Harold Faltermeyer's production: "Behaviour"

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gsbhakta · #16 Post by **gsbhakta** » Sat 05 Jul 2008, 3:24 pm

behaviour=perfection..not just music...but the packaging-images/videos
fundamental=close to it again

growing up with psb, having the good fortune to begin with them with West End girls in 1985 and then meeting them at kroq in la in 1986 (with West End girls , they were at the radio station, a girl forgot her lp/album(remember those, better to get an autograph on those than a cd cover) in her car, psb actually waited on the sidewalk for her to get it!to meeting them after their fundamental concert....it's been a great journey with them as the soundtrack/inspiration/reflection of my life...i for one feel truly lucky/blessed to have had them...thanks psb for everything you've done!

TPar · #17 Post by **TPar** » Sat 05 Jul 2008, 11:58 pm

OK, here is the famous CHASE cue from MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, which was composed by Giorgio Moroder, but orchestrated/arranged/co-conducted/co-directed/co-programmed/engineered and performed by Harold Faltermeyer. Note it's influence on tracks like SO HARD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akyx5iu_z8Y

Here's an example of Harold Faltermeyer's dominantly Synclavier, cutting edge digital synth sound circa 1989 (some of which clearly shines through on BEHAVIOUR, although I think you'll agree it sounds alot more DOMINO DANCING than say SO HARD):

TANGO AND CASH (which is more of a freestyle, slightly New Jack pop tinged score, modelled on the Bobby Brown/Paula Abdul sound of the time)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA1Mko41fpU

These are examples of how the housepop PSB BEHAVIOUR experience rubbed off on Faltermeyer's filmscoring approach from 1990-1992:

FIRE, ICE AND DYNAMITE (check out the 909 beats at 01.15, along with the house piano that IMO comes right out of OCTOBER SYMPHONY). As PSB have stated that the funky drummer sample was their idea for BEING BORING (Faltermeyer had to recreate it on the Synclavier), I am assuming he reused it here after BEHAVIOUR (who knows with cross pollination):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEu1DVUGZCY

KUFFS, which to me sounds like alot of the BEHAVIOUR "analogue" samples reused to bring a slight 1992 acid housepop vibe to AXEL F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWfzZ0L2pv4

Finally, here are a few songs that Faltermeyer produced in 1987, to give you an idea of what his production style was like at the time (very conventional commercial and not at all artsy like BEHAVIOUR):

Donna Summer - ALL SYSTEMS GO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yjfhcY1eeA

Bob Seger SHAKEDOWN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk-W_i7Z59I

Jennifer Rush HEART OVER MIND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJgt0a8ar2w

Also TOP GUN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv6foKX5BQY

Young Offender · #18 Post by **Young Offender** » Sun 06 Jul 2008, 2:05 am

gsbhakta wrote:behaviour=perfection..not just music...but the packaging-images/videos
fundamental=close to it again

growing up with psb, having the good fortune to begin with them with West End girls in 1985 and then meeting them at kroq in la in 1986 (with West End girls , they were at the radio station, a girl forgot her lp/album(remember those, better to get an autograph on those than a cd cover) in her car, psb actually waited on the sidewalk for her to get it!to meeting them after their fundamental concert....it's been a great journey with them as the soundtrack/inspiration/reflection of my life...i for one feel truly lucky/blessed to have had them...thanks psb for everything you've done!

Hey Gautam, My partner in crime!

Nice to see you on the board!

How the hell have you been?

Cdrodkey · #19 Post by **Cdrodkey** » Sun 06 Jul 2008, 3:47 am

I have name-dropped this before, but Behavior was tremendously influential on, of all things, the underground electronic/sacred music scene in the US when it came out. Ronnie Martin's solo project (after Dance House Children), Joy Electric, is largely in its entirety an homage to Behavior. Although the music is occasionally religious, the songwriting and adherence to Analog synths is the trademark of Joy Electric. He has said over and over again that "So Hard" represents the perfectly crafted pop song from his point of view.

Joy Electric's new record, "My Grandfather, The Cubist" just came out a couple weeks ago.

so heart · #20 Post by **so heart** » Wed 09 Jul 2008, 7:51 pm

what i always wondered is: analog synths are known to sound fat. but behaviour sounds very light and nebulous that surprised me at that time, for me it was more jean michel jarre with psb than with faltermeyer. masterpiece.

