Duran/Ronson for Bond?

Is this collaboration the Bond Theme winner?

02 July 2008 - The speculation continues around who will clinch the James Bond Theme deal for the new film Quantum Of Solace.

And now, a Duran Duran/Mark Ronson collaboration has been thrown into the mix.

Speaking exclusively to 6 Music before their one off show in Paris (2 July), the band and producer confirmed that Ronson worked on some material including A View To A Kill for the Smirnoff Experience show - and by no means denied that it could be used for the next film Quantum Of Solace.

Keyboardist Nick Rhodes went on to say: “Actually, Mark’s done an amazing string section piece for the show using a bunch of the bond themes, some of the ones we just mentioned and going into A View To A Kill. That’s a real highlight.”

When asked for his favourite bond themes, Simon Le Bon said: “I do love All The Time In The World. Goldfinger is amazing, You Only Live Twice is amazing…and also what about Live And Let Die? That’s fantastic as well.”

Rhodes explained his preferred theme was Diamonds Are Forever before Ronson interjected: “What about A View To A Kill? Do you remember that one? That’s really good too.”

“Oh yes, oh we like that one,” Le Bon continued, “that’s one of our favourites in fact. Let’s have that one as our favourite.”

After further probing on whether Ronson would be doing more work on this Bond project for the forthcoming film, Ronson did nothing to quash rumours and replied: “I’m not allowed to really talk about that actually.”

Ronson and Duran Duran join the likes of Amy Winehouse, Duffy and even Leona Lewis - other rumoured candidates.

Duran Duran/Ronson collaboration

Before they took to the stage at the intimate venue of La Cigale in Paris, both sides dished all on the collaboration.

They claimed that the unique collaboration came about because of, “Dr Smirnoff,” as Ronson put it.

And explained: “We all got phone calls around the same time. Mark was asked if he fancied hooking up with Duran Duran and we were asked if we wanted to hook up with Mark Ronson - and we all said yes, resoundingly.”

Mark Ronson on Duran Duran

Ronson has previously confessed to being a huge fan of Duran Duran - even once sporting a similar haircut to his idols – and was thrilled to have the opportunity to work closely with the band.

He told 6 Music: “It has been amazing, they’ve welcomed me in and basically they gave me all the tracks so I could make my dream Duran Duran medley, and they’re letting me play guitar with them. It’s pretty amazing.”

Ronson went on to say how awe-inspiring the process has been for him: “We were in rehearsal on Thursday and I’m sitting there playing Planet Earth, rhythm guitar, and I’m thinking this has to be one of the top five moments of my career for sure.”

"I’m not allowed to really talk about that actually."
Mark Ronson

Simon Le Bon on Mark Ronson

The feelings of respect were mutual as Simon Le Bon revealed that he will be singing Ronson’s Stop Me at the show, which he said was his favourite dance floor hit of last year.

Le Bon expressed his admiration for Ronson’s work: “I love Mark’s work very much. He’s a real musician and he knows about having emotional impact and I think that’s why when he started producing music with horns and strings, he brought a romanticism that had been lacking in music back - and that was appealing.”

Working together

Le Bon went on to say that he has high hopes the collaboration will continue in the future.

He told 6 Music: “It has been so much fun digging out all the old things and for us we’ve had to relearn things that we’ve been playing, in some of the songs, in the same way for decades - and suddenly it has changed a bit.”

Working with Mark Ronson has seemingly modernised some of their tracks as Le Bon mentioned one highlight of their partnership.

“One of my favourite things that Mark came up with was sticking the Prince groove for Sign of the Times under I Don’t Want Your Love,” he said, “we would never have thought of that but it has given the song a whole different slant.”

They all concurred that a, “mash up of Duran Duran songs with some other stuff too,” is what we should expect from the fruits of their joint labour.

Georgie Rogers