If you are convinced your real calling in life is to be a suave, sophisticated secret agent-but find your opportunities in that direction are pretty much limited to walking into the 7-Eleven and requesting a Slurpee shaken, not stirred-you might want to seek out ”The Best of James Bond.”
The 31-track double-CD from EMI Records won`t have much effect on your day-to-day existence. But it might facilitate some fine daydreaming involving you and S.P.E.C.T.R.E. One CD in the set holds selections from James Bond movies, including Sheena Easton`s ”For Your Eyes Only,” Duran Duran`s ”A View to a Kill” and Shirley Bassey`s ”Goldfinger.”
The other disc presents rarities such as Anthony Newley`s alternate version of ”Goldfinger” and radio commercials for ”Thunderball” (”Look up! Look down! Look out! Here comes the biggest Bond of all”) and ”Live and Let Die” (”It`s a matter of life. It`s a matter of death. It`s a matter of a beautiful Italian spy, seven killers, a voodoo witch doctor, a living corpse, a gorgeous double agent …).”
A 28-page booklet accompanying the set offers extensive notes on the Bond movies and music.
Other recent releases:
Syd Barrett, ”Octopus: The Best of” (Cleopatra)-Fourteen tracks drawn from Barrett`s two 1970 albums, ”The Madcap Laughs” and ”Barrett,” and from the 1988 demos-and-outtakes compilation ”Opel.”
Aretha Franklin, ”Sparkle” (Rhino/Atlantic & Atco Remasters)-Now that you`ve heard En Vogue`s recent versions of ”Giving Him Something He Can Feel” and ”Hooked on Your Love,” here`s a chance to listen to the earlier Aretha Franklin recordings of those Curtis Mayfield-penned songs. Both are part of this CD reissue of soundtrack material from ”Sparkle,” a 1976 film about a female vocal group. Six other soul-drenched Franklin-Mayfield collaborations here include the R&B-pop hits ”Jump” and ”Look Into Your Heart.”
Jan & Dean, ”Ride the Wild Surf/The Little Old Lady From Pasadena”
(EMI)-Surf music, car songs and echoes of a long-gone California sound. Besides the title tracks, this pairing of two 1964 albums includes ”Sidewalk Surfin` ” and ”The Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review and Timing Association.” Almost 30 years down the road, there`s an empty-tank hollowness to more than one of these numbers, but a few still breeze along on bright melodies and sunny spirits.
Kraftwerk, ”The Model” (Cleopatra)-This compilation`s title might be taken from a Kraftwerk song of the same name that`s included, but it could also allude to the stylistic signposts erected for later techno-pop and Goth acts by Kraftwerk`s core duo of synth-music pioneers, Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider. The 11 songs here are pulled from three 1970s Kraftwerk albums.
