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  The first lineup of Tangerine Dream formed in 1967, founded by Edgar Froese. Aligning themselves with contemporary American acid rock (the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane), they played around Berlin at various student events. The lineup lasted only two years, and by 1969 Froese had recruited wind player Conrad Schnitzler and drummer Klaus Schulze. One of the trio's early rehearsals, not originally intended for release, became the first Tangerine Dream LP in 1970 entitled "Electronic Meditation". It included obtuse music-making keyboards, several standard instruments, and a variety of household objects recorded and filtered through several effects processors, creating a sparse, experimentalist atmosphere. Schulze and Schnitzler left in 1970 for solo careers and were replaced in 1971 with drummer Christopher Franke and organist Steve Schroeder. When Schroeder left a year later, Tangerine Dream gained its most stable lineup core when organist Peter Baumann joined the fold. The trio of Froese, Franke and Baumann would continue until Baumann's departure in 1977, and even then, Froese and Franke would compose the spine of the group for an additional decade. On 1971's "Alpha Centauri" and the following year's "Zeit", the trio's increased use of synthesizers and a growing affinity for space music resulted in albums that pushed the margin for the style. 1973's "Atem", finally gained Tangerine Dream widespread attention outside Europe and the group signed a five-year contract with one year old Virgin Records. Tangerine Dream's first album for Virgin, "Phaedra", was an milestone not only for the group, but for instrumental music. They'd been allowed free rein & used Moog synthesizers and sequencers for the first time; the result was a relentless, trance- inducing barrage of rhythm and sound. Though mainstream critics were unsurprisingly hostile toward the album, "Phaedra" broke into the British Top 20 and earned Tangerine Dream a large global audience. 1976's Stratosfear saw the use of more organic instruments such as untreated piano and guitar; also, the group added vocals for 1978's "Cyclone", a move which provoked much criticism from their fans. Baumann left for a solo career in 1978 and was replaced briefly by keyboard player Steve Joliffe and then Johannes Schmoelling, another important member of Tangerine Dream who would stay until the mid-'80s. In 1980, the Froese/Franke/Schmoelling lineup was unveiled at the Palast der Republik in East Berlin, the first live performance by a Western group behind the Iron Curtain. In 1977 The Exorcist's director William Friedkin tapped Tangerine Dream for soundtrack work on his film Sorcerer. By the time the new lineup stabilized in 1981, Tangerine Dream worked on the soundtracks to more than 30 films during the 1980s, among them Risky Business, The Keep, Flashpoint, Firestarter, Vision Quest and Legend. 1983's "Hyperborea", was their last album for Virgin, and a move to Zomba/Jive Records signaled several serious changes for the band during the late '80s. After the first Zomba release (a live concert recorded in Warsaw), 1985's "Le Parc" marked the first time Tangerine Dream had flirted with sampling technology & was a considerable success, fans and critics calling it their best LP in a decade. Schmoelling left in 1988, to be replaced by classically trained Paul Haslinger and, briefly, Ralf Wadephul. "Optical Race", released in 1988, was the first Tangerine Dream album to appear on old bandmate Peter Baumann's Private Music Records. Several more albums followed for the label, after which Haslinger left to work on composing filmscores in Los Angeles. His replacement, and the only other permanent member of Tangerine Dream since, was Edgar's son Jerome Froese (whose photo had graced the cover of several TD albums in the past). Another record-label change, to Miramar, preceded the release of 1992's "Rockoon", which earned Tangerine Dream one of their seven total Grammy nominations. In the mid-'90s, the music of Tangerine Dream increasingly began to reflect the group's influence on a generation of electronica and dance artists. The duo continued to record and release live albums, remix albums, studio albums, and soundtracks at the rate of about two albums per year into the late '90s. -Mikki 1/02 Edited from the AMG site More at: |
