I always thought this song was cool, and I am surprised that I have never heard a Hip-Hop track utilize this song as a sample.  When you stop to think, most Bond film theme songs have never been sampled for major tracks, yet they have so much to offer musically.  We mustn’t forget that Kanye West sampled the title track to the Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever” for his song “Diamonds from Sierra Leone,” which was an awesome song about the horrible situation in Africa involving blood diamonds.  However, there’s a history behind “Never Say Never Again” that seems to make this track more interesting.

First of all, this song was made for a James Bond movie remake of the film and book “Thunderball.”  What’s funny about this film is that it was not counted as an official Bond film because it was made by a different production company than the other films.  Kevin McClory, one of the members of this production company and one of Thunderball’s original writers, was able to retain filming rights for the story, making him able to remake this film.  They were also able to persuade Sean Connery to reprise his role as James Bond after a long hiatus from the character.  Now that you have some movie background, let’s get into the song history.

The first title track for this movie was recorded by Phyllis Hyman, and has a slower, mellow vibe.  This version, written by Stephen Forsyth and Jim Ryan, was never released due to legal issues.  The writer for the film’s score, Michel Legrand, claimed he had the rights to the title song, and threatened to sue Forsyth and Ryan.  Legrand composed his own version of the song, featuring Lani Hall, which was eventually used for the film.

The video for the Lani Hall version may seem cheesy, with low production quality, but her voice is so dreamy!  I’ve always thought that the best Bond Theme Songs came from those films starring Sean Connery.  Hopefully a music producer jumps on this song quick and creates a beautiful melody with Hall’s voice.