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Conference marvin::uk_music

Title:The UK Music Conference
Notice:Welcome (back) to UK_MUSIC on node MARVIN.
Moderator:RDGENG::CROOK
Created:Mon Mar 28 1988
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1381
Total number of notes:39269

757.0. "Tangerine Dream" by YUPPY::OGLE () Tue Oct 30 1990 04:13

    There isn't a note in this conference yet on Tangerine Dream, the
    German veterans currently on tour here. Lead throughout their career
    since 1967 by Edgar Froese, their music has remained a major force in
    Britain.
    
    Early line-ups in their native Berlin saw some changes before
    abandoning all traditional musical instruments in favour of an all
    electronic keyboard and sythesizer based format which continues to this
    day. Airplay on Radio 1 (courtesy of John Peel) saw the band become big
    news around 1973-4 and their early concerts here were characterised by
    total improvisation and playing in almost complete darkness! Surely
    branding them (at the time) as unique. Concerts at venues such as York
    Minster and Coventry Cathedral lent themselves perfectly to the gothic
    overtones and cosmic feel provided by Froese, Christoph Franke and
    Peter Baumann.
    
    By the '80s the band really got into producing film soundtrack work in
    which they have become quite prolific, but with further personnel
    changes particularly the departure of Franke, there are many who feel
    the group has declined into being too commercial. Latest recruit to the
    line-up is none other than Edgars' 20 year old son, Jerome!
    
    Julian,
    Central London Logistics.
    
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
757.1yes, the weather is very wetSHAPES::FIDDLERMTue Oct 30 1990 11:356
    I love their early work, up to about 84/85 I guess, the last couple of
    lps have seemd a bit uninspired to me.  
    
    A major influence on todays dance trance kids.
    
    Mikef
757.2KERNEL::PARRY16 bits R SXyTue Oct 30 1990 12:025
    >German veterans currently on tour here.
    
    Any chance of some dates in the south please ?
    
    TP
757.3SHAPES::FIDDLERMTue Oct 30 1990 12:184
    I think you may have missed out already.  Hammersmith was last weekend,
    then they were up to Manchester.
    
    Mikef
757.4VOGON::ATWALDreams, they complicate my lifeTue Oct 30 1990 13:111
they're playing Oxford soon
757.5IOSG::WILCOCKABig Man, Pig Man...Tue Oct 30 1990 16:178
757.6Current UK TourYUPPY::OGLETue Oct 30 1990 23:4713
    The rest of the Tour dates are:
    
    		Oct. 30		Sheffield City Hall
    		     31		Edinburgh Playhouse
    		Nov.  1		Newcastle City Hall
    		      2		Bradford St. George's Hall
    		      3		Wolverhampton Civic Hall
    		      4		Oxford Apollo
    		      6		Bristol Colston Hall
    
    
    		Julian.
    
757.7Gig guide on ORACLEKERNEL::PARRY16 bits R SXyWed Oct 31 1990 18:408
    Thanks for the dates.  Unfortunately I can't make any of them. 
    Maybe next time eh.  
    
    I've now discovered ORACLE have started a national gig guide in
    addition to their local one on page 234.  It lists at least some
    of the Tang Dream gigs.
    
    TP
757.8what were they like?YUPPY::OGLEWed Oct 31 1990 23:083
    Has anyone seen them on tour yet?
    
    Julian.
757.9conert reviewKERNEL::HUDSONthat's what I thinkThu Nov 01 1990 12:2958
I saw Tangerine Dream at Hammersmith on Friday 26th.  As well as the three
current band members, they had a female saxophonist and a guy who played
saxophone and flute.

I saw TD several times in the early eighties.  The style they had of playing
was similar to the stuff on 'Encore'.  That is to say a typical track would be
like this:

1. Loads of swirly and discordant noises
2. Sequence starts quietly
3. Sequence gets louder 
4. Other contrapuntal (?) sequences can be heard
5. Boys start playing tuney bits
6. (optional) Edgar gets his guitar out and mucks about with it
[7.Edgar puts his guitar away and goes back to his seat amid applause]
8. Boys stop playing tuney bits
9. Sequences get quieter
10.Track ends with loads of swirly and discordant noises, optionally becoming
   the next track.

In the above agenda, items 5 through 8 would last about 20 minutes.

The main way that they evolved through the period I saw them was the advent of
realistic-sounding percussion machines, which the band made heavy use of.  In
most of the concerts I saw, the material they played was not directly taken
from existing albums, although there were recognisable snippets occasionally, a
bit like the extract from 'Stratosfear' on side 2 of 'Encore'.

