All Time High
Encyclopedia
"All Time High" is a 1983
single release by Rita Coolidge
introduced as the theme song
for the James Bond film
Octopussy
.
after his absence from the For Your Eyes Only
soundtrack. The lyrics were written by Tim Rice
and recording and mixing of the track is credited to Stephen Short
.
Prior to Rita Coolidge being assigned the Octopussy theme a contender was Mari Wilson
a British singer whose retro-image evoked the mid-'60s when the Bond series originated, but Wilson's lack of a US-profile led to a negative decision.
The producers of Octopussy were known to have been in negotiations with Laura Branigan
then a top ranking hitmaker in the US and Europe.
The ultimate choice of Coolidge whose career peak had occurred some six years previously was a surprising one. Coolidge recalls that Barbara Broccoli
, the assistant director of Octopussy, was a fan of Coolidge and made a point of playing Coolidge records around her father the film's producer Cubby Broccoli
til "one day [he said], "Who is that? That's the voice I want for the movie.'...in the studio [Tim Rice] was still finishing the song. We were waiting for the lyrics as the track had already been done."
Rice made no effort to incorporate the film's title but the lyric: "We're two of a kind" is a line spoken by the title character (played by Maud Adams
) to James Bond (Roger Moore
). The song's title "All Time High" parallels Coolidge's #2 hit "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher
" whose lyric "When you wrap your loving arms around me I can stand up and face the world again" is echoed by the "All Time High" lyric "We'll take on the world and win".
The music video shows Coolidge in soft focus in what purports to be an Indian palace (it is in fact the Royal Pavilion
at Brighton
, England)
in August 1983. Adult contemporary radio was much more receptive, with that genre allowing "All Time High" four weeks at No. 1 as ranked by Billboard magazine
. Coolidge had previously topped the Adult Contemporary chart in 1977 with "We're All Alone
".
In the UK
, "All Time High" became the lowest-charting James Bond theme with a No. 75 peak.1 It did, however, become a major hit in several European countries: Austria - No. 14; Germany - No. 13; The Netherlands - No. 8; Sweden - No. 8; and Switzerland - No. 7. Of those European countries Coolidge had only previously charted in the Netherlands (with "We're All Alone" - #15/1977), which was also the only one of those countries where she'd chart again ("I Stand in Wonder", #56/1999). "All Time High" charted in other parts of the world, too: Canada - No. 38, New Zealand - No. 26, Australia - No. 80, and South Africa - No. 8. It was Coolidge's final South African chart hit.
"All Time High" was not originally featured on Never Let You Go, the Rita Coolidge album released in October 1983 although it does occur on some pressings. Since 1998, "All Time High" has been included on several Coolidge anthology releases including a 2001 retrospective on Spectrum Records entitled All Time High.
In 2006, when asked "Which song [of yours] has been the biggest earner in terms of royalties?", Tim Rice first mentioned "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight
" and "A Whole New World
", then added: ""All Time High" is another one that just keeps on earning."
for her 1987 release Premiere, Pulp
for David Arnold
's Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project album (1998) and by Shirley Bassey
for her 2002 release Bassey Sings Bond. A dance version was recorded in 2006 by Kelly Llorenna
.
1983 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1983.-January-April:*January – ZTT Records is founded.*January 8 – The UK singles chart is tabulated from this week forward by The Gallup Organization...
single release by Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge is a multiple Grammy Award-winning American vocalist. During the 1970s and 1980s, she charted hits on Billboard's Pop, Country, Adult Contemporary and Jazz charts.-Career:...
introduced as the theme song
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
for the James Bond film
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
Octopussy
Octopussy
Octopussy is the thirteenth entry in the James Bond series, and the sixth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film's title is taken from a short story in Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights...
.
Background
"All Time High" marked the return of regular James Bond theme composer John BarryJohn Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
after his absence from the For Your Eyes Only
For Your Eyes Only (soundtrack)
For Your Eyes Only is the soundtrack for the 12th James Bond film of the same name.The theme song was written by Bill Conti and Michael Leeson , and performed by Sheena Easton. The song was later nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe in 1982...
soundtrack. The lyrics were written by Tim Rice
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice is an British lyricist and author.An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus...
and recording and mixing of the track is credited to Stephen Short
Stephen Short
Stephen Short is a Grammy Award–winning record producer and operates Ping Pong Music, an artist management company. Many songs he has worked on have gone on to become chart-topping singles that have won Grammy Awards, Academy Awards, and Golden Globe Awards....
.
Prior to Rita Coolidge being assigned the Octopussy theme a contender was Mari Wilson
Mari Wilson
Mari Wilson is an English singer, best known for her sometimes quirky, early 1960s-influenced pop music songs, and her beehive hairstyle.-Career:...
a British singer whose retro-image evoked the mid-'60s when the Bond series originated, but Wilson's lack of a US-profile led to a negative decision.
The producers of Octopussy were known to have been in negotiations with Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...
then a top ranking hitmaker in the US and Europe.
The ultimate choice of Coolidge whose career peak had occurred some six years previously was a surprising one. Coolidge recalls that Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Broccoli
Barbara Dana Broccoli, OBE is an American film producer.-Life and career:Broccoli was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of the famous James Bond producer Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and actress Dana Wilson Broccoli...
, the assistant director of Octopussy, was a fan of Coolidge and made a point of playing Coolidge records around her father the film's producer Cubby Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
til "one day [he said], "Who is that? That's the voice I want for the movie.'...in the studio [Tim Rice] was still finishing the song. We were waiting for the lyrics as the track had already been done."