Syncratic · #21 Post by **Syncratic** » Thu 10 Jul 2008, 3:26 am

Also check out the work on Moroder's E=MC2 album too, very much a pre-date of the filtered disco, vocorered work of Daft Punk and others too. In some ways I would have loved this type of production but you can hear that disco influence in tracks like 'So Hard'.

Frequency · #22 Post by **Frequency** » Thu 10 Jul 2008, 12:55 pm

Probably my favourite single of theirs, So Hard. Its aged incredibly well and still sounds fresh today. I love how it just builds and builds over the course of the track.

TPar · #23 Post by **TPar** » Thu 10 Jul 2008, 2:35 pm

Syncratic wrote:Also check out the work on Moroder's E=MC2 album too, very much a pre-date of the filtered disco, vocorered work of Daft Punk and others too. In some ways I would have loved this type of production but you can hear that disco influence in tracks like 'So Hard'.

Yeah, Faltermeyer coproduced E=MC2 with Moroder, and as far as is documented he engineered, arranged and performed most of it too (though it's very much Moroder's direction and compositions).

so heart wrote:what i always wondered is: analog synths are known to sound fat. but behaviour sounds very light and nebulous

Again, the clean Synclavier samples of old "analogue" have that effect! very innovative sound IMO.

Young Offender · #24 Post by **Young Offender** » Thu 10 Jul 2008, 6:18 pm

One of my favourite albums, of the older albums usually the first I reach for.

EricMontreal22 · #25 Post by **EricMontreal22** » Fri 11 Jul 2008, 1:23 am

Oooh--one of my favorite things ot discuss. Since even before I was a PSB fan I was a huge Donna Summer fan--mid 90s as a teen I suddenly got into her music and by the time I was 18 that had moved on to collecting everything Moroder had produced--I have nearly all lps and CDs--and then that leaked off to his associates like... Faltermeyer.

His involvement in Behaviour always raises some questions for me. They wanted a Moroder type sound--so why didn't they go to Moroder? I know by 1989-90 Moroder was starting to work less and less, but surely he woulda wanted to work with a big act like PSBoys over an act like Marietta or Sandra Pirate of Love

Maybe he was just too booked.

Moroder was very much a collaborator--as he has always happily admitted part of his brilliance was surrounding himself with great collaborators. My fave Donna Summer album, Once Upon a Time a brilliantly bizarre disco Cinderalla 2 LP concept album from 1977 was largely produced by its arranger, Bob Esty, with Moroder overseeing everything and personally taking control of the Electro side 2.

Similarly by 1978 Faltermeyer might as well be called a co producer on most of his albums with Moroder--Moroder himself says that besides side four, Faltermeyer DID co produce, despite only having an arrangement credit, all of Donna Summer's massive hit 2 LP Bad Girls. Of course as others have said on here Faltermeyer is also largely responsible for the brilliant Oscar winning Midnight Express soundtrack and American Gigolo soundtrack (where the brilliant 8 minute full Call Me by Blondie is from). He also co produced the second Moroder disco album for 3Degrees, 3D which is great aggressive disco, and the underated, rarer disco LP Suzi Lane Oooh La La which has a similar sound to Bad Girls (and the Moroder disco Battlestar Gallactica album).

By the 80s Faltermeyer was starting to break out on his own. He is official co producer on the second Sparks LP Moroder did, Terminal Jive which has a great early New Wave sound. More interestingly though he did all the arrangements for the previous SParks/Moroder collaboration, No 1 Song in Heaven LP which is one of my fave pop/dance lps of all time--I think it's essential listening for any Pet Shop Boys fan--lots of it reminds me. He did a lot of work on Donan Summer's underated rock/new wave LP The Wanderer and then he started to go solo.

Movie soudntracks, like Moroder were his big thing--Faltermeyer retired in the early 90s I think on the profits of Axel F alone although reportedly he's coming out of retirement soon.

My personal fave is his soundtrack for Thief of Hearts. For that album he did one of the best dance tracks of the 80s EVER--EG Daily's Love in the Shadows. The 12" of that has just killer synthesizers. That led to a full album with EG Daily for which he did a little over half, including a cover of his earlier song for Donna Summer Sunset People.

