50 Years Of Tangerine Dream

A 50-year retrospective of electronic music group Tangerine Dream is featured in the latest episode of the Echoes podcast.

Tangerine Dream-50 Years of Electronic Meditations: The Echoes Documentary features interviews with band members from the 70’s to today, including Edgar Froese, Peter Baumann, Christoph Franke, Klaus Schulze, Thorsten Quaeschning and Ulrich Schnauss.

Host John Diliberto also talks with a variety of synthesists influenced by Tangerine Dream, including Robert Rich, Ian Boddy and Steve Roach, who share their perspectives on the group. And it even features composer Steve Reich sharing his take on the group’s borrowing from his Music For 18 Musicians.

You can listen to the documentary below or at the Echoes site:

Summary:

50 years ago Tangerine Dream began recording their electronic music in what was then West Berlin. Founded by Edgar Froese, Tangerine Dream has epitomized the electronic age of music, recording over 150 albums of synthesized compositions. Their film soundtracks include “Sorcerer” “Thief,” “Risky Business,” and “Legend.”

Tangerine Dream founder and last original member, Edgar Froese left the planet in 2015, but the group continues on with music he composed.

On Echoes, we draw upon over a dozen interviews with the Dream members past and present including Froese, Peter Baumann, Christoph Franke, Klaus Schulze, Thorsten Quaeschning and Ulrich Schnauss and many others to celebrate 50 years since the release of their debut album, Electronic Meditation.

20 thoughts on “50 Years Of Tangerine Dream

  1. I burst into tears when I heard Edgar died. The band have been at the core of my expression since I was a dot. I am so glad I got to see them in 2010 at the Albert Hall, the one and only time I’ve been able to.

  2. It was lovely hearing seeing in person Bianca Froese-Acquaye at Revolution of sound documentary.

    Whether Edgar Froese changing cosmic address signifies end of Tangerine Dream …….
    current band members still Dream in Tangerine

  3. Johannes Schmoelling and Paul Haslinger helped make TD better, but they were already impressive. If you want to go back a bit & explore, check out Schmoelling’s “Windblown Reeds” (“Wievund Reit), whose 2-part title track is powerful and Carlos-level creative, as if he was a modular maven. I also recommend Haslinger’s “World Without Rules,” which sounds like TD meshed with beautifully-sculpted world music aspects. The danceable tracks will rock your living room hard. I was always a TD follower, but the world of just TD alumni is astounding on its own.

  4. Absolutely unacceptable that Johannes Schmoelling is not mentioned at all. It’s absurd and unbelievable. How could a such important member be unnoticed? Shame on anyone creates this “documentary”. “Force Majeure”, “Tangram”, “White Eagle”, “Poland”, “Hyperborea”, “The Keep”, and so on. After Schmoelling has left, Froese just repeated himself, he made many forgettable albums, only “Melrose”, “Rockoon”, “Mars Polaris” and “Jeanne D’Arc” is real Tangerine Dream. Schmoelling was a base member who had determined Tangerine Dream for so many years. I am very upset, who leaves out Schmoelling from a Tangerine Dream documentary has no idea what Tangerine Dream was, and what is is now.

    1. i was impressed that Diliberto got so many members to participate.

      Did you consider that Schmoelling may just not have been able to participate because of availability or timing?

      It seems strange to jump to the conclusion that a disrespect was intended!

  5. Haslinger – “Future Primitive” is a powerhouse! His contribution to TD is significant. Schmoelling is no slouch either. His solo work is equal to his time at TD. What is lost is Froese’s dedication to finding creative members and collaborative strengths. This comes from a personal commitment to finding the muse despite the ego.

  6. You’re spot-on about Edgar. Peter Baumann said that he’d get mad at agents or the like, but in the studio, he was exploratory and cool-headed. That seems to have as much to do with TD’s persistence as all other factors combined. Sometimes being the central power-person in a group can make someone seem ogre-like, but when its broad yet focused the way he did it, you get TD.

  7. Just listen and Enjoy their music. The rest is not emportant. The Joy of holding that CD, or looking at YouTube. Yes Edgar was the godfather, let us all respect him and what he has given us.

  8. I was born in 1963 in Belgium and first heard TD in the late seventies. That sound from Ricochet and Rubycon blew me away. I never heard anything like it. Today it still sounds like new music. Thank you TD.

  9. TD, more talent an any of their home musician critics. They took the risk and lived from their music, that’s a real artist. Having said that I think Schmoelling has totally jumped the shark, just pandering to aging fans rather than doing anything new and sadly he has become a parody of himself

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