Johannes Schmölling

The pioneering German collective Tangerine Dream has been delivering their distinctive style of ambient music for nearly three decades, laying down a foundation of sound textures and sonic imagery that has influenced many of today's electronic musicians. Founded in 1967 by fine art aficinado Edgar Froese (b. East Prussia, 1944), the group released their first album, "Electronic Meditation" in 1970, and, through many different line-ups in proceeding years, delivered a unique brand of space-rock, making use of electronic instruments like synths and Mellotron, along traditional instruments like rock guitar and blues harmonica. Their work on William Friedkin's Sorcerer (1977) was the beginning of many film projects that the group would undertake throughout the 1980s, including Thief (1981) and The Keep (1983), both directed by Michael Mann, Legend (1985) by Ridley Scott, Near Dark (1987) by Kathryn Bigelow and the boxoffice hit Risky Business (1983) with Tom Cruise. Throughout the 1990s, the group has been as active as ever, releasing as many as five albums a year, including remastered versions of early material.