Atem

In December 1972, Tangerine Dream recorded what was to become the album Atem. This time it was done without any help from guest musicians. The result was released at the beginning of 1973.

The music still had this "cosmic" atmosphere, but with a lot more dynamics and structure. Especially the vocal (!) track Wahn stands out -- even today. It sounds something like "Stockhausen meets Pink Floyd"...

The [...] American John Schaefer, [...] a very active and passionate spokesman for every kind of new music, wrote about this phase in Tangerine Dream's career: "Here were three young German rock musicians (Klaus Schulze briefly among them) playing music that sounded as bizarre and self-indulgent to pop listeners as Eminent or Stockhausen sounded to much of the traditional classical audience. Often without any recognisable melodies or harmonies, the early Tangerine Dream recordings, such as the two-record set Zeit (Time), took the listener on a flight through a chemical wonderland. Spaced, occasionally abrasive, at times completely adrift from conventional musical forms..." (New Sounds -- John Schaefer, 1987, Virgin)

Edgar Froese: "Atem was the beginning of an adventure. For the next few years, we were constantly improving and experimenting and, although it wasn't perfect -- we didn't always make great music -- it was a period which brought me richer experiences than any other" (Melody Maker, 8th October 1994)

Atem was the last album Tangerine Dream made with Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser for the record company Ohr. As it often happens in the music business, disagreements between the artists and the record company evolved. They parted, but only after a lawsuit, and Froese, Franke and Baumann were now looking for a new recording label. Before the final break, Tangerine Dream played at a remarkable concert arranged by a magazine in Paris. Among others Tangerine Dream were playing together with Ashra Temple, Kraftwerk and Klaus Schulze, who have all gained a lot of recognition and almost cult-like status in their genre through the years.

With Atem, Tangerine Dream got some success abroad for the first time, when the English DJ, John Peel, chose Atem as the best album of the year! He often played it on his radio program and was thereby contributing to making Tangerine Dream popular in England. It was especially the English who opened their eyes to that special kind of progressive rock music, which came from West Germany. The psychedelic wave -- with Pink Floyd in front -- had cleared the way for a new way of thinking in music.

There was a strong underground scene, which had also revealed itself as having a big commercial potential. As is well known, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells was a very big success even though it was considered a strange album at the time with no traditional vocals or drums. The enormous success of Tubular Bells was forming the financial basis for this little new record company called Virgin Records. A record company, with the eccentric adventurer Richard Branson in the forefront, which has now evolved into becoming one of the world's biggest multimedia companies and now also an airline company. It was also Virgin Records who promoted Tangerine Dream on a global level for many years and -- to some degree -- still do.

Legend has it that "on sunny afternoon in August 1973, Richard Branson and Edgar Froese sat on the small wooden stairs in the hallway of Virgin Records store in Nottinghill Gate, London. Both were negotiating the first deal for Tangerine Dream in England. Branson only had a small office above the store. As they agreed upon the main points, Branson pulled out a demo cassette from a certain Oldfield, which he'd received. They gave the pre-prehistoric version of Tubular Bells a listen -- and the rest is history." (TDIFC Newsletter #13, March 1991)

Well, anyway it's a good story.