Harold Faltermeyer
Encyclopedia
Harold Faltermeyer is a German musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...

, composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

.

He is recognized as one of the composers/producers who best captured the zeitgeist of 1980s synth-pop in film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...

s. He is best known for writing and composing "Axel F
Axel F
"Axel F" is the electronic instrumental theme from the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop performed by Harold Faltermeyer. The title comes from the main character's name, Axel Foley , in the film. It topped musical charts in 1985 and remains a popular remix track. Mixes of "Axel F" topped European pop...

" electronic theme for Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...

and the Top Gun Anthem
Top Gun Anthem
"Top Gun Anthem" is an instrumental rock song played on guitar by Steve Stevens. It was the theme for the 1986 film Top Gun. A variant of the song without the electric guitar is played at the introduction when an F-14 Tomcat is being prepared to takeoff from the aircraft carrier...

 from the soundtrack
Top Gun (soundtrack)
Top Gun is the soundtrack from the film of the same name, released in 1986 by Columbia Records. In 1999, it was reissued in a Special Expanded Edition with additional songs. In 2006, it was reissued again in a Deluxe Edition with more additional songs...

 for Top Gun
Top Gun
Top Gun may refer to:* Top Gun is a 1986 film starring Tom Cruise.**Top Gun , soundtrack to the movie**Top Gun , a number of games based on the movie...

—both often imitated, highly influential instrumental hits that to some extent practically redefined action film scoring in the '80s.

As a session musician, arranger and producer, Faltermeyer has worked with several international pop star
Pop Star
"Pop Star" is a 2005 single from Japanese singer Ken Hirai. The single went on to top the 2005 Oricon Charts and is known for its remarkable music video, featuring Ken in seven different personas, including a raccoon and his own manager. The Video also helped Ken break into the US and Canadian...

s including Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...

, Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear is a French singer, lyricist, composer, painter, TV presenter, actress and novelist....

, Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...

, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...

, Glenn Frey
Glenn Frey
Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...

, Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...

, Laura Branigan
Laura Branigan
Laura Ann Branigan was an American singer-songwriter and actress of Italian and Irish ancestry. She is best known in the United States for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" and in Europe for the number-one single "Self Control"...

, La Toya Jackson
La Toya Jackson
La Toya Yvonne Jackson is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, television personality, actress, businesswoman, philanthropist, activist and former model. She is the fifth child of the Jackson family...

, Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad , better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X...

, Jennifer Rush
Jennifer Rush
Jennifer Rush is an American/German-based pop/rock singer, best known for the million-selling single "The Power of Love", which she co-wrote and which went on to be covered by Laura Branigan and Celine Dion.-Career:...

, Alexis
Alexis (singer)
Alexis is a German pop and gala singer. She is mainly known for participating in the German "Rudi Carrell Show" in 1989, singing Whitney Houston's song "One Moment In Time"...

, Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick
Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973. The band consists of members Robin Zander , Rick Nielsen , Tom Petersson , and Bun E...

, Sparks
Sparks (band)
Sparks is an American rock and pop band formed in Los Angeles in 1968 by brothers Ron and Russell Mael , initially under the name Halfnelson...

, Bob Seger
Bob Seger
Robert Clark "Bob" Seger is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist.As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s...

, Chris Thompson, Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler
Bonnie Tyler is a Welsh singer, most notable for her hits in the 1970s and 1980s including "It's a Heartache", "Holding Out for a Hero" and "Total Eclipse of the Heart".-Early life:...

 and the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

.

He has won two Grammy Awards: the first in 1986 for Best Album of original score written for a motion picture or television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 special, as a co-writer of the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack; and the second in 1987 for Best Pop Instrumental Performance
Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance was awarded between 1969 and 2011.*In 1969 it was awarded as Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Instrumental*From 1970 to 1971 it was awarded as Best Contemporary Instrumental Performance...

 with guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 Steve Stevens
Steve Stevens
Steve Stevens is an American guitarist and songwriter.He is best known for playing for other artists and less known for his critically acclaimed solo efforts , collaborations Steve Stevens (born as Steven Schneider on May 5, 1959, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist and songwriter.He...

 for Top Gun Anthem
Top Gun Anthem
"Top Gun Anthem" is an instrumental rock song played on guitar by Steve Stevens. It was the theme for the 1986 film Top Gun. A variant of the song without the electric guitar is played at the introduction when an F-14 Tomcat is being prepared to takeoff from the aircraft carrier...

 from the soundtrack
Top Gun (soundtrack)
Top Gun is the soundtrack from the film of the same name, released in 1986 by Columbia Records. In 1999, it was reissued in a Special Expanded Edition with additional songs. In 2006, it was reissued again in a Deluxe Edition with more additional songs...

