Was Trump trying to help himself or his buddy Vladimir when he agreed to buy boatloads of diesel fuel from Russia? Hey, why not both?
Forget about the corruption, the cruelty and the incompetence – it’s high prices for gasoline and diesel that have Republicans on the ropes, because half the American population doesn’t give a fuck about anybody but themselves. Trump’s deal has pissed off some Republican senators, and it’s not going to do much for prices at the pump, either – 300,000 tonnes sounds like a lot, but it’s less than one day’s worth of U.S. consumption.
The deal certainly helps Russia, though, and when has Trump ever shied away from helping the country that has done the most to get him elected twice? Russia has fuel problems of its own, but Putin is happy to get some much-needed cash.
“From Russia With Love,” the second James Bond film, was released in 1963, when most movie scores included a theme song. Written by Lionel Bart, the composer/lyricist of the smash theater musical “Oliver!” it was sung by British crooner Matt Munro. It’s not well-regarded today, but at the time it made No. 20 on the UK chart, establishing the tradition of Bond themes as hit singles.
Munro is mostly forgotten now, but in the early ’60s his work with producer George Martin earned him the sobriquet “the British Sinatra.” Sinatra himself said, “”If I had to choose three of the finest male vocalists in the singing business, Matt would be one of them.”
Munro only reached the American charts a couple of times, but he had a string of hits in Britain, several of them, like “Born Free,” theme songs from films. His association with Martin led to Munro being the first of well over a thousand singers to cover Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday.”
Prolific film composer John Barry scored and conducted the music to “From Russia With Love.” The theme song vanished by the time the next film was released, but another number on the soundtrack, “007 Takes the Lektor,” had a long afterlife. Anyone who watched Philadelphia TV station KYW in the ’60s and ’70s will recognize it, and it will make my list for WXPN’s top songs from movies and television.
