Tangerine Dream Dreams

I was trying to remember when I first got into Tangerine Dream. I remember the first album I bought from them was Tangram, shortly after I’d bought a turntable in late 2008. I found a copy of Tangram at Half Price Books for $1. It was what I’d call back in the day “The Nice Price”, after the sticker they’d put on discounted records and cassettes in the 80s. But when I bought Tangram it was already almost 30 years old, so $1 was probably more just “The Fair Price”.

That first year I had bought my turntable I was on the hunt for cheap records. I was buying new vinyl, but I was also checking out used sections a lot, too. Half Price Books used to have a pretty great selection of records. I’d found quite a few gems there over the last 15 years; super clean copies of Donald Fagen’s The Night Fly, tons of classical records, Steely Dan, Genesis, as well as new pressings of albums by Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis for $12. It was a great place to start a collection, compared to what it’s like now(mostly all new records and sparse used vinyl anymore.)

I wasn’t really looking for Tangerine Dream that day, it just sort of popped out at me while checking the $1 bin. I hadn’t thought about Tangerine Dream in 20 years, not since the 80s and all of the amazing soundtracks they made for movies I loved. Movies like Firestarter, Three O’Clock High, Near Dark, The Keep, and Legend to name a few.

Tangerine Dream kind of low key scored my adolescence.

Without me even knowing it, Edgar Froese and his band of electronic wizards primed my brain for many years later to love electronic music and synthesizers. Which in turn would lead to loving many other synth-based scores by so many amazing, talented, and otherworldly electronic musicians. But it all started with Drew Barrymore and burning things with her mind, as well Casey Siemaszko trying to avoid getting his ass beat by Richard Tyson.

But first, $1 records.

I quickly figured out that you could find quite a few cheap Tangerine Dream albums in used records sections. I really liked Tangram. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but then again I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was lighter in mood I guess. It put me in mind of the sound of 80s films. Mann, Friedken, and the like. And even touches of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer and(don’t hate me for saying this) Mannheim Steamroller. So I started checking used records everywhere I went. I quickly amassed a collection of TD works; Phaedra, Rubycon, Stratosfear, Cyclone, Ricochet, Force Majure, Firestarter, Thief and later on Sorcerer. There were live albums like Encore and Poland as well that became staples of my ever-increasing TD musical diet.

You’ll probably notice that most of those albums covered the 70s and 80s, but not past that. I guess I just felt like I’d found such a musical treasure trove in those two decades that I didn’t feel as if I needed to venture into the 90s and beyond. And as far as their first few records, I have Electronic Meditation, but then skip up to Phaedra from ’74. Do I need to check out Zeit and Atem? If so, let me know.

There have been quite a few Record Store Day Tangerine Dream releases over the last few years.

Le Parc was reissued a few years back. That was kind of a time machine of a record, as the title track “Le Parc(L.A.-Streethawk)” was the theme of the short-lived 80s action series Street Hawk which my preteen self loved(I also loved Airwolf, Knight Rider, and Automan which were all about futuristic vehicles.)

Tyger was another one. It was based on the poetry of William Blake. It had some voiceover stuff and delved into world music a bit. I don’t listen to it as much as some others but I still quite enjoyed it for what it was.

The most recent releases have been live sets, and some of my favorite finds. Live At Reims Cathedral December 13th, 1974, Live At Reims Cinema Opera, September 23, 1975, and the most recent is the 3-album set Live In Paris, Palais Des Congrès – March 6th, 1978. All of these releases showcase the mystery and majesty of these long hair German cosmonauts taking stoned hippies on a existential journey via modular synthesis. There’s something otherworldly in what Tangerine Dream did. Even in the later years they never stopped evolving their live set, even when they went from analog synths to digital, sequencing and midi formats of making electronic music. It was still all about the journey.

Which is what I’ve been on since late 2008, digging through discarded tomes etched into circular delivery vehicles called records. Or vinyl. Or wax. It’s a journey I hope to stay on for many, many years to come. Tangerine Dream has been one of my most enduring and satisfying of my musical discoveries. Like I said, the journey started on Betamax tapes in the 80s while watching movies like Three O’Clock High, Near Dark, Risky Business, and Legend. There was something special about those movies, and it wasn’t until I was spinning these soundtracks on my turntable many, many years later that I realized the magic was in the grooves of those albums. Which then was a realization of the power of the score…or I should say the right score that accompanies those films. Tangerine Dream started my obsession with electronic music, as well as film scores.

Favorite Tangerine Dream albums? Studio albums I’d say of course Phaedra, Rubycon, Stratosfear, Force Majure, and Exit. Those are all-timers for me. If you’re new to the world of Tangerine Dream(how?), then I’d recommend snagging these up immediately and diving in. Poland, Logos Live, Encore, and all of those recent RSD releases are excellent live albums worth your time(quick note: the recent RSD releases are not hi fidelity recordings…more like bootlegs. But really well done bootlegs.)

Soundtracks? Sorcerer, Firestarter, Three O’Clock High, Legend, The Keep, and of course Thief. Masterpieces, all of them.

And even the new releases post-Edgar Froese are outstanding, Quantum Gate and Raum. Thorsten Quaeschning is an excellent choice to keep the Tangerine Dream dreams alive.

Thanks for listening to my Tangerine Dream TED Talk. Now go put on any one of these records and get lost for a bit.