Never Say Never Again

[SteveM]

I saw "Never Say Never Again" last night and had forgotten that Herb and Lani did the title track. Hadn't heard that song in a while and I really enjoyed it ---it has a nice sensuous feel to it.

It sounded like an extended version of the tune was used over the closing credits. I really couldn't tell, because TNN was plugging a million other shows while the credits rolled. But there at the tail end of the credits was Herb's trumpet fading out and so I'm guessing there may have been an extended Herb solo used over the end titles.

Any info on this? And where can I find the song besides the soundtrack itself? Have to tell you, I thought the Michel Legrand score was pretty terrible, but that's probably because I was comparing it to the great John Barry scores. (Who does Bond better than Barry?) So I'd rather not buy the soundtrack if I don't have to.

Any info would be appreciated.

---SteveM

 

[Harry]

The story, as I know it, is that yes, Herb Alpert did indeed do an instrumental version of the theme to NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN. It appears in the film just as the main action has finished and continues to the end credits, where Lani's vocal version appears. If I recall correctly, there was some dispute with the rights to the performance on the soundtrack, thus it was eliminated.

The vocal version is on the soundtrack CD and only slightly extended from what's on Lani's Classics Volume 19 or Collectibles. On the soundtrack album, the song opens with an a capella Lani singing "Never...never say never again..." before the main horn intro. Yes, that's Herb on the horn, with Sergio Mendes co-producing the track.

The soundtrack album is out-of-print, but can be found occasionally on eBay.

By the way, if you ever decide to buy the DVD, make sure the title strip sticker on the top has three asterisks before and after the title. This indicates a fixed replacement for an earlier defective disc where five minutes of the film were skipped.

Harry
...who has this film on widescreen VHS, LaserDisc, and DVD, online...

 

[SteveM]

Thanks, Harry, you're the best!

---SteveM