This Week's "Oldie But Goodie": Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones
AKA The Austin Powers Theme Song
This week’s "oldie but goodie" is “Soul Bossa Nova” by Quincy Jones. It appeared on his 1962 album Big Band Bossa Nova.
Jones was inspired to write the song after a visit to Brazil. Bossa nova is a style of music developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The song regained popularity in the 1990s when Mike Myers used it for his Austin Powers film series.
He says he wrote this song in 20 minutes.
I wrote that in 1962 in 20 minutes for a big band Bossa Nova album right after we left Brazil with Dizzy Gilespie, when the bossa nova first started. And it won’t go away.
The video below is the opening of the Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997), the first Austin Powers film.
The video below is the opening to Austin Powers in Goldmember is a 2002. Quincy Jones makes a cameo appearance.
Jones recorded an updated version called "Soul Bossa Nostra" for his 2010 album Q Soul Bossa Nostra with Ludacris, a cappella group Naturally 7, and R&B singer-songwriter Rudy Currence.