"Axel F" is an

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

track by German musician

Harold Faltermeyer Hans Hugo Harold Faltermeyer (born 5 October 1952) is a German musician, composer and record producer. Faltermeyer is best known for composing the " Axel F" theme for the feature film '' Beverly Hills Cop'', an influential synth-pop hit in the ...

. The track served as the theme tune to the film ''

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

'', its eponymous character, and the

film franchise A film franchise has been described as a film series which not only continued the narrative through sequels and prequels, but also included expansion through ancillary intertexts which could include spinoffs, remakes and reboots. These formats di ...

it is based on, and became an international number one hit in 1985. The single was released in 1984 by MCA and reached number one in Ireland as well as on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Dance Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...

chart. Additionally, it was a number-two hit in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. In addition to the ''Beverly Hills Cop'' soundtrack, the track also appears on Faltermeyer's own album ''Harold F.'' as a bonus track. Its music video was directed by Faltermeyer himself.

Production

Faltermeyer recorded the tune using five instruments: a

Roland Jupiter-8 The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in early 1981. The Jupiter-8 was Roland's flagship synthesizer for the first half of the 1980s. Approximately 3,300 units have ...

provided the distinctive saw lead, a

Moog modular synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer a ...

15 provided the bass, a

Roland JX-3P The Roland JX-3P is a synthesizer produced by Roland Corporation of Japan from 1983–1985. The "3P" in its name refers to "Programmable Preset Polyphonic". It is notable as one of the company's first synthesizers (along with the Jupiter-6) to ...

provided chord stab brasses, a

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, th ...

was used for the marimba sound, and a

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, often erroneously referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Development The LinnDrum was designed by the American engineer Roger Linn. It was ...

was used for drum programming. All instruments were played by Faltermeyer. According to Faltermeyer, the initial reaction to his first presentation of the track to the film's producers and director did not result in an immediate approval; it was not until director

Martin Brest Martin Brest (born August 8, 1951) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. After his feature debut, ''Going in Style'' (1979), he directed the action comedies ''Beverly Hills Cop'' (1984) and ''Midnight Run'' (1988), which were ...

voiced his approval that the producers showed enthusiasm. A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Faltermeyer. Faltermeyer is featured wearing an overcoat, hat, and sunglasses; he sneaks into a

computer lab A computer lab is a space where computer services are provided to a defined community. These are typically public libraries and academic institutions. Generally, users must follow a certain user policy to retain access to the computers. This usua ...

at night and uses one of the machines to watch scenes from ''Beverly Hills Cop'' with himself edited in, interspersed with footage of a

pole dance Pole dance combines dance and acrobatics centered around a vertical pole. This performance art form takes place not only in gentleman's clubs as a form of erotic dance, but also as a mainstream form of fitness, practiced in gyms and dedicated ...

r, a female dancer, and of himself playing the synthesizer.

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "Axel F" – 3:00 # "Shoot Out" – 2:44 * 12-inch maxi # "Axel F" (M & M mix) – 7:00 # "Axel F" (extended version) – 7:09 # "Shoot Out" – 2:44 * 12-inch maxi # "Axel F" (extended version) – 7:09 # "Shoot Out" – 2:44

Charts

Faltermeyer's version of the instrumental reached number two on the UK Singles Chart and number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US. It also spent two weeks atop the US

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Techno Cop version

In 1992, German

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

group Techno Cop covered the instrumental, and achieved modest success with a top 30 ranking on the German singles chart. Unlike the original, this version contains rap passages.

Track listings

* 12-inch maxi # "Axel F" (Outlaw mix) – 5:50 # "Axel F" (Megaphone mix) – 5:20 # "Cops in Trance" – 4:15 * CD maxi # "Axel F" (U-Boot mix) – 6:00 # "Axel F" (radio edit) – 3:49 # "Axel F" (Minimalistixtendid) – 4:41 # "Beverly Kills" – 2:58

Charts

Clock version

British pop/dance act

Clock A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, a ...

released a successful

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

cover of "Axel F" in 1995. Produced by Richard Pritchard and

Stu Allan Stu Allan (6 February 1962 – 22 September 2022) was a British dance music DJ and producer who worked for Piccadilly Radio and Key 103 in Manchester in the 1980s and 1990s. His hip hop, hardcore techno and house music mixes ranked him the wo ...

