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For Your Eyes Only (Sheena Easton song)
Encyclopedia
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
movie, For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (film)
For Your Eyes Only is the twelfth spy film in the James Bond series and the fifth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It marked the directorial debut of John Glen, who had worked as editor and second unit director in three other Bond films. The screenplay by Richard Maibaum...
, written by Bill Conti
Bill Conti
William "Bill" Conti is an American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards ceremony.-Early life and career:...
and Mick Leeson, and performed by Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
singer Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
. It was nominated for Best Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
at the Academy Awards in 1982
54th Academy Awards
The 54th Academy Awards were presented March 29, 1982 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. The ceremonies were presided over by Johnny Carson....
.
Background
The American new wave band BlondieBlondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
wrote a song entitled "For Your Eyes Only" in the hopes of making it the upcoming James Bond film's opening-title theme. The producers preferred another song with the same title, written by Bill Conti
Bill Conti
William "Bill" Conti is an American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards ceremony.-Early life and career:...
and Mike Leeson. Blondie turned down an offer to record Conti and Leeson's song. (The band later included their "For Your Eyes Only" song on the 1982 album The Hunter.)
Conti - who was also responsible for the film's score - had originally written the song thinking about Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...
or Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
, singers he thought "fit the Bond style". Studio United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
suggested Sheena Easton, an up-and-coming singer who had recently scored a No.1 hit in America with "Morning Train". Conti heard Easton's debut album Take My Time and felt unimpressed, but decided to work with her in the song after meeting Easton in person. Leeson's lyrics originally only used "for your eyes only" as the final line, as the lyricist felt he could only use the phrase as a conclusion. After Conti met credit sequence artist Maurice Binder
Maurice Binder
Maurice Binder was a film title designer best known for his work on 14 James Bond films including the first, Dr. No in 1962 and for Stanley Donen's films from 1958. He was born in New York City, USA, but mostly worked in Britain from the 1950s onwards...
, who complained about having to synchronize the unveiling of the title with it being said in the theme song, he decided to meet with Leeson to make lyrics that opened with "for your eyes only".
Easton is the only artist to be seen singing the theme song to a Bond movie during its opening titles, as Maurice Binder liked Easton's appearance and decided to add her to the credits. Her seductive appearance in these clips was, according to Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
, more sexy than any of the Bond girls, although Easton herself states that the filming process was very unglamorous. In particular, Binder had to attach Easton to a chair so she would be immobile during a take where the camera zooms on the singer's lips.
Easton is one of three Scots to have sung a Bond theme, the others being Lulu's singing The Man with the Golden Gun
The Man with the Golden Gun (film)
The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
and Shirley Manson
Shirley Manson
Shirley Anne Manson is a Scottish recording artist and actress, best known internationally as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. For much of her international career Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh to the United States to record with Garbage but now lives and...
(as part of the band Garbage
Garbage (band)
Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production...
) for The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough
The World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
.
This was one of the few Bond themes not to have a contribution by John Barry
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
. The song was produced by Christopher Neil
Christopher Neil
Christopher Neil is a British record producer, songwriter, singer and actor.He has worked with Celine Dion, a-ha, Dollar, Paul Nicholas, Kim Criswell, Morten Harket, Mike + The Mechanics, Johnny Logan, Marillion, The Moody Blues, The Other Ones, Paul Carrack, Rod Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, Cher,...
, who was her regular producer at the time.
The song was released as a single in June 1981, at the same time as the film's launch. It became a worldwide hit, reaching the top ten in the UK and top five in the US. It remains one of Easton's biggest hits and is still included on numerous compilation soundtrack albums.
The video "For Your Eyes Only" was directed by Steve Barron
Steve Barron
Steven "Steve" Barron is a director and producer, best known for directing the films Coneheads , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the innovative music videos for a-ha's "Take on Me" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean"....
.
The song music with different lyrics ("To Know No Boundaries") was used in a credit card commercial.
Cover versions
- Helena VondráčkováHelena VondráckováHelena Vondráčková is a Czech singer whose career has spanned five decades.- Early life/career :Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatinany. She took piano lessons from an early age...
recorded the Czech rendering "Jsem Stále Stejná" for her 1983 album Zrychlený Dech.
- Bradley JosephBradley JosephBradley Joseph is an American composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. His compositions include works for orchestra, quartet, and solo piano, while his musical style ranges from "quietly pensive mood music to a rich orchestration of classical depth and breadth".Active...
, who toured with Easton for a number of years as her musical director, arranged an instrumental version for his 2006 album, Piano Love SongsPiano Love SongsPiano Love Songs is the 13th studio album released by Bradley Joseph on the Robbins Island Music label ."Soft Classic Love Songs Performed on the Piano".-Track listing:...
.
- Also in 2006 the song was covered by Thomas AndersThomas AndersThomas Anders is a German singer, composer and record producer. Anders was the lead singer of Germany's popular pop-duo Modern Talking in 1984–1987 and in 1998–2003.-Early years:...
for his swing album Songs ForeverSongs ForeverSongs Forever is the title of the 2006 studio album by German singer-songwriter & producer Thomas Anders, consisting mainly of popular swing covers...
.
- The song was covered by Austrian symphonic metal band EdenbridgeEdenbridge (band)Edenbridge is a symphonic metal band from Austria.-History:Edenbridge was formed in 1998 by guitarist and keyboardist Lanvall, his girlfriend - vocalist Sabine Edelsbacher - and bassist Kurt Bednarsky. The line-up was completed when drummer Roland Navratil joined the band...
. It was released as a single in 2006.
Chart positions
| Chart (1981) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Singles Chart | 3 |
| Australian Singles Chart Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to 1998... |
6 |
| Belgian Singles Chart (Flemish Region) Ultratop 50 Ultratop 50 singles, often just Ultratop 50, is the weekly chart of fifty best-selling singles in Flanders, Belgium, and is produced and published by the Ultratop organization. The chart has existed since March 31, 1995... |
6 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 5 |
| French Singles Chart | 4 |
| German Media Control Charts Media Control Charts The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie... |
5 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 11 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart | 4 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand... |
4 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 1 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 11 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Swiss Singles Chart Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
1 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
8 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 4 |