A cassette tape containing a demo of Coldplay’s Chris Martin recording a song called “The World is Not Enough” is up for auction.
As you might’ve guessed from the title, Martin recorded the track as an attempt at a theme song for the James Bond movie The World Is Not Enough, which was released in 1999.
“Presented on an original Parlophone reference cassette, the recording features a stripped-back acoustic guitar and vocal performance by Martin, capturing the song in a raw demo form before any studio production,” the auction site reads. “Unlike the final Bond theme, which was ultimately recorded by Garbage, this version offers a fascinating glimpse into an alternative direction.”
The tape comes from the archives of producer Chris Allison, who worked with Coldplay during their early days.
“To the best of current knowledge, this recording has never been commercially released or publicly circulated, making it one of the most intriguing and potentially significant items within the collection: it is not known if this demo was ever submitted to the film for consideration,” the auction site reads.
The auction is open until July 19 via the site WaxPoetics.com.
Of note, Martin told NME in 2021 that Coldplay has “kept trying to write [a Bond theme] for 20 years, but never submitted them.”
“We have Bond themes for about five movies, but they’re not very good, to be honest,” Martin said.
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