007 MUSIC EVENT

Event alert: The London Film Museum will be hosting a special event on March 20th featuring BOND composers in conversation. From the press release: Bond in Motion Presents: James Bond Lyricist Don Black & Composer David Arnold in Conversation with Edith Bowman. Tickets are now on sale for the first in a series of events celebrating the talented specialists behind the James Bond films. Lyricist Don Black and composer David Arnold will be in conversation with broadcaster and writer Edith Bowman on Tuesday 20 March 2018 at the London Film Museum, home to the Bond in Motion exhibition. Bowman will be talking to Black and Arnold about the songwriting process and the inspiration for their songs. Award-winning lyricist, Black has written over a hundred songs for motion pictures including a quintet of James Bond theme songs - Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever, The Man With The Golden Gun, ‘Surrender’ from Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World is Not Enough. A fan of the James Bond film series and its music from an early age, Arnold is best known for scoring Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, Die Another Day, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. A huge movie fan and respected film presenter, broadcaster Edith Bowman has hosted TV and radio shows across all the major networks. She has her own successful podcast, Soundtracking, which explores the relationship between film and music. The evening will commence at 6:30 pm with a Champagne Bollinger reception during which guests may enjoy the Bond in Motion exhibition which features over 100 original items from the long-running film franchise including cars, boats, motorbikes, concept drawings, storyboards, costumes, and model miniatures. The event will finish at 8 pm." More info here. Enjoy!

Selected Spy Vibe Posts: Thunderball Event, Mission to India, Mort Walker Celebration,  Peter Wyngarde Celebration, Batman 66 Exhibit, Prisoner Fifty Event, Ian Fleming Publications 2017-2018, Interview: Ed Hulse Pulp, Avengers Audio Drama, Interview: Callan At 50, Interview: Playboys, Spies, Private Eyes, TWA Returns, Spy Vibe Radio 8, Interview: Ryan Heshka, Mid-Century Modern Schulz, Agent Werewolf, Mata Hair Exhibit, Johnny Sokko 50th, Interview: Trina Robbins, Eddie Izzard, The Prisoner Capt Scarlet 50th, Hugh Hefner R.I.P., Jack Good R.I.P., Interview: Shaken Not Stirred, Callan 50th, Spy Vibe Radio 7, The Prisoner 50th Event, Spy-Fi Event, Kaho Aso 007, Two Million, Bo Diddley, Carnaby Pop, Le Carre Events, Billy Bragg Skiffle, Elvis 68, Jack Kirby The Prisoner, Casino Royale Concert, Review: The Prisoner Vol 2, Interview: The Prisoner Essential Guide, Maud Russell Mottisfont, Spy Vibe Radio 4, Batman Gallants, Adam West R.I.P., Village Triangle, Roger Moore R.I.P., Spy Vibe Radio 3, Sgt Pepper 50th, Satanik Kriminal OST, 60s Overdrive, Make Love in London, Spy Vibe Radio 2, Spy Vibe Radio 1, James Bond Strips, Propaganda Mabuse, Interview: Police Surgeon, XTC Avengers, 1966 Pep Spies, Batman Book Interview, Exclusive Fleming Interview, Avengers Comic Strips, Robert Vaughn RIP, UNCLE Fashions, Thunderbirds Are Pop!, Interview: Spy Film Guide, Lost Avengers Found, The Callan File, Mission Impossible 50th, Green Hornet 50th, Star Trek 50th, Portmeirion Photography 1, Filming the Prisoner, Gaiman McGinnins Project, Ian Fleming Grave, Revolver at 50, Karen Romanko Interview, Mod Tales 2, Umbrella Man: Patrick Macnee, New Beatles Film, The Curious Camera, Esterel Fashion 1966, Exclusive Ian Ogilvy Interview, 007 Tribute Covers, The Phantom Avon novels return, Ian Fleming Festival, Argoman Design, Sylvia Anderson R.I.P., Ken Adam R.I.P., George Martin R.I.P., The New Avengers Comics, The Phantom at 80, 007 Manga, Avengerworld Book, Diana Rigg Auto Show, The Prisoner Audio Drama Review.

