Steve Jolliffe Interview - The Recording of Tangerine Dream's Cyclone.

[@davejohn1588]

I was lucky to see Tangerine Dream at Newcastle City Hall back in ‘78. They were promoting their new album CYCLONE. Cyclone is my favourite TD album!

[@AndyKing1963]

CYCLONE was recorded at Audio Tonstudios in Berlin. The engineer was Ottmar Bergler. Lastly, the Roland synth he couldn't quite recall was the Roland System-100 modular synth with 101 synthesizer c/w a 102 expander. His full kit for the tour was: Hohner Clavinet D6, Elka Rhapsody 610 string synthesizer, Computone Lyricon, Roland System-100 with 101 synthesizer c/w a 102 expander, Yamaha electric piano CP-70, Fender Rhodes Mark 1 electric piano, Tycobrahe 'pedalflanger' pedal, custom phaser pedal, MXR Distortion+ pedal, Tenor saxophone, Alto flute, piccolo, bass flute, cor anglais & Soprano saxophone, Roland Space echo, HH electronics Stereo-12 mixer.

[@Trottelheimer]

Good info! One thing is still missing though: the vocoder. What kind of vocoder was it? I've asked Steve - he can't remember. BTW, Bent Cold Sidewalk has the best use of vocoder ever in my opinion, mystical, heavy, lyrical - it has everything and I have not heard any other vocoding that moves me like it!

[@TrondGjellum]

@AndyKing Thank you for the very detailed information!

[@AndyKing1963]

@@TrondGjellum no problem. My list of Tangerine Dream's equipment is currently 554 pages long

[@AndyKing1963]

@@Trottelheimer TD bought a Korg VC-10 in 1978

[@Trottelheimer]

@@AndyKing1963 More good info - thank you! Did they use it on Cyclone though? I'm not sure for two reasons. Cyclone was recorded in January 1978, so did they have time to put it to use? My band had a VC-10, and from my experience with it, I can't see how they got that Bent Cold Sidewalk sound out of it. Then again they were sound wizards! Did they have other vocoders at the time, thinking of your gear list?

[@narasimha7187]

Cyclone is a masterpiece. The vocal performance is unique and perfectly compliments the cold electronics. Also lyrically I find it impressive as they are genuinely mysterious. The only comparable vocal performance of the era that has that special edge would be Peter Hammill of Van Der Graaf Generator. Innovative and special, no wonder the masses couldn't handle it. A psychic confrontation.

[@A.D.75]

"Cyclone" is one of my favorite albums of all time. Thank you, Steve Jolliffe, for these reminiscences of creating it.

[@luisceballos7811]

Cyclone and Force Majeure are my favorites TD albums of all time!!

[@matthiasschrader608]

Yes,Like Progressive Rock👌

[@Rasenschneider]

For me Cyclone always was THE outstanding Tangerine Dream album and one of the great albums of the 20st century. It's unique.

[@aspjake123]

Still have my Cyclone vinyl when first release in the USA. Was surprised but happy to hear vocals!

[@Ian-gw2vx]

My first TD album bought Oct 84. A guy I met on the Mike Oldfield tour in Brussels reconmened TD to me as another instrumental band. I wasted no time and bought Cyclone from either Manchester HMV or Virgin and was miffed at the fact it had vocals. Suffice to say it a great album. Love it.

[@fabrikk60]

I *really* like Steve's vocals on Cyclone. The flute is a great addition to TD's sound too. For me, Cyclone is really when the band peaked. Afterwards, they began becoming more melodic, polished and predictable. The fun surprises largely stopped coming, and by the mid 80s they lost me completely. It's a pity there wasn't another album or two with Steve.

[@Rasenschneider]

I experienced it the same way. My favorite TD albums are before Cyclone and Cyclone is my absolute favorite. After that I tried to like it the same but the following albums got less substantial from year to year. In the early 80s I totally lost interest in new stuff of TD and that made me sad.

[@janpieternieman5295]

Well le parc is a great 80s album of them

[@wildscotsman1]

Great to come across this interview with my old friend Steve. He really is a nice guy.

[@Trottelheimer]

Cyclone - it's a monumental record, there's nothing else like it! I'm so glad it happened :)

[@RiquezaEmGotas]

Besides the electronic music knowledge and being a excellent composer and performer, the healthy food vegetarian aspect of it is a big plus. More and more people should get into it.

[@MichaelFairbrother]

Great interview with Steve Jolliffe about his role with Cyclone, my favorite Tangerine Dream album.

[@Tony-hu7uk]

That's amazing to read that Cyclone is someone's favorite TD album.I'm very fond of Madrigal Meridian but could not say that it's my favorite TD album.I think the cover painting is probably his best

[@MichaelFairbrother]

@@Tony-hu7uk Most definitely one of the best TD album covers. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the trio of Phaedra, Rubycon, and Stratosfear, yet there is just something magical about Cyclone for me.

