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Oxygene

Artist: Jean-Michel Jarre
Label: Polydor
Catalog#: PD-1-6112
Format: Vinyl
Country: United States
Released: 1977
Tracklist
A1 Oxygene (Part I) 7:40
A2 Oxygene (Part II) 8:10
A3 Oxygene (Part III) 2:50
B1 Oxygene (Part IV) 4:08
B2 Oxygene (Part V) 10:31
B3 Oxygene (Part VI) 6:16
Credits

Design [Front Cover] - Michel Granger
Mixed By - Jean-Pierre Janiaud
Mixed By [Assistant] - Patrick Foulon
Photography [Back Photo] - David Bailey
Producer, Arranged By, Composed By, Synthesizer [A R P, A K S, V C S-3, R M I Harmonic], Organ [Farfisa, Eminent], Mellotron, Drum Programming [Rhythmin' Computer] - Jean-Michel Jarre

Notes

Original recording by Disques Motors, France.
All Selections BMI
Recorded at Jean-Michel Jarre private studio and Mixed at Gang Studio - Paris from August to November 1976.
Cutting: Translab-Paris
All titles Published by Francis Dreyfus Music.
© ℗ 1976 Francis Dreyfus Music, manufactured and marketed by Polygram incorporated. A Polygram Company.
Printed in U.S.A.
Possible re-issue / different type set than this U.S. Version

Strawberry Bricks Entry: 
Estranged son of famed composer Maurice Jarre, French synthesist Jean-Michel Jarre studied with Pierre Schaeffer's GRM during the late 60s and early 70s. His earliest release was a single, "La Cage" b/w "Eros," a mixture of electronics and tape collages, none of which should be surprising, given the pedigree. From this release to the international success of Oxygène was quite a leap, especially considering that heretofore, Jarre had only composed a few soundtracks at his burgeoning home studio in Paris. Of course, this was no academic affair; his electronic styling on this record is akin to that of Vangelis, Synergy or even Tomita: "populaire" music played with electronic instruments. In between the whooshes of sound, Jarre uses melody to hook the listener; in fact, "Part IV" offers a variation on a motif from Gershon Kingsley's 1969 synthesizer novelty song "Popcorn." Jarre uses a battery of keyboards and synthesizers to create an album that's entirely enjoyable, with the latter half even approaching the progressive. To wit, the album's sonic signature, one bound to those aforementioned instruments, is perhaps its greatest triumph; it sounds fantastic. It's also a musical statement, predating the lighter, instrumental new age music of the 1980s and providing a career path for many others to follow. Jarre's celebrity aside, the album is largely responsible for launching electronic music into the mainstream of popular music as well. Not only was it a phenomenal success in his native France, but the album also reached No. 2 in the UK (the single, "Oxygène Part IV" b/w "Oxygène Part VI" rose to No. 4), while breaking into the Top 100 in the US. In 1978, Jarre released the follow-up Equinoxe to similar success. Since then, he has made a habit of performing concerts on a grand scale, including some of the first from a Western artist in China. Jarre would release Oxygène 7-13 in 1997 and a re-recording of the original album for its 30th anniversary in 2007. 2017 saw the release of Oxygène 3. [US release date]
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