Tangerine Dream are considered a pioneering act in electronica. Their work with the electronic music Ohr label produced albums that had a pivotal role in the development of the German musical scene known as kosmische ("cosmic"). Their "Virgin Years", so called because of their association with Virgin Records, produced albums that further explored synthesizers and sequencers, including the UK top 20 albums Phaedra (1974) and Rubycon (1975). The group also had a successful career composing film soundtracks, creating over 60 scores, which include those for the films Sorcerer, Thief, The Soldier, Risky Business, Flashpoint, The Keep, Firestarter, Legend, Three O'Clock High, Near Dark, Shy People, and Miracle Mile.
From the late 1990s into the 2000s, Tangerine Dream continued to explore other styles of instrumental music as well as electronica. Their recorded output has been prolific, including over one hundred albums. Among other scoring projects, they helped create the soundtrack for the video game Grand Theft Auto V. Their mid-1970s work has been profoundly influential in the development of electronic music styles such as new age (although the band themselves disliked the term) and electronic dance music.
Their most recent album of all-new music, Quantum Gate, was released on 29 September 2017. In December 2019, the band released Recurring Dreams, a compilation of new recordings of some of the band's classic compositions.
The group is currently working on a new album as a four-piece to be released in 2021 via Kscope.
Tangerine Dream began as a surreal rock band, with each of the members contributing different musical influences and styles. Edgar Froese's guitar style was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, while Christopher Franke contributed the more avant garde elements of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Terry Riley. Yes-like progressive rock influence was brought in by Steve Jolliffe on Cyclone. The sample-based sound collages of Johannes Schmoelling drew their inspiration from a number of sources; one instance is Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians on parts of Logos Live, and the track "Love on a Real Train" from the Risky Business soundtrack.
Classical music has had an influence on the sound of Tangerine Dream over the years. György Ligeti, Johann Sebastian Bach, Pierre Boulez, Iannis Xenakis, Maurice Ravel, and Arcangelo Corelli are clearly visible as dominant influences in the early albums. A Baroque sensibility sometimes informs the more coordinated sequencer patterns, which has its most direct expression in the La Folia section that comes at the very end of the title track of Force Majeure. In live performances, the piano solos often directly quoted from Romantic classical works for piano, such as the Beethoven and Mozart snippets in much of the late 1970s – early 1980s stage shows. In the bootleg recording of the Mannheim Mozartsaal concert of 1976 (Tangerine Tree volume 13), the first part of the first piece also clearly quotes from Franz Liszt's Totentanz. The first phrase is played on a harpsichord synthesizer patch and is answered by the second half of the phrase in a flute voicing on a Mellotron. During the 1990s, many releases included recordings of classical compositions: Pictures at an Exhibition (on Turn of the Tides), Largo (from Xerxes) (on Tyranny of Beauty), Symphony in A Minor (by J. S. Bach), and Concerto in A Major / Adagio (by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) (both on Ambient Monkeys).
Since the 1990s, Tangerine Dream have also recorded cover versions of Jimi Hendrix' "Purple Haze" (first on 220 Volt Live) and The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby", "Back in the U.S.S.R.", "Tomorrow Never Knows", and "Norwegian Wood".
An infrequently recurring non-musical influence on Tangerine Dream, and Edgar Froese in particular, have been 12th–19th-century poets. This was first evident on the 1981 album Exit, the track title "Pilots of the Purple Twilight" being a quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem Locksley Hall. Six years later, the album Tyger featured poems from William Blake set to music; and around the turn of the millennium, Edgar Froese started working on a musical trilogy based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, completed in 2006. Most recently, the 2007 album Madcap's Flaming Duty features more poems set to music, some again from Blake but also e.g. Walt Whitman.
Pink Floyd were also an influence on Edgar Froese and Tangerine Dream, the band in its very early psychedelic rock band phase playing improvisations based on Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive". Madcap's Flaming Duty is dedicated to the memory of the late Syd Barrett. The title refers to Barrett's solo release "The Madcap Laughs".
The band's influence can be felt in ambient artists such as Deepspace, The Future Sound of London, David Kristian, and Global Communication, as well as rock, pop, and dance artists such as Porcupine Tree, M83, DJ Shadow, Ulrich Schnauss, Cut Copy, and Kasabian. The band also clearly influenced 1990s and 2000s trance music, where lush soundscapes and synth pads are used along with repetitive synth sequences, much like in their 1975 releases Rubycon and Ricochet, as well as some of their music from the early 1980s. The group have also been sampled countless times, more recently by Recoil on the album SubHuman, by Sasha on Involver, and on several Houzan Suzuki albums. Michael Jackson also cited Tangerine Dream as one of his favourite bands, especially their 1977 soundtrack for Sorcerer.
My Name is Bad Hair
Tangerine Dream Lyrics
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走れるわけじゃないんだって
いつかは
止まってしまう日が来る
それでも僕は良しとして
靴紐を固く結ぶ
前を見たあの日
ひどい火薬の匂い
片付けないで眠ってしまって
また朝になって
使ったはずのビニール
破れ燃えた約束
なぜだか君が謝った
君を呼び止めたくて飛び出して
The lyrics of Tangerine Dream's song "My Name is Bad Hair" speak of the impermanence of life, using the metaphor of a race that cannot be run at full speed forever. The opening lines acknowledge that despite the ability to run at maximum speed, it is not always possible or sustainable to maintain that pace. The lyrics muse about the inevitability of eventually stopping and that though this realization may be undesirable, it is still accepted. The singer then speaks of their resolve and how, regardless of the situation, they will tie their shoelaces tightly and keep looking forward to the future.
The second verse talks about the aftermath of using fireworks and how the scent of the chemicals lingers even after the fun is over. The lines about the plastic bag that was meant to be used and the promise that was broken have a sense of regret and loss, possibly indicating a relationship or someone dear who has left the singer. The final line speaks of wanting to keep this person from leaving so badly that the singer is willing to jump out at them to stop them.
Through the use of metaphors and vivid imagery, "My Name is Bad Hair" conveys the idea of accepting the transient nature of life and the desire to hold on to what is precious despite the inevitability of loss.
Line by Line Meaning
僕ら最高速でいつだって 走れるわけじゃないんだって
We can't always run at full speed like we want to.
いつかは 止まってしまう日が来る
We all inevitably have our days where we have to stop.
それでも僕は良しとして 靴紐を固く結ぶ 前を見たあの日
Even then, I will tie my shoelaces tight and look forward to the days when I had hope.
使ったあとのクラッカー ひどい火薬の匂い
That strong smell of gunpowder left over after using a firecracker.
片付けないで眠ってしまって また朝になって
I fell asleep without cleaning up, and when I woke up in the morning,
使ったはずのビニール 破れ燃えた約束
I found the bag I thought I used ripped up and burned as if it broke its promise.
なぜだか君が謝った 君を呼び止めたくて飛び出して
For some reason, you apologized, and so I ran out to stop you.
Writer(s): Tangerine Dream
Contributed by Isaac F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.