[@Tony-hu7uk]

I have to admit I don't care for the A side tracks with the vocals but the second side with Madrigal Meridian is mind blown blowing!Did you manage to track down the two box sets?

[@MichaelFairbrother]

@@Tony-hu7uk Oh, I did not even know there were box sets. I will look into it. Thank you. Yes, Madrigal Meridian is amazing. Just curious, what are your favorite TD songs/albums?

[@Tony-hu7uk]

​@@MichaelFairbrotherI just finished writing a lengthy reply to you and hit the send button and it disappears! Aggravating!Anyway,the two box sets are amazing and EXPENSIVE!!!You don't want to know how much I paid for the first one.They both contain a big beautiful hardback book with very thick and glossy pages.There isn't many books on Tangerine Dream so I had to get them just for the books alone.There's alot of great unreleased music as well.

[@PatGleeson123]

It's a pity - despite a cosiderable serch - that the unused masters were not located for the 'In Search of Hades' boxset. I would love to hear the 'flute based multilayered fugue' piece Steve refers to.

[@GP100TD]

Thank you Steve for your "naughty job". I follow TD works from the beggining and every phase have some integrity. CYCLON is the part of great TD opus and give to him great contribution. THANX again.

[@PhilAndersonOutside]

Briefly met him some 20+ years ago when he was living in Auburn, WA. Incredibly gentle guy, as you can likely tell here. Very knowledgable about music and electronic music, obviously. Did not know he, like Edgar, was vegetarian, or into very healthy eating at least. Cool.

[@nickpatten5263]

I’d forgotten what a great album this is . I have now listened to it again after a number of years and it sounds even better than I remember. Thanks for a great interview 👏

[@douglasanderson8636]

What a nice chap!

[@flyboy2880]

Great interview from Steve, lovely snippets of info during the recording.

[@garywright3628]

This is a fascinating interview. Many thanks :)

[@BiserAngelov1]

Although i completely fell in love with Tangerine Dream, due to tracks like Midnight In Tula, Optical Race, Paradise Cove and Gaudi Park, the first Tangerine Dream album i bought was indeed Cyclone. But everything worked out well at the end, because i was a huge Pink Floyd fan at the time as well. Nowadays both bands are still among my favorites, and i still consider Cyclone a strong album. I also have a soft spot, for the Tangerine Dream, Live In Paris, the Cyclone Tour 1978.

[@jonnyj46]

Good interview. Nice to hear Steve’s experience in his own words 🎅🏽❤️🖖🏽

[@Andy-yo3hd]

Good to see you, Steve. I enjoyed the interview. Be careful with the euphemisms though, ´pulling one off´means something else now!

[@THR-zf6ti]

Dear Steve, since at least 1980 I love and listen to your wonderful and really unique TB album "Cyclone" - played "Madrigal Meridian" on dozens of parties (early in the morning - nowadays you would call it afterhour...) as a DJ - thanks for the nice interview which now gave me a new perspective to this album. 😀👍

[@danniielle]

I've been a huge fan of TD now for several decades and Cyclone is one of my favourites. Force Majeure, Ricochet, Pergamon, Logos, Phaedra and a few others from that era are right up there as favourites too.

[@Tony-hu7uk]

It's gratifying to see how many people appreciate Cyclone,I know a lot of people look down it.Madrigal Meridian is Synth gold!I also think it's Edgar's best cover painting.

[@icu12cme]

Great interview

[@aliencblake]

Blinding album. ❤top man😊

[@davegillett7135]

I remember hearing this for the first time and finding it very exciting. I was about 15 in a music lesson at school. Heard Sorcerer shortly after and never looked back.

[@InterplainMusic]

As you speak, i can hear the words of Bent cold Sidewalk, i love that track. The breadth and depth of your voice is your person, the frequency of you.. I wish you were my friend to talk to..

[@harshstonewhite83]

I don't think its their BEST album, but its certainly not the disaster some make it out to be. I enjoy it quite a bit. The vocals are odd, but I kind of like 'em. :)

[@kitcanttat]

Pretty sure I saw SJ play during the festival in Bath circa 1985(?). The venue is lost in the mists of time. Can anyone confirm? I recall some wag called out: "Drum solo!" and SJ laughed.

[@fannyblancmange4709]

Nice interview, thanks. Have loved the album since first hearing it in 1983. I like the idea of a 'Cyclone Sessions' box, surely almost viable given the 'Hades' box-set's reported success(?). Anyone know what Steve was doing between Steamhammer & 'Cyclone'?

