Dune (band)

Summary

Dune is a German electronic group known for songs such as "Hardcore Vibes", "Can't Stop Raving", "Are You Ready to Fly" and "Rainbow to the Stars".

Dune
Oliver Froning playing as Dune at Defqon.1 2015
Oliver Froning playing as Dune at Defqon.1 2015
Background information
OriginMünster, Germany
GenresEDM
Years active1995–present
MembersOliver Froning
Past membersJens Oettrich
Bernd Burhoff
Tina Lacebal
Verena von Strenge
Vanessa Hörster

History edit

The group was founded in 1995 by DJ Oliver Froning and producers Jens Oettrich and Bernd Burhoff (alias Plutone). The band's name was inspired by the science fiction film Dune, based on Frank Herbert's novel of the same name. They released "Hardcore Vibes", a largely instrumental track containing spoken words by Froning's niece, and a cover version of Rozalla's song "Are You Ready to Fly" as their first two singles, followed in mid-1995 by the group's eponymous debut album, released at Urban Records. An instrumental track from the album, "Can't Stop Raving", became the third single, augmented with heavily pitched-up vocals by singer Tina Lagao. All three singles reached the Swiss German and Dutch charts. Early in 1996, dancer Verena von Strenge became the group's main singer. The second album Expedicion, released the same year, spawned the singles "Rainbow to the Stars", "Hand in Hand", and "Million Miles from Home". The latter was Germany's anthem of the 30th anniversary of Star Trek.

In early 1997, Dune made a drastic change in musical style. Accompanied by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the band produced a cover of Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever", reaching second place in the German charts.[1] They released a new album, Forever, with the cover of Phil Collins hit "Against All Odds", Sinéad O'Connor's hit "Nothing Compares 2 U" and Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "The Power of Love", but disagreements led to Verena von Strenge's departure.[citation needed]

The single "Keep the Secret", released on 20 April 1998, saw the debut of a new vocalist, Vanessa Hörster. The video of the track "Electric Heaven" was directed by Eric Will and shot on the Côte d'Azur in France. Both singles failed commercially, leading to the album 5, planned for release in August 1998, being cancelled. Another classical album, Forever and Ever, recorded together with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and previous vocalist Tina Lagao (performing here under the artist name 'Tina Lacebal'), was released on 23 November 1998 but flopped commercially.[citation needed]

At the end of 1999, the group reunited with Verena von Strenge and released the single "Dark Side of the Moon", which reached 49 on the German charts. The group began recording songs for an album titled Reunion.[citation needed] Dune recorded "Heaven", a cover version of A7's 1999 hit "Piece of Heaven", under the (false) impression that they had obtained permission of the original artist. However, prior to the single's release, A7 lodged a court order, alleging plagiarism. Dune were forced to cancel the release of "Heaven", and they could not release their album Reunion due to the court order.[2] Songs that had already been recorded for the Reunion album, except for "Heaven", were later released on the album History. After remakes of "Hardcore Vibes" (2000) and "Rainbow to the Stars" (2003), the group quietly disbanded.[citation needed]

Oliver Froning later continued as a solo artist using the Dune moniker and since after 2014, frequently appeared as a DJ. In 2016, he released "Magic Carpet Ride", with vocals by Kate Wild. Froning's use of the Dune moniker is currently the subject of a legal dispute between him and Burhoff.[3]

In 2017, the single "Starchild (First Contact – Chapter One)" was released, followed by "Utopia", "We're Alive" and "Turn the Tide" in 2018.[citation needed]

Members edit

  • Oliver Froning (1995–present)
  • Jens Oettrich (1995–2003)
  • Bernd Burhoff (1995–2003)
  • Verena von Strenge (1996–1997, 1999–2000)
  • Vanessa Hörster (1998)
  • Tina Lacebal (1995–1996, 1998)

Discography edit

Albums edit

Year Title Chart positions[4][5][6]
GER AUT NED FIN HU SWI
1995 Dune 21 - 59 - 36 20
1996 Expedicion 15 43 34 38 4 28
1996 Live! 89 - 45 - - -
1997 Forever 2 4 63 - 19 11
1998 Forever and Ever - - - - - -
2000 History 69 - - - - -

Singles edit

Year Title Chart positions Album
GER
[7]
AUT
[8]
SWI
[9]
NED
[10]
SWE
[11]
FIN
[12]
UK
[13]
1995 "Hardcore Vibes" 5 36 10 Dune
"Are You Ready to Fly" 12 23 17
"Can't Stop Raving" 7 16 10 -
1996 "Rainbow to the Stars" 12 23 8 52 7 Expedicion
"Hand in Hand" 10 39 18 9 77
"Million Miles from Home" 17 39 10 40
"Who Wants to Live Forever" 2 3 9 12 59 77 Forever
1997 "Nothing Compares 2 U" 36
"Somebody" (promo only)
1998 "Keep the Secret" 38 Singles only
"Electric Heaven" 56 50
"One of Us" 78 Forever & Ever
1999 "Dark Side of the Moon" 49 History
2000 "Heaven" (promo only) Promo only
"Hardcore Vibes 2000" 70 History
2003 "Rainbow to the Stars 2003" 74 Singles only
2016 "Magic Carpet Ride"
2017 "Starchild"
2018 "Utopia"
"We're Alive"
"Turn the Tide"
2022 "Running Up That Hill"
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

References edit

  1. ^ "Who Wants To Live Forever von Dune". www.chartsurfer.de. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  2. ^ "The Story of Heaven". duneraver. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  3. ^ "Dune Update - to court". Dune Fansite. 17 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  4. ^ "Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche - musicline.de". Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Discographie Dune - austriancharts.at". Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  6. ^ "MAHASZ". Mahasz.hu. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Dune – German Chart". Officialcharts.de. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  8. ^ "Dune – Austrian chart". Austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  9. ^ "Dune – Swiss chart". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  10. ^ "Dune – Dutch chart". Dutchcharts.nl. 2 March 2015.
  11. ^ "Dune – Swedish chart". Swedishcharts.com. 2 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Dune – Finish chart". Finnishcharts.com. 2 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  13. ^ "Dune – UK Chart". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 9 January 2021.

External links edit

  • Fan website
  • Fan website (in English)
  • Dune at Danceartistinfo.com
  • The story behind the cancellation of Reunion
  • Dune discography at Discogs