Manuel Göttsching

opakowanie: jewel case + książeczka + kartonowa obwoluta

Carefully Re-Edited Legendary 1977 Studio Recording for RIAS Berlin
Includes Bonus Track: "Despair"

"Largely unnoticed by the mainstream public, some West-Berlin musicians developed a world of sound that would later become labeled Electronic Music." Olaf Leitner (RIAS Berlin)

The 1970s. The Vietnam War is slowly coming to an end; the RAF thrives and prospers; the first Achtundsechziger ('68 protestors) are actually planning to march through the institutions; rock and roll is getting heavier; and hardly noticed by the mainstream public, some West-Berlin musicians develop a world of sound, which later eventually became labelled as “Electronic Music”.

Indeed, there was nothing electronically generated initially, let alone even digital. In the beginning they simply named these sound-mixtures "electro-acoustic". These compositions of slowly evolving soundscapes relating to the Minimal Music concept created a meditative mood. This was new. This was the Berliner Schule (Berlin school). Being responsible for popular music at a radio station in the 1970s was an absolute dream job. At least that’s what it was like at RIAS Berlin (Radio In the American Sector). There was no quota, no pressure, no hit-terror, and we just invited the artists, bands and musicians we liked to the studio. The artists from next door. That’s how I got to know Manuel.

He was living right on the Ku-Damm (Kurfürstendamm), right in the city centre, but in the rear building, shielded from the noise. Manu didn’t have a sequencer. Everything that sounded like a sequencer was his highly focused guitar work. The slowly changing tone sequences for example. This was a physical accomplishment in itself.

His minimalistic play is still part of his signature style.

The musicians from Berlin, who worked in the same genre, were either friends, periodically played in Manuel’s ASH RA TEMPEL, or built up their own careers.

The scene was small, but equipped with illustrious celebrities - Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Harald Grosskopf, Agitation Free.

And my RIAS colleague Walter Bachauer. He had called the Metamusik Festival into life and brought the international avant-garde to Berlin.

The festival opened up new aesthetic continents to us when we were grateful to listen to chants of Tibetanian monks or the Steve Reich Ensemble play “Drumming”.

Manuel was able to start his international career pretty quickly, focusing on England, France and Japan.

For the German middle-of-the-road-consciousness, these countries were as exotic as the winds on Jupiter, especially Japan, where Göttsching still enjoys superstar status. Today it is not only these countries, which consider him a cult figure. He has also made his mark as a film composer and has added his music to numerous events and art happenings.

In November 1975 I had initiated a concert at the RIAS Studio 10, entitled “Futurum 3”, with ASH RA TEMPEL performing. Apart from the guitars there was also an EMS Synthi A on stage. And an old Farfisa Compact Organ that Manuel played and of which I was especially proud:

I was able to buy this instrument in 1964 after a summer job at a steel drill factory. This Farfisa was on stage when I performed with my band the Team Beats Berlin, as support act for the Rolling Stones at their legendary concert in September 1965 at the Berliner Waldbühne.

Somehow this instrument had survived the riot, and ten years later Manuel bought this organ from me. He had played this Farfisa in many concerts and recordings in the following years, and it can be heard also prominently here on “Dream and Desire”.

Originally, the two tracks “Dream” and “Desire” had been conceived for my one-hour radio feature at RIAS Berlin in summer 1977. Then, although being broadcast only once in Berlin and Belgium, they soon became cult amongst listeners, who taped, multiplied and distributed the tracks throughout Manuel's fan base.

But it was only in 1991, after 14 years, when Manuel decided to make it an “official” release on CD.

Something like that is unusual at times when only the new things count - until it is dismissed by the new and gets dumped.

The revival of Dream & Desire is not nostalgia but an indication that the present will only be appreciated after acknowledging the past. Applies also to art.

The bonus track “Despair” was not part of the original radio-feature, but was composed and recorded around the same time in 1977, and the track fits perfectly in style and sound.

Manuel's music has been with me for now almost 50 years.

I own a superb LP and CD collection of him.

Dream & Desire is beautiful - what more can I say ...

Olaf Leitner, March 2019