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

History

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 A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

'', based on

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...

's novel of the same name. They released "Hardcore Vibes", a largely instrumental track featuring spoken words by Froning's niece, and a cover version of

Rozalla Rozalla Miller (born 18 March 1964), better known as simply Rozalla, is a Zimbabwean electronic music performer who was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). She is best known for her three 1991/92 hit singles " Faith (In the Po ...

's song "Are You Ready to Fly" as their first two singles. These were followed in mid-1995 by the group's eponymous debut album, released through Urban Records. An instrumental track from the album, " Can't Stop Raving", became the third single, enhanced with heavily pitched-up vocals by singer Tina Lagao. All three singles reached the Swiss, German, and Dutch charts. In early 1996, dancer Verena von Strenge became the group's main singer. The second album, '' Expedicion'', released that same year, produced the singles " Rainbow to the Stars", " Hand in Hand", and " Million Miles from Home". The latter was selected as Germany's anthem for the 30th anniversary of ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...

''. In early 1997, Dune made a significant shift in their musical style. Accompanied by the

London Session Orchestra The London Session Orchestra was a film, TV, and pop orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1993 and led by Gavyn Wright and is known for its work on movies such as ''Run Lola Run'' (1998) ''V for Vendetta'' (2005), and '' Mission: Impossibl ...

, the band produced a cover of

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

's "

Who Wants to Live Forever "Who Wants to Live Forever" is a song by the British rock band Queen. A power ballad, it is the sixth track on the album ''A Kind of Magic'', which was released in June 1986, and was written by lead guitarist Brian May for the soundtrack to th ...

", which reached second place on the German charts. They followed this with the release of a new album, ''Forever'', which included covers of popular hits such as

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

' " Against All Odds",

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...

's "

Nothing Compares 2 U "Nothing Compares 2 U" is a song written by the American musician Prince for his band the Family. It first appeared on their only album, '' The Family'' (1985). Its lyrics express the feelings of longing expressed by an abandoned lover. The I ...

", and

Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Ruther ...

's " The Power of Love". However, internal disagreements led to the departure of Verena von Strenge. The single "Keep the Secret", released on 20 April 1998, marked the debut of a new vocalist, Vanessa Hörster. The music video for the track "Electric Heaven" was directed by Eric Will and filmed on the

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

in France. Both singles did not achieve commercial success, resulting in the cancellation of the album ''5'', which had been planned for release in August 1998. Another classical album, ''Forever and Ever'', recorded in collaboration with the

and featuring former vocalist Tina Lagao (performing here under the stage name 'Tina Lacebal'), was released on 23 November 1998, but also flopped commercially. 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''. Dune recorded "Heaven", a cover version of A7's 1999 hit "Piece of Heaven", under the (false) impression that they had obtained permission from the original artist. However, prior to the single's release, A7 lodged a court order alleging plagiarism. Dune was forced to cancel the release of "Heaven", and they could not release their album ''Reunion'' due to the court order. 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. Oliver Froning later continued his career as a solo artist under the Dune moniker and, since 2014, frequently appeared as a DJ. In 2016, he released "Magic Carpet Ride", featuring vocals by Kate Wild. Froning's use of the Dune name is currently the subject of a legal dispute between him and Burhoff. In 2017, the single "Starchild (First Contact – Chapter One)" was released, followed by "Utopia", "We're Alive", and "Turn the Tide" in 2018.

Members

Oliver Froning Oliver Froning (born 25 July 1963 in Münster, West Germany) is a German musician. He began his music career in 1981 under the name djraw. Together with Jens Oettrich, he started the group Dune (German band), Dune in 1992. The group performed ...

(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

Albums

Singles

References

External links

The story behind the cancellation of ''Reunion''
– An insight into the background of Dune's unreleased project.
Fan website
(in English) – A fan-maintained site dedicated to Dune's music and legacy.
Fan website
– Another fan site with resources and updates related to Dune. * – Dune's discography and releases on Discogs. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dune Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 German techno musicians Happy hardcore musicians Musicians from Münster German hardcore techno musicians