Oh, Harold Faltermeyer, if there’s anything that makes someone feel old it’s when a song that was synonymous with awesome and was ubiquitous and was instantly recognizable and represented all kinds of cool and was tied to one of the most popular movies of its time, it’s when that song has none of these things going for it to a new generation. What’s even worse, it’s when that song gets tied to something else completely different, so that your frame of reference and the next generation’s frame of reference are two different things entirely. This song more than any other captures that yucky feeling.
Because when someone that grew up when I did, and who probably had the “Beverly Hills Cop” soundtrack and who probably knew the Neutron Dance, when one of us hears this song, we automatically think “Hey! That’s ‘Axel F’! I love that song!” And we also know that Axel F means Axel Foley, who is of course THE Beverly Hills Cop. AKA Eddie Murphy when he wasn’t a sad watered-down version of himself. But now, now if someone hears this song, they probably wrinkle their noses because they relate it to that goddamn Crazy Frog, who is actually something of a relic himself by now. Well, truth be told, I actually enjoy the Crazy Frog, if nothing else because he reminded me of this song. But still, Harold Faltermeyer, as much as TV and YouTube and mass media in general has allowed us to have a collective memory, there are times when it makes me feel pretty goddamn old.
Ding ding.
“Axel F”
<awesome Harold Faltermeyer jam>
Mixed Tape Masterpiece 