Airwolf Themes
Encyclopedia
Airwolf Themes is a two-CD soundtrack album for the 1980s American action television series series Airwolf
(1984–1986) The program concerned a supersonic military helicopter, codenamed Airwolf, and her crew as they undertook various missions, many involving espionage
, with a Cold War
theme.
The soundtrack was created over a five year period by Airwolf
fan Northern Ireland
-based graphic designer
, Mark J. Cairns in collaboration with original composer Sylvester Levay
, with a foreword by the series' creator, Donald P. Bellisario.
series was cancelled in 1986, Mark J. Cairns headed the International Airwolf Appreciation Association for nearly 10 years (from 1988–1998) so he had an in-depth knowledge of the series including its music cues. There had been other cover versions of the distinctive Levay-penned main theme over the years but these tended to be quite different from the sound and feel of the original score. Due to various licensing issues at the time, Cairns decided in early 1994 to produce his own high-quality soundtrack for the series using the episodic scores from the first three seasons of the series to create the first 22 synthesizer-based tracks on the soundtrack, including various medleys and character themes. This was produced entirely by ear on Yamaha and Korg synthesizers, sequenced on an Apple PowerMac.
, allowing him and fellow producer, Gerry R. Forrester to finally make initial contact.
They subsequently contracted Levay to create three special bonus medleys which would be mainly orchestral-based scores, composed and arranged from his character-driven 1st season works from the series. Levay then used the 80-piece Munich Philharmonic orchestra during a recording session on November 29, 1998 at SL Studios in Neuhausen, Germany. The tracks were subsequently mastered by Bernie Grundman
in Hollywood (the engineer responsible for Michael Jackson
's best-selling album of all time, Thriller
and Bad
albums. Cairns' CD1 was engineered and mastered at Einstein Studios in Antrim, Northern Ireland.
bids (being sold by people who'd reserved and bought more than one copy) in the region of $350–$510 per set. On the March 18, 2000 the bids culminated in a new record for a television soundtrack when a set sold for $715.03 on eBay. This was subsequently broken on March 25, 2004 when a Washington-based seller sold his spare 2CD set for $765.03, and then for a third time $981.74 on the March 10, 2006 remaining the 'Most Expensive Television Soundtrack of all Time'.
'Airwolf Themes' was re-released on December 20, 2007 as a digitally-remastered, downloads-only version through Pinnacle-Digital.com/7-Digital. It has been released in AAC, MP3
and Windows Media Audio/WMA audio formats. It was later released via Apple iTunes Store
during January 2008. Further outlets have been added since then.
The first digital download-only EP release, entitled 'Airwolf Main Themes' has been made available from late September 2009 and contains four tracks based on variations of the series' Main Theme from the first three seasons.
The second release 'Airwolf Extended Themes' will be a 2CD limited edition release later in 2010 or 2011. Polish-born musician Jan Michal Szulew (his name in English is pronounced similarly to Yann Mikael Shoo-leff) will be the main arranger and orchestrator this time with Mark J.Cairns producing episodic-based bonus tracks for the second CD release only.
'Airwolf Themes Special Bonus CD2 by Sylvester Levay
'
'Airwolf Main Themes EP by Jan Michal Szulew'
Airwolf
Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 until 1987. The program centers on a high-tech military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and its crew as they undertake various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme....
(1984–1986) The program concerned a supersonic military helicopter, codenamed Airwolf, and her crew as they undertook various missions, many involving espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, with a Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
theme.
The soundtrack was created over a five year period by Airwolf
Airwolf
Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 until 1987. The program centers on a high-tech military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and its crew as they undertake various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme....
fan Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
-based graphic designer
Graphic designer
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...
, Mark J. Cairns in collaboration with original composer 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."...
, with a foreword by the series' creator, Donald P. Bellisario.
The soundtrack's creation
After the original CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
series was cancelled in 1986, Mark J. Cairns headed the International Airwolf Appreciation Association for nearly 10 years (from 1988–1998) so he had an in-depth knowledge of the series including its music cues. There had been other cover versions of the distinctive Levay-penned main theme over the years but these tended to be quite different from the sound and feel of the original score. Due to various licensing issues at the time, Cairns decided in early 1994 to produce his own high-quality soundtrack for the series using the episodic scores from the first three seasons of the series to create the first 22 synthesizer-based tracks on the soundtrack, including various medleys and character themes. This was produced entirely by ear on Yamaha and Korg synthesizers, sequenced on an Apple PowerMac.
Finding Levay
But by early 1997, Cairns had felt there was something lacking in the production – the mainly orchestral themes, so a search was made for both the show's two main original composers, Sylvester Levay and Udi Harpaz. Levay had left Hollywood in the early nineties to move to Germany and Harpaz had moved back to Israel, so tracking them down had proven difficult to this point until Cairns found an on-line discussion fan forum for the first of Levay's musicals, Elisabeth (Musical)Elisabeth (musical)
Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of the Empress consort of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I...
, allowing him and fellow producer, Gerry R. Forrester to finally make initial contact.
