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A 12-inch mix of Duran Duran’s “A View To A Kill” emerges

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Duran Duran‘s 1985 Bond theme A View To A Kill was famously never remixed for its single release and as a consequence a twelve-inch vinyl edition was never commercially issued. However, a few days ago an apparently official period remix – never released – has surfaced which you can hear below.

James Bond site MI6 revealed this audio and it has since been mentioned on Duran Duran’s website which suggests that it might be the real deal. MI6 claim that Steve Thompson created the 12″ mix in Paris with the band, although John Taylor says “I don’t remember hearing it at the time”.

Have a listen to this fascinating remix below and leave a comment to let us know what you think.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrIrAAXs65A

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63 Comments

63 thoughts on “A 12-inch mix of Duran Duran’s “A View To A Kill” emerges

  1. The bootleg of this is mysteriously blocked from sale on Discogs. It’s up there on YouTube but the audio quality is atrocious. Really about time this were finally let out of the vaults for a proper remaster and release wouldn’t you think? I mean it’s been 35 years already!

  2. I realize this thread is quite old now, but personally “Steve Thompson and Mike Barbiero” I think this mix is fantastic…. and I like the clicking…. and don’t take regards to the snare, it sounds good too. Besides, in a remix, aren’t we all looking for something a little bit more or different from than the original?
    Seeing that this post dates back to 2014, I can only wonder if this mix will ever be released… on vinyl preferably:) As an avid vinyl collector, I can only hope. Have all the DD mixes in addition to my other 8,500 12″ vinyl collection… and still collecting. Hence, why I found this thread.

  3. Nice one. Very much of its time but still worth a proper release. I love AVTAK. The live version DD is superb and with the recent addition of a percussionist to their live show is even better.

  4. PLEASE REALESED VYNIL WITH THIS REMIX A VIEW TO A KILL OF STEVE THOMPSON NEVER RELEASED… PLEASE ONE EDITION ANNIVERSARY EDITION 30 ANIVERSARY JAMES BOND THEME A VIEW TO A KILL REMIX PLEASE

  5. PLEASE RELEASED VYNIL OF THIS SONG ANS THIS REMIX GREATEST REMIX OF STEVE THOMPSON NEVER RELEASED… PLEASE IN CD AND VYNIL

  6. This remix is awesome ! Thanks to Steve Thompsom and Michael Barbiero . Guys you always give us a such good remixes .
    By the way ! I got , Withney Houston – I wanna dance with somebody (US – 5 versions and Germany – 2 versions all got EXT.VERSION)

  7. @Steve Thompson, thanks for considering it! Perhaps you can do like Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero Presents… (Remixes by 1 artist, 1 publisher or 1 record label to keep things/copyrights less complicated)! If a full compilation is not possible, perhaps a “CD single”! For example:

    Steve Thompson & Michael Barbiero Presents… Tina Turner – One Of The Living
    One Of The Living (Edited Version) 4:10 *
    One Of The Living (Special Club Mix) 7:35
    One Of The Living (Dub Version) 4:56
    One Of The Living (Instrumental Version) 5:58 *
    {* I’m not sure whether you & Mike did these, according to 7″/12″ single covers/label: yes! They could also be remixed by Humberto Gatica}

    @Matteo, I still see at least 3 of them on soundcloud (about 7:20/7:22)! I’m sure whether Paul S. like us posting the links! Or before they’ll take down these, and no one can have the chance to listen to it/them! Good luck finding it.

    @David Knottnerus, no, I believe not. I’m not familiar with the Dr No sound. But this Steve Thompson Remix has only bits & parts of the original song (intro is all AVTAK, but not as the single version)! But I did find a remix called 25th Anniversary Mix Low Quality 5:07! It has some film sound at the beginning then the intro sounds like Steve’s Remix, but the rest sounds like fan made (bits & parts copied pasted from the single version)!

  8. They took the clip down and I can’t hear it, but I need to know is this the remix that starts off with the old James Bond theme from Dr. No, then goes into it? Because I swear to god I hear that on the radio in 1985.

  9. A Classic remix……………….Brilliant very much like the original Just how a classic is put together………..adds to the original…………
    This is how it should be done, mixes take a classic NOTE………..
    Gary

  10. @Steve Thompson, I have always loved your works with Michael Barbiero! I loved many of your 80’s remixes! You both were one of my favourite 80’s remixers!
    Good idea from Ronald (suggesting you to do 80’s remixes compilation CD like Phil Harding’s)! Or if you like something like John Morales’!

    About this mix, I like it! Only listened about 5 times now! I think we need time to get used to it. I had accepted it for years that AVTAK was only in the 7″ version & had no Extended 12″ version!

    About the release, I would like it in a CD single release, like the one in the DD singles boxset. So I can easily to swap with the one inside or just right next to it, in the boxset.

  11. The master reel of this remix does not exist in the (former) EMI tape library at Abbey Road. It *may* be in one of the Capitol Records archives in New York or L.A. unlikely though, as it would have come out prior to this release. For these reasons alone, Warners isn’t likely to release it anytime soon. :)

  12. …this is one of my personal favourite from DD. Hope to see it released next year for it’s 30th anniversary, coloured, clear or black vinyl, for Record Store Day or not. Great remix.

