Dr. Evil
| song name | Dr. Evil |
| artist | They Might Be Giants |
| releases | More Music From Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged Me OST, Dr. Evil (Promo), Dial-A-Song: 20 Years Of They Might Be Giants, They "Might Be" Giants, What We Did This Summer, A User's Guide To They Might Be Giants: Melody, Fidelity, Quantity, 50,000,000 They Might Be Giants Songs Can't Be Wrong, Long Tall Weekend (2023 remaster) |
| year | 1999 |
| first played | May 15, 1999 (28 known performances) |
| run time | 1:50 |
| sung by | Robin Goldwasser |
Trivia/Info
- Written for the Austin Powers movie series, as Dr. Evil's theme song. The song was featured in the opening credits of The Spy Who Shagged Me and appeared on the movie's second soundtrack album.
- John Flansburgh in a 1999 Information Club article:[1]
It was a bit of a mind blower when the opening title sequence with "Dr. Evil" came up. Our music is the absolute first thing in the film. As the drum beat played, the swell of anticipation from the audience was an unforgettable experience for me. Robin's vocal performance that starts (and ends) the film, "Eviiiilll, evil is his one and only name..." was from the demo, recorded by Robin by herself in the kitchen of my project studio. Evidently, Mike Myers was so taken by it he didn't want it changed, and his instincts were right because it set up the very magical evening perfectly.
- Flansburgh in a 2001 WNYC interview:
That was a very strange story because the song actually was recorded in demo form, very much at the last minute. It got to Mike Myers and he basically did the thing that stars can do, he was like "I don't want to change a thing." It was really interesting for us, we were thinking that Shirley Bassey or some big rock star was gonna sing it. [...] The version that's in the movie was actually recorded in my kitchen. Robin engineered it herself. We actually had to go and do a gig. It was basically the demo that became the final.
- John Linnell in a 1999 Winston-Salem Journal article:[2]
The closest we've come to being difficult was when we were asked to do the Austin Powers project. They came to us wanting us to do a typically quirky They Might Be Giants thing so of course we gave them something that sounded like Goldfinger. They didn't really want it, but Mike Myers did, so everybody walked away happy.
- In an August 1999 interview with U.Magazine, Linnell revealed that the band was originally asked to record a parody of "Doctor Worm" for the film.[3] Interviewer Brian Conant wrote:[4]
The story goes that the band was approached by the music coordinator for the movie, who suggested they rewrite their single "Dr. Worm" for the movie. "And we thought, yeah, we'll do that, but only if afterward we can commit suicide, because we'd be so ashamed of ourselves to do something so crass," Linnell said.
Instead of rewriting their tune TMBG went to the studio and recorded the swanky "John Barry homage" spy tune "Dr. Evil," which the music coordinator hated. "I think they were looking for more of a pop rock tune," he said. Down but not out, the band managed to get a copy of the song to Myers, who loved it and wanted it to be part of the opening credits. The song came into Myers' possession too late to be a part of the original movie soundtrack, but will be a part of a follow-up soundtrack Maverick Records plans to release in the fall.
Song Themes
Evil, Games, Intelligence, Espionage, Medical, Non-John Vocals, Oxymorons, Paradoxes, And Contradictory Statements, People (Imaginary), Questions, Titles And Honorifics, TV And Movie Themes
Videos
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