Andromeda

Andromeda was a German organ-rock/psych band that released a self-titled album on Vogue in 1970.

Members: Peter Schild (Hammond organ, piano), Tony Hendrik (guitar), Gerry Fleming (bass), Günter Steinborn (drums)

Andromeda centered on the duo of keyboardist Peter Schild and drummer Günter Steinborn, both members of Cologne beatsters The Tony Hendrik Five. Hemdrik himself played guitar on the duo’s singular album, released in 1970 on Vogue Schallplatten. The album features seven songs, including “Andromeda” (a treble), “Cosmos Main Road,” “A World on a Star,” and the epic “Rockets.” Schild wrote/co-wrote all the songs apart from the Hemdrik contribution “Galaxy of Beauty, Galaxy of Nightmares.” Basswork is handled by fellow THF alumni Gerry Fleming. The recording was overseen by Conny Plank at Rhenus-Studio, Godorf/Köln.

Musically, the songs on Andromeda tread organ-symphonic/psych territory akin to early Atomic Rooster. (Ironically, a contemporary English band named Andromeda included one member, guitarist John Du Cann, who joined Rooster the same year as this album.)

Andromeda was bookended by two psych-rock singles cut by Schild and Hendrik as The Lazy Bulldog. Schild wrote and arranged records for various pop/schlager singers and founded Colonia Musik Produktion GmbH.

Andromeda was first reissued in 1997 by German archivists Second Battle and again in 2016 by a Russian label masquerading as Second Battle.

Discography:

• Andromeda (1970)

Sources:

• Discogs: Andromeda