The Airwolf TV series
The show concerned an iconic, shark-like, supersonic, military helicopter, codenamed AIRWOLF (or known affectionately as 'The Lady' by the characters on the show ) and her crew as they undertook various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme. The series ran for 55 episodes on CBS in the United States in 1984 through 1986, and an additional 24 episodes, with a new Canadian cast and production company, aired on the USA Network in 1987, for a total of 79 episodes.
An enhanced version of the first episode was also released as a motion picture (Airwolf: The Movie) in several countries as well as on home video and DVD. The series was broadcast in many international markets where it was immensely popular, especially in Western European and Japanese markets (was the No.1 show in Japan in the late 1980s).
Airwolf Themes is a 2CD soundtrack album (now joined by the sequel EP called 'AIRWOLF MAIN THEMES' EP with a further 2CD official sequel in late 2011 called 'AIRWOLF EXTENDED THEMES') for the high-flying, mid 1980s, American, action adventure, television series called 'Airwolf' (1984-1986) which starred Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, Alex Cord, Jean Bruce Scott and Deborah Pratt.
The Music of Airwolf
But it was the amazing music on Airwolf, composed by Sylvester Levay and Udi Harpaz, that has stayed with the show's fans to this day and especially the memorable main theme tune used in both the opening and closing title sequences and during the aerial battle scenes between the real-life aircraft used on the show, which to many people nowadays symbolizes anything to do with helicopters! When that iconic Main Theme Tune Song kicks in, you just know a baddie is going to get it -- from that Blackbird of Death Amalgam of Lone Ranger, Mighty Mouse and God!
What made the episodic music so different to other peer television shows of its day like 'Knight Rider' was that both composers, Sylvester Levay and Udi Harpaz utilized a more "tune-of-the-week" approach to their episodic scoring for Airwolf's music (used in addition to the Main Theme Tune every week) rather than the bland, background, orchestral music score traditional to shows of the 1970s + 1980s by their contemporaries, that today are very difficult to listen to the music in their own right without all the dialogue, visuals and foley sound effects layered on top.
Airwolf's legacy is that the music, and especially the main theme tune, stands out simply due to that tune-of-the-week approach to the music score which transports you to specific scenes, in specific locations, in specific episodes, from specific seasons of the show, giving a very unique quality and selling point that makes the collection of Airwolf Themes, especially the Main Themes EP such an enjoyable escape to both synthesizer and orchestral music aficionados. The Main Theme Tune Song really is a piece of music that has stood the test of time and known by millions of people as the traditional tune (compared to Blue Thunder) to sum up the whole high-flying world of helicopters and some say, great synthesiser music especially from the 1980s. How many of you have the Main Theme Tune Song on your mobile/cell phone like Apple iPhone, Blackberry or Google Android phones especially? A lot we'd bet. The Main Theme Tune has been one of the most popular downloads on music torrents in recent years which has solidified the show's iconic status as well as having taken both the Main Theme Tune Song and its music to such legendary status within popular culture.
The Airwolf soundtrack music theme tune score
The soundtrack was created over a five year period by "Airwolf" Superfan, 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 (Tales Of The Gold Monkey, Magnum P.I., Quantum Leap, J.A.G., N.C.I.S.).
The soundtrack's creation
After the original CBS series was cancelled in 1986, Mark J.Cairns was head of 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 and the show's soundtrack. There had been other cover versions of the distinctive Levay-penned Main Theme Tune over the years but these tended to be quite different from the sound and feel of the original soundtrack score on the show. Due to various licensing and technical issues at the time, Cairns decided in early 1994 to produce his own high-quality music soundtrack for the series using the episodic scores from the first three seasons of the show to create the first 22 synthesizer-based tracks on the original, official music soundtrack, including various medleys, character themes and variations of the show's Main Theme Tune Song. This was produced entirely by ear on Yamaha SY77 and Korg synthesizers (amongst other high-end synth kit) and sequenced via MOTU FreeStyle on an Apple PowerMac computer.
Finding original composer, Sylvester Levay
But by early 1997, Cairns had felt there was something lacking in the production - the mainly orchestral music themes, so a search was made (in the very early days of the Internet) 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 (again it was the early days of the Internet without Google, Facebook etc.) until Cairns found a remote, on-line discussion fan forum for the first of Levay's musicals, 'Elisabeth', allowing him and fellow producer, Gerry R. Forrester to finally make initial contact.
