BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1983
Happy Valentine’s Day!
“All Time High” is a 1983 single release by Rita Coolidge introduced as the theme song for the James Bond film Octopussy.
“All Time High” marked the return of regular James Bond theme composer John Barry after his absence from the For Your Eyes Only soundtrack. The lyrics were written by Tim Rice and recording and mixing of the track is credited to Stephen Short.
Prior to Rita Coolidge being assigned the Octopussy theme a contender was Mari Wilson, a British singer whose retro-image evoked the mid-’60s when the Bond series originated, but Wilson’s lack of a US-profile led to a negative decision.
The producers of Octopussy were known to have been in negotiations with Laura Branigan, then a top-ranking hitmaker in the US and Europe.
The ultimate choice of Coolidge – whose career peak had occurred some six years previously – was a surprising one. Coolidge recalls that Barbara Broccoli, the assistant director of Octopussy, was a fan of Coolidge and made a point of playing Coolidge records around her father, Cubby Broccoli, producer of the films, until “one day [he said], “Who is that? That’s the voice I want for the movie.’…in the studio [Tim Rice] was still finishing the song. We were waiting for the lyrics as the track had already been done.”
Rice made no effort to incorporate the film’s title but the lyric: “We’re two of a kind” is a line spoken by the title character (played by Maud Adams) to James Bond (Roger Moore). The song’s title “All Time High” parallels Coolidge’s #2 hit “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher” whose lyric “When you wrap your loving arms around me I can stand up and face the world again” is echoed by the “All Time High” lyric “We’ll take on the world and win”.
The music video shows Coolidge in soft focus in what purports to be an Indian palace (it is in fact the Royal Pavilion at Brighton, England).
In the US “All Time High” reached #36 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1983. Adult contemporary radio was much more receptive, with that genre allowing “All Time High” four weeks at #1 as ranked by Billboard magazine. Coolidge had previously topped the Adult Contemporary chart in 1977 with “We’re All Alone”.
In the UK, “All Time High” rose no higher than #75 and remains the lowest charting James Bond theme. However the track became a major hit in several European countries: Austria – #14; Finland – #11; Germany – #13; the Netherlands – #8; Sweden – #8; and Switzerland – #7: Coolidge had previously only charted in one of these six countries, that being the Netherlands (with “We’re All Alone” – #15/1977) which was also the only one of the six countries where she’d chart again. “Stand in Wonder”, #56/1999). Additionally “All Time High” afforded Coolidge a chart record in Australia – #80; Canada – #38, New Zealand – #26, and South Africa – #8; also the track was ranked at #48 in the annual hit parade tally for 1983 in Brazil.
SIDE A:
All Time High (The Theme Song From Octopussy) 3:02
SIDE B:
All Time High (The Theme Song From Octopussy) (Extended Instrumental Version) 3:50
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
U.S. CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | All Time High | U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | #36 |
| 1983 | All Time High | U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks | #1 |
RELE INFORMATION:
Label: A&M Records – AMS 9286, A&M Records – AM 007
Format: Vinyl, 7″, Single, 45 RPM
Country: Italy
Released: 1983
Genre: Pop
Style: Pop/Rock, Vocal
Credits: Arranged By, Conductor, Producer – John Barry
Lyrics By – Tim Rice
Written-By – J. Barry*, T. Rice*
NOTES:
From the motion picture soundtrack “OCTOPUSSY”
Find The 7″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Speed Control: Pro-Ject Speed Box S
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removeal: ClickRepair (DeClick Level 3)
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Wow, amazing to hear that Laura Branigan might have recorded a Bond theme, thank you for this great blog!
Dear DJPaul,
Please repost this album – Rita Coolidge – All Time High
thanks in advance
The problem with the 7″ single is quality, regardless of rip efforts, they all lack that bass punch..
Thanks as always Paul, for the up.
Music aside (I’m a Bond fanatic)..
Awful artwork, but typical of the 70’s..
Wait ’till you get a load of this then !
