Studio United Artists, however, demanded a song with the title of the film, so Mr Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang was out and a hastily written tune that was actually called Thunderball came in. But it's a much more fun, energetic and playful song than the largely one-note Tom Jones effort. Like the song that replaced it, Mr Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is a jazzy number driven by the orchestra's horn section. Originally written for Shirley Bassey to reprise her hit Bond song formula after Goldfinger, Mr Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang was eventually given to Dionne Warwick, the Walk On By singer being the biggest selling female artist of the previous year. Tom Jones's bombastic, bellowing Thunderball theme was written in a rush at the last minute by regular Bond composer John Barry and lyricist Don Black after executives at United Artists rejected their original choice.īarry wasn't really convinced that he could write anything around the vague concept of 'Thunderball', so instead went with a song about Bond himself named Mr Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (named for a not inaccurate descriptor applied to 007 by an Italian critic after Dr No).

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