20 Things You Didn’t Know About Moonraker (1979)
7. “Where Is That Moonlight Trail That Leads To Your Side?”
Cubby Broccoli approached his friend, Frank Sinatra to perform a song for Moonraker, having pursued him since You Only Live Twice. However, even though composer, John Barry and American musician and actor, Paul Williams had prepared a song entitled “Think Of Me” for the film, Sinatra declined as he wanted to play a villain in the film.
Barry and lyricist, Hal David - who had crafted Louis Armstrong’s “We Have All the Time in the World” for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service together - then rewrote the song as “Moonraker”. Kate Bush declined the song as she was committed to a tour in Britain, whilst Johnny Mathis withdrew after becoming dissatisfied with the song.
With the film’s British premiere mere weeks away, the filmmakers asked Dame Shirley Bassey to record her third and (to date) final Bond song. Sadly, she had little time to promote it and the disco remix featured in the film’s end credits, resulting in it being overlooked in the charts; consequently, she has never considered it to be her own song.
Titles designer, Maurice Binder’s main titles sequence for Moonraker also cost more to make than the entire budget for Dr. No (1962)!