[Steve Sidoruk]

Some blog admin, a self appointed reviewer "expert" had some terrible things to say about Herb & Lani's parts in the Never Say Never Again theme. I felt obliged to post an objection. Perhaps some of you would too.

http://www.bigpoz.com/2010/02/movie-reviews-never-say-never-again-1983/629/comment-page-1#comment-2018
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Steve Sidoruk
A&M Fan Network
Cheshire, CT USA
am_fan_net@snet.net
http://twitter.com/AandM_FAN_NET

[JMK]

In fairness to the reviewer, Herb & Lani are on record themselves saying they didn't think the theme worked. I believe their IV for a BBC documentary on Bond themes is online on YouTube and you can see it. Herb had problems with the hook not being repeated and Lani didn't like the way the song was utilized in the opening credits sequence. When I was working for DVDTalk, the reviewer there lambasted the theme and I defended it and I soon found out how roundly disliked it is by a lot of people. One of them posted links to the Alpert/Hall IV where they pretty much say the same thing.

[JMK]

I'm pretty sure it's this series:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bond+Theme+Documentary&search_type=&aq=f

Though I can't recall exactly which section Herb & Lani are in. They do do a hilarious "Mini Me" impersonation at one point which cracked me up.

[JMK]

Or is that "Dr. Evil?"

[Steve Sidoruk]

Apparently that "critic" can't take criticism, because he deleted my comment. I was civil and wrote two lines. I just didn't think that what he said should go unchallenged.

One of the good things, that didn't appear in the recording - the single or the OST CD - was Herb's long solo that played over the end credits. A lot of Herb's fans probably never got to hear it.
_________________
Steve Sidoruk
A&M Fan Network
Cheshire, CT USA
am_fan_net@snet.net
http://twitter.com/AandM_FAN_NET

[musicfirst]

I made a comment, too. Let's see what happens to it......
DJ
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Rap is to music what Etch-a-Sketch is to art

[JMK]

I remembered something else from that BBC show--Lani was not originally slated to sing the tune, Bonnie Tyler was. But Tyler hated it straight out of the box and refused to do it. How it ended up with Lani isn't discussed.

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

Fun watch - Lani's in part 3 and Herb's in part 2, by the way- but wow, were they filmed in an unflattering way...

[DAN BOLTON]

The critic was right about a few things, though...NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN is a remake of THUNDERBALL, which was a real dud of a James Bond movie, IMO. I really wanted to like NSNA, but never could warm up to it. It plodded and trudged all over the screen, and I got the impression that Sean Connery was bored with the whole James Bond persona and was trying to resurrect his career or libido or something...

As for the song, well...it was great to hear Lani singing over a theater sound system, but not over that opening scene...I felt like I was watching MONDO CAINE and listening to MORE...only MORE has a much stronger melody line and thus was able to survive the non-sequiter status it was saddled with at the start.

The melody line to NSNA is really all over the place...like a lunar mountain range, or a demented roller coaster that doesn't know when to stop...it's really a testament to Lani's lung power( and all-around pluck) that the song is as successful as it is. The neatest part of the song for me is when she repeats the main theme of the song over and over again.

I really loved Herb's solo during the credits...everybody else was in a real hurry to leave the auditorium when the movie was over, but I was glued to my seat. I bought the DVD for the solo, and I don't recall it being included in the soundtrack, but the plodding plot always put me to sleep long before the credits...

Having trashed the whole effort mightily, I have to add that Bonnie Tyler couldn't have done nearly as well with the song as Herb and Lani...it's Lani's type of song, and she sang her lungs out...she just didn't have much to work with. Nobody involved with the film did.


Dan
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DAN BOLTON

"As much as I love music, I never thought it was my life. I thought it was the vehicle I used to express my life." HERBIE MANN

[audiofile]

I never understood why Lani sung this type of stuff. For a woman of her talents, she should have recorded more Brazilian/Bossa Nova type records.