by Dr. Vincent Patterson
Glorious autumnal colors, air and sky here – for sure the Best time of the year in the DC area! Aaahhh! Musician-writer Marc Myers has a book coming out in Dec., “Why Jazz Happened.” So he was tapped by the Wall St. Journal recently to write a little article on “Why Men Bond With the 007 Theme.” Ever wonder? Here’s Marc’s points in a nutshell: “Maybe it’s the stealthy bass line of the machine-gun guitar solo or the swaggering wail of horns or maybe it’s all three shaken together. At the Olympics’ opening ceremony the theme played as Britain’s “queen” parachuted from a helicopter. For millions of baby-boomer males … the theme song stirs powerful psychological coals, flipping a primal switch as images of silencers, casinos, bikinis, gin and gadgets flood the male brain. Professor of Psych. at Harvard Med School, Eugene Beresin, says men link the theme to strength, adulthood and virility. It’s like the smell of a childhood baseball glove or a father’s aftershave. Music travels to the auditory nerve where it’s evaluated by the cerebral networks that process our emotions – before we even identify what we’re hearing. In a split second our brain scans its files for a match. If the music unlocks memories, you are likely to re-experience the same emotions you felt when you first heard it. The idea for a Bond theme began in 1961 for Dr. No by producer Albert Broccoli. He asked songwriter Monty Norman to compose music for the film. Norman went to the Jamaican movie set where he wrote the Caribbean-flavored songs. Broccoli then turned to composer John Barry; he added orchestration to Norman’s melody line but felt his score needed a dominant voice to symbolize Bond’s masculinity. Barry’s lead guitarist, Vic Flick, who was asked how the theme could be given more power and he pecked out Norman’s melody on his guitar, Morse-code style, and dropped the key to A minor. The theme we know was born. Why do men find the deep guitar notes and swinging horns so intriguing? There’s a feeling of action and rhythmic rocking that releases a burst of dopamine – telling men they have the world by the tail, said Dr. Beresin. And women? They’re reminded of an era of handsome, dashing men who they hoped would sweep them off their feet.” So what does this tell us about the role we play in musicians’ lives? I’d say a vitally important role. When our concert tourers go to a new city and perform in a fabulous new space, these personal sounds create MEMORIES. These memories remain with them their entire lives, free to bubble up whenever a thought, picture or the music itself is recalled. It’s why our folks keep coming back! All we need to do is provide the best VALUE and SERVICE in our business and they WILL come back! Have a good week, y’all. And be looking for that new 007 movie!