Recorded for the ‘missing link’ of the Bond Movies ‘Never Say Never Again’.
But they hired Michel Legrand to do the ‘theme’ music and he wanted to use his own song.
Apparently the ‘other’ NSNA song was offered to Bonnie Tyler [!!!] first but she knocked it back as she suposedly didn’t like the song at all.
I’m 95% certain that Lani Hall was Herb Alperts wife.
Now imagine if THIS had been the Theme Song…….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBvDSbFdgic
Excellent – any more bond tunes planned?
BTW Paul – just spotted typo in the ID3 tag for track 2 where it says ‘Extended Instrumental’.
🙂
Thank you for letting me know Jermajesty 🙂
I’ve always loved this tune… Thanks, especially for B side.
You’re welcome 80spornstar 🙂
Happy Valentines, Paul!
Mari Wilson would’ve been an interesting choice as I think her vocal style suits a James Bond tune.
Rita though did an excellent job, and though this is only a #36 in the US and barely scrapped the UK Top 75, this Octopussy single fared way better than the other James Bond single Never Say Never Again by Lani Hall. But I must say I’m belong to the Sean rather than Roger camp when it comes to who’s the perfect Bond.
Btw, Rita also released a cover of Yazoo’s Only You during that early 80s period.
Forget to add, what a camp cover. Based only Rita’s fiery red outfit and that head-band, no one would’ve guess it is a single sleeve for a lush ballad!!!
Didn’t know the Mari Wilson proposal – that would’ve been such a complete career changer for her. Always thought she should’ve been more popular.
Do you know her stuff Paul? She had mild success around the same time Tracey Ullman was topping the charts.
I’m not real familiar with her I only have one single called “Just What I Always Wanted”. I need to get more educated on her material.
Yes, and that one needs a re-rip badly!
I’m in the Daniel Craig camp myself woof! But if we are talking classic Bond it’s Roger Moore. I’ll have to check out her Yazoo cover sounds interesting 🙂
She also covered Sqeeze’s Tempted & Culture Club’s Do You Realy Want Me if you wanna investigate further. Her last few albums for A&M have a few 80s New Wave moments. Just like in the 70s with Disco, everyone was trying to get a hit with the current trend, and Rita was no exception. Hell, even Dolly Parton recorded a New Wave album. Rita had some soulful Disco moments, too.
Rita Coolodge has of the best female voices ever in my opinion. This song is a true classic and in my Top 5 Bond Theme songs. An underrated artist that should have had many more chart hits. Her version of the Alabama track, “The closer you get” from the early 80s, is also awesome but didn’t chart as far as I know. Thanks for the share!
I agree Jan a great underated vocalist 🙂
Rita’s version of “The Closer You Get” peaked at #103 on Billboard’s “Bubbling Under The Hot 100” chart in 1981.
Awesome track!! Happy Valentine’s Day Paul. 🙂 x
Pulp (Jarvis Cocker) did a great cover of this for a James Bond covers project in the 90s – at the time I thought it seemed the oddest Bond song to pick, but it actually made me realise what a great track it was in the first place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maeELHysFPE
Happy Valentine’s Day Jermajesty and thank you for the link. I didn’t even know there was a Bond cover project.
It’s a great album – Shaken & Stirred – it was orchestrated by David Arnold, and it pretty much led to him scoring the following load of Bond films, I don’t think he was really that famous before. You can get it for pence off eBay on CD.
You must hear his and David McAlmont’s version Diamonds Are Forever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0TbM8ER4pg
Bjork also did a version of You Only Live Twice but she pulled it at the last minute. It’s all over YouTube though. 🙂
What a great tune, what a marvellous voice. One of my favorite singles in 1983, but strangely enough I totally forgot that instrumental version on the flip side. I haven’t heard it in ages, so can’t wait to listen to it.
Nice one, Paul!
You’re welcome Stefano. Have a great weekend my friend 🙂
@DjPaulT: Hi, begging you to repost this amazing track! Thank you so much!