Think Radiohead, and what comes to mind? It’s obvious, really: fast cars, gizmos and gadgets, semi-clad women, high-stakes gambling, and brutal violence delivered with a raised eyebrow. In fact, putting Radiohead and a James Bond thing together seems like the most reasonable pairing since Dexys Midnight Runners recorded the theme to Brush Strokes, the 80s sitcom about an unlucky-in-love painter and decorator.

That’s clearly what some people think, at any rate. The bookmaker William Hill suspended betting on the identity of the next Bond theme singer on Tuesday, after a customer in Middlesex tried to put a £15,000 bet on Radiohead having recorded the song.



“The first gamble of the day was Ellie Goulding and punters were backing her as if she already had the gig, but just as we were thinking of pulling the plug we had a load of bets for Radiohead, including one customer who asked to place a £15,000 bet on the band at 10/1,” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams. “There seem to be all kinds of rumours and the plot has had more twists and turns than a classic Bond tale, but surely nobody risks £15,000 on a hunch.”

Spectre director Sam Mendes has said the song has already been recorded, and will be announced soon. After weeks of the bookmakers making Sam Smith the favourite to be named as the theme’s singer, Ellie Goulding became the favourite. She tweeted the title of the 1973 Bond film Live and Let Die, and posted on Instagram a picture of herself leaving Abbey Road studios, where the theme is normally recorded, with the caption: “That’s a wrap.” Betfair went so far as to suspend betting on her on Tuesday.

Radiohead have form for Bond-related activity. Though there is believed to be no truth to rumours they have a huge secret base beneath the ground in Oxfordshire, centred around a giant shark tank into which Phil Selway throws those blocking his path to world domination, they have previously tackled a Bond theme, performing Nobody Does It Better, the Marvin Hamlisch/Carole Bayer Sager song that Carly Simon performed over the credits of 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me.

• This article was amended on 29 July 2015 because an earlier version said that Sam Smith was the director of Spectre. This has been corrected to say Sam Mendes.