Billy Joel Covers "Live and Let Die" on New McCartney Tribute

Surely "Live and Let Die" must be the most covered James Bond song ever? Guns'n'Roses probably did it most famously, but the Paul McCartney and Wings tune (probably my own favorite Bond song) has also been covered over the years by Chrissie Hynde, Ginger Spice and Duffy to name just a few. For me, however, the version to beat remains this crazy cover by Brazilian Band Pato Fu performed on children's instruments. This fall, Billy Joel will throw his hat into the ring in a high-profile way when he covers the song (along with "Maybe I'm Amazed") on the forthcoming all-star Paul McCartney tribute album The Art of McCartney. Other artists in the line-up include Hynde (performing "Let It Be"), Bob Dylan (performing "Things We Said Today"), Willie Nelson (performing "Yesterday"), Jeff Lynne, Brian Wilson, Roger Daltrey and Yusuf (aka Cat Stevens). No more Bond songs though, obviously. Still, it sounds like a pretty cool album!

Read more about the sometimes surprising connections between The Beatles and James Bond over the years in my post "The Beatles vs. James Bond (or Blond)."

Archer Flies Into the Danger Zone

I suppose it was in some way inevitable, yet I never saw it coming. Those magnificent bastards at the brilliant FX animated spy comedy Archer have created this Archerized version of Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" video from the Top Gun soundtrack. And, of course, it is awesome. This was made for the Archer presentation at the New York Comic Con this weekend, but FX were kind enough to share it with the world to help tide us over until January, when Archer returns with a new season.

Watch a Russian Army Choir Cover Adele's "Skyfall" Tune

This has to be seen to be believed! MI6 (the James Bond fansite, not the spy agency) discovered this astounding video from a recent St. Petersburg morning show of a male Russian army choir performing the theme from Skyfall. Wearing the same sorts of uniforms that they wear to exchange gunfire with 007 in Octopussy and The Living Daylights and GoldenEye no less. Who could have imagined such a bizarre sight as a Russian military choir covering a James Bond theme song thirty years ago? It's not merely notable for its bizarreness, though; they actually do quite a good job! (Though I think that crazy Brazilian cover of "Live and Let Die" performed on toy instruments is still my favorite strange Bond song cover video.)

Crazy Brazilian "Live and Let Die" Cover With Toy Instruments

Crazy Brazilian "Live And Let Die" Cover With Toy Instruments

I heard a story today on Public Radio's The World about a popular Brazilian band called Pato Fu who have recorded a very unusual - and very cool - cover of Paul McCartney and Wings' 1973 James Bond theme song "Live and Let Die." The cover involves vocal contributions from children (wailing the title line) and a number of unusual instruments.  The broadcast describes them thusly: "A toy piano, tiny drum kit, a baby-scale electric guitar, a plastic synth-keyboard with two octaves."  And they don't even mention the child's moo noise toy! "It’s part of a music video genre loosely known as VideoSong. The rules for videosongs can be summed up as what you hear is what you get: the sounds must be seen in the video, no lip-syncing allowed." It's probably best just to take a look yourself.  This is really pretty cool!  You can listen to the whole story on The World's website (although I'd recommend watching the video first), as well as read the transcript and download an MP3 of the song.

Tom Petty's Version Of "Goldfinger" Sees Official Release

According to an official announcement on TomPetty.com, the new Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Live Anthology, a four-disc set (or five-disc in a deluxe configuration) will include a number of covers the band has performed live over the years, including their legendary late nineties rendition of the theme song from Goldfinger! I believe this comes from the Heartbreakers' multi-week stint at the Filmore in San Francisco. As a huge Petty fan, I remember reading about this in setlists at the time and being blown away by the notion of their rendition of the classic Bond song. It's circulated as a bootleg over the years, but this will be its first official release. Sadly, I think it's an instrumental. Not that a surf-rock instrumental version by one of the tightest rock'n'roll bands in the world is a bad thing, but it would have been cool to hear Petty's vocal take. Either way, I eagerly await this release. It has to be one of the most unexpected Bond song covers out there!

James Bond Covers On New CD

Hollywood, Mon Amour, a CD compilation of covers of songs from 80s movies, came out last month, but I only just became aware of it this past weekend when Los Angeles radio station KCRW played a cover of Duran Duran's "A View To A Kill" by Morcheeba's Skye. Further investigation reveals that the album also includes a take on Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only" by a group or artist called Dea Li (whom I've never heard of). The album is produced by Marc Collin, who also produces Nouvelle Vague. Nouvelle Vague is known for putting a new spin on 80s staples, and they do a great job with it. Other songs on Hollywood, Mon Amour include Top Gun's "Take My Breath Away" as performed by Inga, Leelou's take on "Don't You Forget About Me" from The Breakfast Club and new versions of classic David Bowie movie songs "Cat People" (Dea Li again) and "This Is Not America" (Juliette Lewis). Last month also saw the release of Duffy's intriguing cover of "Live And Let Die" on the compilation War Child Presents Heroes.

Listen To Duffy's "Live And Let Die" Cover Now

Listen To Duffy's "Live And Let Die" Cover Now

You can now preview the charity covers album War Child: Heroes on MySpace... the album that features Welsh singer Duffy covering the James Bond song "Live And Let Die" by Paul McCartney and Wings. As reported last fall on the Double O Section, the War Child: Heroes project involved esteemed musicians picking younger artists they like to cover songs of their choosing. Sir Paul selected Duffy, who was widely speculated to be a contender for the Quantum of Solace theme song once Amy Winehouse fell through. I'm not sure her "Live And Let Die" rendition gives us a proper hint of what an original Duffy Bond theme would sound like, though, because it's a pretty radical reimagining of the song... and all the better for it. The slowed down soul version is certainly a far cry from the Wings original or the familiar Guns'n'Roses cover, but that's what makes it interesting. I think I like it. It's certainly got Mel B's version beat, at any rate! Listen to Duffy's cover of "Live And Let Die" on MySpace now.

The album comes out on February 16 in the UK and February 24 in America.