The Twins -

The Twins was a German synthpop duo that released four albums on Hansa International between 1981 and 1985, followed by a fifth release on CBS in 1987.

Members: Ronny Schreinzer (vocals, drum machine, synthesizer, electronic drums, vocoder), Sven Dohrow (synthesizer, computer, sequencer)

Background

The Twins took shape in West Berlin after Sven Dohrow (b. 1957) and Ronny Schreinzer (b. 1958) crossed paths twice over roughly half a decade. The two had attended the same school in Berlin during the seventies — Dohrow as a guitar player, Schreinzer as a drummer — and talked often about music and equipment without ever performing together. A chance reunion around 1976 changed that: Schreinzer was working as a DJ at a disco that Dohrow frequented, and Dohrow asked him to play drums in a band he had recently joined, Mythos, formed years earlier by guitarist–flutist Stephan Kaske. Schreinzer and Dohrow played on the 1978/79 Mythos albums Strange Guys and Concrete City.

With the band dissolved, Dohrow had acquired two or three synthesizers, and the pair decided to try a different approach. Working alone together, they composed and arranged their first song, “Desert Place,” over the course of a few days. The result surprised them — the piece came together quickly and both found the format easy to sustain. They shot a small photo session in matching leather jackets with similar haircuts, used the image to pitch demos to record labels, and settled on the name The Twins to reflect their two-man setup and shared musical direction; the cover photo from that session appeared on their debut album.

Hansa International signed them, and the label requested a 12″ maxi version of “Desert Place” as their first official release. During the recording of that long version, Christopher Franke of Tangerine Dream contributed the main bass sequence on his Prophet-5 synthesizer. The 12″ entered the Billboard Dance/Club Play Singles chart in 1981 at No. 67 and established the duo in German club venues ahead of their debut album.

Passion Factory

The Twins released their debut album, Passion Factory, on August 31, 1981, on Hansa International.

The album runs on analog synthesizers and programmed rhythm, with Schreinzer at the vocals and drums and Dohrow on synthesizers and Compurhythm computer — the same two-man chain they used to compose the record. The arrangements favor a cold, urban-mechanical frame: the drum programming sits hard against the synthesizer lines without much softening between them, and the sequenced pulse that anchors most tracks keeps the tempos clipped and forward-moving. Schreinzer wrote the majority of the material alone; Dohrow shares writing credits on the four tracks that close the album, including the first single.

A1. “The Passion Factory” (4:25) — Schreinzer
A2. “X-Ray Eyes” (3:55) — Schreinzer
A3. “Satellite City” (4:41) — Schreinzer
A4. “Runaway” (4:20) — Schreinzer
A5. “Electric Bats” (5:24) — Dohrow

B1. “The Desert Place” (4:26) — Schreinzer/Dohrow
B2. “Night, Lights And Shadows” (3:24) — Schreinzer/Dohrow
B3. “Younger Days” (4:10) — Schreinzer/Dohrow
B4. “Wet Season” (1:19) — Dohrow
B5. “Synthetic World” (4:25) — Schreinzer/Dohrow

The Twins self-produced and arranged Passion Factory, recorded in May 1981; Jan Hinrichs designed the sleeve. Hansa lifted “The Desert Place” as a single in August 1981, backed with “Night, Lights And Shadows.”

Modern Lifestyle

The Twins released their second album, Modern Lifestyle, on October 11, 1982, on Hansa International.

The album extends the electronic architecture of Passion Factory while pulling the arrangements toward a warmer, more propulsive texture. Schreinzer operated vocals, Sonor drums, Roland Vocoder Plus, Roland JP-8, JP-4, and Korg Polysix synthesizers, along with LM-1 and TR-808 drum machine programming; Dohrow ran PPG Wave 2.2, Roland JP-4, and Minimoog synthesizers, a Compurhythm computer, and an MFB 601 sequencer.

On “Gilded Cage” and the closing instrumental “N 4,” session drummer Matti Kaebs joins the rhythm foundation; “Gilded Cage” also features Eddie U. on Moog bass and backing vocals. Tim Dowdall supervised lyrics throughout.

