Decades: Tangerine Dream in the 1970s

by Stephen Palmer

Long, unfurling tracks; huge stacks of gear; music like that of no other group; trailblazing live gigs based on improvisation. This is the legacy of Tangerine Dream, the legendary German group piloted by Edgar Froese, whose impact on music, and electronic music in particular, has been profound. Formed in the Summer of Love, and at the beginning a group of rock musicians who liked to improvise, they went on to record and release a series of ground-breaking synthesiser albums with their native Ohr Records and with Richard Branson's fledgling Virgin Records. With the support of underground DJ titan John Peel, their star ascended through the seventies. This book covers that glorious, extraordinary decade, focusing on the music but also telling the group's tale. Albums recording by the band included the classic Phaedra, it’s hugely popular follow up Rubycon and they ended the decade with the powerful Force Majeure. The book includes new interviews with Steve Jolliffe and also with early member Steve Schroyder, who was there alongside Froese in those very early days.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2022

About the author

Stephen Palmer is the author of numerous narrative nonfiction and genre fiction books, published by various publishers since 1996. His most recent directions are into music books, and anthropology/psychology with his critically lauded work 'I Am Taurus.' His fiction has been in the fields of steampunk, SF, and near-future AI novels.
His main area of interest is the evolution of consciousness, about which he writes on his Substack. A materialist, he emphasises the evolutionary description of our minds and of the human condition itself.
Stephen was raised in Shropshire, U.K., where he now lives with his partner, a large number of world music instruments, and more than one teapot. His CD collection contains albums by The Stranglers, Tangerine Dream and Mike Oldfield.
You can catch up with him via his Substack, his blog at stephenpalmer.co.uk, or via his Facebook page.