Spy-Fi "The Thigh Who Loved Me" Vol 1 - 2003

A trivia question – Do you know who played the first “air guitar,” the first dreamer to stand by a radio or record player imitating some long past inspiration? Answer – Curiously, according to Kevin Bochynski, a play by Mark Twain, “Is He Dead?” included a character named “Chicago” who is adept at playing imaginary instruments, one of which was the guitar. Possibly, it was a 19th-century writer (who also tried his hand at six-strings) who invented the concept of “air guitar” long before the advent of rock ‘n roll...

...Of course, Sam Clemens has nothing to do with spies. But guitar sounds certainly do. In the ‘60s, electrified strings helped shape the spy music genre from the 1961 British hit, “FBI” to the 1966 chart-topper, “Secret Agent Man” with the now-standard guitar hook created by American hitmakers, P.F. Sloane and Steve Barri.
In 1967, guitars distinguished the themes to the film Our Man Flint and the follow-up to Secret Agent in Ron Grainer’s classic title music for television’s The Prisoner. Bass lines helped introduce the title melodies for I Spy, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and The Wild Wild West.
Much had changed since the first appearance of Sean Connery in that casino. In Goldfinger, Bond complained that the Beatles were best heard while wearing earmuffs. In Roger Moore’s debut in Live and Let Die, a Beatle, Paul McCartney, and a Beatle-producer, George Martin, gave 007 the musical bed, as it were, that made it clear popular music had much to do with the excitement, cultural impact, and merchandising of the world’s most famous secret agents… (to be continued…)

trax:
01 James Bond Theme / Goldfinger 02 Secret Agent Man 03 Penetration 04 Town w/o Pitty 05 Neptune 06 Dick Tracy 07 Pursuasion 08 Ried's Situation 09 Mother's Worry 10 Batman Theme 11 Experiment in Terror 12 Man from U.N.C.L.E. 13 Telstar