Woke up this morning and eventually checked my Twitter account when something caught my attention. I saw that John Barry was a trending topic. And immediately my heart sank because I knew that could mean only one thing.
John Barry had such a unique style. Ever since he 'enchanted' audiences with his famous James Bond Theme (which, unfortunately, due to contractual mishaps was and still is to this day credited to Monty Norman, when Barry is indeed the one who composed it) he threw one great score out there after another. Admittedly, in my opinion, it took him until From Russia With Love to really utilize his style, at least for the James Bond films. But even Dr. No has some classic and memorable moments in it. And film after film he demonstrated that, while he had a central style to work from, he could bring something new, unique, and utterly enchanting to his scores.
It's really depressing to see yet another truly remarkable film composer go. And it's always weird when someone passes away just after you had some kind of interaction with them only a few days before. Of course I wish I had met him in person, but I'm referring to the fact that I've, over the last couple weeks, been watching the Bond films and, specifically, listening to one of my favorite of his scores, The Living Daylights. So it, for some reason, just makes it feel more surreal that he's gone.
Not only did he have the ability to get you to the edge of your seat with this adventurous, chase, or combat-centered pieces, he also had an annoying habit of making you want to commit suicide because of the deep depression that his more emotional scores provoked (specifically his little known TV film score, The Gathering). And while he was, at times, influenced by the times as far as music styles go, he knew how to use these styles, and how to use them to his advantage without his scores coming off sounding like every other score during each era (case-in-point would, again, be his score for The Living Daylights in which he masterfully utilizes an 80's synth-pop drumbeat through much of the score that is very effective).
Of course, the James Bond scores weren't all he was good and known for. "The Girl with the Sun in Her Hair" (composed for a commercial if I remember correctly) is an amazing piece, and his other piece "What A Question" is a personal favorite and one I actually have used for one of my YouTube series for the last couple years. And one of my other favorites was his theme for The Persuaders. There are really too many great scores and pieces to list.
I highly recommend getting a hold of the John Barry Themependium. It's a masterpiece collection of all his greatest one-shot, tv, and film score compositions. You can purchase it from Amazon here:
So, in closing, thank you, John Barry, for your wonderfully unique scores that I've practically grown up with. You were, and still are, a master film composer.
My prayers go out to his family and friends (and close fans) in this hard time. May God use this time to bring them closer to Him.
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