.

Background

Faltermeyer was born in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, Germany, the son of Anneliese (née Schmidt), a homemaker, and Hugo Faltermeier, a construction businessman. Encouraged by his parents (the owners of a civil engineering firm), he started playing piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 at the age of 6. At 11, a Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 music professor discovered that Harold was gifted with absolute pitch
Absolute pitch
Absolute pitch , widely referred to as perfect pitch, is the ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of an external reference.-Definition:...

. His boyhood years combined training in classical music with a developing interest in rock 'n roll. He played organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

 in a rock combo and studied trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

 and piano at the Munich music academy. While waiting to begin university studies he found work at a recording studio. Within three years he was engineering major classical sessions for the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...

 label. Then in 1978, Giorgio Moroder
Giorgio Moroder
Hansjörg "Giorgio" Moroder is an Italian record producer, songwriter and performer based in Los Angeles. When in Munich in the 1970s, he started his own record label called Oasis Records, which several years later became a subdivision of Casablanca Records...

 recognized his promise and brought him to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 to play keyboards and arrange the soundtrack for the film Midnight Express
Midnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...

. Moroder and Faltermeyer continued their collaboration the next decade, producing Donna Summer albums and several hits for various artists. Soon Faltermeyer was earning an international reputation for both precise workmanship and trendsetting creativity in his use of synthesizer technology.

Soundtrack work

Alongside a busy schedule as a record producer, he became increasingly involved in soundtrack work on Moroder's scores (Midnight Express
Midnight Express (film)
Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...

, American Gigolo
American Gigolo
American Gigolo is a 1980 crime drama film, written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is informally considered the second installment in his "lonely man" trilogy, following the Martin Scorsese directed Taxi Driver and preceding Light Sleeper .-Plot:Julian Kaye is a male prostitute in Los Angeles...

and Foxes) and was soon hired as composer in his own right—usually composing, performing and producing the complete score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...

 as well as a number of pop songs penned for various artists. Early on he created arguably one of his finest works for 1984's Thief of Hearts
Thief of Hearts
Thief of Hearts is a 1984 film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It was written and directed by Douglas Day Stewart.-Plot:A burglar, Scott Muller , teams up with Buddy Calamara , a valet in a high society restaurant. While Buddy keeps an eye on a rich couple, Scott robs the couple's home...

—a highly sought after CD with noteworthy electronic scoring and songs for Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester
Melissa Manchester is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Beginning in the 1970s, she has recorded generally in the adult contemporary genre. She has also appeared as an actress on television, in films, and on stage....

, Annabella Lwin
Annabella Lwin
Annabella Lwin is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow.-Biography:Lwin was born to a Burmese father and an English mother in Rangoon, Burma .Medina, Maximillian Mark; ChopBlock.com Her birth name in Burmese translates to "High,...

, Elizabeth Daily
Elizabeth Daily
Elizabeth Ann Guttman , better known by her stage names of Elizabeth Daily and E.G. Daily, is an American voice actress, actress, singer-songwriter, and musician...

 and others. Then came his big break with the landmark Hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 / Breakdance
Break (music)
In popular music, a break is an instrumental or percussion section or interlude during a song derived from or related to stop-time – being a "break" from the main parts of the song or piece....

 influenced score for Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...

featuring the worldwide hit, the "Axel F
Axel F
"Axel F" is the electronic instrumental theme from the 1984 film Beverly Hills Cop performed by Harold Faltermeyer. The title comes from the main character's name, Axel Foley , in the film. It topped musical charts in 1985 and remains a popular remix track. Mixes of "Axel F" topped European pop...

" theme (referred to by Faltermeyer himself as the banana theme as it was originally written for a specific scene where Detroit policeman Axel Foley gives a pair of Beverly Hills police officers the slip by shoving bananas up their exhaust pipe, causing their car to stall when they try and tail him).

The year after, the Fletch
Fletch (film)
Fletch is a 1985 comedy film about a wisecracking investigative newspaper reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher , who writes under the name of Jane Doe...

theme expanded on his trademark electronic soundscapes with experimental phase modulated percussion effects woven into the largely analog synth melodies. He also composed the theme song, "Bit by Bit", sung by Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Mills
Stephanie Dorthea Mills is an American R&B and soul singer, and a former Broadway star.-Career:Mills began her career appearing in her first play at the age of nine. Two years later, Mills won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater a record six times...

