Bossa nova music was trending in the early '60s, with many artists blending the style with their chosen genres; Ella Fitzgerald did "Stardust Bossa Nova," Lou Monte did "Bossa Nova Italiano," and Quincy Jones did an entire album called Big Band Bossa Nova. The first track was "Soul Bossa Nova," which despite the title, is more of a mashup of classical music than soul.
This is best known as the theme song for the Austin Powers movies, which star Mike Myers as a spy from the '60s who emerges in modern times. The trilogy of films (International Man of Mystery - 1997, The Spy Who Shagged Me - 1999, Goldmember - 2002) are spoofs on the James Bond movies, with "Soul Bossa Nova" standing in for the iconic orchestral theme by John Barry. The first James Bond movie was Dr. No in 1962, the same year "Soul Bossa Nova" was released. And just as Barry's theme became associated with the debonair James Bond, Jones' song instantly evokes the frolicsome Austin Powers and his many catch phrases.
Quincy Jones recalled in a 2010 interview with Billboard magazine: "I wrote that in 1962 in 20 minutes for the Big Band Bossa Nova album right after we left Brazil with Dizzy Gillespie, when the bossa nova first started. And it won't go away."
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