Composer Monty Norman records his original James Bond theme

Composer Monty Norman calls it 'Dum diddy dum dum', though the world knows it as 'The James Bond Theme'. Whatever you call it, the musical phrase is certainly a contender for the title of the best-known line of music ever written.

It is a simple sequence of notes, only a couple of bars long in essence, but the theme has earned Norman a fortune, despite the fact he has never recorded it himself - until now.

The original tune, which was at the heart of a libel battle decided in 2001, is finally to be released the way that Norman wrote it - reports The Observer.

For years the award-winning film composer John Barry was wrongly assumed to be the man behind the theme - a misunderstanding that Barry did little to dispel.

Norman was awarded £30,000 in damages after the Sunday Times published an article saying he did not write the theme, which it credited to Barry, who had worked on the orchestration of the piece for the Bond films. But the jury decided in Norman's favour and when the new CD comes out in October the public will at last be able to judge his original version for themselves.

In a studio in Norman's native east London the track is finally being laid down with the original lyrics written for it more than 30 years ago. But these are not the dynamic and sexually potent words that Bond fans might be expecting to hear. In fact, the opening words to the song, which was initially titled 'Bad Sign, Good Sign' and intended for the musical theatre, are 'I was born with this unlucky sneeze'.

The tune was composed by Norman and lyricist Julian More for a planned musical version of VS Naipaul's novel A House for Mr Biswas. The show never made it on to the stage, despite Norman's earlier successes, including Irma La Douce, so the catchy Indian-style tune was stored away in his bottom drawer.

'It was really hard to find an Asian and West Indian cast back then,' said Norman. 'It wouldn't be difficult now of course, so maybe we should try to put it on again.'

The new/old version was recorded last week with an Indian sitar and tabla and Norman is also recording a different orchestration of 'The Bond Theme', as we know it.

The transformation of the song came about when the late Cubby Broccoli, producer of the Bond films, contacted Norman and More after seeing one of their musicals.

He wanted them to work on the film of Dr No, which he had finally secured the rights to from author Ian Fleming.

'He was very pleased to have the rights,' said Norman, 'but I don't think he knew what he had got. None of us did. I was not sure whether to get involved as I had another couple of musical projects, but Cubby offered me an expenses-paid trip to Jamaica.'

Norman agreed to go along with his then wife, the singer Diana Coupland, and soak up the atmosphere on location. On the island he composed the theme now known as 'Underneath the Mango Tree' and eventually used in the film to accompany the famous sequence in which Ursula Andress walks out of the sea in a white bikini.

He also wrote the music which opens the movie - a calypso based on the nursery rhyme 'Three Blind Mice'. It is the theme played for the three blind beggars who appear in the first assassination scene.

'This set the irreverent tone that Cubby was looking for. He didn't want the film to be as serious as the book,' recalls Norman.

One executive on the film advised Norman to try to come up with a good theme for Bond because he thought there could be as many as two films and a TV series to come out of the franchise.

Norman brought out his 'Mr Biswas' song and split up the notes to create a piece of music with an entirely different atmosphere. Barry, then at the beginning of his prolific film music career, was called in to work on the score and in the past it has been implied that the Bond theme was more his than Norman's, although Norman has always received the royalties. Barry went on to work on all the Bond films and is responsible for many of its other famous themes.

'I have always said that Barry's orchestration of my theme was the best so far and that I think he is one of the best film composers in the business,' said Norman, whose own background is in big band music and whose first love is musicals. He went on to write the shows Songbook and Expresso Bongo and is now working on a musical version of Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim

'I started out as a singer, working with the Cyril Stapleton Band, then Stanley Black and finally Ted Heath's band. I worked with some of the biggest names in variety: Max Miller, Tommy Cooper, Tony Hancock, but it was a young man's game.'

Norman's new album, Completing the Circle, will feature new and old work, including pieces recorded with the Royal Philharmonic's string section and the London Community Gospel Choir.

Thanks to `JP` for the alert.

Discuss this news here...