Sound Sample of “Jump Up” by Byron Lee.

Being that Dr. NO (the first of all the James Bond films) was set in Jamaica it seems fitting that ska bands as diverse as The Skatalites and The Selector (amongst many others) have all covered JB theme songs (the ones I have posted can be found HERE). Even though there isn’t any real Ska on this soundtrack it does include a lot or Caribbean music including a number of tracks by Byron Lee and The Dragonaires (I’ve heard they even make a brief appearance in the movie).

Track Listing:
1. “James Bond Theme” – Monty Norman Orchestra[4]
2. “Kingston Calypso” – Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
3. “Jamaican Rock” (not heard in the film, a possible unused title track)
4. “Jump Up” – Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
5. “Audio Bongo” (an Electronic music version of a musical theme for Dr. No)
6. “Under the Mango Tree” – Diana Coupland
7. “Twisting with James” (unused in the film)
8. “Jamaica Jazz” – (unused in the film, an instrumental of Jump Up)
9. “Under the Mango Tree” – (Instrumental unused in the film)
10. “Jump Up” – Byron Lee and the Dragonaires
11. “Dr. No’s Fantasy” (unused in the film)
12. “Kingston Calypso” – Diana Coupland
13. “The Island Speaks” (an instrumental version of a musical theme for Dr. No accompanying Bond and Quarrel landing on Crab Key)
14. “Under the Mango Tree” – Monty Norman
15. “The Boy’s Chase” (unused in the film)
16. “Dr. No’s Theme” [instrumental version of Kingston Calypso]
17.”The James Bond Theme” (an unused instrumental version of Dr. No’s Fantasy)
18. “Love at Last” (heard briefly in a party sequence)

I’ve always loved the James Bond opening title sequences and especially this one most of all. Being that I work in the Motion Graphic industry I can really appreciate the painstaking efforts they must have put in to this mesmerizing animation with the tools they had to work with at the time. To top it off it ends by introducing the first scene of the first James Bond movie with “Kingston Calypso” (the 3 Blind Mice styled tune) by none other than Ska pioneers Byron Lee & The Dragonaires!

The picture sequence on the back cover of this Compilation Album instructs people on how to dance the Ska. These same dance instructor pictures appear on Byron Lee & The Dragonaires “Dance The Ska” release from the same year (1964) and can be found HERE. Byron Lee’s backing band on this recording is labeled “The Ska Kings” instead of his usual “Dragonaires”.

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Sound Sample.

             I’m not sure what year exactly that Byron Lee put out this single but I’m betting it followed closely on the coat tails of the widely popular Beatles tune “Give Peace a Chance” of 1969. The opening of this tune has a definite Ska tinged resemblance to the Beatles song and Lennon & McCartney are even credited on the label.
            B side contains “Can’t Wine”

These same dance instructor pictures can be found on another record release from this same year HERE.

These dance instruction photos also appeared to be copied as illustrations on THIS album by The Ska-Men.