Coldplay's ‘not very good’ James Bond theme song unearthed after 27 years

Chris Martin admitted the songs weren’t ‘very good’ (Picture: Getty) A demo recording of a Coldplay song intended for a James Bond film is set to go under the hammer after being forgotten for more than 26 years. Chris Martin previously said Coldplay wrote five potential Bond themes but never submitted them as they weren’t very good.

The Fix You singer said they were eventually forced to accept defeat, and said James Bond probably wouldn’t be into their music ‘at all’. ‘As much as I like the films, I don’t know if us singing would do it for him’, Chris joked to NME. Now, Wax Poetics is set to auction off the early archive of Coldplay’s recordings this week.

The auctioneers said: ‘The collection includes original DAT mixes, alternate versions and demos from The Blue Room sessions, including unreleased versions of several songs and a previously unheard take of “We Never Change.” Pierce Brosnan starred in the late 90s Bond film (Picture: Getty)

‘The archive also includes an original nine-track cassette given to Allison before recording began, featuring demos and some of the band’s earliest known recordings, including two previously unreleased songs.’ The acoustic demo intended to be for The World Is Not Enough will also be featured in the auction.

British producer, mixer, and engineer Chris Allison, who worked on Coldplay’s earliest professional recordings, said: ‘This is a window into the writing, recording, production and promotion of some uniquely celebrated music artists – pieces of music history that deserve to be in the hands of fans, not gathering dust in a storage unit.’

Comment nowWhat’s your favourite Bond song? Have your say in the comments belowComment Now Coldplay’s song wasn’t selected for the movie, the third Bond movie starring Pierce Brosnan, with the band Garbage providing the title track for the 1999 entry. There are countless reasons the James Bond series has reached its iconic status, but the tradition around each film’s theme song is definitely up there as among the most important.

Duran Duran’s A View To Kill was the first Bond theme to reach the number one spot in the US charts (and number two in the UK) for the 1985 film of the same name, and since then, the tracks have gone from strength to strength. The World Is Not Enough came out in 1999 (Picture: Getty) Famous songs rejected for James Bond

Here are some of the other songs that were rejected over the years for James Bond films. Johnny Cash – Thunderball Dionne Warwick – Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Thunderball) Shirley Bassey – Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (Thunderball) Julie Rogers – You Only Live Twice Lorraine Chandler – You Only Live Twice Alice Cooper – The Man with the Golden Gun

Blondie – For Your Eyes Only Phyllis Hyman – Never Say Never Again Pet Shop Boys – The Living Daylights Ace of Base – GoldenEye Pulp – Tomorrow Never Lies (Tomorrow Never Dies) Saint Etienne – Tomorrow Never Dies Swan Lee – Tomorrow Never Dies KD Lang – Surrender (Tomorrow Never Dies) Straw – The World Is Not Enough

Shirley Bassey – No Good About Goodbye (Quantum of Solace) Muse – Supremacy (Skyfall) Radiohead – Spectre Lana Del Rey – 24 (Spectre) Skylar Grey – I’m A Soldier (No Time To Die) The themes for two movies, No Time To Die and Spectre, by Billie Eilish and Sam Smith, respectively, both held the number one spot in the UK charts.

Adele’s Skyfall theme, meanwhile, peaked at number two upon its release in 2012. The Coldplay frontman ended up on the subject of Bond themes when speaking of how inspired he was by brother-and-sister team Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell. He admitted he felt an ‘absolute furious jealousy’ when he first heard Billie’s breakthrough hit Ocean Eyes, as he was so impressed, and quickly became a fan.