THAI BOND DESIGNS

Spy Vibe's sister site, Illustrated 007, shares our great love for foreign editions of James Bond novels. It's endlessly fascinating to see how book designers around the globe have tried to capture Ian Fleming's adventures for their readers. Peter at Illustrated 007 recently posted an assortment of original cover designs from Thailand that are worth checking out. The hardcover edition below of Fleming's short-story collection, For Your Eyes Only, adopted graphics originally made to promote the film, From Russia With Love. I enjoy the way the colors and text/image layout, with overlapping and crude borders, evokes a kind of layering of vintage advertisements on a wall- I can almost feel the humidity of a 1960s night in Bangkok! Also below: Diamonds Are Forever, Dr No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger. Illustrated 007 link here. Here are some related Spy Vibe posts about book designs: Bond Danish, Bond Japanese Editions, Double 007 Designs, Buku Rocket Designs SE Asia, Double 007 Designs II, The 10th Victim: German Edition, Man From UNCLE Japanese Editions, UNCLE & Batman Manga, The 10th Victim Japanese Edition, Rare Ian Fleming found. Enjoy! 

Selected Spy Vibe posts: Brian Clemens RIP, Bond vs Modernism, Imitation Game, New Avengers Books, Road to Hong Kong, Inside Gerry Anderson, Ringo Does Goldfinger, Sixties Beat Wear, SPECTRE Announced, Popular Skullture, New Gerry Anderson Sets, New SECRET AGENT set, Art of Modesty, Avengers Blu-ray update, Tokyo Beat 1964, Polaroid Spy, Modesty Monday, Feraud Mod Fashion, Flint Scores!, Bond Danish, Home Movies, New Richard Sala Book, New 007 Comics, Designing Bond Books, Green Hornet Manga, Margaret Nolan Art, No 6 Festival, Barbarella Returns, 007 Audio Books Return, Designer: Gene Winfield, Avengers Interview: Michael Richardson, Ian Fleming: Wicked Grin, Jane Bond Hong Kong Records, Ryan Heshka Interview, Comics Week: Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Comics Week: Archie, Comics Week: Robots, Comics Week: Cold War Atomic, Comics Week: SPYMAN, Comics Week: Jimmy Olsen, Rare Avengers Scripts, Man From Uncle UK Comics, Mattel X-15, Thunderbirds Comics, Shakespeare Spies: Diana Rigg, Shakespeare Spies I, Rodney Marshall Avengers Interview, Avengers Book: Bowler Hats & Kinky Boots, George Lois Design & Mad Men, Richard Sala: Super-Enigmatix, Danger Diabolik Soundtrack, Cold War Archie, Playboy Bunny Interview, The 10th Victim Japanese and Kindle, U.N.C.L.E. Japanese Books, The 10th Victim German Edition, The Saint books return, Trina Robbins Interview, Catsuits, Batman '66 Green Hornet Interview: Ralph Garman Ty Templeton.

NEW JAMES BOND OMNIBUS

A new James Bond omnibus is scheduled for release on May 21st. Published by Thomas & Mercer, the mystery and thriller imprint of Amazon, the James Bond Collection with include three original Ian Fleming novels: Dr. No, Casino Royale, and Diamonds Are Forever. Amazon has finally released the cover design (below). The jacket does not follow Amazon's modern/abstract motif used for previous Fleming books. Spy Vibers may be reminded of the recent Bond releases in French, which used a similar silhouette and texture concept. Amazon picked up the North American rights to Ian Fleming's books last year and recently released his fiction and non-fiction titles as print and Kindle editions. 

Check Spy Vibe for recent posts about our fiendish villains archive, Orson Welles the Shadow, rare Piero Umiliani Kriminal soundtrack, new Beatles Yellow Submarine game, James Bond audio book re-issues, Mid-Century Modern in Peanuts, Ralph Byrd Dick Tracy, The Saint, Op Art, Thomas Allen pulp art, The Shadow, Operation Kid Brother (MST3K), 1960s espionage writers, my review of SKYFALL, 007 at the Intnl Spy Museum, and more. Spy Vibe is now on Pinterest! Check out our image archives and follow us here.

Ian Fleming on Spy Vibe: recent posts include Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward, Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, new Ian Fleming Catalog, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, James Bond book covers, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, and our Ian Fleming image archive link here.

Want to support Spy Vibe? Please make a small donation with our secure Paypal tip-jar link at the top left of the main page. Nothing is too small to help cover the increasing bills for the domain, web-forwarding and other costs to maintain the site. Thank you!

DOUBLE 007 DESIGN

They say that if you travel far enough, you eventually meet your double. In the world of book design, it turns out that you don't have to travel that far after all! Spy Vibers might enjoy seeing these classic James Bond cover designs for Ian Fleming's Diamonds Are Forever (Great Pan/1958) and For Your Eyes Only (Great Pan/1962). Although the covers are quite familiar to Bond fans, I imagine that few have paired them up alongside their doppelgängers. 

