Triumvirat

A trio from Cologne

Jurgen Fritz, Hans Bathelt and Dick W. Frangenberg founded Triumvirat in Cologne in 1969; the name is Latin for a group of three powerful individuals. Fritz, born March 12, 1953, was a classically trained organist, and Keith Emerson was a strong influence; the band is often called an ELP clone, and early covers included The Nice's "Rondo" and ELP's "Hoedown". Bathelt wrote the lyrics. A demo to EMI led to a deal, and Mediterranean Tales was recorded in January 1972 and released in April on Harvest, with Hans-Georg Pape on bass after Frangenberg. AllMusic gave it 4.5 stars.

Illusions on a Double Dimple was recorded in 1973 and released in 1974. German Wikipedia says the German release in March 1974 followed a February tour with Birth Control, that the response was poor and that members planned to split if there was no success by July 31; an EMI Electrola export employee sent the album to labels worldwide and Capitol responded. They toured the US for about three months in late 1974, opening for Fleetwood Mac, and the album reached 55 on the Billboard 200. Spartacus (1975), a concept album on the revolt of 73 BC, reached 27 in the US, and they opened for Supertramp in America and Grand Funk Railroad in Europe. Old Loves Die Hard (1976) reached 85, with Barry Palmer replacing Kollen and Frangenberg back.

Helmut Kollen, Fritz's cousin, died on May 3, 1977, aged 27. Pompeii (1977) came out as New Triumvirat after Bathelt left, A la Carte followed in 1978 and Russian Roulette in 1980, with Toto's Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro guesting, after which Fritz disbanded the group. Most albums were reissued with bonus tracks in 2002. Fritz later arranged and played on Bad Boys Blue albums and scored films. Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the 50 greatest prog rock albums placed Illusions at 45, calling the ELP-clone label an unfair if understandable dismissal.