Fifty Years of Bond
James Bond’s 50th Anniversary 007 Gallery
Why Men Bond with the 007 Theme
By MARC MYERS via Wall Stret Journal, Photos: Everett Collection
Maybe it's the stealthy bass line. Or the
machine-gun guitar solo. Or the swaggering wail of the horns. Or maybe
it's all three shaken together. Whatever the reasons (and there are
many), the "James Bond Theme" still has a way of making guys feel, well,
more guy-ly.
Fifty years after appearing in "Dr. No"—the first James Bond film,
which had its premiere in London on Oct. 5, 1962—the jaunty theme is
back with a vengeance. At the Olympics' opening ceremony, the theme
played as Britain's "queen" parachuted from a helicopter. On Oct. 5, Vic
Flick, the theme's original guitarist, will perform his signature solo
during "The Music of James Bond: The First 50 Years" at the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. And it will be laced throughout the
latest Bond film, "Skyfall," opening on Nov. 9.