History

Edgar Froese arrived in West Berlin in the mid-1960s to study art. He worked as a sculptor and studied under Salvador Dalí, among others. His first band, the R&B-styled The Ones, was gradually dismantled after releasing only one single, and Froese turned to experimentation, playing minor gigs with a variety of musicians. Most of these gigs were in the famous Zodiac nightclub, although Froese's band was also invited to play for his former teacher Dalí. Music was mixed with literature, painting, early forms of multimedia, and more. Only the most outlandish ideas attracted any attention, and Froese summed up this attitude with the phrase: "In the absurd often lies what is artistically possible." As members of the group came and went, the direction of the music continued to be inspired by the Surrealists, and the group came to be called by the surreal-sounding name of Tangerine Dream.

Influences

Although Tangerine Dream began initially as a surreal rock band, each of the members contributed different things. Edgar Froese's guitar style was inspired by Jimi Hendrix^{[citation needed]}, while Chris Franke contributed the more avant garde elements of Stockhausen and Terry Riley. Finally, Peter Baumann contributed imaginative composition techniques the band often used to make up for his lack of keyboard skills. Of course, this changed over the years as members joined and left, from the Yes-like influence of Steve Joliffe on Cyclone to the sample-based sound collages of Johannes Schmoelling on Exit and Hyperborea.

Discography

• Stump, Paul (1999). Digital Gothic - A Critical Discography of Tangerine Dream. Firefly Publishing. ISBN 0-946719-18-7.

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