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| Adam. J.W.C., CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0> via Wikimedia Commons |
When I was about 15 I bought an album called Epsilon in Malaysian Pale. It was the second solo album by the German musician, Edgar Froese. I bought it on the basis of my appreciation for his band, Tangerine Dream. It consisted then, on vinyl, of one side with tthe album title and the other side with a track calle Maroubra Bay. I lilke both tracks though it was hard work at first, These are pretty obscure mellotron and synthesiser dominated tracks. I'd never given much thought to the titles but then here in Sydney I saw a bus headed for Maroubra Beach and it suddenly clicked. Apparently Tangerine Dream toured Australia back in the seventies and Maroubra Bay recalls the Sydney location, a sandy beach where people surf. Yesterday we were offered a final opportunity to see somwhere and so I jumped at the offer of a 26 minute car ride to Maroubra Bay. We had lunch in the Bay Hotel and watched the scene, noting the existence of the Matoubra Bay Garage.
You can hear the 1975 track here. Interestingly it was later re-issued backwads by mistake - not so very different. See here. Perhaps the best version, further research reveals is the 2004 remix, whcih introduces ocean sounds and other extras that take the track to an even higher level. Hear it here.
