Goldfinger by Ash is a bit of a dirge, and amlost certainly one of those songs named because somewhere along the line it sounded to someone somewhere a bit like Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey. Its unclear from their performance, and the song where in the gestation period of the song it was, but they were still in school at the time they wrote it. Safe to say the song contains no luscious horns, no pussycat Bassey growl and no references to King Midas, or the oddly low temperature of anybody’s fingers.
Ash have never been asked to write or perform a Bond theme.
But if you ever are asked to write and/or perform a Bond theme, I suggest your first point of reference should be Goldfinger. Which is a remarkably odd song. Interpolating Monty Norman’s (John Barry’s) James Bond theme into a swooping horn heavy full on diva piece which refers to the titular baddy and how cold his fingers are, Goldfinger is the archetypal Bond song. For starts it has the secret ingredient all PROPER Bond songs are, ie the name of the film is the name of the song no matter how tricky it is to make that name into a song. (Which is why, Quantum Of Solace really should have gone with this). I’M LOOKING AT YOU ALL TIME HIGH.
There is something strange about pieces of art which end up representing a greater body of work. Goldfinger is thought of as the defining Bond film, the one where the levels of action, humour, gadgets, girls and goofiness seemed properly calibrated. Creepy gimicky bad-guy sidekick, tick. One-liners ahoy, tick, Pussy Galore, tick. And a theme tune with a brassy diva, brassy lyrics and just plain brassy Bassey. But Goldfinger is probably not the actual best Bond film, and Goldfinger as a track may not be the best Bond theme as a record. But it is THE BOND THEME. And Bassey is THE BOND DIVA. If you are making a Bond parody, its the Goldfinger well you visit. I’M LOOKING AT YOU GOLDMEMBER.
So I don’t know what Ash were thinking frankly. It makes them look more than a bit silly.