A View to a Kill

"A View to a Kill" is the 13th single recorded by Duran Duran, released in May 1985. It was a stand-alone single, created for the James Bond movie A View to a Kill, and it remains the only James Bond theme song to have reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100; it also made it to #2 on the UK Singles Chart and #6 in Australia. In 1986 John Barry and Duran Duran were nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for A View to a Kill.

The song was the last track that the original five members of Duran Duran recorded together until their reunion sixteen years later, in 2001. It was played at their final 1985 performance together, at Live Aid in Philadelphia.

About the song
The song was written by Duran Duran and John Barry, and recorded at Maison Rouge Studio and CTS Studio in London with a 60-piece orchestra.

Duran Duran was chosen to do the song after bassist John Taylor (a lifelong Bond fan) approached producer Cubby Broccoli at a party, and somewhat drunkenly asked "When are you going to get someone decent to do one of your theme songs?" This inauspicious beginning led to some serious talks, and the band was introduced to Bond composer John Barry, and also Jonathan Elias (whom Duran Duran members would later work with many times). An early writing meeting at Taylor's flat in Knightsbridge led to everyone getting drunk instead of composing.

Le Bon said, of Barry: "He didn't really come up with any of the basic musical ideas. He heard what we came up with and he put them into an order. And that's why it happened so quickly because he was able to separate the good ideas from the bad ones, and he arranged them. He has a great way of working brilliant chord arrangements. He was working with us as virtually a sixth member of the group, but not really getting on our backs at all."

The song was finally completed in April, and was released worldwide in May.

This song was the subject of criticism from singer Pat Boone when it was performed at Live Aid in 1985. Although Duran Duran donated their time in this historic fundraising effort for African famine relief (like every other artist on the bill), Boone commented that if singing lyrics like "Dance into the fire" were the only way to raise money and awareness of this issue, then maybe it was not worth it.

Music video
The song was accompanied by a tongue-in-cheek video filmed in June. It was directed by the duo Godley & Creme (who had also directed their 1981 video for "Girls On Film".)  The video cast the band members as spies and assassins scampering all over the Eiffel Tower, in a rather tangled thicket of half-sketched storylines. Band members shoot at, take pictures of, spy upon and direct sonic accordion attacks upon each other as the lead singer Simon Le Bon wanders about, using a portable cassette player to set off a series of explosions elsewhere in the world. These shots are intercut with scenes from the movie A View To A Kill, including those featuring Roger Moore and Grace Jones on the Eiffel Tower, so that it appears the actors and the band are participating in the same storyline.

Le Bon ends the video with a parody of James Bond, smarmily introducing himself as "Bon. Simon Le Bon."

B-sides, bonus tracks and remixes
The b-side was an instrumental piece orchestrated by John Barry, titled "A View To A Kill (That Fatal Kiss)".

It is thought that there was no 12" remix for the song because the band ran out of time. However, Capitol Records did commission and receive at least one remix of the track.

Covers, samples, & media references
Cover versions have been recorded by popular Welsh band Lostprophets, as well as Icelandic artist Paul Oscar (as a 1997 Eurovision Song Contest entry), Canadian punk band Gob, and Australian band Custard. In 2006 the chilean band Los MOX! recorded a new and heavier version of the song for their album titled "... con cover"

Chart positions
On July 13, 1985, it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2006 remains the only Bond theme to do so. On May 25, it made it to number two in the UK Singles Chart, also a record for Bond themes. (It was held out of the top spot by the song "19" by Paul Hardcastle.)

7": EMI DURAN 007 (UK)

 * 1) "A View To A Kill" (3:34)
 * 2) "A View To A Kill (that fatal kiss)" (2:28)


 * Also released in a gatefold sleeve (DURANG007)

CD: Part of "Singles Box Set 1981-1985" boxset

 * 1) "A View To A Kill" (3:34)
 * 2) "A View To A Kill (that fatal kiss)" (2:28)

Other appearances
Albums:
 * Decade: Greatest Hits (1989)
 * Greatest (1998)
 * Night Versions: The Essential Duran Duran (1998)
 * Strange Behaviour (1999)
 * Singles Box Set 1981-1985 (2003)
 * Live from London (2005)

Personnel

 * Nick Rhodes
 * Simon LeBon
 * Andy Taylor
 * John Taylor
 * Roger Taylor