Modesty Blaise Music
Soundtrack from the 1966 Film
For those who loved the film (if there's anyone out there who fits that description), there is also a soundtrack CD available. You can find it on Amazon, eBay, etc. (not sure if it's on iTunes) There are a few different covers, depending on the release date:
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CD (2004) |
CD (2002) |
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LP (Vinyl, 1966) John Dankworth (Author), David and Jonathan (Performer) |
Back Cover |
Track Listing
1. Modesty Blaise: Main Theme - John Dankworth,
2. Moods of Modesty
3. Canal Trip: Modesty in Amsterdam
4. Going Upstairs
5. Night Club Dance (Letkiss)
6. Haarlemstraat 74, Apt C
7. At the Doll's House
8. Modesty Chased-Modesty Unchaste!
9. Modesty Willie and an Ice Cream
10. Modesty & Willie Car Chase
11. Modesty on the'' Andronicus''
12. Modesty Blaise Theme [Instrumental]
13. Frogman
14. Modesty in and Out of Truble
15. Modesty and Willie Scape
16. Sheik to the Rescue!
17. Ice Is Nice - Bob Breen, John Dankworth
18. Modesty Blaise: End Title
19. U. S. Radio Station Promotion
Modesty Blaise Tracks
'Modesty Plays' by Sparks
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In the 1980s, the band 'Sparks' recorded
a song called 'Modesty Plays', which was originally commissioned
for a TV version of Modesty Blaise. The following is based on the piece by Russell Mael in the Titan reprint of "Cry Wolf" which starts off, "In 1981 we were approached by Los Angeles screenwriter and producer Larry Wilson....to compose the theme song for a planned TV series that he was writing, based on the comic book character Modesty Blaise." Russell Mael admits he was really singing "Modesty Blaise", but they changed the title to avoid copyright problems. Vinyl 7" single from France, 1982 |
Obviously, they did not use the Sparks song for the Modesty Blaise TV
pilot that was produced, so presumably it was either commissioned for
it and not used, commissioned for the series that was supposed to follow,
or commissioned for another series entirely. Given that the Ann Turkel
pilot was written by Stephen Zito with Barney Rosenzweig as Executive
Producer and Russell Mael refers to "Los Angeles screenwriter and
producer Larry Wilson" as the series writer who commissioned Sparks,
it sounds as though it may have been an entirely different attempt to
bring Modesty to the screen. So perhaps there are more scripts gathering
dust somewhere in Hollywood...?
In the UK, it is a long time since Sparks were a chart-topping act, therefore copies of their later albums are rare, although earlier this year (2008) they did a residency in London playing each of their albums in its entirety on succeeding nights. The song is available on iTunes, and the 7" vinyl has (very occasionally) popped up on Ebay. Lyrics below:
Modesty Plays Modesty Plays... Modesty Plays She may like caviar and cocktails Modesty Plays... Modesty Plays The world is running out of heroes Well listen buddy don't you worry Modesty Plays... Modesty Plays Don't underestimate the lady The world is running out of heroes Modesty Plays... Modesty
Plays |
Thanks to Richard G for the detective work!
Modesty Blaise by The Direct Hits
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The Direct Hits recorded a track called "Modesty Blaise" (which can be downloaded from littlehits.com). The
Word magazine gives this description of the band: |
Modesty Blaise by Montt Mardie
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Just when you thought Modesty Blaise tracks were a thing of the past... Swedish musician Montt Mardié's latest album, Introducing... the Best Of has a track named 'Modesty Blaise.' You can read a review of the album here, and you can listen to the Modesty Blaise track at Montt Mardié's MySpace page. |
Modesty Blaise, the band
There is also a U.K. pop group by the name of Modesty Blaise. However, the name is not as much of a tribute to the character as you might think... in an interview by Kacey O'Neill, they had this to say about how the band got its name:
"The interesting thing about that was that we spent ages looking for a name and there was this time limit on it as we were recording for a label in Birmingham. They were going to release a single and we had to plump for something. We rejected Belle and Sebastian as a name which I still think was probably right and I remember the day when the labels were being printed up for the single or the day the artwork had to be submitted, phoning Dave up and saying, 'why aren't we called Modesty Blaise?' We couldn't think of a reason and it just seemed like a great name because it was a name that didn't really mean anything. However Modesty Blaise is a 1960's cartoon character and people ended up thinking we were a real '60s band. And of course the Evening Post used to have the cartoons for Bristow and Modesty Blaise from the days when my folks used to get the paper. I just want to say in retrospect that 'Modesty Blaise' is a dreadful choice for a name because of those very same reasons that people think we are a '60s group and I loathe that now."
You can read more about them at the band's Official Website or their My Space page.
Music References from the Books
There have been many music references in the Modesty Blaise books... thanks to John Blair for putting together these Modesty Blaise-themed music pieces, with readings from the books.
Click on the images below to listen. They are:
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"Steve Collier" Burt Kaempfert: A Swingin’ Safari (from I, Lucifer) |
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"A Long Iced Hock Topped Off With Soda" Petula Clark: Downtown (from I, Lucifer) |
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"A Present from Willie" |
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"The Watteau" |
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Jacques Loussier: |
Other contributions welcome, if you want to record your own Outshout!