| Edgar Froese | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Edgar Wilmar Froese |
| Born | June 6, 1944 |
| Genres | Electronic music |
| Occupations | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instruments | Piano, synthesizer, guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, mellotron, organ, horn, mellophonium |
| Associated acts | Tangerine Dream |
Edgar Wilmar Froese (born 6 June 1944) is a German artist and electronic music pioneer, best known for founding the electronic music group, Tangerine Dream. Although his solo and group recordings prior to 2003 name him as "Edgar Froese", his solo albums from 2003 onward bear the artist name "Edgar W. Froese".
Froese was born in Tilsit (Sovetsk), East Prussia, during World War II. After showing an early aptitude for art, Froese enrolled at the Academy of the Arts in West Berlin to study painting and sculpture. In 1965, he formed a band called The Ones, which played rock and R&B standards. While playing in Spain, The Ones were invited to perform at Salvador Dalí's villa in Cadaqués. Froese's encounter with Dalí was highly influential, inspiring him to pursue more experimental directions with his music. The Ones disbanded in 1967, having released only one single ("Lady Greengrass" / "Love of Mine").
After returning to Berlin, Froese began recruiting musicians for the free-rock band that would become Tangerine Dream.
Froese's composition "Stuntman" has been used as the opening theme music for "Mabat Sheni" ("Second Look"), an investigative news program from Channel One television in Israel, since the 1980s.
Edgar Froese has declared himself to be a non-smoker, non drug user, and vegetarian.[1]
Contents |
Albums issued in 2005 are in order by catalogue number.
Tangents was a Tangerine Dream compilation album box set of five CDs issued in 1994, compiling music from their years with Virgin Records, 1973 to 1983. Disc five consists entirely of "previously unreleased material": ten tracks, seven of which are credited only to Froese as the composer. No information is given as to where or when these tracks were recorded, or by which line-up of Tangerine Dream. Most Tangerine Dream tracks credit the line-up that recorded it as the composers, therefore these appear to be Froese solo tracks, released under the Tangerine Dream name, and may have been recorded for this album. Furthermore, five tracks on disc three are described as "re-recordings by Edgar Froese", while the remaining tracks on discs three and four are described as "re-mixed plus additional recordings by Edgar Froese". The tracks on discs one and two are also remixed and contain new overdubs, and Froese is credited as producer for the entire album.
Another compilation box set, the 6-CD I-Box (2001) contains further bonus tracks credited only to Froese: "Ivory Town", "Storm Seekers", "Cool Shibuya" and "Akash Deep". Several of Froese's tracks from Tangents are included as well.
Phaedra 2005 (2005 re-recording of Phaedra, 1974), Tangram 2008 (2008 re-recording of Tangram, 1980), and Hyperborea 2008 (2008 re-recording of Hyperborea, 1983) are Edgar Froese solo albums released under the Tangerine Dream name.
The Tangerine Dream album Views from a Red Train (2008) was originally announced as an Edgar Froese solo album. It was eventually expanded with other band members performing, but the album remains composed entirely by Froese.
Other later Tangerine Dream albums have been composed and performed entirely by Froese, including Summer in Nagasaki (2007), Winter in Hiroshima (2009) and Chandra (2009).