GA-ALL-LEE

Here is one of the most amazing things I've come across this week.

But first, a quiz.  What do these performers have in common?  Which one stands out in this crowd?
Lulu, Alicia Keys, Rita Coolidge, Madonna, Sheryl Crow, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight, Duran Duran, Shirley Bassey, Sheena Easton, Tom Jones, Carly Simon, Adele, Nancy Sinatra, Paul McCartney and Wings.

Monty Norman is an 85 year-old musician and composer.  Monty, the child of Jewish parents, grew up in England during World War II.  Mr. Norman once wrote a song that included the lyrics, "I was born with this unlucky sneeze and, what is worse, I came into this world the wrong way."   Before you snicker out loud, let me finish.  He wisely took the music to this ditty and used it for another project on which he was working.  The users accepted it but had another person re-arrange it.

That person was John Berry.  Berry wrote a new arrangement for Norman's music and had his little combo, the John Berry Seven record it.  Barry got paid just 250 pounds (about $600).

Enough! Enough!  The music was the theme to the original James Bond movie in 1962 called "Dr. No"  That instrumental music is the signature theme for the James Bond franchise.  It is the music that wafts its way through all the Bond movies.

By now, you've got the answer to the quiz.  Each sang a theme song to a James Bond movie. Shirley Bassey is the only one that sang more than one - she did three.

Dr. No had no specific song - only the instrumental of Monty Norman arranged by John Berry.  Berry did the only other Bond movie with only an instrumental theme; "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

Did I mention that I loved the James Bond movies?
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