Harold Faltermeyer

Harold Faltermeyer earned his greatest renown through the mid-1980s instrumental hit “Axel F.,” yet he also distinguished himself as a producer and studio musician. His path opened with an arranging credit on Giorgio Moroder’s score for the 1978 film Midnight Express, launching an extended run of cinema-related assignments. From that foundation he contributed synthesizer parts to Donna Summer’s 1979 album Bad Girls and then rejoined Moroder to co-produce Sparks’ Terminal Jive. The decisive break arrived in 1984 with the hit comedy Beverly Hills Cop, whose instrumental theme “Axel F.” unexpectedly crossed into the pop charts and quickly led to scoring offers for the 1986 blockbusters Top Gun and The Running Man. In 1990 he shared production duties on the Pet Shop Boys’ Behavior, but as the decade advanced and his signature synth-pop aesthetic lost mainstream traction his visibility receded. He concentrated instead on German film scores and assorted studio projects from his Munich base before electing to resume Hollywood scoring toward the close of the 2000s. Director Kevin Smith brought him back into the spotlight by commissioning the soundtrack for the Bruce Willis action comedy Cop Out, which appeared in February 2010.