Johannes Schmoelling - A Long Time Ago

www.johannessch...
www.viktoriapar...
Johannes Schmoelling (Schmölling in German, born November 9, 1950 in Lohne, Germany) is an electronic musician and was a member of the prolific electronic music group Tangerine Dream from 1980 to 1986. A classically trained musician he began playing piano at the age of eight. By twelve he had begun playing the pipe organ and successfully mastered the instrument so well that he began to play professionally at various churches. By 1978 Johannes had graduated from college with a degree in sound engineering and secured a job working on live theater performances at the prestigious Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer in Berlin. He ended his stint with Tangerine Dream in 1986 to pursue a solo career and has produced several solo albums as well as soundtrack music for numerous German television programs. In 2000 he created his own record label Viktoriapark records.
Johannes met Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese in 1979 and after his successful audition, was brought into the band as a replacement for Peter Baumann thus re-establishing the trio. His first album with Tangerine Dream was Tangram and he successfully performed with the band through many studio albums like White Eagle, Logos Live, and Exit. He was also a key performer during their prolific soundtrack years in the 1980s and has soundtracks to movies such as Thief, Risky Business, Legend and Firestarter to his credit. In addition he performed several concerts with the band at various locations throughout the world.
After working with Jerome Froese with his record "Far side of the face", Johannes Schmoelling joined him and Robert Waters for the Loom project. So far they have performed at E-Live in Oirschot, Netherlands -- October 15th 2011.
"a long time ago' is from his outstanding album 'Instant city '( 2006 )

[@SuperWolf200]

Superb...tks Rob

[@ScottLoiselle]

While I like a lot of different TD, I have to admit that my favorite is from the years that Mr. Schmoelling was in the band. His solo material is also exceptional. Thank you for posting this!

[@joelgoode5605]

I sure do miss TD - the decades flew by, nicht wahr?

[@Pictor0]

Yes. I've taken to referring to Johannes as 'Lyrical Tang'. For me, the Johannes years are the best.

musique magistrale qui accompagne avec bonheur une époque révolue et pourtant si proche...et qui maintenant a un léger gout de désuet....par contre la musique , elle , a gardé sa force émotive...merci pour ce retour dans le passé .

[@MarioVAmaya]

JD was the only TD member that knew how to bend the notes like Vangelis did. This is precisely why the solo in this track is one of the greatest ever.

[@MrDoobie28]

Glad I stumbled upon this--velly good--love Tangerine Dream too

[@maxxaren]

ottimo video

[@jonathanairey805]

brilliant

[@goblindigital2]

Excellent and melancholic video!

[@knarfknarfos]

Fantastisch! Een herkenning! Dat je beeldmateriaal heb uit de 20-er jaren is subliem! Dank voor je reactie en vast ot later!

[@Askprojekt]

Fantastic Rob!! I love the music from J.S.

[@bellerob]

me too! Thanks for your comment!

[@MrsFairmaiden1]

Beautiful Rob...absolutely beautiful

[@soundscapejourneys-wileymonroe]

The video is rather trippy, and fits well with the music. Love the tune! Definitely in my favorites list. Thanks for the post!

[@bellerob]

you're most welcome!

[@Jamuroo]

Großartiges, gefühlvolles Musikstück von einem der ganz großen Pioniere der Elektronik Szene. Video - wie immer - mit den nostalgischen schwarz weiss Bildern sehr passend in Szene zur Musik gesetzt.Tolle Arbeit Rob!

[@bellerob]

@NewAgeMusic888 thank you!

[@zrnho]

Awesome footage ..happy days.. beautiful! piece of electronic music.. nice post master bellerob :)

[@freddy279]

Nice video and Music! Thanks!

[@NEGYESEK]

unusual, great piece of electronics, almost classical yet modern touch...

[@bellerob]

@JampyKeys thank you!

[@bellerob]

thank you!

[@knarfknarfos]

Beste Rob, Mijn grote dank voor je uitgebreide informatie over Johannes. Fantastische muziek weer! Wat zijn dat voor bijzondere beelden! Uit jouw eigen oude privé doos? Het doet mij denken aan de filmpjes die mijn reeds overleden oom van de familie in de jaren '50 heeft gemaakt. Heerlijk om te zien, samen met deze prachtige muziek! Hulde!

[@LaurentziuRo2010]

Brilliant !

[@starstationearth]

Love the Roland Jupiter at around 5.30! Awesomely atmospheric stuff as usual from JS.

[@dirklyssens8936]

Toppie. Love JS and TD.😍

[@piglet5287]

JS's arrangement with the soaring string synths reminds me of the beautiful final 3 minutes of TD'S Tangram Set 1. I used to think Froese was behind the more melodic (and sometimes sentimental) moments in TD, but now I see Schmoelling may have been the influence. S is closer to classical crossover, rather like Mike Oldfield before he went commercial. Edgar and Jerome prefer trying to be rock guitar gods I suspect, if tracks like Cloudburst Flight and Leviathan are anything to go by.

[@bellerob]

You are right. Schmoelling was the 'melodic 'guy in TD's setting. He still is the melodic guy in "LOOM " , the band he is playing in.

[@piglet5287]

TD's best, most memorable melodies do seem to date from JS joining e.g Street hawk, Barbakane and that single sometimes called Rare Bird, both from Poland, and Choronzon. They are all quite catchy. Arguably there are few proper melodies in pre 1980 TD; the recognisable themes are simply series of chords e.g. Stratosfear. Side 4 of Encore has a strangely moving melodic section near its end, but the tune dies and restarts after the first phrase. Ricochet Part 2 begins with a tune but it tends to follow the line of the broken chords beneath it. Which leads me to wonder, were TD really capable of creating melodies pre- JS? (I can hear lots of 70s fans grumbling that melodies are not the point! But I like to be controversial, you get more replies).

