Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeier (born 5 October 1952) is a German musician, composer and record producer. Faltermeyer is best known for composing the "

Axel F "Axel F" is the electronic instrumental theme from the 1984 film ''Beverly Hills Cop'' performed by Harold Faltermeyer. It was an international number one hit in 1985. Background The title comes from the main character's name in the film, A ...

" theme for the feature film ''

Beverly Hills Cop ''Beverly Hills Cop'' is a 1984 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Martin Brest, screenplay by Daniel Petrie Jr., story by Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr., and starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a street-smart Detroit cop ...

'', an influential

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

hit in the 1980s. He also composed the " ''Top Gun'' Anthem" for the feature film ''

Top Gun ''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an ...

'' and the music for the

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of '' Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

'' Fletch'' feature films, '' Fletch'' and '' Fletch Lives''. The ''Beverly Hills Cop'' and ''Top Gun'' projects earned him two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

: the first in 1986 for Best Album of original score written for a motion picture or television special, as a co-writer of the ''Beverly Hills Cop'' soundtrack; and the second in 1987 for

Best Pop Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by m ...

with guitarist Steve Stevens for "''Top Gun'' Anthem" from the ''Top Gun'' soundtrack. As a session musician, arranger and producer, Faltermeyer has worked with numerous international pop stars including

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her musi ...

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

, Glenn Frey, Blondie, Laura Branigan, La Toya Jackson, Billy Idol,

Jennifer Rush Jennifer Rush (born Heidi Stern; September 28, 1960) is an American pop and rock singer. She achieved success during the mid-1980s with several singles and studio albums including the million-selling single " The Power of Love", which she co-wr ...

, Bonnie Tyler and

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

Background

Faltermeyer was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

, Federal Republic of 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 at the age of six. At 11, a

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

music professor discovered that Faltermeyer had

absolute pitch Absolute pitch (AP), often called perfect pitch, is a rare ability of a person to identify or re-create a given musical note without the benefit of a reference tone. AP may be demonstrated using linguistic labeling ("naming" a note), associating ...

. His boyhood years combined training in classical music with a developing interest in rock 'n roll. He played organ in a rock combo and studied trumpet 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 (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

label. Then in 1978,

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer, songwriter, and record producer. Dubbed the " Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering euro disco and electronic dance music. His work with synthesizers had ...

recognized his talent and brought him to Los Angeles to play keyboards and arrange the soundtrack for the film '' Midnight Express''. Moroder and Faltermeyer continued their collaboration in 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'', ''

American Gigolo ''American Gigolo'' is a 1980 American neo-noir crime drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader, and starring Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton. It tells the story about a high-priced escort in Los Angeles (Gere) who becomes romantically ...

'' and '' Foxes'') and was soon hired as composer in his own right—usually composing, performing and producing the complete

score Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian ...

as well as a number of pop songs penned for various artists. Early on he created work for 1984's ''

Thief of Hearts ''Thief of Hearts'' is a 1984 American erotic drama film produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It was written and directed by Douglas Day Stewart. It stars Steven Bauer, Barbara Williams, John Getz and David Caruso. Plot A burglar ...

'', with electronic scoring and songs for

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been carried by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early l ...

, Annabella Lwin,

Elizabeth Daily Elizabeth Ann Guttman, (born September 11, 1961) better known as E. G. Daily and Elizabeth Daily, is an American actress and singer. Daily is best known for her animation voice roles as Tommy Pickles on '' Rugrats'' and its spin-off ''All Grow ...

and others. Then came his big break with the landmark hip hop /

breakdance Breakdancing, also called breaking or b-boying/b-girling, is an athletic style of street dance originating from the African American and Puerto Rican communities in the United States. While diverse in the amount of variation available in ...

-influenced score for ''

'', featuring the worldwide hit, the "

" 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'' 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 Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as " Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical '' The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song "Home" from ...

. 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 ''

'' and "Memories" from ''

'', and only ever as

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

s on singles. However, '' The Running Man'' and '' Kuffs'' were graced with full score albums and the ''Thief of Hearts'' and '' Fletch'' 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''. In December 2016, the same label issued albums of his work on the ''Beverly Hills Cop'' series. 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''. In 1989, Faltermeyer composed soundtrack music on the ''Fletch'' sequel '' Fletch Lives''. In 1990, he co-produced the album ''

Behaviour Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...

'' with

at his studio near Munich. The album was released later the same year.

Later career

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Faltermeyer and Rainhard Fendrich collaborated on the 2002 musical ''Wake Up''. Faltermeyer also provided the soundtrack for the 2007 computer game '' Two Worlds''. He returned to film scoring for Kevin Smith's 2010 action comedy '' Cop Out'' starring Bruce Willis. Faltermeyer has his music featured in ''Top Gun'' sequel. In May 2022 Faltermeyer published his autobiography ''Where's the Orchestra? My Story'' as an ebook to coincide with the release of '' Top Gun: Maverick''.

Discography

Film scores

Albums

; As songwriter / producer / arranger / musician / remixer *

: '' I Am a Photograph'' (1977) *

Roberta Kelly Roberta Kelly (born November 23, 1942) is an American disco and urban contemporary gospel singer who scored three hits on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart between 1976 and 1978. Her most successful US hit single, " Trouble-Ma ...

