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In addition to the more familiar James Bond tune, there was also a piece of music that was played numerous times throughout the early movies then abruptly stopped. Anyone know why?

The music is played during the Gypsy fight scene in From Russia with Love and at the end of Diamonds are Forever.

Additionally can anyone remember when the last time they heard it in a film?

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    Its by John Barry (the original Bond composer) and Lional Bart and seems to be called 007 (youtu.be/Pk56ymkkY4Y?t=77)
    – iandotkelly ♦
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 17:57
  • Always bothers me when people credit John Barry as the Bond theme composer. He wasn't, he was the arranger, Monty Norman was the composer. Barry took over afterwards, so a lot of the cues are his, but the original famous 'surf guitar' theme isn't.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 18:17
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    Yep, thats the music Iandotkelly. Thanks. Just now need to find out why it fell out of favour.
    – MiscellaneousUser
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 18:24
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    Wikipedia actually lists the movies it was used in - 5 in all, all Barry scores. No other composer used it & even Barry himself didn't re-use it after Moonraker - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond_music#"007_Theme"
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 18:28
  • If anyone wants to work up an answer out of that, go ahead. I won't be able to dedicate time on it until Monday, & I don't need the points… so go for it! ;)
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Feb 15, 2020 at 18:31

1 Answer 1

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The song you're talking about is the 007 Theme.

I couldn't find an explicit answer but I would say it has to do with John Glen taking over as director. He changed the direction of Bond movies away from a upbeat camp action style (like the old Batman series) towards a more serious drama. The comedy factor which this track embodied was dialed down. As part of that change, Bill Conti was brought in as composer and the 007 theme was out.

As for it's last use in film this is from the Wikipedia page:

"007 Theme", not to be confused with the "James Bond Theme", is an adventure theme composed by John Barry in 1963 for the Bond film, From Russia with Love.......

It became a secondary theme for the Bond films, being used throughout the series, primarily during action scenes. Here are its most notable appearances:

  • From Russia with Love — Played during the gypsy camp gunfight and also during Bond's theft of the Lektor decoder from the Russian embassy in Istanbul.
  • Thunderball — Featured briefly in a climactic underwater fight and featuring on the film soundtrack album; a similar but different theme of seven beats is played when Bond runs from SPECTRE during a parade and during the climax.
  • You Only Live Twice — Played during the flight of "Little Nellie" before Bond battles four helicopters that attack him.
  • Diamonds Are Forever — Played during Bond's destruction of Blofeld's Headquarters.
  • Moonraker — Played during the Amazon River chase.

The theme has not been featured in its entirety in a Bond film since its use in Moonraker.

If you're looking for it on Spotify, it's called

007 by John Barry (The Music of John Barry).

And the final time it was featured in a Bond movie, Moonraker it was called

Bond Arrives in Rio and Boat Chase by John Barry (Moonraker).

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    We already know what theme it is, though. What about the actual question of why it has fallen out of use?
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Feb 17, 2020 at 2:31
  • This would not be an issue if the OP was constrained to a single query.
    – Jason P Sallinger
    Commented Feb 18, 2020 at 20:29
  • Ok, I've changed the question to a single query to close it.
    – MiscellaneousUser
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 20:58
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    @MiscellaneousUser Please don't alter questions significantly after the fact. Any incompleteness of the answers isn't the fault of the question, nor does just asking for what the music piece is make for an appropriate question to begin with.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented Feb 20, 2020 at 21:44

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