[@billyarbuckle1191]

What's he talking about the vocals were brilliant 👌

[@karstenschulze8843]

🤔❓

[@gorvo31]

Thanks much for this! I was among many of those who dismissed the album initially, though have come in recent years to enjoy the album overall....even the A-side. :-) Of course became very much a fan of Steve's overall too.

[@liverawkstar]

Gorvo31 Bent Cold Sidewalk is one of the best tracks ever conceived. The vocals of course so amazing and processed in a way, way way ahead of the time.... I never really noticed all the horns when I got this new when I was 15 in 1978. The breakdown,,,,, OMG, all those echo scat vocal.... a decade ahead of people pioneering this kind of thing

[@gorvo31]

@@liverawkstar Hey Keyth, very cool to hear from you over here, and to hear your thoughts on this. Indeed, this was something I had to 'catch up' with so many years later. Very neat you got this when it was new and you were that age. I was 15 myself when I got into TD in general. 'Livemiles' was my intro to them way back when...

[@mikedavies395]

Nice fella. Cyclone is ace by the way.

[@meredithkent-berman1098]

One of my favorites, too. However years ago, I played it for my friend who was an addict. He said that they were probably smoking some bad Sh@t. :0

[@CadillacOfTheSkies82]

Never understood the senseless hate for this MONUMENTAL ALBUM. My fav of their entire career, of course.

[@geraldinecabildo8005]

I agree. If you listen to in the dark with headphones you will feel like an out of body experience. I never had feeling from other music. EXCELLENT ALBUM. The vocal and lyrics were FUN-TASTIC.

[@aliensporebomb]

No it had a lot of good aspects for it. If they'd been given more time they could have produced more material - I seem to remember an interview where they were pretty much pressed to get the thing done so they could tour asap.

[@Antares070]

Agree, I love TD since my childhood and I think this album is as great as Stratosfear,Ricochet,Logos and other top ones..

[@mister_syre]

Always loved that album. Strangely it gets a lot of flack because of the vocals, which I liked a lot.

[@aspjake123]

Same here!

[@Plexpara]

Bowie named the tangerine dream album "Malaysian Pale" as influence of his berlin trilogy and the soundtrack to his time in berlin.

[@AndyKing1963]

The photo at 15.23 has nothing to do with Cyclone - it is in fact TD recording Force Majeure later in 1978 at the Hansa Tonstudios in Berlin. Engineer Eduard 'Edu' Meyer is on the left and Christoph Franke is on the right

[@Tony-hu7uk]

Finally, some confirmation that Force Majeure was recorded in 1978.The credits on the cover and in most literature 1979 is always the year that comes up with regards to Force Majeure.I know it was released in '79, I'm curious about the recording sessions.

[@AndyKing1963]

@@Tony-hu7uk it was recorded from August to September 1978

[@Tony-hu7uk]

​@@AndyKing1963This is gratifying, after all these years I finally get confirmation that Force Majeure was recorded in'78.Thank you very much man.I love Force Majeure,the opening on side 1 is like walking into a very warm room after being out in the freezing cold.

[@AndyKing1963]

@@Tony-hu7uk Hansa Tonstudio No.3 (now gone sadly).

[@Tony-hu7uk]

​@@AndyKing1963Thank you,do you know anything about the original Green Desert demos from '73?

[@qrplife]

Madrigal Meridian is excellent. I don’t know the proper musical name for them is, I call them arpeggiated runs, but they have incredible energy in the song.

[@THR-zf6ti]

Yeah reminds me of the parties in the early 1980's - sunday mornings 5am more than mildly stoned dancing in the sunrise... loved to play that epic track on such occasions as a DJ - Trance way before trance was invented as a genre

[@DavidMorley]

I guess they were talking about the Birotron at 20:30

[@AndyKing1963]

B90

[@neilloughran4437]

Thought the exact same... as an aside its really amazing how much of the TD mellotron sound fx appeared in the Nord sample library too.. I've even used the same sounds live myself which feels really weird!

[@AndyKing1963]

their Birotron was awful and would rip-up the tape in the cassettes. It was retired to Edgar's solo studio where he rigged it up with tape loops for 'endless' choir chords (with metal blocks holding down the keys).

[@anthonygoudreau7055]

@@AndyKing1963 No. It wasn't the Birotron that was awful, but the tape cassettes which were endless loop and needed to be replaced after 100 hours. Edgar was using the loop Mellotron with the blocks holding keys down, not the Birotron which has controls for decay.

