Three Bond Themes Inducted Into The Grammy Hall of Fame

Written by Greg Bechtloff

Three James Bond film songs today were announced as new inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

They are:

“The James Bond Theme”
The John Barry Seven & Orchestra
United Artists Single (1962)

“Goldfinger”
Shirley Bassey
United Artists Single (1964)

And

“The Look of Love”
Dusty Springfield
RCA Single (1967)

Other artists with selections announced today include Fred Astaire, Pink Floyd, Etta James, Billy Joel, The Police, Frank Sinatra, Sister Sledge, Barbara Streisand and Willie Nelson.

More significantly though, this is the first time that any music from the James Bond films has been inducted.

Created in 1973, the Grammy Hall of Fame’s mission is to “honor recordings of lasting significance.” Today’s additions bring the Hall of Fame up to nearly 800 titles.

One of the sub-textual meanings of the Grammy Hall of Fame has been to acknowledge that over the years, the Grammy Awards themselves may have missed the mark in the year that the awards were given out.

This was particularly true of the 1960’s and 1970’s when important and lasting artists such as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin and others were passed over in favor of “safer” music.

While cynics may say that this is a belated “make-it-up-to-you” honor, it needs to be said that new inductees must be screened by a special committee of experts and historians drawn from all branches of the recording arts – think jaded rock critics.

These experts deemed that these three Bond titles are worthy additions to the Hall of Fame. On that we should be thankful.