A1. “Modern Lifestyle” (3:37) — Dohrow/Schreinzer
A2. “Face To Face – Heart To Heart” (3:47) — Schreinzer/Dohrow
A3. “Regret” (4:11) — Schreinzer/Dohrow
A4. “Knights Of Old” (4:07) — Schreinzer/Dohrow
A5. “Automatic Man” (4:59) — Dohrow/Schreinzer

B1. “New Days, New Ways” (3:52) — Dohrow/Schreinzer
B2. “Gilded Cage” (4:17) — Dohrow/Schreinzer
B3. “I’m Staying Alive” (4:08) — Dohrow/Schreinzer
B4. “Birds And Dogs” (4:30) — Schreinzer/Dohrow
B5. “N 4” (4:25) — Dohrow

The Twins produced and arranged the album themselves; recording and mixing took place at Record-Land Studios in Berlin, with “I’m Staying Alive” mixed at Hansa Studios.

Hansa released “Face To Face – Heart To Heart” as a single in October 1982, backed with “New Days, New Ways.” The single reached No. 17 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Singles chart and No. 4 on the Italian singles chart in 1983, becoming one of the best-selling singles in Italy that year. “Not The Loving Kind” followed as a single in June 1983, backed with “Men of Destiny,” and reached No. 7 in Italy.

A Wild Romance

The Twins released their third album, A Wild Romance, in 1983 on Hansa International.

The album retains the duo’s synthesizer-and-drum-machine architecture while extending the range of its arrangements — saxophone appears on the title track, performed by Ritchie Wester, and “Love System” draws on DX7 and OBX-A synthesizer parts by live keyboardist Mike Gerlach, who co-wrote the track. Schreinzer handled vocals, Drumulator and Simmons electronic drums, Roland JP-8 and Oberheim OBX-A synthesizers; Dohrow programmed TR-808, MB-512, and MB-601 drum machines and Linn Drums, and played PPG Wave 2.2, Roland JP-4, and Minimoog synthesizers.

“Love System” originated from a demo tape Gerlach brought to Schreinzer; Schreinzer took the refrain melody from one of Gerlach’s demos, reworked the arrangement with him, and programmed a new drum part. Dowdall wrote the lyrics and during vocal rehearsals began adding a telephone-voice interjection, which the duo kept by using Dowdall’s own voice for the part on the finished recording.

A1. “Love System” — M. Gerlach/Schreinzer/Dohrow (4:20)
A2. “Ballet Dancer” — Schreinzer (3:25)
A3. “A Wild Romance” — Schreinzer/Dohrow (4:42)
A4. “Private Eye” — Schreinzer (4:44)
A5. “Facts Of Love” — Schreinzer (3:37)
A6. “Criminal Love” — Schreinzer (3:50)

B1. “Not The Loving Kind” — Schreinzer/Dohrow (3:57)
B2. “Must Have Her Back” — Schreinzer (3:37)
B3. “Why Don’t You” — Schreinzer (3:59)
B4. “Men Of Destiny” — Schreinzer (3:49)
B5. “Between The Woman And You” — Schreinzer/Dohrow (6:05)

Mandy Parkin appears as a guest vocalist. Tim Dowdall wrote the lyrics throughout; Hubert Henle engineered. The Twins produced and arranged the album; recording took place at Studio Funk and Recordland Studio, with mixing at Recordland and Hansa Tonstudios.

Hansa released “Ballet Dancer” as a single in October 1983, backed with “Heaven In Your Smile.” The single reached No. 2 in Italy, No. 19 in Germany in January 1984 — a chart appearance the duo described as unusual for a German dancefloor act at the time — and No. 10 in Switzerland the following month, spending nine weeks on the Swiss chart.

A Wild Romance itself reached No. 30 in Germany and No. 14 in Switzerland. Hansa followed with “Love System” as a single in a re-recorded version in March 1984, backed with “Facts Of Love”; it reached No. 27 in Germany.

Discography: