Ekkehard Sander Septett aka Sander Formation - Kein Märchen [1973 Heavy Prog Hard Rock GDR Germany ]

Radio Recording
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Here we have the irresistible sound of funky flute and hard prog guitar! I believe this track is a radio recording and is thus-far only available on the recent compilation from Bear Family Records called "Ost-Kraut! Progressives Aus Den DDR-Archiven (1970-1975)".

The Sander Formation was founded in 1969 by Ekkehard Sander in Dresden under the name Ekkehard Sander-Septett. The first line-up also included Udo Jakob, Volkmar Ryssel and Thomas Reuter. All musicians were graduates of the Carl Maria von Weber Music Academy in Dresden.
In the early days, the band mainly played songs by other artists at dance events. The band earned their first money, for example, during the holiday season on the Baltic Sea coast. At the beginning of the '70s the group was already quite well known and from 1970-1971 wind instruments were included in the line-up in order to further develop the sound. During this time, the group also acted as an accompaniment and concert band for the Swedish pop singer Marianne Kock during her tour of the GDR. But time and again they created their own songs, a few of which were produced in the GDR radio studio. In 1972 Amiga released the first single with two of these radio productions, "Alle Wege". Another single record followed in 1973 - both come from the "DT64 Musikstudio" series. While the first record was a single with two tracks by the themselves, the second release was a split single, with Lift.

From 1973 the band changed its name to Sander Formation. In the middle of 1973, the group was able to place itself well ahead in various charts with their song "Kein Märchen" (included here). In 1974 Sander started working with Gerulf Pannach from Renft. He wrote lyrics for four songs for the group, which were radio-produced in April 1974 but unfortunately not released on disc, including the songs "Rück näher heran" and "Sommertraum".

As a result, the band continued to play concerts. There was also another record release: In 1978, the group's third single, "Hier lebe ich mit Dir" (B-side "Girls from Düben"), was released. Although there was certainly enough material available, the only record company in the GDR, Amiga, did not allow Sander Formation to produce their own LP.

In the years that followed, the band changed their "strategy" and increasingly played foreign titles at dance events, mediated by the Dresden Concert and Guest Performance Directorate. In addition, Sander Formation also worked as a studio band for other artists and thus managed to produce around 350 titles that were recorded by DDR radio.
Ekkehard re-formed the group in the mid-1980s. Only he himself remained. From 1989, singer Petra Hennig was the first woman in Sander Formation. The group existed until the mid-90s, but no longer playing their own songs, they accompanied other artists in the studio and on tours, such as Jonny Hill, Andy Borg and Claudia Jung. Read more at https://www.deutsche-mugge.de/portraits/2496-sander-formation.html