“Something’s Up!” is the ultimate collection of the distinctive, darkly beautiful John Barry Sound – spy movies, swinging comedies, and social realism. Compiled by Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley, “Something’s Up!” covers the era when London was the driver of popular culture, and John Barry went from being just another British arranger to an actual pop star. The press talked about his E-Type life and called Jane Birkin his “E-Type wife”.
At the heart of this was his work on the most beloved James Bond films. With 1964’s Goldfinger, 1965's Thunderball and 1967's You Only Live Twice, John Barry made Bond his own; his fame and fortune were secured. Further big commissions like The Ipcress File and The Quiller Memorandum came in, and Barry essentially defined the sound of the cold war spy movie. They also enabled Barry to pursue more unusual requests – the tense and controversial short movie Dutchman; Bryan Forbes’ tale of isolation and paranoia The Whisperers - for purely artistic reasons. He even tried his hand at advertising work; ‘The Girl With The Sun In Her Hair’ is taken from a Sunsilk shampoo ad.
Other highlights of “Something’s Up!” include not only acknowledged classics (the Bond movies, The Knack, Born Free) but other now-obscure films whose soundtracks (King Rat, The Chase, Séance on a Wet Afternoon) are more widely discussed than the actual movies.
1. THE SYNDICATE
2. OUBLIE CA
3. SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (from the Original Film Soundtrack)
4. TROUBADOUR
5. CHICKEN DELHI COLD
6. BARBRA'S THEME
7. GOLDFINGER
8. THE CHASE
9. THEME FROM KING RAT
10. A MAN ALONE
11. THE KNACK
12. THUNDERBALL
13. MISTER KISS KISS BANG BANG
14. FOUR IN THE MORNING
15. DANNY SCIPIO THEME
16. THEME FROM THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM
17. SOMETHING'S UP!
18. THE GIRL WITH THE SUN IN HER HAIR
19. VENDETTA
20. THE WHISPERERS
21. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
22. SPACE MARCH (CAPSULE IN SPACE)
23. DUTCHMAN
24. SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (1966 version from the Great Movie Sounds LP)
25. THEME FROM BORN FREE