The Making of Oxygene by Jean-Michel Jarre

Ever since my early teens I’ve been entranced by Jean-Michel Jarre, specifically Oxygenè, and find it like unlike anything else I’ve ever heard, and also loved the story of its creation and the philosophies and enigmas of Jean-Michel Jarre, so decided to pay tribute to Jarre by making a little documentary about the album. I had so much fun researching this and bought several books and spent hours translating old French interviews with Jarre, I hope you all enjoy it! This is The Making Of Oxygenè by Jean-Michel Jarre!
If you enjoyed this please consider subscribing and also supporting me by checking out some of my own original music! rubyjones01.ba...

[@devers6]

In 1977 I was a DJ/Music Director at a small market radio station. The record companies would send out promo copies of albums hoping for airplay, but most stations only played the Billboard Top 100 and oldies for variety. I was immediately captivated by the album cover, so I put the record on for a listen. After being completely blown away, I scheduled the record for our “Album Hour” where we played a full album uninterrupted. As soon as it started, the phone lines lit up. People would call requesting “that space music”. We programmed Part 4 into out Top 40 rotation, and soon I began to hear that other stations were doing the same. The song appeared on the Hot 100 a couple of weeks later. The only other album I had a similar experience with was the Van Halen debut; at around the same time.

[@larslevinberget9558]

Exactly! The best music sells itself :) Me and my bro heard it at a friend's house when we were like 8-10 years old and dug it immediately :) Became a hit on sleepovers

[@66lesjo]

This album means so much to me. My younger brother was an amazing keyboard player, and he loved playing Jarre music. We went to see him at the docklands in London. Sadly my brother died earlier this year and I can’t listen to this music without breaking down. I hope time will fix this, and one day I can listen to it and smile again instead of crying.

[@user-jh2nk2ry7i]

Примите Мои соболезнования

[@ronlangelaan1488]

Mesmerizing music, Jean-Michel Jarre is an extraordinary artist. This album means much to me as well: when our son heard I was a fan he offered me the “Oxygen Trilogy” as a Christmas present, to listen together and comment. Unfortunately however, he had a tragic accident, and now I listen to the album alone - honoring his memory and spirit that live on 🕊️☘️💙

[@jeanmichel8368]

Thank you so much for making this wonderfully informative documentary on my musical hero. It brought a tear to my eye, because my 70 year old father passed away in February and he basically brought me up on this wonderful music. He said he used to hold me as a baby up to the speakers whilst he played this on his LP turntable. Jarre will always hold a special place in my heart, and your documentary does justice to one of the most innovative artists of all time. Thanks once again.

[@rubyjones01]

Thank you so much!

[@tomekichiyamamoto2177]

Same, Jarre was like my lullaby

[@interproservice]

@@rubyjones01 Hi, you should make a video about Wendy Carlos! :D

[@erwanmirabeau6751]

I'm french and a huge fan of Jarre's music (Equinoxe, Oxygene and les Chants Magnétiques). Never saw a documentary like yours ! I learnt a lot ! Thank you very much !

[@MrAKbass]

This album is a master piece, it's an auditory painting, a true piece of art. In the 70's I heard this album frequently when my dad listened to it, I was just a kid but it left a big impression on me. My personal favorite will forever be Oxygene part II, it's like a flight in a space ship (that's what I imagined as a kid).

[@ImNotHereEither]

It’s what imagined too. 😂

[@MrAKbass]

@@ImNotHereEither 😄🚀

[@Wolfskid69]

It's been almost 47 years now that Jean-Michel Jarre has composed one of the BEST albums and has lost none of its luster with the fascination of his sounds. For me one of the BEST music creators ever.. STAY HEALTHY Jean -Michel Jarre and have many healthy years to come

[@lee9953]

I worked in a record store--yes, vinyl records, 33 1/3, LPs--when this album was released and every time I played this album in the store, someone asked what it was. Sold a copy or more every time I played it. I was the first one to play it, I had to because the album cover intrigued me so. And I'm glad it did! All these years later I still love this music. Thanks for making a video about JMJ and his masterpiece, Oxygenè!

