The Elusive Where Eagles Dare MGM 7” Single

The Elusive Where Eagles Dare MGM 7” Single 

I suppose there are certain things (as a collector) that you almost surrender or yield any hope of actually finding a certain piece to fill that longstanding gap in the collection. When it comes to Eastwood related vinyl singles – there’s always been a few, one immediately thinks of the Japanese Coogan’s Bluff single release of Pigeon-Toed Orange Peel by The Lead is one such peace of vinyl that springs to mind or perhaps the Japanese single release of the Paul Williams song Where do we go from here from the film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot is another such rarity. In addition to this list, I would also add the 7” French release of the Where Eagles Dare theme – a damn near impossible piece of vinyl to find – or so it seemed. 

It was a couple of weeks ago when I was checking out a dealer based in France, he certainly had a good collection of film related 7” singles and as a result I spent the good part of a whole evening checking out is inventory. It was a couple of hours later that I suddenly saw this beauty raise its head Yes, the elusive MGM 61 625 – Ron Godwin’s Theme to Quand Les Aigles Attaquent aka Where Eagles Dare. Both sleeve and vinyl were rated as excellent – and luckily at £16 it wasn’t too much of a ball breaker – considering this was the first time I had actually ever seen one for sale, I wasted very little time in adding it to my basket, making contact with the excellent seller and with a few other choice selections, put an order together straight away. 

Well, this seldomly single arrived today, perfect packaged and projected and in really lovely condition. I still have no idea why, but this French release seems to be the only ever 7” release for the theme – not even the superb Japanese market entertained a single – I’ve spent years researching this pressing and never seen any other 7” single release. I actually surprised that England didn’t release a single or even an EP as a Ron Goodwin EP wasn’t an unusual thing in the 60’s in the UK. 

The lovely (paper stock) picture sleeve on this single is the same as the French soundtrack LP release and features the film’s French poster art. 

It’s certainly nice to finally draw a line under this one, it’s taken a while, but proof if it was ever needed that everything eventually comes to those who wait.