.

The full scores of these films were not released on album. Only a handful of additional score tracks complemented these hits on vinyl: "The Discovery" and "Shoot-out" from Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...

and "Memories" from Top Gun
Top Gun
Top Gun may refer to:* Top Gun is a 1986 film starring Tom Cruise.**Top Gun , soundtrack to the movie**Top Gun , a number of games based on the movie...

, and only ever as B-sides on singles. However, The Running Man
The Running Man (film)
The Running Man is a 1987 American action film loosely based on Stephen King's 1982 novel of the same name. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Jesse Ventura, Jim Brown, and Richard Dawson....

and Kuffs
Kuffs
Kuffs is a 1992 comedy film directed by Bruce A. Evans and produced by Raynold Gideon. It stars Christian Slater and Milla Jovovich. The film also features Ashley Judd in her first movie role....

were graced with full score albums and the Thief of Hearts and Fletch
Fletch (film)
Fletch is a 1985 comedy film about a wisecracking investigative newspaper reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher , who writes under the name of Jane Doe...

scores also received reasonably good coverage on their respective soundtrack albums. In January 2007, La La Land Records finally released a limited edition soundtrack (3000 CD copies) for Tango & Cash
Tango & Cash
Tango & Cash is a 1989 American buddy cop film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance and Teri Hatcher. It was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, although Albert Magnoli took over in the later stages of filming....

.

In 1987 Faltermeyer recorded an album called Harold F with vocal tracks featuring various guest singers plus "Axel F" which appears as a bonus track. The song "Bad Guys" is based on the (otherwise unavailable) main theme for Beverly Hills Cop II
Beverly Hills Cop II
Beverly Hills Cop II is a 1987 action-comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Tony Scott. It is the first sequel in the Beverly Hills Cop series. Murphy returns as Detroit police detective Axel Foley, who returns to Beverly Hills, California to track down a joint robbery/gun-running ring...

.

In 1990 he co-produced the album Behaviour with the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

 at his studio near Munich after Neil
Neil Tennant
Neil Francis Tennant is an English musician, singer and songwriter, who, with bandmate Chris Lowe, makes up the successful electronic dance music duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...

 and Chris
Chris Lowe
Chris Lowe is an English musician, who, with colleague Neil Tennant, makes up the pop duo Pet Shop Boys.-Childhood:...

 were looking for his "sound", being long time fans. The album was released later the same year and is considered by many to be Pet Shop Boys' best album.

Influence

The highly recognizable "Axel F" theme was recorded using five instruments: a Roland Jupiter-8
Roland Jupiter-8
The Jupiter-8 is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in 1981.The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, was Roland's flagship synthesizer for the first half of the 1980's...

 (lead), a Moog modular synthesizer
Moog modular synthesizer
Moog modular synthesizer refers to any of a number of monophonic analog modular synthesizers designed by the late electronic instrument pioneer Dr. Robert Moog and manufactured by R.A Moog Co...

 55 (bass), a Roland JX-3P
Roland JX-3P
The Roland JX-3P is a synthesizer produced by Roland Corporation of Japan in 1983. It is notable as the one of the company's first products to incorporate a MIDI interface, limited to note-on/note-off data only.-Features:...

 (chord stabs), a Yamaha DX7
Yamaha DX7
The Yamaha DX7 is an FM Digital Synthesizer manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1986. It was the first commercially successful digital synthesizer. Its distinctive sound can be heard on many recordings, especially Pop music from the 1980s...

 (bell/marimba), and a LinnDrum
LinnDrum
The LinnDrum is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics. It was released in 1982 as a successor to the Linn LM-1. The LinnDrum has 15 drum sounds sampled from real drums, a sequencer for programming rhythm patterns and five trigger inputs....

 drum machine. It has been covered by numerous artists and in May 2005 a re-recording of the classic reached number one in the UK singles chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 after being remixed with the Crazy Frog
Crazy Frog
Crazy Frog, originally known as Adam King, is a computer-animated character created in 2003 by Erik Wernquist. Marketed by the ringtone provider Jamba!, the animation was originally created to accompany a sound effect produced by Daniel Malmedahl in 1997 while attempting to imitate the sound of a...

 ringtone.

