Austin Powers takes on the swinging ’70s

The soundtrack of the Austin Powers sequel The Spy Who Shagged Me had Madonna contributing Beautiful Stranger, a tune produced especially for the Mike Myers flick. The song became the carrier single. A lively romp, it could have been written for a sleek spy movie in the ’60s but with hints of techno in the arrangement. It makes you feel that it is again time to take out the mini dress and the white boots to look positively smashing while doing the mashed potato on the dance floor of a disco.

Austin Powers, Man of Mystery, fashion photographer, swinger, spy and the Spy Who Shagged Me is back on the big screen in his third and purportedly most spectacular adventure, Austin Powers: Goldmember. This time around the story is set not only in swinging London but also in New York during the height of the disco craze when the place to be was Studio 54. This means lots of dancing again but certainly not the Mashed Potato. More likely it will be the "maski-pops" variety with lots of afros, flower people and psychedelia.

And just as in previous Austin Powers soundtracks, the new one containing the music from Goldmember is a mix of pop classics and new tracks arranged the way they did the hit songs of the ’70s. Think Bacharach’s Alfie but changed into What’s It All About Austin? as performed by Susanna Hoffs. Think Miss You, the original recording by the Rolling Stone or think Evil Woman by Soul Hooligan featuring Diana King.

Madonna does not perform in the soundtrack but Mike Myers, who once more produced, wrote and stars as Austin Powers and several other characters offers somebody just as interesting. She is the young and talented Beyonce Knowles, the lead girl of the famous trio Destiny’s Child, in her movie debut. As you already know, Destiny’s Child made its name with hits like Say My Name, Independent Women P art 1 and Survivor. For Goldmember, Beyonce came up with an original dance track titled Work It Out, which she also wrote and produced. It is of course a take off on the disco tunes of the ’70s but with the sweet vocals and R&B grooves that Destiny’s Child is famous for.

Take note that Beyonce does not only have the right sound but also the face and figure of a movie star. Thus, she does not only sing in the soundtrack, she is also Austin’s new leading lady, a secret agent named Foxxy Cleopatra. With this, Beyonce, whose screen debut is one of the most anticipated in years, gets to follow in the tradition set by Elizabeth Hurley and Heather Graham as Austin’s love interests. Graham returns in Goldmember as Felicity Shagwell, but Hurley, Austin’s wife, was killed in The Spy Who Shagged Me and is not expected to be in any of the sequels.

Other cuts in the soundtrack are Boys by Britney Spears featuring Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D.; Groove Me by Angie Stone; Shining Star by Earth, Wind & Fire; Hey Goldmember by Foxxy Cleopatra featuring Devin & Solange; Ain’t No Mystery by Smash Mouth; 1975 by Oakenfold; Hard Knock Life by Dr. Evil and Daddy Wasn’t There by Ming Tea featuring Austin Powers, that is also in the bonus CD-Rom that comes with every copy of the album.

The music of XXX

Still on music performed for another secret agent but from a more recent era. The motion picture is XXX, and the blurb says it is about the adventures of a new breed of secret agent played by Vin Diesel. The movie actually lacks substance and is all fire and muscle power but the soundtrack is something else. It got me thinking about how important music is to any picture because XXX will really be unimaginably dull without the clever use of these tunes.

Stick Out Ya Wrist by Nelly featuring Toya, Lights, Camera, Action by Mr. Cheers featuring Missy Elliott & P. Diddy; Technologique Park by Orbital; Feuer Frei by Hammstein; Bodies by Drowning Pool; I Will be Heard by Hatbreed; Millonaire by Queens of the Stone Age; Before I Die by Mushroomhead; Get Up Again by Flaw; Landing by Moby; Adrenaline by Gavin Rossdale; Truth or Dare by N.E.R.D. featuring Kelis & Pusha T plus others.