As today is my birthday I'm sure you'll allow me a certain indulgence. I have a story from 40 years ago. As today's video is largely abstract you may want to listen and read as it plays.

Are you sitting comfortable?

At the end of January 1976 'SOUNDS' music weekly introduced a competition. Called 'WAX FAX Contest '76' it boasted "Over £5000 of prizes to be won!" featuring 12 different prizes ranging from musical instruments - guitars, keyboards and drums to albums and headphones and a weekend trip for two. All you had to do to win one of the fantastic prizes was to answer the three questions in the coupon each week. There would be 9 coupons in all, which meant you had to find the answers to 27 questions.

Each week I wrote down my answers > I recall struggling with one and having to go into a big bookshop to find the answer in a music encyclopaedia. Anyhow I got all the answers and on week 9 at the end of March SOUNDS announced that you could select which of the 12 prizes you wanted to win and then in no more than 25 words say why you wanted to win this particular prize. The dreaded 'tie-breaker' - make or break I thought. The 'Win a weekend trip to meet Tangerine Dream' was my choice, partly because I saw it as not necessarily one of the most popular prizes on offer. My answer to the tie-beaker (after grappling with it for a time) was to write "The chance to see and meet one of my favourite groups, even after nine weeks, still seems like a great idea". I sent off my coupons to the appropriate address, reasonably confident I had all the answers right, but so might many others.

About a month later I received a letter in the post to tell me I'd won the all expenses paid flight/trip for two this summer to meet Tangerine Dream 'live' on tour in Europe.

And that was the last I heard for some months. So I wrote to SOUNDS to find out what was happening. Some summer concerts in Europe has been cancelled but a Tangerine Dream Autumn Tour was scheduled. Eventually one of those dates at the end of November in Madrid was organised by SOUNDS and I was instructed to contact the bands London record company - Virgin - and they'd supply tickets and all the information necessary.

On Friday 26th November a mate and me flew out to Spain, checked in at the hotel in Madrid where we'd been told to make contact with Tangerine Dream's manager. However the group were in Barcelona and wouldn't be arriving until the next day for that evenings concert. We wandered around rather lost until a few hours before the concert the manager showed up. He told us what would be happening and asked what we'd been doing? "Waiting for you" was our best response, where upon he handed me a wodge of spanish pesetas and said make sure you have yourselves a great time. It was rather like the movies.

A short while after we were in a taxi with him on our way to the Pabellón Deportivo Real Madrid* - a large indoor sports arena. We're handed back stage passes and find ourselves just to one side of the band a matter of yards from the stage.

After the show was over we were taken further back stage to meet Tangerine Dream - Edgar Froese, Chris Franke and Peter Baumann. We were offered drinks and food and naturally they asked if we'd enjoyed the music but after performing for two hours they appeared 'out of it'.

It was mentioned that the local press wanted the band to go to a nightclub and would we like to go along. Only Peter Baumann seemed interested, so off we went with him in a taxi to this disco in town. The unreal was about to get surreal. We walked in, the three of us, and immediately a group of reporters whisked us off into the club, sat us down and handed us drinks. Suddenly the music playing was Tangerine Dream's 'Ricochet' (Part 1), not your standard disco music scene, and virtually impossible to dance to. We were outnumbered by the press and while they'd spotted we were not german keyboard operators they did however begin asking my mate and me some in-depth questions about the evenings music. All we could do was nod our approval at what they asked, but that Peter was the best, indeed the only, person qualified to answer them.

Fairly soon we all departed and back at the hotel we had a final drink and chatted some more. Peter Baumann, who'd been good company, informed us he'd just finished a solo LP, which would be out very soon, while hinting he may leave the group in the New Year.

Both facts proved true. Today's music is from his solo album 'Romance 76', opening track called 'Bicentennial Present'.

The next morning over breakfast Peter Baumann and Tangerine Dream and their manager said farewell as they departed for France and yet another show. We had a great story to tell and more pesetas in our pockets than we knew what to do with, but we'd think of something. 

* I am indebted to Michael Berling and his 'Voices In The Net' website database for this information. I honestly couldn't remember where we'd gone.

You Tube  literally has mountains of Tangerine Dream stuff, some tracks last an hour or more! Go explore if you've a mind. I'm just going to add this (Live in 1976) as it reminds me of what I remember mostly from this concert and that is Edgar Froese on guitar, like your typical rock band, which they never really were. Very good quality video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqjdgwg7qMs

Too weird ? Try this then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ00QzOMBZs