I had been expecting stuff like 'Live Miles', which is relatively recent, but
on Friday the main difference was that the pieces of music they played seemed
shorter.  As previously, each piece was merged in with the next.  A fair amount
of things were recognisable; they played pieces from 'Optical Race', 'Lily on
the Beach' and 'Le Parc', and maybe a couple of other pieces that I couldn't
place.  I think I am a couple behind in my TD record collection, so it may be
that the stuff I didn't recognise was taken off very recent albums.  I don't
think that there seemed to be as much improvising as before.  Maybe, as
indicated in a previous note,  the lack of Chris Franke means that they're more
inclined to do shorter tuney pieces.

The sound quality was not brilliant - they still are keen on rhythm machines
and some of the bass drum type sounds were uncomfortably loud, drowning out the
other music.  Edgar did his guitar bit, accompanied by his son (I think), who
seems to have inherited his father's style of being able to play for long
periods while skilfully avoiding coming up with any recognisable melody.

After an hour or so of the three boys, the sax players came on.  They played
the last track off 'Lily on the Beach' (not surprisingly) and a couple of other
bouncy numbers which were pretty good.  About half an hour of this, followed by
two encores, (each with sax) brought the total time to 2 hours or thereabouts.

In conclusion, I think that the loss of Franke showed, and I didn't enjoy the
concert as much as previous ones I've been to (but isn't that always the way).
However, it was worth seeing them, and in the event that they release a live
album it would be worth getting that also.

nick
    
                                                                    
757.10Ah yes, the time it isSHAPES::FIDDLERMThu Nov 01 1990 12:408
    re - 1
     ypu missed the occasional quiet piano bit!  Like the live import album
    (Pergamon?? - brilliant anyway).
    
    Shame they don't sound as good as they used to, I haven't ssen them
    since 82 ish, they were always worth catching.
    
    Mikef
757.11Peter Baumann anyone ?KERNEL::PARRY16 bits R SXyThu Nov 01 1990 15:2015
    Just as an aside, what's happened to Peter Baumann ?  I believe he
    left the band in the late seventies.  Since then, to my knowledge
    he has release three albums.
    Romance '76  guess when this came out ?  A particularly depressing
                 album.
    Trans Harmonic Nights  one of my favourite albums ever.  A collection
                           of jolly ditties based I believe on European
                           folk tunes.   (about 1978)
    Strangers in the night, done with a group of Americans.  A collection
                           of really catchy electro-pop tunes.
   
    This last one came out in the early eighties and I've not found anything
    since then.
    
    TP
757.12a sign of the times?YUPPY::OGLEFri Nov 02 1990 07:2325
    I went to Hammersmith last Friday out of curiosity as I'd read
    indifferent reports of the bands recent work. Very dissapointing.
    
    The concert consisted of mainly shortish pieces from recent LPs rather
    hap-hazardly arranged and sounding too disjointed, lacking any sort of
    continuity of past performances. There were some interesting snippets
    from various records including "Betrayal" from "Sorcerer" and a brief 
    piece from "Phaedra" alongside several extracts from their numerous
    filmscores of late but on the whole, it was as if you were being given
    a synthesiser demonstration at a music festival instead of a 'live'
    performance.
    
    Their great strength was the ability to slowly build a piece with all
    sorts of sound colours, bring it to a climax at deafening levels before
    letting it subside into oblivion. Music to send you into another
    planet, except this time they never found their way to the launch pad!
    
    I always felt that Chris Franke held that band together, now I can
    appreciate just how influencial his contribution was. Afterwards I met
    the band and Edgar remained cool, "Don't worry, this is just a phase
    we're going through." Maybe when the house music fashion dies away,
    T.D. will go through another change of style.
    
    Julian.
      
757.13Peter runs Private MusicHAND::LARSENRob Larsen @BSTFri Nov 02 1990 15:339
    re -.11
    
    	Peter Baumann now runs Private Music that Tangerene Dream now
    record on, I beleve he also guests on other artists albums on that
    label.
    	
    	He also released a solo album 'REPEAT REPEAT' a few years ago.
    
    Rob.
757.14KERNEL::PARRY16 bits R SXyFri Nov 02 1990 17:044
    Thanks for the info.  Now you come to mention it I think I've got
    Repeat Repeat somewhere in my collection.
    