The theme changed the sound of contemporary urban action/comedy, just as the Top Gun Anthem became synonymous with seductive depictions of working class heroes striving for the top (like Bill Conti
Bill Conti
William "Bill" Conti is an American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards ceremony.-Early life and career:...

's "Rocky theme
Gonna Fly Now
"Gonna Fly Now", also known as "Theme from Rocky", is the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta Little and Nelson Pigford...

" did 10 years earlier).

The music for 1988's flight simulator computer game F/A-18 Interceptor
F/A-18 Interceptor
F/A-18 Interceptor is a combat flight simulator released for the Commodore Amiga in 1988. It is widely known for its use of 3D graphics and arcade-style gameplay....

 from Electronic Arts was obviously inspired by the "Top Gun Anthem" and many film scenes, spoof or serious, have been scored in a faux-Top Gun fashion.

In 1991 Sylvester Levay
Sylvester Levay
Sylvester Levay is a Hungarian composer. He was born 16 May 1945 in Subotica , in the North Bačka District of Vojvodina, Yugoslavia ; his name is pronounced in English similarly to "lave-ah-ee."...

 (himself a past Moroder collaborator) faithfully re-created the theme's atmosphere in his Hot Shots!
Hot Shots!
Hot Shots! is a 1991 comedy spoof film starring Charlie Sheen, Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Kevin Dunn, Jon Cryer and Ryan Stiles . It was directed by Jim Abrahams, co-director of Airplane! , and was written by Abrahams and Pat Proft...

parody score (paradoxically, this score was released on CD by Varese Sarabande while the original Top Gun score has still not been released officially, although in 2006 a bootleg appeared in small circulation among collectors.)

In many ways, Faltermeyer's work on action films during the 1980s presaged the work that Hans Zimmer
Hans Zimmer
Hans Florian Zimmer is a German film composer and music producer. He has composed music for over 100 films, including critically acclaimed film scores for The Lion King , Crimson Tide , The Thin Red Line , Gladiator , The Dark Knight and Inception .Zimmer spent the early part of his career in the...

 would embody and perpetuate during the mid 1990s. Faltermeyer's style defined the 1980s style of action scoring, heavily synthesized, very tuneful and rhythmic. Zimmer and his many protégés redefined it for the 1990s and beyond, but embodied the same kind of hybrid textures that Faltermeyer first laid down in the 1980s.

Later career

"After Tango & Cash
Tango & Cash
Tango & Cash is a 1989 American buddy cop film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance and Teri Hatcher. It was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, although Albert Magnoli took over in the later stages of filming....

I made a decision to go back and raise my children in Germany, where I was born", Faltermeyer said in a 2006 interview for the Tango & Cash soundtrack CD. From his Red Deer Studios Estate in Munich, Germany, he has continued producing hit records and soundtracks mainly for the German market.

In 2002, he went to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and wrote a musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 with Rainhard Fendrich
Rainhard Fendrich
Rainhard Jürgen Fendrich is an Austrian singer, composer, entertainer, and actor. He is one of the most successful Austropop musicians. His lyrics are written in Viennese German, and he is very popular in Austria, but less in other German-speaking countries, and by far less known in non-German...

, Wake Up, which played for nearly two years in Vienna's famous Raimund Theater
Raimund Theater
The Raimund Theater is a theatre in the Mariahilf district of Vienna, Austria.Named after the Austrian dramatist Ferdinand Raimund, the theatre was built by an association of Viennese citizens and opened on 28 November 1893 with Raimund's play Die gefesselte Phantasie...

. The following soundtrack CD employed Copy Control
Copy Control
Copy Control was the generic name of a copy prevention system, used from 2001 until 2006 on several digital audio disc releases by EMI Group and Sony BMG Music Entertainment in several regions...

 technology and features an orchestral ouverture as well as 16 songs.

"But now I think it's time to come back where I started from." Faltermeyer has become re-associated with his Los Angeles agency, Creative Artists Agency, and is looking forward to getting involved again in Hollywood film scoring. Earlier in 2006, Faltermeyer wrote the in-game soundtrack music for the computer game, Two Worlds.

In late 2009, Faltermeyer was approached by Kevin Smith, director of the action comedy "Cop Out" starring Bruce Willis, to do the soundtrack score. Faltermeyer's return to scoring was for this film, which opened in February 2010.