, it was featured on their debut album, ''It's Time...'' (1995), and peaked at number five in Scotland, number seven in the UK overall, number eight in Ireland and number 37 in Sweden. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, the single reached number 20 in March 1995, while in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, it peaked at number 42.

Critical reception

When the cover was released in 1995,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

wrote in his weekly UK chart, "There is no denying the brilliance of this record, making the

classic more of a

hit than he could ever have dreamed as the song makes the Top 10 close on ten years since the original did the same." Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

s ''RM'' Dance Update described the song as "another energetic remake". Another ''RM'' editor,

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

, declared it as an "ultra excitingly galloping 135bpm

Hi-NRG Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated during the late 1970s and early 1980s. As a music genre, typified by its fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the four-on-the-flo ...

" track in his weekly dance column.

Track listings

* UK CD maxi # "Axel F" (Radio Short Stab) – 3:22 # "Axel F" (Primax mix) – 4:47 # "Keep Pushin'" (Clock N-R-G mix) – 6:27 # "Keep Pushin'" (PTP 'London' mix) – 7:46 * Sweden CD maxi # "Axel F" (radio edit) – 3:38 # "Axel F" (Primax mix) – 4:44 # "Axel F" (Ten to Two mix) – 5:40 # "Keep Pushin'" (PTP London edit) – 4:40 # "Clock Megamix" - 15:40

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Psy version

In 2002, South Korean singer

Psy Park Jae-sang (; born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name Psy ( ; ), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter, known domestically for his humorous music videos and stage performances and internationally for his hit singl ...

released a track titled "Champion" as part of his album ''

3 Mai ''3 Mai'' () is the third studio album by South Korean singer Psy, released on September 19, 2002 by Pan Entertainment. It contains 15 songs, including the two singles "Champion" and "Paradise". By February 2003, the album sold over 135,000 copie ...

'', tapping into Seoul's enthusiasm over the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. "Champion" was partially inspired by Korean street cheering during the 2002 World Cup. Paul Lester of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' called "Champion" a "thrashy disco ... which heavily samples Axel F by

Murphy Brown vs Captain Hollywood version

In 2003, Murphy Brown and

Captain Hollywood Captain Hollywood Project is a German eurodance music project best known for the hits " More and More," " Only with You" and " Flying High." At the peak of its success in the 1990s, the project achieved ten top-20 hits on European music charts. T ...

released their

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

version of "Axel F", titled "Axel F 2003". This version was produced by Matthias Wagner and Andreas Dohmeyer of the Off-cast Project, and

Bass Bumpers Bass Bumpers are a German Disc jockey, DJ and record producer, record production team, known for their Eurodance/techno music. They are originally from Germany, with members Henning Reith, Caba Kroll, CJ Stone, George Dee, Akira Yamamoto, and Rein ...

. It contains a vocal sample from

Max Headroom Max Headroom is a fictional character played by actor Matt Frewer. Advertised as "the first computer-generated TV presenter", Max was known for his biting commentary on a variety of topical issues, arrogant wit, stuttering, and pitch-shifting ...

("What's going on?"), heard at the beginning of the song. It reached number 18 on the official

German Singles Chart The GfK Entertainment charts are the official charts for music, home video, and video games in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on be ...

. This version was reworked two years later into the highly successful version by

Crazy Frog Crazy Frog (originally known as The Annoying Thing) is a Swedish CGI-animated character and Eurodance musician created in 2003 by actor and playwright Erik Wernquist. Marketed by the ringtone provider Jamba!, the character was originally creat ...

, which was also completed by the same team of producers.

Crazy Frog version

In 2005, a reworking of "Axel F 2003" by Murphy Brown and

was released by

, titled "Axel F". This version became a

summer hit In the entertainment industry, a summer hit is a song that is released and peaks in its popularity during summer. In some years, a single pop song will gain widespread international popularity during the summer season, becoming that summer's def ...

that year. The song is by far Crazy Frog's most successful single. Like "Axel F 2003", Crazy Frog's version was also produced by the Off-cast Project, and Henning Reith and Reinhard "DJ Voodoo" Raith, two members of the German

production team

. Wolfgang Boss and Jamster! arranged the remix. The song consists of additional vocals taken from the 1997 recording "2TAKTARE.mp3" by Daniel Malmedahl. It uses mainly the same part of the two-minute original that was used in Jamster's release. There were three edits to the song. The original version of the song can be found on most P2P networks.