[@bellerob]

Good question. Never thought of that. Will have to listen again to pre JS TD to find out. There goes my spare time :-)

[@andrewgenner2613]

JS was certainly "mister melody" during his time with TD, and probably the best technical keyboard player they ever had (although Haslinger was also good). His solo work and work with Loom/Robert Waters continue to be outstanding to this day. It is also interesting to look at Chris Franke's solo work post TD. This is also very melodic and often quite mellow - not necessarily what one would expect from "mister sequences and rhythms" of TD folklore. I read somewhere that it was Froese who added the piano part at the beginning of Ricochet Part 2. All of them great musicians - but real magic happened when they worked together.

[@piglet5287]

@@andrewgenner2613 I love the chords from 3:12 onwards. They are very similar to a section on Side 1 of Logos.

[@TheJohanMT]

This is indeed a great track!

[@Zerrbernie]

Well done Rob ! ☼ Thanks for sharing ! ♫

[@fredpies]

music from one of the masters of real td

[@bellerob]

Agreed. Thanks!

[@voigthaus]

Klasse Rob ! Ganz toll gemacht mit den alten Movies ! Ich mag die Musik von Johannes Schmoelling sehr ! Er ist einer meiner Heroes ! Er hat seine eigene "farbige" Handschrift, hier die Accordfolge ab 3:12. Das ist typisch für ihn....super ! Bis 3:12 klingt es wie Chris Franke. Er müßte wieder mit Chris Franke zusammenarbeiten, was meinst Du was dabei entstehen würde.....

[@mattiasalamon1669]

Fantastic,ROB 😎

[@bellerob]

Thank you!

[@NewAgeMusic888]

feast for the eye and ear!

[@bellerob]

I agree with you. Great atmosphere.

[@robcheerful]

great video

[@bellerob]

@coman4ero thank you!

[@davidtracey9094]

how times have changed

[@bellerob]

@w1949 thank you Tom!

[@ME-ty8rv]

Schmoelling and Haslinger were the melodic guys while they were playing for TD ... For me the time they played with TD was the best there ever was .... (Btw. both were classical trained Piano players)

[@piglet5287]

The classical training shows through in the careful structure and arrangements in JS's compositions, as this one. But there is a lot of warmth as well. After JS left TD, they were still interesting for a while, but somehow from about 1988 the meaning seemed to drain out of their work and it became very "technoflash". e.g. 220 Volts Live was a favourite of mine for a while, but now it just seems self-glorifying and empty.

[@bellerob]

I agree. Thank you!

[@bellerob]

@trichoone thanks, trich!

[@bellerob]

@Papa7851 you're right!

[@bellerob]

graag gedaan! Beeldmateriaal gedeeltelijk uit de prive doos.( 50er jaren ) En de 'bruiloft scenes' zijn van rond 1920!

[@bellerob]

@SuperWolf200 you're welcome!

[@bellerob]

@freddy279 you're welcome!

[@bellerob]

@voigthaus etwas sehr schoenes! Ich mag seine Musik auch sehr gerne.Damals schon 'Wuivend Riet', phantastisch!

[@MrDoobie28]

I love the bit at 3.13

[@bellerob]

So do I!

[@bellerob]

@goblindigital2 thank you, William!

[@bellerob]

@NewAgeParadigm Mike, I am not in the video. I was born in '66 and the video is from before that time. Thanks for your comment!

[@bellerob]

@zrnho thank you, fellow master!

[@bellerob]

@DAWL01 thank you!

[@bellerob]

I agree!

[@bellerob]

you're most welcome!

[@sigmeneu]

A pity that Instant City album is not available on Spotify...

[@bellerob]

@LaurentziuRo2010 agreed! Thank you, Laurentziu!

[@gannetalpha]

I think if Johannes schmoelling were to get back with Chris franke and maybe add Paul haslinger. This would put TD on the back burner. There stuff would be exceptional

[@raymatthews4319]

I would love for that to happen.

[@Pictor0]

But do check out Loom

[@bellerob]

@Zerrbernie you're welcome!

[@bellerob]

@echoes707 thank you, Sir!

[@bellerob]

@TheJohanMT I agree, Johan!

[@bellerob]

@subsonic600 you're welcome!

[@bellerob]

@ZwischenDimension thank you!

[@bellerob]

@Jamuroo vielen Dank, Goffried!

[@bellerob]

@picturemusic75 vielen Dank!

[@bellerob]

@echoes707 agreed!

[@MrDoobie28]

@ L'Aquitaine come back babeeee xx

[@mouradferrad3276]

pizacatoo too

[@mouradferrad3276]

strings piano bass.kick deum echoes.leads.and another things

[@piglet5287]

Was Underwater Sunlight TD's first album after JS left? Certainly they seem to be struggling in terms of songwriting on "From Dawn...", which sounds like a karaoke record missing its vocals or melody. So at the end they resort to a loud sound effect to blow your speakers!

[@johnstringer9037]

Have to disagree. The Song of the Whale suite are some of the most inspired and genius tracks TD ever made. Heavy Franke influence with a smattering of Froese and Haslinger. I agree that it went south a few years later though....

[@lucmartin6611]

;-)))) but I dislike the number 66... old adress

[@bellerob]

@imaginerie1 you're welcome!