Alternate Bond Themes--Alice Cooper's The Man With The Golden Gun?!?

Let's continue our examination of "could have been" Bond themes with...Alice Cooper?

Live And Let Die had broken open a huge barrier--for the first time a Bond song wasn't by a crooner or what many would call an "adult contemporary" star--it featured a real live rock star!! A Beatle, even!!

So Alice Cooper (!?!), no doubt along with many other ambitious rockers, submitted his stabs at the brass ring for the next 007 movie.

Ah, but you see, John Barry was back in charge of the music this time around, and, well, he obviously wasn't too big a fan of that kind of music--at least not for Bond films. It would be another 5 movies until Duran Duran broke through with another rock theme.

And of course, Barry chose...Lulu?

While this is what could have been...



Alice Cooper has claimed that his song was accepted and set to be used until it was dumped at the last minute for Lulu's. Other sources say Cooper's unsolicited track was never in the running. Since Barry composed Lulu's tune, the latter seems more likely.

It's a catchy little number, and clearly Barry would have brassed it up a bit. Perhaps, though, it's maybe a little too much of a ride-McCartney's-coattails number...Cooper is clearly pushing the edge of his range, and the inclusion of a sudden tempo change midway through sound a lot like he's trying to imitate Live and Let Die.

Alice Cooper later released the track on his Muscle Of Love album.

Regardless, it's far better than the Lulu tune, which is widely regarded amongst the worst of Bond themes. Barry himself declared it "the one I hate the most." It sounds like someone trying do an ersatz Shirley Bassey--extra-brassy, but without the panache.

Which isn't to pick on Lulu...there's only so much she could have done with a song that poor. No, let's remember her from happier days: