Thief

Edgar Froese: "Another film score. The producer, Michael Mann, had very definite ideas about how the music should sound. We had already composed the music, so we explained to him about recording techniques, mixing, musical terms and so on, then we gave him the tapes, sat him at the mixing desk and said 'O.K. Do it yourself.' He spent three days trying then gave up. Film producers know as much about music as I do about 35mm cameras."

(Interview with Johnny Black, thisBEAT, issue 17, April 1986)

1980 would also become the year when Tangerine Dream seriously established themselves in Hollywood and began their vast production of soundtracks. Michael Mann had just ended the scoring of the movie Thief. With James Caan in the leading rolo, the movie was about a shabby professional thief's last attempt at doing something big, to make a name for himself in the business.

Michael Mann was looking for someone to make the soundtrack, and William Friedkin recommended Tangerine Dream. All parties involved took the assignment very seriously, and therefore some of the most modern equipment was brought into the project; a brand-new computer called GDS was used for synchronising the film to the music and the sound effects. The band was very enthusiastic about the project:

Edgar Froese: "It was a pleasure because we had a finished film to work from. When we did Sorcerer we created the music before a foot of film had been shot. The exotic and shifting moods of Thief fitted in perfectly with the kind of music we played. Making the soundtrack allowed us to play around in the studio a bit and create a piece of music we thought would fit the picture like a glove, yet would also stand on its own". (Elektra/Asylum press-release, September 1981, Tangents)

Johannes Schmoelling: "Thief was my first experience in composing music for a movie. We were very much influenced by the director in that he wanted the music to be very loud, like a drilling noise in the brain. So we created heavy guitar sounds combined with heavy sequencer rhythms. Contrasts were created by the use of lyric tunes like Beach Theme." (Interview with Mark Pendergast, January 1994, Tangents)

The critics were very enthusiastic when the movie came out in March 1981, and one review was better than the other. More and more frequently Tangerine Dream were contacted by film producers and directors, who wanted to make use of their music.