Spy-Fi "Black Tie Spy" 2008

...I asked if he thought the Bond musical style came together on From Russia with Love, one of the best soundtracks of the series. “I think the definitive ‘Bond’ sound started with Goldfinger, that is, apart from the original Bond Theme,“ he said. “Dr. No was such a rush job at the finish, no one had much thought to the future. But [producer Albert] Broccoli must have been thinking of a series because he wanted a strong theme and not the weak, bongo type music of Monty Norman.“ Was it the movement away from the island sounds you would hear on your family vacation?..

...What made this 007 music so memorable? “There was a certain 60s sound,” Vic believes, “mainly obtained from the equipment used and the rawness of the music. The Bond theme had an energy that was a kinda one time thing that happened in the Studio – coupled with the ‘romance/excitement/get away from it all’ of the Fleming novels and their film treatment.”
In later years, Vic’s work appeared in The Prisoner, The Return of the Pink Panther, “and others I mention in my ‘memoirs!’” (For which Vic is currently seeking a publisher.) Regarding The Prisoner, Vic recalls, “I got a call for a session at a film sound stage and it turned out to be music, including the theme, for The Prisoner. There were a couple more dates but can’t remember details.“
Gratefully, Flick has kept the 007 musical legacy alive, most recently in his 2000 James Bond Now CD on his own VF Records. On it, he plays instrumental versions of Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever. Bond fans will appreciate his versions of tunes he didn’t participate in for the original Roger Moore soundtracks including Live and Let Die, “Nobody Does It Better,“ and For Your Eyes Only. And, of course, he updates the opening strains of the James Bond theme. In addition, he adds his own spy-oriented compositions such as the “Shaken Not Stirred“ jam.
One contemporary group Vic praises for also keeping the flame alive is Thomas Pervanje’s Spy-Fi. Founded in August of 1996 in Akron, Ohio, Spy-Fi has been performing surf, spy, and detective music at venues throughout Ohio and Los Angeles. Thanks to the Internet, they have fan clubs as far away as Belgium and Siberia. According to Vic Flick, “Spy-Fi plays those great songs from the ‘60s and ‘70s quite well. It all comes out like it’s supposed to be, spy music that is so atmospheric, so evocative.“
Reaching back to ‘60s surf band sounds like the pivotal Ventures, Spy-Fi CDs are indeed both faithful to the spirit of their inspirations and novel in their approaches in updatings of old melodies. I asked Thomas Pervanje what made the music of the Bond films so inspirational to him. “Bond is the perfect male romance novel,“ he replied. “Hey, he gets all the girls, blows stuff up, has cool toys, kills the bad guy and saves the world all in 90 minutes! What a concept! How could you not like this guy? And every time he’s introduced to the screen, this damn cool music is on that takes all of the great feelings of that world of crime jazz and elevates it to a new level. It became spy music. It had guitars, and it was powerful. It was an aural cattle brand on your brain. You never forgot it. It was world wide. It was the Coca-Cola of music. It didn’t matter what language you spoke; it tasted good and you wanted more.“.. (to be continued…)

trax:
01 Black Tie Spy 02 Perry Mason 03 Spies in Space 04 So What's Up_ 05 Then Play Down 06 Bass Case 07 Fast Indian 08 Rumble 09 Two Miles 10 Memory Burn 11 Anitra's Dance 12 Apache 13 Eldorado 14 Illya's Theme 15 Then Play Down II 16 To J.B 17 La Tavola Da Surf 18 Soul Booker 19 Wave 20 Sunset Beach