    TP
757.15Mid-Price TD CDsMIACT::RANKINETue Jan 22 1991 17:554
    I believe they have released over 17 lps in the UK, can anyone kindly
    supply a Discography ??
    Thanks in advance 
    Paul
757.16A discography.....YUPPY::OGLEJULIAN OGLE @ LONTue Mar 19 1991 23:5440
    Released in the U.K. are the following:
    	               
    Phaedra	       		Virgin	V2010	1974
    Rubycon				V2025	1975
    Ricochet	(Live)			V2044	1975
    Stratosfear				V2068	1976
    Sorcerer	(Soundtrack)	 MCA   MCF 2086	1977
    Encore	(Live-DLP)	Virgin	VD2506	1977
    Cyclone					1978
    Force Majeure			V2111	1979
    Tangram				V2147	1980
    '70-'80	(4LP BOX) 		V BOX 2	1980
    Thief	(Soundtrack)		V2198	1981
    Exit				V2212	1981
    White Eagle				V2226	1982
    Logos	(Live)			V2257	1982
    Hyperborea				V2292	1983
    Firestarter (Soundtrack)	 MCA  MCF 3233	1984
    Flashpoint  (Soundtrack)  Heavy Metal Worlwide
    				      HMI HP29	1984
    Poland	(Live-DLP)   Jive Electro HIP22 1984
    Risky Business		Virgin  V2302	1984
    Heartbreakers				1985
    Le Parc		     Jive Electro HIP26 1985
    Pergammon	(Live)	     Virgin 207-684-620	1986
    In The Beginning(6LP BOX)Jive Electro TANG1	1986
    Underwater Sunlight	     Jive Electro HIP40 1986
    Tyger		     Jive Electro HIP47	1987
    Live Miles  (Live)		     Jive HIP62	1988
    Near Dark   (Soundtrack)	
    Optical Race		
    Miracle Mile (Soundtrack)
    Lily On The Beach
    
    Hope this helps.
    
    Julian.
    
    
        			
757.17a couple more...KERNEL::HUDSONthat's what I thinkWed Mar 20 1991 12:419
    re: .16
    
    You missed a couple that I can think of:
    
    Shy People (soundtrack)
    Melrose					1990
    
    Can anyone think of any more?
    nick
757.18KERNEL::PARRY16 bits R SXyWed Mar 20 1991 13:066
    Well now you are asking.
    
    Alpha Centauri    the first
    Zeit              very old.
    
    Trevor
757.19SHAPES::FIDDLERMWed Mar 20 1991 13:444
    I believe that Electronic Meditation was the first, this has just been
    re released.
    
    
757.20KERNEL::PARRY16 bits R SXyWed Mar 20 1991 15:0210
    
    >Electronic Meditation
    
    I don't remember the name Tangerine Dream being mentioned on
    the copy that I saw (and listened to only once :-) though it did
    have the guys on it, along with Klaus Schulze.  It was a long
    time ago so my brain could just be pretending to forget.
                                                     
    Trev
    
757.21a couple moreKERNEL::HUDSONthat's what I thinkWed Mar 20 1991 16:1912
    a couple more...
    
    Atem		also very old
    Green Desert	I think this was originally going to come out
    			pretty early but they released Phaedra instead. 
    			Then a couple of years ago they found Green Desert
    			in the archives and released it
    
    Maybe when we've all finished remembering album titles a new reply
    could be compiled listing all those in these notes.
    
    nick
757.22previously released by OHR recordsYUPPY::OGLEJULIAN OGLE @ LONMon Mar 25 1991 11:2516
    Re: last few...
    
    "In The Beginning" is a 6 LP Box set containing all the bands early
    material:
    		Electronic Meditation
    		Alpha Centuri
    		Zeit (Double LP)
    		Atem
    		Green Desert
    
    Meditation and Zeit remain extremely difficult listening but the others
    seem to have worn well.
    
    Julian.
    
    
757.23Ages on CD?BSS::STPALY::J_KUHNPigs on the wingTue Mar 02 1993 21:301
    Has "Ages", Edgars solo album ever come out on CD?
757.24Definately Not A Peach MelbaVYGER::KERRIFri Mar 14 1997 11:3119
    re: .16
    
    and these:
    
    		Canyon Dreams . ( also on video )
    		Rockoon .
    		Turn Of The Tides .
    
    P.S.  Has it really been 4 years since anybody put a note in this 
    conference about Tangerine Dream ? Can anybody shed some light on them
    and what they are up to . I would also be interested to know where I 
    could get my hands on a copy of the Video" Canyon Dreams". I know it
    was deleted a year ago , but I'm the forever optimist and hoping that
    a copy will be lying on a shop shelf somewhere.
    
    							Thanks
    								Ian
    
    
757.25CHEFS::FIDDLER_MThe sense of being dulls my mindFri Mar 14 1997 11:369
    They had a new album out a couple of months ago, on an obscure label
    and with a naff cover....I don't know what the line up is.
    
    I've been toying with the idea of getting some of the 'classic' Tangs
    stuff on cd for some time, but - like everything else - its expense.  
    
    There must be a load of web sites devoted to them?
    
    m