Chart performances

Released across Europe in May 2005, "Axel F" topped the charts in the United Kingdom, with some of the best weekly sales of the year (out-selling rivals such as

Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

by four copies to one), and remained at the top of the UK Singles Chart for four weeks to become Britain's third-best-selling single of 2005, outselling and outperforming the original version. In other European countries, the popularity has differed, with the song failing to make the top 20 in Switzerland at first, before gradually climbing to number 1, whilst only making number 18 in Russia. It also reached number 1 on the overall European chart, after initially being number 2 to

Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...

's "Lonely" for several weeks; it stayed at number 1 until September. It also reached number 1 in Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Ukraine, Spain, and Sweden. It was the #1 song of the year in Europe, New Zealand, and the Wallonia region of Belgium. In France, the song entered the

French Singles Chart SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

at number seventy seven on 11 June 2005, and moved all the way to number two the next week. There it stayed for two weeks before climbing to the summit, where it remained for thirteen weeks. It fell off the first position being dethroned by Crazy Frog's 2nd single, "

Popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns, or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated. The term also refers to the snack food produced by the expansion. It is one of the oldest snacks, with evidence of p ...

". This was only the second time that an artist had ever dethroned themself in that country. The song remained in the top 10 for 21 weeks, 30 weeks in the top 50 and 36 weeks in the chart. Its best weekly sales were 103,564 on its 6th week. On 1 December 2005, it was certified

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

, 7 months after its release, by the French certifier

SNEP SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...

. The song is the third best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 1,270,000 units sold. (1,265,579 sales, according to another source). Despite Crazy Frog not being as well known in Japan, the single release also charted there, peaking at number 46. It peaked at number 50 in the US. Although "Axel F" managed to find more success in mainstream markets, it proved to be a moderate success on the US Rhythmic Top 40 where it peaked at number 28. It also peaked at number 3 on the US Digital Sales chart, beating the likes of

Lindsay Lohan Lindsay Dee Lohan ( ; born July 2, 1986) is an American actress, singer, producer, and businesswoman. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at age three. She appeared as a regular on the soap opera ' ...

and the

Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...

. Its highest U.S. success was number 2 on the US Adult Contemporary Top 20. The song later became an

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

. The song was the 65th best-selling single of the 2000s in the UK.

Music video

The Ministry of Sound hired Kaktus Film and Erik Wernquist of TurboForce3D, the original creator of the 3D Crazy Frog, to produce a full-length animated music video to accompany the release of the song. An overview of the city is shown. Then someone in a

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

with attached

satellite dish A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite. The term most commonly means a dish which receives direct-broadcast satellite televisio ...

es and

high-tech High technology (high tech or high-tech), also known as advanced technology (advanced tech) or exotechnology, is technology that is at the cutting edge: the highest form of technology available. It can be defined as either the most complex or ...

instruments on the interior sees a message on one of the monitor, which reads "Wanted: The most annoying thing in the world", referring to Crazy Frog, with a bounty of $50,000 specified for the catcher. In 2011, the video was listed in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

s "50 Worst Music Videos", ranking at 47. As of February 2025, it has been viewed more than 5 billion times on YouTube. In 2024, as part of a tribute to celebrate the release of '' Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F'', the Crazy Frog YouTube Channel made a special crossover music video with

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, featuring scenes from the movie, but re-edited to feature Crazy Frog in them, being chased by the Beverly Hills Police and Axel Foley. It's the first time that Crazy Frog has ever interacted with the original franchise.

Track listing

* Australia # "Axel F" (Radio Edit) – 2:54 # "Axel F" (Club Mix) – 6:23 # "Axel F" (Club Mix Instrumental) – 6:23 # "In the 80's" – 3:29 * UK # "Axel F" (Radio Edit) # "Axel F" (Bounce Mix) # "Axel F" (Bounce Mix Instrumental) # "Axel F" (Reservoir Frog Remix) # "Axel F" (Video)

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

External links

The 8bitpeoples "Axel F"
A freely downloadable compilation of various artists' interpretations of "Axel F" Released under

Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...

Production

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Techno Cop version

Track listings

Charts

Clock version

Critical reception

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Psy version

Murphy Brown vs Captain Hollywood version

Crazy Frog version

Chart performances

Music video

Track listing

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

See also

References

External links