And he strikes like Thunderball

For some the music of the movies is defined best by the work of John Williams: that iconic Star Wars theme, the dark and mysterious Harry Potter, the Indiana Jones adventure march. Randy Newman has become a cinema score standout with his work on Seabiscuit, Ragtime, many of the Pixar films. Or you might favor Howard Shore and his work on A History of Violence, Gangs of New York, and the Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings films.

But for me, the master of music of the movies has always been John Barry. From trying to keep in my head the theme to On Her Majesty's Secret Service by humming it into a tape recorder, to seeing the movie Enigma pretty much solely because it was scored by Barry—his last film score, in fact—I've seen the world of the movies set to a swinging Barry beat.



Beat Girl (1959)



The Ipcress File (1965)



Midnight Cowboy (1969)



The Persuaders (1971)



Out of Africa (1985)



Dances with Wolves "The John Dunbar Theme" (1990)



Thunderball (1965), sung by Tom Jones



Goldfinger "Into Miami" (1964)



Diamonds Are Forever (1971), sung by Shirley Bassey



On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)


Play on, John. Play on.

John Barry
1933-2011
Rest in peace