In 87 he did almost a full album for Donna Summer, All Systems Go. Maybe her worse selling album of all time it's disappointing that he didn't give her any dance song worthy of Love in the Shadows--but it was an odd period in Donna's career (reportedly she was meant to do the album with Moroder as a return but she was at her most religious at the time and didn't like any of the songs he did). It does have one lovely synth ballad, Fascination, which has prob some of the best 80s synth work I've heard outside of Pet Shop Boys--and has a VERY similar sound to much of the slower material on Behaviour.

Then came Behaviour and then he kinda started disappearing-beign retired. He did one really good midtempo early 90s dance songs with the lead singer of Mandred Mann (!) Chris Thom called Beat of Love--this was 1991 and it sounds liek some of Behaviour.

Sorry to blaber on but Faltermey's work, and his involvement (often not fully credited) in Moroder's brilliant late 70s recordings--fascinates me and is something I've done a lot of research for. Anyone who says the sound of Behavious is much more due to the Boys than to Faltermeyer is just not giving him the credit he deserves.

EricMontreal22 · #26 Post by **EricMontreal22** » Fri 11 Jul 2008, 1:36 am

Some youtubes:

When I'm With You - Sparks 1980 (co produced with Moroder)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbzc99csl5U

La Dolce Vita - Sparks 1979 (arranged and unofficially co produced with Moroder)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8U8seJownA

No 1 Song in Heaven - Sparks 1979 (arranged and unofficially co produced with Moroder)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0FiS5e72ws (sadly just the radio edit--the album mix is 8 mins and has amazing builds)

Suzi Lane - Harmony 1979 (co produced with Moroder)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpMd0cqcr0A

Three Degrees - Jump the Gun (1979 co produced with Moroder, written by Faltermeyer)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E5USuxt9_8

Janis Ian - Fly Too High (1980 again with Moroder)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lLkFRG5bnM

Love in the SHadows - EG Daily 1985 (finally a solo production, and one he wrote)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEdry80Ovgs

Again I have to emphasize that most of these were co produced with Moroder but he'd be the first to mention what a huge role Faltermeyer played in their production as co producer (and sometimes songwriter) So I'm not trying to take anywthing away from Moroder

EricMontreal22 · #27 Post by **EricMontreal22** » Fri 11 Jul 2008, 1:45 am

As much as I love Faltermeyer's production on Behaviour I have to admit I prefer the 12" and the edited from that radio edit of Jealousy with the "real strings" not all synth.

It upset me that when I finally got to see the Boys live, on their last tour in Seattle, they didn't do anything from Behaviour - my fave album. (of course they added Being Boring to the setlist for a later leg of the tour

and no the brief reprise of the remix of So Hard does not count) though it's telling how good I thought the concert was that I barely noticed.

And TPar I realize I echoed many of the same things you said--serves me right for not fully reading both pages before I got so excited to talk about eurodisco and Faltermeyer

You really have great insights especially into how the album is an interesting mix of the old 70s sound of Faltermeyer with modern techniques. I too have always found it amazing and almsot a happy accident that they went apparantly wanting a disco album and got something that's perhaps their mellowest album (although a part of me wishes they had done a few more club stompers with Faltermeyer as well--So Hard being the closest)

The song where I hear the most Moroder/Faltermeyer 70s sound though is in the B-Side Miserabilism (which off the top of my head is the only bside Faltermeyer was involved in...) Such a great track.

Also it should be noted Brian Reeves engineered the album--he became part of the Moroder team in the early 80s

Niall · #28 Post by **Niall** » Sat 12 Jul 2008, 1:13 pm

Loved Moroder's Love Kills sung by Freddie Mercury.

EricMontreal22 · #29 Post by **EricMontreal22** » Sun 13 Jul 2008, 2:10 am

Niall wrote:Loved Moroder's Love Kills sung by Freddie Mercury.

THough that was after Faltermeyer--I agree. Such a great and kinda underated, little known gem--the 12" especially. The Metropoilis soundtrack is a mixed bag (I wish it was all on DVD though) but this is 100% essential Moroder

I always found it sadly ironic that in a way love really did kill Freddie

Niall · #30 Post by **Niall** » Sun 13 Jul 2008, 5:59 am

Yup, FM really got into the track, didn't he? It'll always be one of my favourites. You can hear a real knowing-ness is his voice.