Rice made no effort to incorporate the film's title but the lyric: "We're two of a kind" is a line spoken by the title character (played by Maud Adams
Maud Adams
Maud Solveig Christina Wikström , known professionally as Maud Adams, is a Swedish actress, known for her roles as two different Bond girls: in The Man with the Golden Gun , and as the title character in Octopussy .-Early life:Adams was born Maud Solveig Christina Wikström in Luleå, Sweden, the...
) to James Bond (Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
). The song's title "All Time High" parallels Coolidge's #2 hit "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher
(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher
" Higher and Higher" is a hit R&B song originally performed by Jackie Wilson in 1967. The song was notably recorded by Rita Coolidge in 1977.-Overview:...
" whose lyric "When you wrap your loving arms around me I can stand up and face the world again" is echoed by the "All Time High" lyric "We'll take on the world and win".
The music video shows Coolidge in soft focus in what purports to be an Indian palace (it is in fact the Royal Pavilion
Royal Pavilion
The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. It was built in three campaigns, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, from 1811 Prince Regent. It is often referred to as the Brighton Pavilion...
at Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, England)
Charting
"All Time High" reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
in August 1983. Adult contemporary radio was much more receptive, with that genre allowing "All Time High" four weeks at No. 1 as ranked by Billboard magazine
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
. Coolidge had previously topped the Adult Contemporary chart in 1977 with "We're All Alone
We're All Alone
"We're All Alone" is a song written by Boz Scaggs, who introduced it on his 1976 album Silk Degrees; in 1977, "We're All Alone" was a top-ten hit for Rita Coolidge in the US and the UK.-Early versions:...
".
In the UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, "All Time High" became the lowest-charting James Bond theme with a No. 75 peak.1 It did, however, become a major hit in several European countries: Austria - No. 14; Germany - No. 13; The Netherlands - No. 8; Sweden - No. 8; and Switzerland - No. 7. Of those European countries Coolidge had only previously charted in the Netherlands (with "We're All Alone" - #15/1977), which was also the only one of those countries where she'd chart again ("I Stand in Wonder", #56/1999). "All Time High" charted in other parts of the world, too: Canada - No. 38, New Zealand - No. 26, Australia - No. 80, and South Africa - No. 8. It was Coolidge's final South African chart hit.
- 1"The Man With the Golden GunThe Man with the Golden Gun (soundtrack)The Man with the Golden Gun is the soundtrack for the 9th James Bond film of the same name.The theme tune was performed by Lulu, composed by John Barry, and the lyrics to the song were written by Don Black. Alice Cooper claims his song The Man With The Golden Gun was to be used by the producers of...
" by LuluLulu (singer)Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
failed to chart in 1974 - at that time the chart was limited to the Top 50 - and "MoonrakerMoonraker (soundtrack)Moonraker is the soundtrack for the 11th James Bond film of the same name.Moonraker was the third of the three Bond films for which the theme song was performed by Shirley Bassey. Kate Bush and Frank Sinatra were both considered for the vocals, before Johnny Mathis was approached and offered the...
" by Shirley BasseyShirley BasseyDame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
fell short of the Top 75 in 1979.
Legacy
According to the Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits by Wesley Hyatt, Coolidge considered "All Time High" to be an unfinished work and customarily would include the song in concert via her backing musicians playing it as an overture rather than singing it as part of her program. However Coolidge did state in 2006: "It is a wonderful song and I am very proud to be a part of that family [of James Bond theme singers].""All Time High" was not originally featured on Never Let You Go, the Rita Coolidge album released in October 1983 although it does occur on some pressings. Since 1998, "All Time High" has been included on several Coolidge anthology releases including a 2001 retrospective on Spectrum Records entitled All Time High.
In 2006, when asked "Which song [of yours] has been the biggest earner in terms of royalties?", Tim Rice first mentioned "Don't Cry For Me Argentina", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight
Can You Feel the Love Tonight
250px|thumb|right|Simba and Nala embrace during the "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" sequence."Can You Feel the Love Tonight" is a song from Disney's 1994 animated film, The Lion King, composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. It was described by Don Hahn , Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff as...
" and "A Whole New World
A Whole New World
"A Whole New World" is the Oscar winning featured pop single from the soundtrack to the 1992 Disney film Aladdin. It was composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice. The song is a ballad between the primary characters Aladdin and Jasmine about the new world they are going to discover together....
", then added: ""All Time High" is another one that just keeps on earning."
Covers
"All Time High" has been remade by Anita MeyerAnita Meyer
Anita Meyer , born in Rotterdam 29 October 1954, is a Dutch singer. One of her most notable songs is "Why Tell Me Why" that charted for 14 weeks and topped the Dutch singles list for six weeks in 1981.- Albums :...
for her 1987 release Premiere, Pulp
Pulp (band)
Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
for David Arnold
David Arnold
David Arnold is an English film composer best known for scoring five James Bond films, the 1994 film Stargate, the 1996 film Independence Day, and the television series Little Britain.-Film and television career:...
's Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project album (1998) and by Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
for her 2002 release Bassey Sings Bond. A dance version was recorded in 2006 by Kelly Llorenna
Kelly Llorenna
Kelly Llorenna is an English female dance music and Euro-trance singer, who was raised in Oldham, Greater Manchester.-1992: Debut with N-Trance:...
.