Widow's Pique by Blair Treynor was a murder mystery published in paperback by Perma Books in 1957- apparently one year before the release of Diamonds Are Forever! One might imagine that Perma was sharing the illustration with Pan (a Macmillon imprint), but Perma was an imprint of Doubleday. Was it a case of plagiarism, or did a busy illustrator 'double-dip' to save time? Author Jeremy Duns suggested that this was the work of illustrator James Meese. Original Meese artwork for Widow's Pique below is from a cover archive here. Additionally, Jon Gilbert's Ian Fleming: The Bibliography lists that Diamonds Are Forever was illustrated by Rex Arthur in 1958. 

Likewise, we can see J. Oval's portrait in For Your Eyes Only repeated five years later on the cover of The Devil's Secret, a Johnny Nero adventure published in the Fleetway Super Library series in 1967 [Spy Vibe exposed this pairing in our Fleetway Super Library post here]. Have Spy Vibers uncovered similar design doppelgängers? Let us know!

Ian Fleming on Spy Vibe: recent posts include Ian Fleming Music Series links: Noel Coward,Whispering Jack Smith, Hawaiian Guitar, Joe Fingers Carr, discovery of one of Ian Fleming's WWII Commandos, Ian Fleming's Playboy interview for Kindle, Spy Vibe's discovery of a rare Ian Fleming serialization, Fleming's Royal gold typewriter, Ian Fleming's memorial address, and our Ian Fleming image archive link here.

Check Spy Vibe for recent posts about Operation Kid Brother (MST3K), PG Tips Brooke Bond, 1960s espionage writers, my review of SKYFALL, 007 at the Intnl Spy Museum, Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, and more. 

Want to support Spy Vibe? Please make a small donation with our secure Paypal tip-jar link at the top left of the main page. Nothing is too small to help cover the increasing bills for the domain, web-forwarding and other costs to maintain the site. Thank you!

IAN FLEMING AUDIO SALE

AudioGo UK recently launched a series of exciting Ian Fleming audiobooks read by many top British actors. The first seven 007 novels have been packaged into a box set called The Ian Fleming Classic James Bond Collection Part One. Although the AudioGo Bond set and individual books are not available through US vendors, they are available for order on Amazon UK. The Classic Collection Part One is currently on sale for only 32 pounds! Presumedly the remaining novels will be sold as a collection in the future. But if you can't wait to hear David Tennant or Kenneth Branagh reading James Bond, you can pick up their titles cheaply, as well. Read about the series and hear samples at AudioGo UK. 

What's in the Classic Collection Part One? Seven of Ian Fleming’s classic James Bond novels read complete and unabridged by a stellar cast of British actors:



Casino Royale Read by Dan Stevens 007’s mission is to neutralise the Russian operative Le Chiffre by ruining him at the baccarat table, forcing his Soviet masters to ‘retire’ him. 



Live and Let Die Read by Rory Kinnear When 007 goes to Harlem it’s not just for the jazz. This is the kingdom of Mr Big, master of crime, voodoo baron and partner in SMERSH.



Moonraker Read by Bill Nighy The Moonraker project has a millionaire backer, the war hero Sir Hugo Drax – a man who, it seems, cheats at cards...



Diamonds are Forever Read by Damian Lewis Diamonds are being smuggled on a formidable scale from Africa to America via Britain. 007’s assignment is to break the smuggling ring.



From Russia with Love Read by Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) James Bond is targeted for elimination by SMERSH, and the malevolent Colonel Rosa Klebb has set the trap in Istanbul.



Dr No Read by Hugh Quarshie Arriving in Jamaica to look for a missing agent and his secretary, Bond learns that the reclusive Dr Julius No could be connected with their disappearance. 



Goldfinger Read by Hugh Bonneville It seems that Auric Goldfinger is a bad loser when it comes to cards. He’s also the world’s most ruthless and successful gold smuggler.

FOR YOUR SHELF ONLY: 8 TRACK MUSEUM

Music is my first true love and I admit that I spend most of my free time playing instruments, listening to records, researching artists, and collecting recordings. Although I mostly listen to vinyl, I've always had a fascination with the many audio formats that were developed over the years. When I lived on the east coast, I had a few Victrolas and quite a large collection of 78s. Winding up the crank and hearing someone like Bix Beiderbecke echo from the wood was like having a time machine! Flash forward to a week ago, and I was reminiscing with my childhood friend about hearing Led Zeppelin for the first time on his 8-track player when we were kids. Not only was it the most 'bad-ass' guitar I'd ever heard, but the 8-track format seemed really cool. My dad was a recording engineer at the time, making records for classical musician Anthony Newman, folk singer Bill Crofut, and dj Don Imus (I know, it sounds like the set-up to a classic joke!). Because of the attention to quality and reel-to-reel in the house, the 8-track never really took off at home. But looking back at the music being put out during the 8-track's lifespan, roughly 1965-1982, those self-contained tape cartridges start to become interesting as artifacts. Luckily, fellow music fan Bucks Burnett thought so, too, and has started the Eight-track Museum!