[@wasiuuu1]

i was 11 in 1977 when i heard this album for the first time and drown to it right away, you can imagine what impact this would have on such a little boy as my self then for the rest of my life, till today this music is a treasure to me and I'm no longer little 🙂 thank U for a background to this album and nice review to it, happy new year 2024

[@stevedickson5853]

Every time I put my Oxygene album on and put on the headphones, I step instantly into another world

[@rovingenglishman]

I discovered the album in my Dad’s collection at age 12, entranced by the cover and then instantly by the music, transported to alien worlds. Had a huge effect! It began my obsession with electronic music that has never faded. Shortly after I discovered Kraftwerk and not long after that, early Human League, and the world was never the same again .. 😉 Got to see JMJ at the London Docklands concert in early 90’s, what a performance and setting!

[@AlexAlcyone]

Brilliant review that highlights just how extraordinary and unlikely the story of this album. So many firsts.. nowadays everyone and their dog has a home studio but in 1976 the idea of making an album at home was absolutely unheard of! You can't even imagine the impact this album had when we first heard it as kids in the late 70s. We were instantly floored. It was absolutely unlike anything that had gone before, astonishingly futuristic, radical and unearthly yet accessible.. not only sonically a huge leap forward but full of hope and positive aspiration.

[@knockshinnoch1950]

An EXCELLENT video presentation- well researched and filled with detail. Your enthusiasm for the music is evident throughout. I was 16, Oxygene was EVERYWHERE in late 1977. The single captured everyone's imagination, released hot on the heels of Donna Summer's iconic No1 UK hit the groundbreaking and glass ceiling shattering disco classic I Feel Love, Oxygen pt 4 raced up the UK singles chart eventually reaching No4. These 2 singles along with Magic Fly by French electronic band Space - released at the same time as Oxygene and a. bigger chart hit reaching No2 in the UK- were the future- we were looking into the 80s the exciting new decade just around the corner! The album was no disappointment it delivered more electronic beats that would be heard in student dorms across the country and on many audiophile systems and HiFi demo shows for years to come. Jean Michel Jarre continued to create electronic music for the next 40 plus years and created innovative spectacular live events at iconic locations across the world. It really is impossible for young folks today to fully appreciate how ground breaking this all was. Britain was very insular in the 60s and 70s- our exposure to the music of Europe was mainly through the weird portal of annual Eurovision Song Contest or the "summer hit" that had been popular in Spanish resorts over the summer season. Without the internet, social media and limited outlets for music on TV- mainly Top of the Pops and Whistle Test we were pretty much at the mercy of Radio 1 and the growing network of new commercial radio stations which followed a Top 40 format with one or two shows showcasing exciting new music. Kraftwerk had led the way in 1975 with Autobahn. These records were different from the naff twee 2nd rate trite euro trash records we had known- these were cool, edgy ground breaking. Now aged 60 and retired I was listening to Oxygene just last week for the first time in ages- a 24bit remaster that was awesome- it still sounds futuristic almost 50 years since it was released. It took me right back to autumn 1977- a lifetime ago...

[@Teeb2023]

Absolutely right. Oxygene and Magic Fly were two of the very first albums I ever bought, and I still have them both. I played them constantly, much to the displeasure of my Bowie / Bolan fangirl sister. 😂

[@garyturner5204]

Spot on! I discovered Jean-Michel Jarre on a radical and experimental radio station in Boston Massachusetts called WBCN-FM. I loved it because it was electronic and innovative, and did not have guitars and conventional drums. Oxygene was a treat, a vacation, a wonderful musical adventure. Years later after I got out of college I would create my own radio show in 1983 called The Starship Atlantis with Captain Buzz R. where I would feature music we now refer to as New Age, Electronic, Ambient and Space Music. I did that radio show for over 15 years and shared most all of Jean-Michel Jarre’s music, along with so very many other innovators like Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Kitaro, and a very long list of musical explorations. While over the years I was able to enjoy many live concerts, Jean-Michel Jarre was one I never got to enjoy live, until 2018 when I caught his concert in San Jose California. It was an absolute treat!

[@gdn101]

@Moutton Noir Nice to hear mention of "Magic Fly" by Space. Often overlooked these days even in electronic music circles. Oddly enough, I first heard it on one of those cheaply put-together compilation albums here in the UK by K-tel, called "Disco Fever." My parents bought it just as a stocking-filler that Christmas 1977, and I doubt gave it too much thought. But after half a lifetime of electronic music enjoyment, that started there, I'm forever grateful that they did. 😊 Cheers!

[@knockshinnoch1950]

@@gdn101 Agree! It deserves more attention. You should check out their album released in 1977- also their other material- it's excellent!

