Monty Norman: I only did Bond tune for a holiday

'Bond' films have changed a lot down the years; the budgets have got bigger, the product placement more shameless, the scripts less sexist.

What's stayed consistent throughout all of 007's adventures however is the music. That music.

It's probably the most famous movie score ever. It's instantly recognisable, eminently hummable, and immediately evokes images of tuxedos, femme fatales and olive-riddled martinis.

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Yahoo! Movies was delighted to chat with Monty Norman, the composer who penned said music back in 1962. The 84-year-old legend was not only a lovely man, but he also filled us in with some amazing 'Bond' theme trivia.

For example, did you know that those famous bars of music weren't originally meant for 'Dr. No'? Or that the only reason he did it was to get a free holiday? He even told us where to track down a totally different, unused Bond theme.

Check out our chat with Monty below...

How did you get the gig?

"I was working on a musical called the 'Ballad Of Dr. Crippin'. It was the first time anybody had ever attempted to a musical about a murder. The critics murdered it, ironically. Luckily for me, one of the main financial backers was Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli (James Bond producer) and he said that one day we'd probably do something together again. True to his word a couple of months later he rang me and offered me the Bond job."

You must have jumped at the chance...

"It sounds crazy but I was so busy with two stage musicals and a theme song for a film. I really couldn't see how I could do it. I was just about to turn it down when they said 'we are doing all the location work in Jamaica. Why don't you come out there, get a feel for Jamaica, get a feel for the Caribbean and write some Caribbean music? Bring your wife, all expenses paid.' That was the clincher!"

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Wow, that was close! How did you come up with the theme?

"I remembered this tune I'd written for 'House of Mr Biswas' which we'd abandoned because we realised we couldn't get an all-Asian cast for it. I dug it out but it was very Asian in quality. It would have been accompanied by a sitar (Indian guitar) and a tabla (Indian bongo). I decided to split the notes and it immediately hit me that it had the character, the mystery and all the things that you wanted for James Bond. We changed the sitar to a guitar and added in a big band."

Listen to Monty Norman's rendition of original Bond theme song below:

Were there any other versions of the Bond theme that weren't used?

"Well I had one other idea for a theme, but coming from the theatre it didn't have the character of James Bond. It was a good number and Count Basie recorded it and it made it onto the LP as 'Dr. No's Fantasy' so if you want to know what it really should have sounded like then listen to the Count Basie."

Listen to the original Bond song here.

Why was the one you used right for James Bond?

"I felt that James Bond was a very interesting character. He was obviously ruthless, mysterious, a spy, but he was more than that. This number gave it all. It wasn't a great big, heavy, overdramatic thing so I felt it answered the question 'Who is James Bond?' on all fronts.

"The moment I played it to anybody they all had exactly the same feeling about it. That's exactly what I wanted and it doesn't happen that often."

Did you ever think it would become this iconic?

"I had no idea. I remember seeing some early rushes in Jamaica of Sean Connery and thinking this guy is going to be a star - that was obvious. Whether he was going to be a star in 'Dr. No' I had no idea. There was no way of knowing.

"After I agreed to do the song one of Cubby's assistants said 'see if you can write a really good theme tune because I reckon we can get two films and a TV series out of this. Look at it now!"

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Are you sick of hearing it yet?

"Haha! No, it's amazing! I mean 50 years is a long time. I'm amazed it's lasted this long and I'm amazed that I around to hear it still!

"The amazing thing is that very often people will come up to me and say 'You're Monty Norman, you wrote dum-di-di-dum-dum' without any melody and everybody know what they are talking about!"

Do you still get royalties for the song?

"Yes. Like every composer I do yes. It's kept me off the streets!"

Has it ever been used in a situation you weren't happy with?

"Very early on somebody wrote a lyric for it and I was furious. We managed to suppress that. It was a silly pop song that didn't make much sense with somebody trying to cash in."

What do you think of the Adele track for 'Skyfall'?

"I think it's very good. It certainly nods towards my original and of course she is wonderful. I think she's going to be around for a long time. She's terrific. "

Who is your favourite Bond actor?

"Well I'm biased. I started right at the beginning with Sean Connery. In a sense he's my favourite. On the other hand I really like Roger Moore because he turned it on its head and made it light and funny.

"Daniel Craig is bringing a slightly darker, more serious quality to it which is absolutely right for the time."