Located in Dallas, Texas, the museum spotlights the history of the 8-track. The foundation of the collection formed when he was gathering all of the Beatles-related releases and began to pick up tapes from other artists cheaply at tag sales and flea markets. The museum also includes the history of audio formats, spanning from the earliest Edison cylinder players to the modern iPod. Images of his 8-track shelves reveal a celebration of many genres, with artists like Frank Sinatra, The Clash, Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa, and Gary Numan. A second museum has opened in Roxbury, New York. Burnett has gathered great support from many musicians, including the Talking Heads. In fact, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz (as Tom Tom Club) made a limited-edition 8-track on Burnett's label and had their release party at the museum. Burnett is now working on a documentary film project about the 8-track, called Spinal Tape. Burnett was just featured in a lengthy article and interview at Collector's Weekly. You can check it out here. 

For Spy Vibers interested in collecting 8-tracks, I suggest starting with the most common soundtracks, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, and The Spy Who Loved Me. If you really get interested in old formats, you might also explore the many reel-to-reel editions of 007 soundtracks and instrumental compilations. The mini tape boxes are beautiful! Iamges of the James Bond 8-tracks above are from the the excellent site, 007 Collector. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM JONES

Happy Birthday to Sir Tom Jones! The singer was born Thomas John Woodward on June 7th, 1940. As the vocalist in a Beat group in the early 1960s, he came to the attention of the recording industry and quickly rose to stardom. Jones is best remembered by Spy Vibers for his swaggering recording of the Thunderball theme song. Sir Jones recently performed at the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert. He appeared on the bill along with fellow 007 stars: Sir Paul McCartney (Live and Let Die), Dame Shirley Bassey (Diamonds Are Forever), and A View to a kill star, Grace Jones. Here is an early televised performance of Thunderball. Note the spy-vibe electric guitar taking over for the brass section- cool, Mr. Jones!

JAMES BOND SCREENINGS

Spy Vibers in the Bay Area are in for a treat when the famous Castro Theater celebrates James Bond's 50th anniversary with three days of 007! See Ian Fleming's larger-than-life action hero the way he was meant to be seen- on the big screen in glorious 35mm! During the three-day marathon, fans have a rare chance to see many of the classics staring Sean Connery, George Lazenby, and Roger Moore. The screening schedule:

Friday April 20

Dr. No 2:00, 7:00

On Her Majesty's Secret Service 4:10, 9:05

Saturday April 21

From Russia With Love 2:30, 9:30

Diamonds Are Forever 4:45

The Spy Who Loved Me 7:05

Sunday April 22

Thunderball 1:00, 8:15

Live and Let Die 3:30

For Your Eyes Only 5:50

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Happy Holidays to all Spy Vibers! I hope everyone is enjoying the company of friends and family, with a little dash of secret agent fun thrown in. Perhaps some of you are watching 007 marathons, or catching the Bond Girls Are Forever documentary streaming on Netflix (that's gorgeous pre-Avenger Joanna Lumley below from On Her Majesty's Secret Service). Both Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the new Mission Impossible are now playing in theaters. And Spielberg's Adventures of Tin Tin is quite fun!


The winners in our holiday contest were chosen in a random drawing this morning. Thanks to the many people who entered. Stay tuned for more contests in the future. The prize assignments are: For Bond Lovers Only- David L, The Persuaders- J Kraus, Secret Agent magnet- Bob D, and Tinker Tailor brochure- Matt B. Congrats to all! Your packages will be mailed out next week. Check out our current auction, which includes a framed 007 display hand-signed by Sean Connery and other collectibles.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Diamonds Are Forever, Cinema Retro alerted us to this fun Christmas-time trailer. A perfect item for the day. Enjoy!

Bonus trivia: On this day in 1959, an eighteen-year-old Ringo Starr received his first drum kit as a present. You never know what is going to fire the imagination and expression in a kid. Here's to supporting creative exploration!

007 EVENTS FRIDAY & SUNDAY

Event Alert: James Bond fans gather tomorrow at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood for a double-007-feature with my favorite Bond movie of all time, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (presented by actor George Lazenby- in person!), followed by Diamonds Are Forever. Details here. Fans can see another double feature on Sunday in Santa Monica: Dr. No/From Russia With Love. Details here. Classic Bond on the big screen! Posters available at Movie Goods here.