[@ExilesGate]

❤️✨🙏

[@neilloughran4437]

My first Tangerine Dream LP. I remember thinking how wonderful it would be to really dive into this band if the sound was similar across all their LPs not knowing this was an experiment, a one off... I think the sound was a bit ahead of its time in retrospect... I think Steve has had a lot of unjustifiable criticism over the years... he sounds like he saved the day for the band according to this interview and even Edgar's own writings in the Force Majeure book... pity Edgar was so negative about it all. Would love to hear those outtakes Steve talks about... I can imagine with Steve's musical background and understanding of 20th century modern music those outtakes are probably as good as anything in the TD catalogue. Hope he can get hold of them one day.. other wise they will just never be heard.

[@SpoonyMcSpoonface]

A great interview but a shame he couldn’t remember Klaus Krügers the drummers name.

[@garywright3628]

Although it took me quite a while to get into Cyclone (I actually disliked it at first as it was quite a departure from TD's previous works) I now view it as a landmark album from them and I love it :)

[@artsolomon202]

Such a positive guy😂😅😅😅

[@walbedo333]

Seriously, Cyclone album for me, as a TD fan was/is a great invovative creation and Steve's vocals were exciting and inspiring. I wish there had been more in this style. I still buy Steve Jolliffe albums, a great source of inspiration of tangerine dream. Sadly TD have, since, done some terribly boring, samey and lazy albums. There are much better synth keyboard artists. But still, thanks TD.... and Steve, as always.

[@zachhaywood1564]

I honestly think the downhill fall started in the 90's when they brought in saxophones and took on more of a new wave tone instead of full-on electronica.

[@synoneiro]

There was that crap period of the 90s and 00s before things picked up again more recently, but to be honest I think it started earlier still, around 1984-85 and I think TD's undoing was becoming soundtrack machines. It paid well, covering the costs of their equipment, but at what cost creatively? The soundtrack for Heartbreakers for example bore little resemblance to the band we'd come to love, but Streethawk would have been the real killer as they were up against tight deadlines and had to churn out hours of music really quickly, thus their quality control took a nosedive and didn't really recover that much. It didn't have time to recover; the very reason Chris Franke wanted a break as his creative juices were spent, whereas Edgar was fine to keep ploughing on.

[@smithpm81]

Fave album

[@aliencblake]

Doesn't Steve. Have a Autobiography? Where can u get it?

[@relaxingelectronicmusic775]

cool -- fine

[@johnunderwood3132]

I like bent cold sidewalk. Think it sounds awesome

[@davidmorgen4558]

No live shows,recordings with S.J unfortunately!

[@billyarbuckle1191]

Was the cyclone album ever done live

[@demnos2879]

Of course, there are several bootlegs of the 1978 tour. Of course it is not „Cyclone - The Album“ live, but instead improvised material based on themes from the album. They toured with Laserium providing the light show back then.

[@runarkarlsen9772]

Yes you find them here, but they did not play the songs from side a, its more improvisations on Madrigal meridian. Steve do hardly sing there, but a few times.

[@chrisshenton8329]

Saw some of it live in 1978

[@tangent4416]

Strange that he had problems finding vegetarian food.... Why didn't he ask Edgar or Monique about this? They've already converted to vegetarism by then....

[@synoneiro]

Edgar said in his book that Steve was vegan. Don't know if he was right about this. He was pretty negative full stop.

[@BarbieChaite]

automatic writting

[@cv507]

pipz ^ ^ wasnt there quarrel of baumann having tapes..? he shouldnt ? 10:55 wow kubrick ?

[@RadicalCaveman]

Steve: No meat! Germans: Not even sausages?!?

[@e.tezani3877]

Bent cold sidewalk..

[@bertenqvist7324]

Steve Jolliffe doesn´t remember Bowies boyfriend ??

[@philtration-Em11]

Take yr pick😂

[@fabricemartin9547]

Le titre Bent cold sidewalk, je trouve que le mixage entre la musique et la voix n' est pas bon, moi, j' aurais mis la musique un poil plus fort que la voix, a mon avis. Autrement, l' album est sublime😎🎹👍

[@AndyKing1963]

Bowie didn't like TD's music at all, instead he was a fan of Edgar's solo albums.

[@AndyKing1963]

David Bowie asked about his favourite rock artists: David Bowie: "Somebody else is Edgar Froese from Tangerine Dream, but as a solo artist, not as part of the group, I think the group, I don’t like, I don’t like Tangerine Dream, but I like Edgar’s work on his own. His solo albums are really good”

[@Patriot1389]

Madrigal Meridian saved this LP

[@Tony-hu7uk]

Yeah, Madrigal Meridian for me is one of their all time classics!

[@AVB91]

I thought he was German because of his singing style.

[@piglet5287]

How a band could experiment with so many instruments yet come up with a piece as dismally monotonous as Madrigal Meridian, is quite beyond me. No wonder Edgar took a different direction next. Having said that, I quite like the ice-cold instrumentation on Rising Runner...and the vocals, well I can put up with them as part of the general angst