Tangerine Dream

Founded by the late Virgin, this German group can take significant credit in introducing synthesizer- and sequencer-based electronic music to most of the Western rock world. At the height of their success - during the mid to late 1970s - TD's spacey, pulsing music earned them a tenacious cult following. By the late Seventies, however, line-ups, and more importantly, the formula changed, tilting towards more conventional "rock" music. By the early 1980s, TD was primarily releasing influential soundtrack work, before settling into New Age content by mid-decade.

Formed in Berlin in 1967, the initial line up (on their first release Electronic Meditation) included Johannes Schmölling would for Tangram. This line-up remained stable until the mid-1980s, as the group shifted toward more rhythmic textures. The increased emphasis on sequencers and rhythm in the first half of the 1980s divided fans, as did subsequent releases which veered heavily into relatively accessible, uplifting melodies.

After a brief stint with Eastgate), TD's reputation as a New Age band became less appropriate—father and son experimented with more modern sounds and revisited elements of past glories—but the group's artistic direction remained fairly entrenched in melodic pop-rock territory, with an increased use of acoustic instruments, particularly on stage. With Edgar Froese's death in 2015, the band continues, but with none of its original .