  13. Although interesting to hear, the overall mix seems a bit understated for what, at the time, was the biggest song from the biggest band for the biggest Bond film. At least it didn’t destroy the original tune as the ‘found’ remixes of the song “Big Thing”.
    After Nick Rhodes’s comments earlier this year about finding a previously unreleased mix of “Is There Something I Should Know”, and now this….are the Duran’s contemplating a release showing the dark underside of their “Strange Behaviour” remix compilation?

  14. More simplicity, please… In 1985 extended versions begun to become more and more sophisticated: too many echoes and sound layers. Does anyone remember the remix for A-ha’s “The Sun Always Shines on Tv” or Madonna’s “Who’s That Girl?” Extended version… Well, it was the same Thompson/Barbiero hotchpotch. Do you think this “A View to a Kill” remix is a good one? Really?

    1. Yes, I like it. I also liked the Thompson remix of Sun Always Shines (I’m aware there’s a different Tarney mix too). I didn’t like the Who’s That Girl remix though.

  15. Hi Steve Thompson here. The mystery solved. I did this mix with Mike Barbiero and The band was there except John. We did that mix in a studio in Paris. I could never understand why the mix didn’t come out. And yes i brought it to WLIR because we were all friends of the station and i would always give them exclusives. Would love to find out how this got out and would hope it finally gets released. I love the comment that the snare is all wrong.

    1. Hi Steve – Paul here, I run this blog. Just wanted to thank you on behalf of all the music fans here for taking the trouble to leave a comment. Absolutely fantastic to hear this from ‘the horse’s mouth’ so to speak! cheers, Paul

  16. I did a double take when I saw this. Somewhere in a box in the house is a cassette with an unreleased 12″ mix of this song that I taped off the radio back in 1985. The unreleased mix was played on one of WLIR’s radio shows. I haven’t listened to it since then so can’t confirm if it is the same as this mix. Anyone else an ‘LIR fan? The Long Island, New York station loved to play lots of rarities including unreleased tracks, b-sides and extended mixes.

  17. Great idea from the poster above that they should consider this for a RSD limited 12″. 2015 would mark the 30th anniversary of AVTAK – as good a ‘hook’ to hang that kind of release on as any. And yeah, Careless Memories and Save a Prayer had 12″ formats but no extended 12″ version of the songs. Ditto 1989 ‘Do You Believe In Shame?’ which had a 10″ in the UK which was stretched to a 12″ disc in some territories (I have the French 12″ single from the time). A couple of others into the 90s were the 12″ formats of Serious, and Ordinary World and Perfect Day. Oh and ‘Someone Else Not Me’ in 2000 – although by 1993 DDs 12″ formats were becoming the occasional exception, no longer a given. In other words, DD are no strangers to *not* offering remixes when they want :)

  18. I did in fact hear a remix of this track on the radio back in the 80’s and have been looking for it ever since! I think it’s safe to assume this is it, it certainly sounds much as I remember it.

  19. It wasn’t the only Duran song not to have a 12 inch mix. Their third single, Careless Memories was released on 12″ but featured the same 7 inch version.

    John Taylor doesn’t remember hearing it because he doesn’t remember much from that period. He was in New York making the Power Station album. A view to a kill was mixed by the same team that made The Power Station Album. The 12 inch mix of AVTAK was done in Paris in presence of Nick & Simon.

  20. Never understood why there was no 12″ of this, as others have said with the additional sales it would have got to no.1. I know they released the limited edition gatefold 7″ a little later than the original release, but that wasn’t enough to make me buy it again.
    I always liked this song though and ended up extending it myself by chopping it up and cutting it back together on tape.

  21. Great mix. Love the instrumental part towards the end, although ideally that should have been at the beginning in typical 80’s fashion. I hope for a commercial release soon!! I always wondered what a 12″mix of this song would sound like. I have the Art of Mix remix but that’s not a great remix, this one is definitely better. Release it!!

  22. It’s the only single from Duran Duran who’s haven’t extended mix in the eighties. I don’t why but why not to add this track ? Personaly I would like to find some noise included in the video clip with the Eiffel Tower

  23. Strange cirumstances in which this remix appears, nobody knows if it is authentic, but it surely closes a gap, as this was the only DD single from the 80s which got no 12″ version

    I like it

  24. A typically Fairlight-heavy track and it’s great to hear it in this extended form as it allows Fairlight geeks like myself to hear the constituent parts in more detail. A brilliant discovery and thanks for sharing.

    The question is, will this ever see an official release??

  25. Always thought this track sounded more like the Arcadia offshoot – it was at the same time in 1985 – than Duran Duran. Also in the video the Arcadia members had the dyed black hair if i remember.

    Ususal 80’s remix otheriwse, all drums and percussion breaks!

  26. If this mix is authentic,then it could have given the group a No 1 hit [it stalled at No2]Usually around this time Steve Thompson worked with Michael Barbiero to create brilliant remixes [check out Madonna’s ‘Open Your Heart’ & Aretha Franklin’s ‘Another Night’ for their remixing skills]

  27. Good find!
    Its got that horrible clicking sound running through a lot of it, Steve Thompson used the same kind of effect on some A-ha remixes too, most annoyingly Train of Thought. Remove that and you’ve got a keeper.
    There is an Art of Noise mix too, a bit all over the place but it didn’t graft stuff on the original music like this Thompson mix does.

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