1979
Composed /arranged / produced by: Dieter Reith
LP "Love and Fantasy"
Intercord INT 160.116
This is one of those finds:
You pick it up in smelly thrift store and even wonder if it's worthwhile the three Deutsche Mark. And twenty years later you watch the sales-reports on Discogs and it appears that the cheapest copy went for 60,- €, the most expensive went for 160,- €. Looks like a fashionable item for DJ-pros.
The cover, title and in particular liner-notes suggest some kind of sophisticated esasy listenening jazz, perfect for accompaining cosy erotic situations.
The record actually is really good and something special. It presents a contemporary jazz arranger exploring the worlds of electronic disco and electronic krautrock of the the likes of Ashra & Co. Lots of synth and spacy vocal arrangements.
The more Quincy Jones- / Lalo Schifrin- inspired "Beams" is a bit an exception on that album and it made me wonder: You don't make those sophisticated arrangemens just for an odd easy listening LP on an Indie Label! And: The thriller atmosphere even doesn't suit the cosy erotic situations.
A look at Dieter Reiths's website proofs I was right. The album is a soundtrack for a TV criminal series entitled "Die Kette" ("The Chain") based on a Francis Durbridge Novel.
Francis Durbridge:
British author and novelist. His crime-stories had two formats as blockbusters in Germany: As radio-play-versions in the 50ies and TV-versions in the 60ies/70ies. (Blockbusters: "Straßenfeger" in German - it means the streets were literally empied by the show) The most famous Durbridge-soundtrack: "Spoon" by Can. ... This shows there must have been some money to cover the expenses the soundtrack.
Dieter Reith:
Born 1945 in Mainz. Pianist, organist, professional sound engineer, producer, arranger, bandleader. Is musical home is the Jazz. Most of his professional musicians live was in arranging for TV- and radio-shows and soundtracks.