[@KyleWhitlock-Music]

I played this LP so many times back in the 70’s that I wore it out!! Young synthesist’s today need to listen to Jarre, and especially this LP. Much of electronic music today is so Boring because Melody has been eliminated and substituted with endless rhythmic repetitions, but sans Melody

[@xaverlustig3581]

Check out these and change your mind. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXmWdaCXa7Ceq7M kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYOtXp5pf698pJo kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXakc4N6adyBeck kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6esdnp3m5uih9k

[@pterafirma]

This is the most informative, well-articulated, and listenable music documentary I've seen in... maybe forever. So nicely done. Your skillful writing and _perfect_ speaking voice totally make it.

[@rubyjones01]

Thank you so much!

[@shawngallo7430]

Rick Beato is really excellent pterafirma

[@agentviktor3297]

I always knew that this album was a lot of work, but now I love it even more.

[@thesequencer4971]

Great documentary, thank you 👍I got as Christmas Gift 1976 an "Grundig" hifi Stereo record player & the Oxygene Vinyl, the whole family listened to the complete Album with log fire in our living room at Xmas eve '76 , as when it was new, i felt in love with this spheric sounds... Later my parents bought me an Hohner Bonanza Organ, which was difficult to play and sounds like crab, even if someone can play it good.......truly far away from oxygene haha...years later i had the pleasure to meet & chat with Dominique Perrier after his Space Art Concert in Frankfurt (Synth performer on JMJs Oxygene 3d living room tour & producer for JeanMichel Jarre) and went to several JMJ Concerts in Europe....My concert highlight was Monaco where JMJ performed at the wedding of Albert & Charlene... So many great Oxygene Memories👍💯

[@hollisearl]

It's great to have people like yourself giving the time to make videos like this, it's really informative. I was starting my own musical career as a keyboard player around the time Oxygene came out and that album has stayed with me ever since. I started off on piano and moved onto polyphonic synthesisers later. Your video explains how Jean-Michel could only play one note at a time on his early synthesisers, a problem which was solved by the time I started playing them. It makes me appreciate even more the hard work he put into this unique masterpiece.

[@-Pol-]

The Monophonic synths give the music a quality that's often overlooked today. We take the polyphonic approach so for granted now that it's used by default

[@Lichfeldian--Suttonian]

A fantastic video of the history of Oxygène! Very detailed account of how it was made and which instruments were used where. It’s my favourite album of all time. When I listen to it again and again, I keep on saying to myself, “This was recorded in 1976!” Every ‘electronic music’ artist and band have had their creative and indomitable excellence to add to the ears, mind, heart, and soul of the innocently ignorant listener who is unwittingly taken to somewhere indescribable, only to reply, “Just listen!”, but Jean-Michel Jarre has, for me, done something with ‘electronic music’ that I cannot put my finger on it. But then, I wouldn’t want to: the mystery is awe inspiring and that is they I love to hear it when play it. A Magnum Opus of the highest order most definitely! 💖

[@rubyjones01]

Thanks so much! I agree Jean-Michel’s music as well as being groundbreaking very much has an intangible quality that no one else has ever been able to replicate!

[@uncinarynin]

Highly interesting back story. I'm now listening to the whole album again. As a child in the 1970s I was scared by the music. Later I rediscovered it. I wanted the album for birthday but my mum didn't want to buy it for me because she didn't like the skull picture on the front. I got Equinoxe instead. I remember copying that on a tape cassette and playing it in a walkman while skiing; the music gave gliding down the slopes another quality: As you go from one slope to another on a long downhill run, so does the music blend into each other to become eternal and endless. Jean Michel Jarre is one of the musicians whose music accompanied me throughout my life. And I'm happy that he is still an active musician and I'm still a fan of electroacustic music, not only of the pop variant but I love the atonal avant-garde without any earworm quality.

[@ImNotHereEither]

I can’t begin to explain the importance of this album in my life. I’ve seen him live every time he’s performed in the UK since the Docklands concert. This music has been such a fundamental soundtrack to my life since I was a child and is so rich and burnished with cherished memories it’s sometimes almost too poignant to listen to. But I do. Because it’s still, to this day, so very beautiful. And through my love of the artist I learned so much about electronic music and the instruments he used, which are now as important to the mythology as Jean himself. And with all that being said, this is by far the best deconstruction and well made analysis of the album I’ve ever watched. I learned so many new things. Thank you. Instant sub. 👍

[@diegosalgo]

Oxygene album makes me remember my childhood, my father had this album in a cassette tape and we listened to this going on a travel to the beach on the car in the 90's. Listen to this is so much nostalgic to me.

