Miami Vice Theme

The musical piece Miami Vice Theme was created and performed by Jan Hammer as the theme to the television series Miami Vice. It was first presented as part of the television broadcast of the show in September 1984 and released as a single in 1985, peaking at the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the last instrumental to have topped the chart to date. It also peaked at number 5 in the UK. In 1986, it won Grammy Awards for "Best Instrumental Composition" and "Best Pop Instrumental Performance." This song, along with Glenn Frey's number-two hit "You Belong to the City", put the Miami Vice soundtrack on the top of the U.S. album chart for eleven weeks in 1985, making it the most successful TV soundtrack of all time until 2006 when Disney Channel's High School Musical beat its record.

Versions

• The version that aired with the pilot and the following three episodes, which only contains the percussion and keyboards, without the guitars. According to Jan Hammer's manager Elliot Sears, this was the result of the sound elements not being mixed together as Hammer intended.
• The synthesized-guitar lead version aired with all later episodes.
• The full radio airplay version, that includes the TV version at the end.
• An extended dance remix, released in 1985 as a 12" single containing two different length versions (in addition to the original version of the theme).

Appearances

Episodes

Miami Vice's pilot episode, made as a two-hour...
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