: ''Gettin' the Spirit'' (1978) *

Dee D. Jackson Dee D. Jackson (born Deirdre Elaine Cozier, 15 July 1954, Oxford, England) is an English singer and musician. In the 1970s, she worked as a film producer in Munich, Germany, before moving into music, working with Giorgio Moroder, Jimmy McShane ...

: ''Cosmic Curves'' (1978) *

and Chris Bennett: ''

Love's in You, Love's in Me ''Love's in You, Love's in Me'' is a 1978 album by Giorgio Moroder and Chris Bennett. Track listing All tracks composed by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte #"Love's in You, Love's in Me" - 3:46 #"Keep It Together" - 3:32 #"I Can't Wait" - 4:15 # ...

'' (1978) * Giorgio Moroder: ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series (''Galactica 1980''), a line of ...

'' (1978) * Giorgio Moroder: '' E=mc²'' (1979) * Janis Ian: ''

Night Rains ''Night Rains'' is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Janis Ian, originally released in 1979 on Columbia Records. The commercial failure of her previous self-titled album and its accompanying singles led Columbia to demand ...

'' (1979) * Suzi Lane: '' Ooh La La'' (1979) *

The Sylvers The Sylvers were an American R&B family vocal group from Watts, Los Angeles, California. The Sylvers were a popular act during the 1970s, recording the hit singles "Fool's Paradise", " Boogie Fever", and " Hot Line". Prior to becoming the Syl ...

: ''

Disco Fever Disco Fever was a New York City dance club located in the South Bronx on Jerome Avenue and 167th street that operated from 1976 to 1986. After initially failing to draw very many customers, Sal Abbatiello convinced his father, the owner, to hand ...

'' (1979) *

The Three Degrees The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holi ...

: '' Three D'' (1979) *

: '' Bad Girls'' (1979) * Donna Summer: '' The Wanderer'' (1980) * Sparks: ''

Terminal Jive ''Terminal Jive'' is the ninth album by the American rock band Sparks and the second recorded with Giorgio Moroder. The album has a disco-vibe like its predecessor but featured fewer synthesizers, opting instead for more electric rock guitar, res ...

'' (1980) * Donna Summer: '' I'm a Rainbow'' (1981, shelved until 1996) *

Al Corley Alford Corley (born May 22, 1956) is an American actor, singer and producer. Corley is best known as the first actor to play Steven Carrington in the 1980s soap opera '' Dynasty'' and for his 1984 hit single " Square Rooms". Career In the late 1 ...

: '' Square Rooms'' (1984) * Laura Branigan: ''

Self Control Self-control, an aspect of inhibitory control, is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. As an executive function, it is a cognitive process that is necessary for regulating one' ...

'' (1984) * Laura Branigan: '' Hold Me'' (1985) * Richard T. Bear: ''The Runner'' (1985) *

E. G. Daily Elizabeth Ann Guttman, (born September 11, 1961) better known as E. G. Daily and Elizabeth Daily, is an American actress and singer. Daily is best known for her animation voice roles as Tommy Pickles on ''Rugrats'' and its spin-off ''All Grown ...

: '' Wild Child'' (1985) * Billy Idol: '' Whiplash Smile'' (1986) * Donna Summer: '' All Systems Go'' (1987) *

: '' Heart over Mind'' (1987) * Jennifer Rush: '' Passion'' (1988) * Chris Thompson: ''The Challenge (Face It)'' (1989) * Franzisca: ''Hold the Dream'' (1990) *

: ''

'' (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 ''All in One Voice'' is the twelfth studio album by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. It was released in 1998 by EastWest Records, following her previous album with EastWest, '' Free Spirit'' (1995). The album remains the least commercially successful ...

'' (1999)

Selected singles

; As songwriter / arranger / producer * Camino De Lobo: "Carmen Disco Suite" (1983) * Glenn Frey: " The Heat Is On" (1984) *

: "Stir It Up" (1984) * Valerie Claire: "I'm a Model (Tonight's the Night)" (1984) * Valerie Claire: "Shoot Me Gino" (1985) * Marietta: "Fire and Ice" (1986) * John Parr: " Restless Heart (Running Away with You)" (1988) (not available on the ''Running Man'' soundtrack album) * Chris Thompson: "The Challenge (Face It)" (Wimbledon 1989 theme, 7" & CD including instrumental version) * Artists United for Nature: "Yes We Can" (1989) (7" & CD including instrumental version) * Kathy Joe Daylor: "

With Every Beat of My Heart "With Every Beat of My Heart" is a song recorded by American singer Taylor Dayne for her second studio album '' Can't Fight Fate'' (1989), which reached the Top 5 position on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Released on October 10, 1989, the song writte ...

" (1990)

Solo albums

* ''Worldhits'' (1987) (Instrumental disco arrangements of various well-known songs) * ''Harold F'' (1988) * Harold Faltermeyer featuring Joe Pizzulo: "Olympic Dreams" (1992) (CD single)

Solo singles including instrumental themes

Collections

* ''Portrait of Harold Faltermeyer: His Greatest Hits'' (2003 double CD)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Faltermeyer, Harold 1952 births German electronic musicians German film score composers German keyboardists German male composers German record producers German session musicians Grammy Award winners Living people Male film score composers Musicians from Munich Remixers Video game composers Varèse Sarabande Records artists La-La Land Records artists