[@jewfish68]

This takes me back to the eighties where many an hour was spent reading Asimov, Clarke etc with Oxygene and other JMJ albums as the soundscape. Thanks for this great documentary.

[@FleshCatOfficial]

I spent 4/5 year growing up in Orkney in the 1980s. At around age 6 or 7 my teacher took my class to the local sea life centre to learn about the world of deep sea worlds. After touching starfishes and other types of fish and creatures, we were taken to a small screening room, where they put on a projected film about the deep sea world. The lights were turned out for optimal projection and suddenly Oxygene came on to soundtrack what we were witnessing on the screen. It transported me to another world and it is something I will remember forever. Beautiful.

[@ultrablaze4072]

Wow, I still love that album. Thanks for the documentary.

[@kahmusicaustralia]

So way back in 1976, I picked up an original french pressing of JMJ's Oxygene Melbourne Australia at a small import shop. Before he became hugely popular. I played the album so much I wore it out and my parents hated it (they ended up buying a lot of ABBA because of that). Soon after that Polydor Australia started pressing copies in lighter vinyl and Part 4 went ballistic. This album changed my life as a piano player wanting more than just a piano sound and I asked my parents for a Roland SH101. My love of this form of composition comes from this album and the ability to create your own music from a home studio.

[@rubyjones01]

Lovely stuff! Must’ve been amazing to find it way back in 76

[@arkasonus7678]

His work with Christophe was important, because Christophe introduced some synths to Jarre. And some Christophe session musicians, such as Dominique Perrier and Roger Rizzitelli, worked later for Jarre. The best era for Jarre (76-86), with great help from Michel Geiss and Dominique Perrier. As a French guy, I always regret that Jarre has more recognition outside France than in his own country. I can understand some people because Jarre never credited Geiss or Perrier as co-composers but Jarre still is an important part of the electronic music history.

[@rubyjones01]

Agreed!

[@majeedpanahi5783]

It was like yesterday. Early 1977, I accidentally heard this fantastic piece of music on my shortwave radio receiver. It was Radio Monte Carlo station and the name of the musician I never caught after all it was shortwave! but the name of the music piece would remember forever. Oxygene i4. I fell in love with that music. For the next 2 or 3 months and every weekend, I went to every Music store in Southampton looking for the album, to no avail. No one heard of him until and one day the small Virgin store at Bar Gate told me that he heard of Oxygene and it is on order. About 2 weeks later I had the LP in my hand. It is still one of the greatest albums I have ever enjoyed by a Genius of a musician, Jean Micheal Jarre.

[@GrantMeStrength]

In 1979/80 I found Oxygène IV on a "chart hits" compilation LP I found in a record store for 50p. I'd bought it to get another track, but hearing Oxygène changed everything, and I've been a tremendous fan ever since. I am not one for concerts but finally got to see him play live a few years ago. Have to say, his recent work is just as good and I could listen to nothing but Jarre all day! Thanks for this very interested documentary!

[@simoncoles100]

50 year-old keys player here: I adored this music as a kid (Oxygene was “old”, but completely fascinating). Fantastically informative video, attracting great intelligent comments, and a subscription from me.

[@CoLD.SToRAGE]

I’m a massive fan of JM and have been since the 70s. Even so, I learned so much from this presentation. Many thanks!

[@rubyjones01]

Thank you very much!

[@malalexander3515]

Well done. I'm 59 now, about 15ish when this came out. Love JMJ's music, and your presentation.

[@rubyjones01]

Thanks so much!

[@neilingram4047]

Thank you, thank you that was really good. I could never have believed JMJ could have created such a masterpiece in just 8-weeks! And in a kitchen too!! Incredible!!!

[@user-vy5yn4wm9j]

Best album ever made. Yes. In my opinion, this is it.

[@inmitch]

Wow, somehow the KZbin algorithm is sending me links to the creation of JMJ Oxygene. I'm now 61 and Oxygene and Caverna Magica were such a huge part of my late teens and even though my early 30's. I was one of the only people I knew listening to this music at the time so I thought it was just a niche that I had found. Little did I realize JMJ was breaking new ground, with incredible innovation. Yea🎉.

[@inmitch]

I now own some synth's of my own and love messing around with them creating new sounds and songs.

