You Know My Name

Chris Cornell's new Bond theme is a definite grower. I was largely unmoved when I first heard it, but the orchestral arrangement that precedes the opening of the film set the mood perfectly. I've downloaded the tune (legally of course!) from Napster and it's now on rotation.

The tag line's been used before, but for a while I'd convinced myself it was my own creation: "Women want him, men want to be him". What is it about Bond that attracts we overgrown boys? Is it the gadgets? The guns? The women? The cars? The tux? Or a combination of them all? Whatever it is, one year we boys took pretence a bit further for one of Future's Christmas do's. The tux was obligatory in those days, but when Tomorrow Never Dies was released, a limited edition Bond gun was released as a toy (probably for the kids, but who cares?). Cav and I were first in line to get ours, and a group of four or five of us decided to go to the Xmas bash as different incarnations of Bond. I was Dalton (the contact lenses helped my slightly mad stare I'm sure), Cav was Roger Moore, complete with eyebrow. Adam was Sean Connery I think, which left Craig as either Lazenby or - more likely - Pierce Brosnan. Our dance routine firing the guns on each beat was a wonder to behold*.

A few years later and my last ever Christmas party was officially a Bond theme night. I spoiled things by not bothering to dress up and consequently felt distinctly out of place, despite my best attempts to pretend the shirt and pullover combo was actually a "relaxing" Dalton-era Bond.

After watching Casino Royale, if the four of us were to team up as Bond again, would we be happy to reprise our original favourites, or would we vie to take on the role of the athletic Bond as portrayed by Daniel Craig? I suspect there would be a fight to see who would get to wear the William Shatner-trademarked corset...

*Assuming you were drunk on the one hand, and one of us on the other