Soundtrack albums

As composer
  • Didi – der Doppelgänger (1983) (with Arthur Lauber)
  • Thief of Hearts
    Thief of Hearts
    Thief of Hearts is a 1984 film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It was written and directed by Douglas Day Stewart.-Plot:A burglar, Scott Muller , teams up with Buddy Calamara , a valet in a high society restaurant. While Buddy keeps an eye on a rich couple, Scott robs the couple's home...

    (1984) (with Giorgio Moroder)
  • Beverly Hills Cop
    Beverly Hills Cop
    Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...

    (1984)
  • Fletch
    Fletch (film)
    Fletch is a 1985 comedy film about a wisecracking investigative newspaper reporter, Irwin M. Fletcher , who writes under the name of Jane Doe...

    (1985)
  • Top Gun
    Top Gun
    Top Gun may refer to:* Top Gun is a 1986 film starring Tom Cruise.**Top Gun , soundtrack to the movie**Top Gun , a number of games based on the movie...

    (1986) (with Giorgio Moroder)
  • Fire and Ice
    Fire and Ice (1986 film)
    Fire and Ice is a German feature length sports film directed by Willy Bogner in 1986.-Production and Team:...

    (Feuer und Eis (1986) (with Hermann Weindorf, one song)
  • Fatal Beauty
    Fatal Beauty
    Fatal Beauty is a 1987 American action film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Sam Elliott, directed by Tom Holland. The screenplay was written by Hilary Henkin and Dean Riesner. The original music score was composed by Harold Faltermeyer, of Top Gun fame. The film was marketed with the tagline "An...

    (1987) (one song)
  • Beverly Hills Cop II
    Beverly Hills Cop II
    Beverly Hills Cop II is a 1987 action-comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Tony Scott. It is the first sequel in the Beverly Hills Cop series. Murphy returns as Detroit police detective Axel Foley, who returns to Beverly Hills, California to track down a joint robbery/gun-running ring...

    (1987) (one song)
  • The Running Man
    The Running Man (film)
    The Running Man is a 1987 American action film loosely based on Stephen King's 1982 novel of the same name. Directed by Paul Michael Glaser, the film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, María Conchita Alonso, Jesse Ventura, Jim Brown, and Richard Dawson....

    (1987)
  • Starlight Express
    Starlight Express
    Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...

    (1987)
  • Formel Eins / Formula One (1986)
  • Blaues Blut / Blue Blood
    Blue Blood (film)
    Blue Blood is a documentary film that was released in UK cinemas in 2007 and showed on BBC2's Storyville in 2008. The film follows the paths of five students from Oxford University as they try to make it onto the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club Varsity squad...

    (1989) (with Hermann Weindorf)
  • Tango & Cash
    Tango & Cash
    Tango & Cash is a 1989 American buddy cop film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance and Teri Hatcher. It was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, although Albert Magnoli took over in the later stages of filming....

    (1989, released 2006)
  • Fire, Ice & Dynamite
    Fire, Ice and Dynamite
    Fire, Ice and Dynamite is a German feature length sports film directed by Willy Bogner in 1990. It a sequel to Fire and Ice...

    (Feuer, Eis & Dynamit) (1990)
  • Kuffs
    Kuffs
    Kuffs is a 1992 comedy film directed by Bruce A. Evans and produced by Raynold Gideon. It stars Christian Slater and Milla Jovovich. The film also features Ashley Judd in her first movie role....

    (1992)
  • White Magic (1994)
  • Zeit der Sehnsucht (1994)
  • Asterix Conquers America
    Asterix Conquers America
    Asterix Conquers America is a 1994 animated movie directed by Gerhard Hahn. It was produced in Germany as Asterix in Amerika by Gerhard Hahn and Jürgen Wohlrabe, and is the first Asterix film produced outside of France...

    (1994)
  • Frankie (1995)
  • Der König von St. Pauli (1997)
  • Jack Orlando
    Jack Orlando
    Jack Orlando: A Cinematic Adventure is a 1997 adventure game by TopWare Interactive. In 2001 a director's cut version was released.The game follows a worn down 1930s post-Prohibition in the United States era private detective caught up in a murder that he was framed for...

    (1997) (computer game score)
  • Wake Up (2002)
  • Two Worlds (2007) (computer game score) (Collector's Edition inclusion)
  • Cop Out (2010)

As arranger only
  • Midnight Express
    Midnight Express (film)
    Released on October 6, 1978, the soundtrack to Midnight Express was composed by Italian synth-pioneer Giorgio Moroder. The score won the Academy Award for Best Original Score of 1978.Side A:#Chase – Giorgio Moroder...