[@dennisvanmierlo]

Hi Ruby, Thank you so much for this excellent video. I loved this album when I was young. I played this record over and over with headphones on and sitting in my fathers chair next to his record player. And 40 years later I still love this album. I never knew how this album was created. Thankfully, you have explained this beautifully in this video. It shows that creation comes from within, no matter where you are or what you have. An artist will bring this to life. And Jean-Michel did. Lot’s of greetings, Dennis 🇳🇱

[@deondewit3175]

As a teenager in the 80's I was a big daydreamer. Why I immediately felt at home with Oxygene even though it was totally different from the rock and pop my peers was listening to at the time. I could just put the cassette tape in my Walkman put the headphones on and just let my imagination take me away.And that carried over to Equinoxe. Thanks a very informative vid. So many things I didn't know before i know now.

[@stevemccormack9948]

This creative process is what I like to call a mental discharge - so fresh and purposeful. A great moment for Jarre and a great story in music. Well done.

[@alejandrohualdez5550]

When I was 13 in 1982, me and my mates all had the Oxygene and Equinoxe albums. That huge sound and even the album covers were mesmerising. We all thought we were so cool and sophisticated!!!

[@Private-Hudson]

One of the best gig's I've ever witnessed was Jean-Michel Jarre at Docklands in the Uk Sunday 9 October 1988. I'm 50 now and this guy's music and this album was a massive influence growing up in those times as well as Vangelis.

[@osvaldovegacasanova3559]

the best document about Jarre i've seen , thank you so much

[@MirlitronOne]

Fascinating, thank you. I had quite forgotten how fantastic this album is. Time to rediscover it!

[@theelectronicrat]

Thanks for this video. JMJ's Oxygène was what took me from playing piano and organ to experimenting with synthesizers. Nicely told, this video.

[@slimyelow]

I received my first 'tape recorder' on my 6th birthday, and that little black plastic box with all mono sound changed my life forever.

[@larsegholmfischmann6594]

Jarre is one of the main reasons why I started making electronic music. I listened to his and other pioneers in the genre as a child, until I discovered that it could also be used in dance music. So, from 1992 and onward, that's what I've been doing with a few hiatus periods in between. I love how Jarre was the worlds first "bedroom musician" :) Thank you for an enlightening doc, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@cbmtrx]

Very thorough. A+ Incredible that an even greater album would follow this one.

[@spiesonmars]

That was great, thank you! 👍 I've always wondered how this masterpiece came to life and I had no idea that Oxygene IV was composed entirely in one night - that's just crazy! Jarre's music has been a part of my life since the 70's and the sounds of Oxygene and Equinoxe are like nothing else...

[@rubyjones01]

Thanks very much!

[@dukestt5436]

When I was at high school I was listening to Zoolook on cassette, and lent to a friend. She gave it back to me next day and said, "You're as wired as I thought you were". I took it as a compliment.

[@slimyelow]

And I can hardly believe that only just today, approx. 44 years later JMJ's influence is finally catching up and having a massive impact on the music I create today.

[@garethbull2226]

I've only just come across this vid, well done. Oxygene transformed how I think about music and sound the first time I heard it, around 1978, when I was 13. I grew up on a small farm a long way from anywhere that had much variety of music. We didn't even have a record player in the house. We only received two TV stations and they didn't even have programming for a lot of each day, but one station would broadcast a test pattern picture with a record being played for the sound. One day out of boredom I turned the TV on and after a little while the TV station started playing Oxygene with the test pattern. I was mesmerised by what I heard, and I can still distinctly remember that experience to this day. Oxygene is the #1 reason why I own and dabble with a small collection of synths I've bought when I've had the money to spare.

[@RomanPittroff]

I was fascinated by the music from Jean-Michel Jarre since my young years, thanks for this video with this amazing research, thanks!

[@rubyjones01]

Thank you!

[@josephmarkey9096]

Excellent. Best docu on Oxygene I've heard! The reedy lead sound on Oxygene 4 was actually programmed by Michel Geiss on the ARP 2600. There is an interview with him on a fansite where he discusses this and many modifications he made to equipment for the Oxygene sessions.

[@rubyjones01]

Thanks! Thank you for watching Awesome! I do mention this in the video about Geiss creating the lead on Oxygene 4 on the ARP, the fansites are great, zoolock.nl was particularly helpful for finding old interviews and resources

[@lovesandservesjesuschrist6752]

@@rubyjones01 Heyyy :D I wonder if you ventured into the Instruments sub-forum section where all the heavy duty talk used to happen in the previous decade. Myself and a few other guys were really trying to figure it all out, it was an exciting quest, as we ourselves were learning how to do those magical sounds. I have to say you really did an amazing job on this, in the video, a real careful attention to detail, very much like I myself approached the whole thing. Congrats. I really enjoyed it.

