Great Songs from My Favorite Year in Music: 1985, Part 53

Duran Duran - "A View to a Kill"



(Single Release: May 1985)
Yesterday, I wrote about "19" by Paul Hardcastle, the song that would keep Duran Duran's foray into the Bond franchise from reaching number one. Today, I cover the latter, the also-ran. This is the song that could have been the quintet's last hurrah, one last score before splintering off into Power Station and Arcadia. Luckily for us, they got back together and gave us "Notorious," "I Don't Want Your Love," and "Ordinary World." The first and last in that list being used to great effect in Donnie Darko ("I question your commitment to SparkleMotion") and Layer Cake respectively. The partnership between Duran squared and the Bond franchise has dubious beginnings. Apparently, John Taylor, always my sister's favorite, somewhat drunkenly, snobbishly, and obnoxiously approached Cubby Broccoli and asked when someone decent was going to do a Bond theme. Ahem. I guess he thinks Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Tom Jones, Nancy Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong aren't decent. Well, though the song isn't my favorite Bond theme, it is a good one. In fact, I was surprised to learn that the Internet community looked far more favorably on it than I do, but that might be young nostalgia and the trick of recent memory at play. I won't get into the film as that could take me forever. I won't even get into the video, which is ridiculousness in itself. I will merely say that I am a fan of Duran Duran, have owned a lot of their albums (some in cassette form, growing up), and also love the Bond films, so this was a nice marriage. I have one more pet peeve with this song and it has little to do with the song itself and more to do with the population at large in relation to it. Just as some keep misnaming "How Soon is Now" as "I Am Human," and "Good Riddance" as "The Time of Your Life," (and yes, I know that is the subtitle for the latter), people keep misnaming "A View to a Kill" as "Dance Into the Fire." Sure, it's a catchy phrase, but it's not the title. Sigh. Why must I be overburdened with such snobbery? Maybe John Taylor and I would get along better than I thought.