In 1989, the 16th spy thriller in the James Bond film series released, Licence to Kill with Timothy Dalton returning as 007 for the last time. The movie theme song bearing the same title was performed by the incomparable, Gladys Knight (reference only).
I turned to secondhandsongs to learn which artists covered this Bond theme song. The site listed nearly two dozen possibilities. Some of the musicians I’ve seen and even used since I began this BOTB series. Not wanting any repeated artists, I ventured to see what YouTube had to offer. I found mostly females covering this Knight’s UK Top 10 hit, as well as one male vocalist contender on Germany’s Idol, and a couple of groups. I wasn’t bowled over by the male artist and while I sorta liked the two groups I discovered, I couldn’t see either as a James Bond theme song nor do I ever see myself buying the recordings. This left me with my female soloists. I narrowed my selections to four singers. Each performer had something to offer with her rendition. In the end, I decided to put in this battle the two artists most closely to Gladys Knight.
My first contest is someone who I thought looked familiar but I’m horrible with celebrity names, especially those of musicians. It turns out this gal from Amsterdam, was a finalist in 2018 on America’s Got Talent season 13. Please listen to Glennis Grace!
Next up is Nina Nyembwe from Germany. Nina uses her chest voice mostly in this recording but I was happy to hear she can hit higher notes adding more range character to her cover. Kindly listen to Nina Nyembwe!
Which artist do you think is the best, Glennis or Nina?
I invite you to visit BoTBers with showdowns going on today.
- CAAC (me)
- The Doglady’s Den (Debbie) retired member, active voter
- Jingle Jangle Jungle (Mary) 1st
- Mike’s Ramblings
- STMcC Presents BoTB (Stephen, BoTB Manager)
- The Sound of One Hand Typing (John)
- Tossing It Out (Lee)
*Unless noted, all other participants will present two battles per month on the 1st & 15th
Polls close noon (EST) on Apr. 6th!
Mark your calendar to return for the results in this showdown, next week same time or at least that’s the plan. As you may know, I’m participating in the A to Z Challenge this month and many of you know how this complicates the schedule sometimes, but I’ll do my best. Speaking of which, watch for my first edition in my Pencil Sketch Inspired Procreate Recreation Art series to publish at 6am. This is CAAC signing off, I hope you’ll swing by in the morning to boogie with me. Have a bandtastic day!