[@rubyjones01]

@@lovesandservesjesuschrist6752 thank you friend!

[@digbyfox]

Great writing! Loved this album in my teens....

[@rolfisdreamworld489]

thank you for this video. the first three albums from JMJ and "the concert in China" are really extremely good music. it still touches my soul today

[@logonazo]

his albums were always great till oxygene 7-13,...

[@NFawc]

Agreed... From Zoolook onwards, the spark dimmed...

[@PortsmouthHarbourBoats]

Thank you for posting this. Growing up in the UK, late 70s early 80s, this album was something I heard a lot. Even now, 45 years later, the riff of Part4 still makes my hairs stand up on end.

[@hundredcaws]

To analyse and describe the creative process like this is treasure. For JMJ these must have been highest days of his life. Equinoxe is equally good. I would love to hear a story about it as well. For me what makes these albums so great is ability to transform a melody to higher levels using alternating diverse voices. Because there is a melody within melody and he knew that. Another asset is his rhythmic instinct to position the voices with or against the bass sequences and using untrivial measures like last measure might be the first measure of the next one and being not equal 8 or 16. This makes your mind more focused when listening and you find it more tasty.

[@1800astra]

This album is one of the greats, but I knew almost nothing at all about its gestation or where JMJ came from musically. Thanks to your excellent research, all those sleeve credits and the awesome cover art make sense, and knowing that the album which dropped, fully-formed, in 1977 was created out of nothing in 8 hot summer weeks *in a domestic kitchen* is even more astonishing. What a genius, craftsman and artist he is. It takes away nothing that the music press in the UK was utterly dismissive, that seems to be the standard default position of the NME et al. Fab video.

[@co.agmusic]

The first album I ever bought and certainly started me off on my own music journey brilliant review you have done here

[@musiclover25lives72]

Oh my goodness my friend.. You literally made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and almost a tear to my eye, with your own incredible description of such a masterpiece of sonic and musical work.. I was about 10 when I first heard this album in a neighbours house.. Blasting on his “incredibly high end sound system of the early 80s “ I was instantly transfixed by sounds that my young brain could barely process.. He was such a kind man, and after I insisted we listened to the album 2 more times from start to finish, the next week he went out and bought me my own copy.. An album that I still have (now framed and hanging on my wall) 36 years later I always have a copy to hand for when I start to doubt my home studio and my ability to compose with just a few Synths.. I believe that anyone that was “and still is” fascinated by this masterpiece, most likely has a story on how and where they first heard it.. I truly hope your wonderful presentation of the history, and how ground breaking this album was, will hopefully bring a whole new generation of young music creators to hear it for the first time 🇮🇪🎶🙌🏼🎶🇬🇧

[@JKVisFX]

I am old enought to have been able to purchase both Equanox and Oxygene when they were first released in the US. Those first two albums were true revalations for me music-wise and set a lifetime course for me as a teenager. I listened to them over and over, wearing the needle and the grooves of the vinyl records out. Now, I have Apple's remastered and lossless versions allong with the rest of Jarre's works sitting on my iPhone and computer and still listen to all of it frequently.

[@juliancroot]

This was excellent, thank you. As someone who recently made a cover of Equinoxe Part 5 (its on my channel), I didn't know most of this and it was really interesting to hear. Clearly you have thoroughly researched it. I was 8 years old in the early 80's when I first JMJ's music, and I remember loving it and thinking it sounded like the future... In some ways, it still does. Thanks for the time you have put into this.

[@rubyjones01]

Thank you so much! I’ll check out your Equinoxe cover that is very cool!

[@nickiddenden1508]

Fantastic documentary and detailed research. Many parts of the story I hadn't heard before. Oxygene would be my 'Desert Island Disc' without a question. Only Equinoxe comes close to being such a fantastic sonic landscape. I love his work (bar a couple of exceptions) but nothing will ever depose the original and best. I have to say that Oxygene 2 and 3 were a great disappointment to me (I liked some tracks but overall, not so much) - they just had none of the seamless, unrushed flow and grace of the original where the tracks took as long as they needed to blend one to another and he wasn't scared of building a track over many minutes. That's my two penneth! Great job, thank you!

[@rubyjones01]

Thanks very much! I agree with you completely, the original is a majestic work that was a one off never to be repeated!

