INGFRIED HOFFMANN
- Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt
- Diggler
- 2002
- Germany
Join the adventure of Tobbi, a small boy and Robbi, the robot in their Fliewatüüt on the ground, in the water and in the air. Together they built a vehicle which can swim, fly and drive and takes them on their journey. In 1972 the producers of the series used a break-through filming technique: A combination of back projection and puppet acting. Today this series is regarded as a true classic of German TV-history. (Diggler)
Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt is a German children’s book written by Boy Lornsen that was released in 1967. It spawned a film adaptation of 11 episodes in 1972. Besides being a children’s series with groundbreaking techniques, the music is also top class. Composer Ingfried Hoffmann, undoubtedly the best organ player in 1970s Germany, used contemporary sounds like funk, jazz, beat and bossa nova to create this extraordinary soundtrack that remained unreleased for 30 years. This Poland born organist, pianist, trumpeter, composer and arranger was also known for his projects under a pseudonym Memphis Black and for playing with Klaus Doldinger, Klaus Kühn, Peter Nero and Peter Thomas. He did several other soundtrack recordings too during the 1960s and 1970s.
This release by Diggler includes the complete original music from the Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt series, selected dialogues of the characters and as a bonus track, a remix of the title track by The Frank Popp ensemble. The title theme “Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt” starts the album with a rumble. It’s a groovy and funky uptempo track with a slight easy listening feel. It sounds like it suits for any tight early 1970s action movie. Sounds even a little Bond-esque to me. The Frank Popp ensemble’s remix of the title track is really a magnificent one too. It has strong acid jazz feeling but it’s also as much banging as the original, or even more. “Himbeersaft” (raspberry juice) is kind of a downtempo version of the title theme that repeats the melodies slowly with certain grimness. “Nordpol” (north pole) and “Kartoffelschälmusik” (potato peeling music) are both uptempo early 1970s style easy listening soundtrack tracks, latter being the better one but only 36 seconds long. Another great but short track is the breakbeat one “Nessie”. Along the title track, the best one here is “Guten flug! (orgel)” (good flight! (organ)), that is a repeat of the “Guten flug!” track but with whistling replaced by organ sounds. With it’s happy feeling and uptempo beat it just won’t leave anybody untouched. Overall the album is a mixture of early 1970s movie/tv sounds, library music and beat grooviness. Big respect to Diggler for bringing this up.
Himbeersaft
Nordpol
Kartoffelschälmusik
Nessie
Guten flug! (orgel)
Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt
Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt (Frank Popp ensemble remix)
Check also the trailer of the series here.
