German composer Hans Zimmer began his career playing keyboards for various New Wave bands around Europe. He played with Krakatoa in his native Germany, with The Buggles (of "Video Killed the Radio Star" fame) in England, with Krisma in Italy, and with Mecano in Spain. In the early '80s, he started to produce pop singles as well, overseeing "History of the World, Part 1" for the punk band The Damned. About the same time, he started to write commercial jingles and TV theme tunes, effectively giving him an "in" into film-scoring work. His first film as a composer was 1982's "Moonlighting," one of Jerzy Skolimowski's movies. 

For there, Zimmer's output increased exponentially, and he brought his unique, sweeping sensibilities (but with a pinch of New Wave) to over 20 features. He scored Stephen Frears' "My Beautiful Laundrette," (soon to be remade) and Bernard Rose's underrated "Paperhouse." In 1988, he...