[@AlNikon]

Thanks so much, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. I was 13 when this first appeared and I was enthralled and fascinated by the early electronic music which was starting to appear. I bought this album as soon as it was available and have bought many of his others since. You've given me a far greater insight into how one of my favourite albums was created. You've clearly put a lot of time and effort into creating this, well done !!

[@guyb5310]

The first album that we (my brother and I) bought... We were 14 years old when it was released...Blown away then (and still) by this masterpiece! Thanks JMJ for making it!

[@ernestgrouns8710]

IMHO it's still the pinnacle of electronic music. My favorite electronic album!! Thanks for putting this together, it's fantastic!!

[@vsrr83]

This was a great video! I would have paid money to hear a presentation like this 24 years ago when I first became obsessed with the album. This was the album that motivated me to learn keyboards.

[@kevinnolan3592]

Fascinating! Thanks for putting this together!

[@stephanhenry1222]

🤗🤗🤗🤗This is definetly the BEST Documentary about the stunning Oxygene Album I've ever seen. THANK YOU FOR THAT ❤❤❤I was 7 years old if i heard Oxygene 4 in german Radio and since that Time i was paralyzed.(Same like Kraftwerks RADIOACTIVITY and La Düsseldorfs RHEINITA) 🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@aevanelstprojects8926]

Because of this album my brother and I started to make our own music. We regularly catch ourselves on passages that are very similar to JMJ.... We don't mind that JMJ is mixed in our DNA

[@evelyntelevision]

Fantastic work! Thank you for this, you clearly did a lot of work to make this and it's just wonderful.

[@CristanBoerg]

Great work on the "Making of Oxygene" video! As a fan of Jean-Michel Jarre's music since my music teacher introduced me to "Magnetic Fields," I found the insights and information on the creation of his first major success truly fascinating. Your video provided a wonderful glimpse into the creative process and inspiration behind this iconic album. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion for music with us. Keep up the great work!

[@zoolook3264]

Jarre is the main inspiration for my own electronic music. Thank you for taking the time to make this, great work :)

[@jeffbrinkerhoff5121]

A family with 2 hungry cranky adolescent kids came into my sandwich shop ca.1978. After taking the order and getting drinks and crackers to them I put Oxygene on the system. The cranky kids were hypnotized by the music and when the food was ready the mom asked me to write down the title.

[@ethanoreilly2002]

I've owned this album for a number of years now! I actually discovered it after watching Mel Gibson film Gallipoli and I remember hearing Part two and being like yep I need to know more!! Amazing video! You've given me a new found appreciation for Oxygene!

[@rubyjones01]

Thanks so much!

[@lordchive8944]

Excellent film too

[@ORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR13]

I went to the London docklands in 88 to see Jean Michel jare..

[@NumSound]

Great Documentary! You went deep as i learned new things about this album and JMJ. I was commissioned by him back in 1996 to remix Oxygene for Sony! He even took me out to lunch after I finished it. Great Memory for me. Funny i was one of those people who heard the album the first time at the hi-fi shop when i purchased my first JBL speaker back in 1984 with the Oxygene CD 😃.

[@rubyjones01]

Oh wow! Thank you so much!! That must’ve been incredible! What was it like working for JMJ and remixing such a prestigious album?

[@NumSound]

@@rubyjones01 I remixed Oxygene 8 kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHzImKJpqr6nbJI & kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKKUp4KvibGgrNE It was fun I was excited.

[@lovesandservesjesuschrist6752]

@NUM Sound And that new mix you did of all of his albums around 1997, is to this day still my favourite mix of his output, and I listen to it all the time. Well done bro!

[@johndurno5600]

As a bassist, I've always loved the bassline from part IV

[@andykeating6212]

This Album and Equinox , was the sound track to my first ever L S D, trip,. back in 1982,. we played it over and over again,. that night i went to heaven and beyond, and to hell and back,. this music sends shivers down my spine to this day,.

[@thierryd.8717]

Excellent and brilliant presentation. Absolutely great job. I can’t imagine number of hours of research to get to this point. In 20 minutes I made a journey back 30 years, plunging back into my childhood where I never stopped listening to this album again and again. I remember playing playback on my C-35 Electone and emerging love for synths. I didn’t imagine then that much later, coming out of a concert, as I walked along the road I would meet JMJ’s gaze, driven by his driver in a Roll’s Royce, and that he would give me a hand signal in response to mine, as if we were just the two of us in the world Just a big thank you for your video and this lovely moment ! Cheers,

[@rubyjones01]

Wow thank you so much!

[@DPHZH67996B]

*OXIGENE* my first buy of a Music Album with 9 Years! In Zürich District 9.