    (1978)
  • Foxes (1979)
  • American Gigolo
    American Gigolo
    American Gigolo is a 1980 crime drama film, written and directed by Paul Schrader. It is informally considered the second installment in his "lonely man" trilogy, following the Martin Scorsese directed Taxi Driver and preceding Light Sleeper .-Plot:Julian Kaye is a male prostitute in Los Angeles...

    (1980)

Albums

As songwriter / producer / arranger / musician / remixer
  • Amanda Lear: I am a Photograph (1977)
  • Suzi Lane: Ooh, La, La (1978)
  • Roberta Kelly: Gettin' The Spirit (1978)
  • Dee D Jackson: Cosmic Curves (1978)
  • Giorgio Moroder and Chris Bennett: Love's in You, Love's in Me (1978)
  • Giorgio Moroder: Battlestar Galactica (1978)
  • Janis Ian: Night Rains (1979)
  • The Sylvers: Disco Fever (1979)
  • The Three Degrees: Three D (1979)
  • Donna Summer: Bad Girls (1979)
  • Donna Summer: The Wanderer (1980)
  • Sparks: Terminal Jive (1980)
  • Giorgio Moroder: E=mc2 (1980)
  • Donna Summer: I'm a Rainbow (1981, shelved until 1996)
  • Al Corley: Square Rooms (1984)
  • Laura Branigan: Self Control (1984)
  • Laura Branigan: Hold Me (1985)
  • Richard T. Bear: The Runner (1985)
  • E. G. Daily: Wildchild (1985)
  • Billy Idol: Whiplash Smile (1986)
  • Donna Summer: All Systems Go (1987)
  • Jennifer Rush: Heart Over Mind (1987)
  • Jennifer Rush: Passion (1988)
  • Pet Shop Boys: Behaviour (1990)
  • Dominoe: The Key (1990)
  • Chris Thompson: Beat of Love (1991)
  • Falco: Jeanny (Remix) (1991)
  • Falco: Emotional (Remix) (1991)
  • Chaya: Here's to Miracles (1993)
  • Marshall & Alexander: Marshall & Alexander (1998)
  • Bonnie Tyler: All in One Voice (1999)

Selected singles

As songwriter / arranger / producer
  • Camino De Lobo: "Carmen Disco Suite" (1983)
  • Valerie Claire: "I'm a Model (Tonight's the Night)" (1984)
  • Valerie Claire: "Shoot Me Gino" (1985)
  • John Parr: "Restless Heart (Running Away with You)" (1987) (not available on the Running Man soundtrack album)
  • Kathy Joe Daylor: "With Every Beat of My Heart" (1990)

Selected singles including instrumental themes

  • Artists United For Nature: "Yes We Can" (1989) (7" & CD including instrumental version)
  • Harold Faltermeyer: "Axel F" (1984) (7" including "Shoot Out")
  • Harold Faltermeyer: "The Race Is On / Starlight Express" (1987)
  • Harold Faltermeyer & Steve Stevens: "Top Gun Anthem" (1986) (including "Memories")
  • Glenn Frey: "The Heat Is On" (1984) (7" including "Shoot Out")
  • Patti LaBelle: "Stir It Up" (1984) (7" including "The Discovery")
  • Marietta: "Fire and Ice" (1986) (7" & 12" including instrumental dub version)
  • Chris Thompson: "The Challenge (Face It)" (Wimbledon 1989 theme, 7" & CD including instrumental version)

Solo releases

  • Harold F (1987)
  • Worldhits (1988?) (Instrumental disco arrangements of various well-known songs)
  • Harold Faltermeyer featuring Joe Pizzulo
    Joe Pizzulo
    Joe Pizzulo is best known as one of the lead singers for Sérgio Mendes in the 1980s. He had hit singles with "Never Gonna Let You Go" and "Alibis"...

    : "Olympic Dreams" (1992) (CD single)

Collections

  • Portrait of Harold Faltermeyer: His Greatest Hits (2003 double CD)
  • Movie Greats (1986) (only CD to feature the Fletch theme)
  • Stephanie Mills: The Collection (1990) (CD including "Bit by Bit (Theme from Fletch)", otherwise LP-only track)

Audio sample

See also


Further reading

  • Kuffs soundtrack, liner notes (unknown author), Milan 10151-2 (1992 CD)
  • Tango & Cash soundtrack, liner notes by Randall D. Larson, La-La Land Records LLLCD 1052 (2006 CD)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK