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The Man with the Golden Gun
Soundtrack by John Barry
Released	1974
Recorded	1974
Length	42:17
Label	EMI
Producer	Frank Collura (Reissue)
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
John Barry chronology
The Dove (1974) The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) King Kong (1976) James Bond soundtrack chronology Live and Let Die (1973) The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) Alternate cover Re-release cover

The Man with the Golden Gun is the soundtrack for the 9th James Bond film of the same name.

The theme tune was performed by Lulu, composed by John Barry, and the lyrics to the song were written by Don Black. Alice Cooper claims his song The Man With The Golden Gun was to be used by the producers of the film until it was dropped for Lulu's song instead. Cooper's song appears on his album Muscle of Love.

Composer John Barry considered the theme tune and score to be among the weakest of his contributions to the series: "It's the one I hate most... it just never happened for me." ^[1] Certainly the title song is notable for having especially suggestive lyrics, and during a TV celebration for the 40th anniversary of the series, Lulu's performance was introduced with reference to its being the raunchiest of all Bond songs. For the first time, the song's end theme is not a straight reprise of the opener, as it begins with different lyrics (subsequent films followed suit with variations in arrangement, ahead of a new practice of using a different song altogether).

The film was also the first to drop the distinctive plucked guitar from the Bond theme heard over the Gun Barrel sequence - in all subsequent John Barry Bond scores, this theme would be heard on strings and trumpet. Not present on the album but heard in the film is a brief reprise, for recognition purposes, of the Live and Let Die theme when a character (Sheriff JW Pepper) from the previous film reappears. The next three Bond films would wittily feature excerpts from the familiar music of other films, too (though classics rather than Bond films), while On Her  Majesty's Secret Service had included a janitor character whistling the theme from Goldfinger as an in-joke.

The popular song "Mindfields" by The Prodigy (released on The Fat of the Land) features a specific part of 'Hip's Trip'. Barry gave the band permission to do so.

Track listing

1. "The Man with the Golden Gun (Main Title)" – Lulu
2. "Scaramanga's Fun House"
3. "Chew Me in Grisly Land"
4. "The Man with the Golden Gun (Jazz Instrumental)"
5. "Getting the Bullet"
6. "Goodnight Goodnight"
7. "Let's Go Get 'Em"
8. "Hip's Trip"
9. "Kung Fu Fight"
10. "In Search of Scaramanga's Island"
11. "Return to Scaramanga's Fun House"
12. "The Man with the Golden Gun (End Title)" – Lulu

References