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Christopher Franke
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Christopher Franke was born in 1953 and is a German film composer and pioneer of electronic music. He studied composition at the Berlin conservatoire, with Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage as influences. From 1970 to 1987 he was a member of Tangerine Dream. There he was nicknamed the Sequencer King, because he used an analogue sequencer on stage. His work with sequencers is considered decisive for the group's fast, hypnotic style, among other things on the album Phaedra from 1973, which paved the way for the classic Tangerine Dream sound and for the Berlin school.
Music and breakthrough
With Tangerine Dream he wrote music for films such as Sorcerer, Thief, Risky Business and Legend. After his departure he pursued a solo career. In 1991 he opened a studio in West Hollywood and wrote film music for, among others, Universal Soldier, Tarzan and the Lost City and Night of the Running Man. His first solo album, Pacific Coast Highway, was released in 1991, followed by Klemania and Raven in 1993. A year later he founded the label Sonic Images. For television he wrote the music for the science fiction series Babylon 5.
Influence
His music consists of synthesizers and rhythmic sequencer lines, sometimes with orchestral colours. Franke brought the electronic sound of the Berlin school to American film and television. In doing so he belongs to the musicians who gave synthesizer music a permanent place in film music.
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
- 1991Pacific Coast Highway
- 1992Universal Soldier (soundtrack)
- 1993Klemania
- 1993Raven (soundtrack)
- 1994Babylon 5 (soundtrack)
- 1995Night Of The Running Man (Original Soundtrack Recording) (soundtrack)
- 1996Perry Rhodan: Pax Terra (soundtrack)
- 1996Tenchi the Movie: Tenchi Muyo in Love Soundtrack (soundtrack)
- 1996The Celestine Prophecy: A Musical Voyage
- 1997Babylon 5, Volume 2: Messages From Earth (soundtrack)
- 1997Babylon 5: A Late Delivery From Avalon (soundtrack)
- 1997Babylon 5: Severed Dreams (soundtrack)
- 1997Babylon 5: Shadow Dancing (soundtrack)
- 1997Babylon 5: Walkabout (soundtrack)
- 1997Babylon 5: Z’Ha’Dum (soundtrack)
- 1997Pacific Blue (soundtrack)
- 1997Transformation of Mind
- 1998Babylon 5: Chrysalis (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: Endgame (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: In the Beginning (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: Interludes and Examinations (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: Into the Fire (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: Lines of Communication (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: No Surrender, No Retreat (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: The Coming of Shadows (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: The Face of the Enemy (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: The Fall of Night (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: The Long Night (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: The Ragged Edge (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: War Without End, Part 1 (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: War Without End, Part 2 (soundtrack)
- 1998Babylon 5: Whatever Happened to Mr. Garibaldi? (soundtrack)
- 1999Babylon 5: Darkness Ascending (soundtrack)
- 1999Babylon 5: Falling Toward Apotheosis (soundtrack)
- 1999Babylon 5: Objects at Rest (soundtrack)
- 1999Babylon 5: Sleeping in Light (soundtrack)
- 1999Babylon 5: The River of Souls (soundtrack)
- 1999Babylon 5: Thirdspace (soundtrack)
- 2000The Calling: Original Motion Picture Score (soundtrack)
- 2001Babylon 5: And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place (soundtrack)
- 2003Music for Films Vol. 3 (soundtrack)
- 2006What tнē β𝐿ϵ̅ϵ⃗𝛲 D̄ө ωΣ (k)πow⁉ (soundtrack)
- 2007Babylon 5: The Lost Tales (soundtrack)
- 2011Ludwig - Der König ist zurück (soundtrack)
- 2016Dark Ambient
In School of Rock
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- The Dream Factory: Film Reel 5NL Reader