Influence
The highly recognizable "Axel F" theme was recorded using five instruments: a Roland Jupiter-8 (lead), a Moog modular synthesizer 55 (bass), a Roland JX-3P (chord stabs), a Yamaha DX7 (bell/marimba), and a LinnDrum 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 after being remixed with the Crazy Frog 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's "Rocky theme" did 10 years earlier).
The music for 1988's flight simulator computer game F/A-18 Interceptor 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 (himself a past Moroder collaborator) faithfully re-created the theme's atmosphere in his Hot Shots! 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 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.
Read more about this topic: Harold Faltermeyer
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—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
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