 |  | | |
The group created this uncommon name by adding thousand years to the historic battle of Hastings in 1066. TWENTY SIXTY SIX AND THEN were: GEFF HARRISON (lead vocals, from England), GAGEY MROZECK (guitars), STEVE ROBINSON and VEIT MARVOS (both on organ, electric piano, vibes, synthesizer, mellotron, vocals), DIETER BAUER (bass) and KONSTANTIN BOMMARIUS (drums).
Unfortunately, their life span was rather short: from Spring 1971 to Summer 1972. Their one and only album is nothing short of an all time classic: ‘Reflections On The Future’ (1972), recorded during Autumn 1971 at the Dierks Studio, Stommeln near Cologne. This album contained five long heavy progressive tracks with a dramatic mood and a quite unique German styling. The musicians of the group excelled throughout the album. Engineer DIETER DIERKS ensured great sound quality and added his patented ‘cosmic’ phasing effects. Due poor sales and a ruined economy, one of Germany’s best geoups had a premature death only months after the album’s release. A projected 1972 single was never released. It's quite rare that so many talented musicians are assembled in one group. They were later involved in many other projects: GEFF HARRISON and GAGEY MROZECK joined Kin Ping Meh, in time for their third album (released on Zebra). STEVE ROBINSON (his real name was Rainer Geyer!) played with Nine Days Wonder and Aera. VEIT MARVOS recorded with Emergency, Tiger B. Smith and Midnight Circus. KONSTATIN BOMMARIUS played drums for Abacus and on Karthago's ‘Rock'n'Roll Testament’. DIETER BAUER also played with Aera. None of these later projects have stood the test of time as well as ‘Reflections On The Future’. United Artists originals sell for DM 500 in mint condition!
The excellent company Second Battle re-released the album in its original, psychedelic fold-out cover (a colourful painting by Gunter Karl) and all its glory in 1989. This was a numbered limited edition of 1,000 copies.
[Dag Erik Asbjørnsen, Cosmic Dreams At Play, 1996] |