[@ColonyThreeMusic]

This is by far THE BEST researched and produced videos about the history of Jean-Michel Jarre and the Oxygene album. This was my 2nd electronic album (first being Tangerine Dream) and I since been following JMJ and even had the opportunity to finally attend his concert in Toronto a few years ago.

[@rubyjones01]

Thank you! Amazing stuff

[@LivyathanAD]

This is such a great video. Thanks for dedicating your time in making it.

[@turnerthemanc]

heres my take. When you visit a beautiful place for the first time, you are blown away. The more times you visit it, the less its a blown away shock, and the more its a homage to that first encounter, aka nostalgia Oxygene blew me away. I heard it at 15 for the 1st time. If I hear it now, I am transported to that first encounter. I dont think Im hearing the music. I think I am reliving that 1st mind blowing experience.

[@sothic23]

This is absolutely captivating and thorough work...! So great to learn all these exciting details behind one of the world's most influential electronic recordings- thank you very much for this video! 👍😁👍

[@marcuswerker]

Oxygene is good, but Equinoxe is even better, Jean-Michel Jarre was my hero, I grew up with his melodies and today I’m obsessed with synthesizers.

[@sudicalwig]

A beautiful album indeed. Thank you for this video on it!

[@tsalikaki]

Loved this! Such a rich, informative, well composed video. Greetings from greece!

[@rubyjones01]

Thank you!

[@DeAudiofilosyLocos]

Thank you very much for this great documentary. Long live analog synthesizers

[@neilloughran4437]

I remember hearing Oxygene as a kid back in 1977 as it charted in the UK. Did not get the album until I started work in 1985... blew me away... still his finest work... patchwork of beautiful sounds that were unlike everyone at the time. Listening now I can hear the symphonic classical influence... Oxygene I and V are still my favs... Oxygene V reminds me of the music of Francois and Bernard Baschet and their Cristal Baschet instrument before being transported to North Africa with the sequencing and great lines with the solo.... Jarre seems to use a lot of the presets from the ARP2600 patch book... can't blame him they are excellent :)

[@neilloughran4437]

Btw I have read in places that the melody on Oxygene 4 was a Minimoog but it's not credited.

[@poliferroso2]

I remember when Jean Michele came to Chile, right before performing Oxygen 7, he put a glasses with a camera to focus his music table and said "this is my kitchen". After this video that phrase takes a whole new depth to me

[@ochabaghdad5418]

To me, he was the founder and father of electronic music. Most of the notes/ tunes we are used to hearing nowadays in electronic music have been created by Jean. I was raised on his music and I was and still owe a lot to his music. His music kept me alive throughout the hardships of my generation.

[@slowuncle]

Excellent! I was especially excited by the procession of then-cutting edge (now vintage!) instruments used, and your wonderful explanation of their specific roles in the recording.

[@hmbojalil]

Wow! This video is amazing! Thank you! and bravo! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@manumenorca1785]

just a word... BRA VO ... you taked a tear of my eye... this clip is pure emotion... thankyou to do this great job... more videos like this plisssss ... hunger of nostalgia

[@PaulJohnsonUK]

Thank you so much for this fascinating documentary. I was 6 when this album got to the UK. A neighbour had hifi and Oxygene, being invited to his house to listen was clearly a formative experience to me. Ever since I’ve been obsessed with synths and electronic music despite being force fed Beatles and Leonard Cohen by my dad. It was not until I was about 10 long after we’d moved house that I finally discovered what the music was, no Spotify then! From there in I was entranced.

[@IanJones942]

Today I learned that JMJ is just a few days younger than my Dad. Love love love Oxygene.

[@soujorgeferreira]

Fantastique. Congratulations for this amazing doc

[@phwg75]

Great video and analysis of this classic album ! This is one of my all time favorite albums - it is pure magic ! Thank you

[@Gyrbae]

Thank you for this very well put together documentary, as big of a fan as I am of Jarre I still learned something new here! It's crazy to think that by definition, Jarre was the first ever bedroom producer and that tapes for Mellotron were the first royalty free loop packs. He pretty much defined how a lot of the music would be made, 50 years ago.

[@Pugopugo]

Lots of thanks for making this video! Among all the music I llove, Oxygene is the album I love most. It has followed me through life, has sounded the same but differently at different times, and continues to be important to me!

[@markherbert4723]

I was lucky enough to see him perform the album on the original synths at the Albert Hall. Amazing performance