They subsequently contracted Levay to create three special bonus music medleys which would be mainly orchestral-based soundtrack scores, composed and arranged from his character-driven 1st Season works from the Airwolf series. Levay then used the 80-piece Munich Philharmonic orchestra during a recording session on 29th November, 1998 at SL Studios in Neuhausen, Germany. The tracks were subsequently mastered by Bernie Grundman in Hollywood, California (the engineer responsible for Michael Jackson's best-selling album of all time, 'Thriller' and later 'Bad'). Cairns' CD1 was engineered and mastered by Frankie McClay at Einstein Studios in Antrim, Northern Ireland.
Airwolf Themes: 2CD Special Limited Edition Soundtrack Score
Once production of the two separate CDs was completed, including a 20-page liner booklet containing an exclusive Sylvester 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.
World Record Soundtrack Score CD with that eBay phenomena
By the turn of the Millennium the 'AIRWOLF THEMES: 2CD Special Limited Edition' music soundtrack score had become very collectible gaining regular eBay bids (being sold by people who'd reserved and bought more than one copy) in the region of $350 - $510 per set. On the 18th March, 2000 the bids culminated in a new world record for a television soundtrack when a set sold for $715.03 on eBay. This was subsequently broken on 25th March, 2004 when a Washington-based seller sold his spare 2CD set for $765.03, and then for a third time $981.74 on the 10th March, 2006 remaining the 'Most Expensive Television Soundtrack of all Time'. Even with the advent of the cliquey, in-the-know generation now growing up in underground world of theft that are Torrents Downloads, as well as the intellectual property theft by one or two unscrupulous soundtrack sellers who live in California, USA (we know who you are and we're watching you!) who manufactured their own low-quality, counterfeit, pirate copies of the 2CD soundtrack score and tried to flood the market with cheap rip-offs -- see our Piracy section for more details of the counterfeit versions -- even with the negativity of all of this, the 2CD Special Limited Edition Soundtrack score is still popular via our newly-remastered official Digital Music Downloads available directly from us, the original artists, Mark J.Cairns, Sylvester Levay and Jan Michal Szulew.
Re-Release for Digital Music Downloads
Having vowed that the original 2CD Special Limited Edition Soundtrack set would never be re-released in its disc format again, a compromise was reached for the new fans who were only finding out about 'Airwolf Themes' soundtrack years after it had long sold out and it was subsequently re-released on 20th December 2007 as a digitally-remastered, downloads-only version through 7Digital.com, Apple iTunes Store and Amazon.com. It has been released as 320k AAC and 320k MP3 audio formats.
There will be two future sequel Airwolf soundtracks released. The first digital-only release 'AIRWOLF MAIN THEMES' EP soundtrack was made available from September 2009 and contains four Main Theme Tune tracks as a Downloads only option based on variations of the series' Main Theme Tune Song. The second release 'AIRWOLF EXTENDED THEMES' will be a 2CD limited edition soundtrack score release currently scheduled for the end of 2011. The Main Theme Tune Song downloads available on the Main Themes EP will also be available concurrently on the full 2CD soundtrack score. However, the other 2CD score track themes will not be available for downloads, at least not for a long time. These are being released for the true, honest folks who love real soundtracks on a real, physical medium that you can touch, hold and feel -- unlike the leeching Torrents generation of thieves who feel that all entertainment files are worthless and not worth any real value. Most of the Torrents brigade probably weren't even born when the show was on the air originally anyway, so will be another reason the series or the Main Themes Tune is a "yeah, whatever" subject for them. Their loss. The Main Themes downloads for the legitimate buyers who do remember the show will be rewarded with a great soundtrack for a great show.
Polish-born musician Jan Michal Szulew (his name in English is pronounced similarly to Yann Shoo-leff) will be the main themes arranger and orchestrator this time (wholly concentrating on the Main Theme Tune score variations used on the show only, excluding any torrents downloads) with Mark J.Cairns producing episodic-based bonus music tracks (not including the Main Theme Tune) for the second CD score release only whilst maintaining an overall Producer's role.
Original 'Airwolf Themes: 2CD Special Limited Edition' Tracklist
'CD1 by Mark J.Cairns'
'Special Bonus CD2 by Sylvester Levay'
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