They subsequently contracted Levay to create three special bonus medleys which would be mainly orchestral-based scores, composed and arranged from his character-driven 1st season works from the series. Levay then used the 80-piece Munich Philharmonic orchestra during a recording session on November 29, 1998 at SL Studios in Neuhausen, Germany. The tracks were subsequently mastered by Bernie Grundman
Bernie Grundman
-Biography:He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1983 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan and Brian Gardner, mastered 37 projects which received Grammy Award nominations in 2005.Grundman...
in Hollywood (the engineer responsible for Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's best-selling album of all time, Thriller
Thriller (album)
Thriller is the sixth studio album by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was released on November 30, 1982, by Epic Records as the follow-up to Jackson's critically and commercially successful 1979 album Off the Wall...
and Bad
Bad (album)
Bad is the seventh studio album by American songwriter and recording artist Michael Jackson. The album was released on August 31, 1987 by Epic/CBS Records, nearly five years after Jackson's previous studio album, Thriller, which went on to become the world's best-selling album...
albums. Cairns' CD1 was engineered and mastered at Einstein Studios in Antrim, Northern Ireland.
2CD Special Limited Edition
Once production of the two separate CDs was completed, including a 20-page liner booklet containing an exclusive Levay interview, the 'Airwolf Themes: 2CD Special Limited Edition' finally shipped during February 1999 to those who had reserved them six months beforehand, mostly Airwolf Appreciation Association' members although afterwards remaining copies shipped to many other countries purely from direct sales over the internet. Only 1000 copies were ever made.eBay phenomena World Record soundtrack
By the turn of the Millennium the 'Airwolf Themes: 2CD Special Limited Edition' had become very collectible gaining regular eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
bids (being sold by people who'd reserved and bought more than one copy) in the region of $350–$510 per set. On the March 18, 2000 the bids culminated in a new record for a television soundtrack when a set sold for $715.03 on eBay. This was subsequently broken on March 25, 2004 when a Washington-based seller sold his spare 2CD set for $765.03, and then for a third time $981.74 on the March 10, 2006 remaining the 'Most Expensive Television Soundtrack of all Time'.
Re-Release for Digital Downloads
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
and Windows Media Audio/WMA audio formats. It was later released via Apple iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
during January 2008. Further outlets have been added since then.
Sequel Soundtracks
There will be two future sequel Airwolf soundtracks released.The first digital download-only EP release, entitled 'Airwolf Main Themes' has been made available from late September 2009 and contains four tracks based on variations of the series' Main Theme from the first three seasons.
The second release 'Airwolf Extended Themes' will be a 2CD limited edition release later in 2010 or 2011. Polish-born musician Jan Michal Szulew (his name in English is pronounced similarly to Yann Mikael Shoo-leff) will be the main arranger and orchestrator this time with Mark J.Cairns producing episodic-based bonus tracks for the second CD release only.
Promo Videos
An official promo video teaser trailer was also released to promote all three Airwolf Themes soundtracks at the end of August 2009. Four additional video teaser trailers were also produced showing a wider range of the content of each individual EP track.Track listings
'Airwolf Themes CD1 by Mark J.Cairns'- Main Theme – 3rd Season Opening titles (1:01)
- 'THE AMERICAN DREAM' (5:26)
- 'ANNIE OAKLEY' (4:36)
- 'DAMBREAKERS' (3:24)
- 'DESPERATE MONDAY' (4:43)
- 'DISCOVERY' / 'HAWKE'S RUN' (3:33)
- 'FALLEN ANGEL' (3:54)
- 'FIGHT LIKE A DOVE' / 'BITE OF THE JACKAL' – "Coming Down" (1:30)
- 'FORTUNE TELLER' (4:37)
- 'HAWKE's RUN' / 'KINGDOM COME' – "Try and cut 'em off!" (2:23)
- 'THE HUNTED' (2:41)
- 'HX1' (2:37)
- 'INN AT THE END OF THE ROAD' (3:37)
- 'MAD OVER MIAMI' / 'PRISONER OF YESTERDAY' – "South America" (3:42)
- 'PILOT' / 'MOFFETT'S GHOST' – "Moffet's Theme" (6:13)
- 'NATURAL BORN' (2:09)
- 'ONCE A HERO' (2:38)
- Main Theme – 1st Season Closing titles (1:26)
- 'SHORT WALK TO FREEDOM' (6:19)
- 'SINS OF THE PAST' (2:16)
- 'SWEET BRITCHES'--"Opening Chase" (1:34)
- Main Theme – 2nd/3rd Season Closing titles (3:02)
'Airwolf Themes Special Bonus CD2 by 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."...
'
- Main Theme – Extended Aerial ("Red Star Test Run" – 'PILOT' Film Version) (3:35)
- 'ECHOS FROM THE PAST" – Medley ("St John's Theme" / "Gabrielle's Theme") (3:33)
- 1st Season – Medley ('ONE WAY EXPRESS' / 'MIND OF THE MACHINE' / "Moffet's Theme" / "Eagle's Serenade") (4:50)
'Airwolf Main Themes EP by Jan Michal Szulew'
- 2nd–3rd Season Closing Main Theme (Extended) (06:00)
- 2nd Season Minimalist Main Theme (Extended) (05:00)
- 1st Season Synth Main Theme (Extended) (06:40)
- Minimalist Main Theme (Extended) (06:12)