10 Best James Bond Songs That Were REJECTED (And Why)
2. Alice Cooper - The Man With The Golden Gun
Rejected because: It was delivered too late
Widely disparaged as a low point in the history of Bond themes, even Lulu herself once described her The Man With The Golden Gun as "probably the worst one ever". Meanwhile, Bond music veteran John Barry, who actually wrote the song, once called it "the one I hate most". It's a real shame, then, that we could have been so close to something radically different.
At first glance, a Bond theme from shock rocker Alice Cooper seems wildly outlandish. But in the early 1970s, Alice Cooper (then still a band rather than just the name its frontman maintained as a solo artist) were more known for big crowd-pleasing glam rock than shocking stage theatrics, and the Bond series had just scored a major hit by switching it up with a heavier rock theme on Live And Let Die.
Taking a cue from Paul McCartney's success with the latter, Alice Cooper decided that the doors were open for 70s Bond to be more rock-driven and wrote a spec song for follow-up The Man With The Golden Gun.
According to Cooper, however, they delivered their song to producers a day too late. "By the time they heard it, they’d already signed for Lulu's song. I went: 'You’re gonna take Lulu over this!?'" Cooper (the singer) said years later, adding that Christopher Lee (the eponymous Scaramanga) had told him: "Why did we take the Lulu song? This song is the one!"
And, you know what? If he did say it then Lee is spot on. Unexpected as it may be, Alice Cooper crafted something that feels both like a heavy glam rock stomper and a proper Bond theme with crescendos of crashing strings and brass sections. It's properly great.