agent S.O.U.N.D.S.''. *In 1998, Sexmob recorded an instrumental jazz version of the song on their album ''Din of Inequity''. *In 2000, Hank Marvin did an instrumental version of the song on his album ''Marvin at the Movies''. *In 2006, it was covered in a heavy metal fashion by Finnish rock group Leningrad Cowboys on their album '' Zombies Paradise''. *In 2008, Canadian author

Mark Steyn Mark Steyn () is a Canadian author and a radio, television, and on-line presenter. He has written several books, including The New York Times Best Seller list, ''The New York Times'' bestsellers ''America Alone'', ''After America (Steyn book), A ...

released "Goldfinger" on an album of the same name. *In 2012, for the James Bond video game '' 007 Legends'', an instrumental version was written and composed by

David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is an English film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films (1997-2008), as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), ''Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998), '' Shaft'' (2000), '' 2 Fast 2 F ...

for the main title sequence, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the film franchise. *In 2016, Finnish singer, and former

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neval ...

vocalist

Tarja Turunen Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli (born 17 August 1977), known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish Heavy metal music, heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish. Turunen studied lyrical ...

released a cover of the song on her album '' The Brightest Void'' *In 2017, guitarist Bill Frisell and bassist Thomas Morgan made a live recording of the song which was released on their album ''

Small Town "Small Town" is a 1985 song written by John Mellencamp and released on his eighth album ''Scarecrow (John Mellencamp album), Scarecrow''. The song reached #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and #13 on the Adult Contempo ...

'' for ECM. *In 2017, "Goldfinger" was covered on Bob Kulick's solo album ''Skeletons in the Closet''.

Live and televised performances

*In 1965,

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

performed the song on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' *In 1980, Shirley Bassey performed the song on ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...

''. *In 1997,

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1976. The band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer ...

covered the song (without vocals) in concert at The Fillmore, and it is featured on their 2009 career-spanning live set, '' The Live Anthology''. *In 2002, Shirley Bassey sang the song at the British pop/rock music concert Party at the Palace in commemoration of the

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

held over the Golden Jubilee Weekend. *In 2011,

Céline Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the " Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had a significant impact on popular musi ...

included the song as part of a "James Bond Medley" in her

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

show '' Celine''. *In 2013, Shirley Bassey sang the song at the

85th Academy Awards The 85th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2012 and took place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 p ...

in tribute to the 50 years of James Bond films.

Soundtrack appearances

*In 1998, the song was to feature prominently in the film '' Little Voice'', appearing in much the manner of its first use – but with Ray Say (

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, 14 March 1933) is a retired English actor. Known for his distinct Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films over Michael Caine filmography, a career that spanned eight decades an ...

) slamming the door that becomes the song's first chord blast, rather than, of course,

actor

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

. *In 1999, in the sixth season "Shutout in Seattle" episode of US sitcom ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey (screenwriter), Peter Casey, and David Lee (scr ...

'', the song is featured in the final scene, with Frasier Crane (

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...

), Niles Crane (

David Hyde Pierce David Hyde Pierce (born David Pierce; April 3, 1959) is an American actor. Known for his portrayal of psychiatrist Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Frasier'' from 1993 to 2004, he received four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting A ...

) and Martin Crane ( John Mahoney) singing along to a piano accompaniment. *The song is performed onscreen by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings at Jordan Belfort (

Leonardo DiCaprio Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; ; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. Known for Leonardo DiCaprio filmography, his work in biographical and period films, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received ...

) and Naomi Lapaglia ( Margot Robbie)'s wedding in the 2013 film '' The Wolf of Wall Street''.

Remixes and samples

*In 1999, the Mantovani version of the song was sampled by

Smash Mouth Smash Mouth is an American Rock music, rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994 and was originally composed of Steve Harwell (lead vocals), Kevin Coleman (drums), Greg Camp (guitar), and Paul De Lisle (bass). Harwell's ...

for their song " Then the Morning Comes", from the album ''Astro Lounge''. *In 2000, the song was remixed by Propellerheads for '' The Remix Album...Diamonds Are Forever''. *In 2007, it was interpolated by

reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

artist Tego Calderón on his song "Alegría", off of his album '' El Abayarde Contraataca''.

Parodies

Parodies of the song include " Dr. Evil", written and performed by

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

for the 1999 film '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'', and "Max Power", from ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'' season 10 episode " Homer to the Max". ''The'' ''Simpsons'' 8th season episode " You Only Move Twice" features a Bond-like villain in Hank Scorpio (

Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein; July 22, 1947) is an American actor, director and screenwriter. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1987 comedy-drama film '' Broadcast News' ...

), with an end credits song about him in the style of "Goldfinger". A season 3 episode of the animated show ''

ReBoot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

'' also featured a Bassey-style intro song and credits titled "Firewall".

Inspired songs

In 1989, after the release of

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...

's James Bond theme song "

Licence to Kill ''Licence to Kill'' is a 1989 spy film, the sixteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the second and final film to star Timothy Dalton as the MI6 agent James Bond (literary character), J ...

", from the film of the same title, it was felt to significantly reuse important elements of "Goldfinger", and so the songwriting credits for the former were adapted for all subsequent releases.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldfinger 1964 singles 1964 songs Shirley Bassey songs Capitol Records singles Columbia Graphophone Company singles

Song A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usu ...

Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs about fictional male characters Songs from James Bond films Songs with music by John Barry (composer) Songs written by Anthony Newley Songs written by Leslie Bricusse United Artists Records singles