Oxygène (Part IV)

Oxygène (Part IV) (also known as "Oxygène IV", "Oxygene 4", "Oxygene, Pt. 4", etc.) is a 1977 single by the French electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre from his third studio album, Oxygène released in 1976.

"Oxygène (Part IV)"
Single by Jean-Michel Jarre
from the album Oxygène
B-side"Oxygène (Part VI)"
ReleasedJuly 1977 (1977-07) (UK)[1]
Recorded1976
StudioJean-Michel Jarre's home studio, Paris
Genre
Length
  • 3:30
  • 4:14 (Album)
LabelDisques Dreyfus/Polydor
Producer(s)Jean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel Jarre singles chronology
"Oxygène (Part IV)"
(1977)		 "Oxygène (Part II)"
(1977)

Composition

According to Jarre, the melody for "Oxygene Part IV" was composed in one night, without having been specially conceived with the idea of making a hit. At that time, Jarre, best known as a songwriter for Patrick Juvet and Christophe, composed numerous advertising songs for brands such as Nestle and Pepsi-Cola.[2]

During the creation of the album Oxygene, a friend asked him for a tune to make music to praise the extension of the A4, also known as the East Highway. "Oxygene Part IV" was Jarre's first piece to use the RMI Harmonic Synthesizer, an instrument introduced by Michel Geiss. In addition its tempo is at 12/8.[2]

"Oxygene, Part IV" begins with a sound that evokes the wind, a flat noise generated by an English synthesizer called Putney VCS3, the first synthesizer that Jarre had.[3][4] On top of this white noise, Jarre superimposes different musical sequences, particularly a rhythmic cell played on a Mini Pops drum machine.[3]

Critical reception

After its release as a single, it reached No. 1 on the Spanish charts and No. 3 on the Belgian, French and Dutch charts, No. 4 on the UK Singles charts and No. 6 in New Zealand. The song was included in the position 5 of the list of "The 40 Greatest Synth Sounds of all Time" of MusicRadar.[5] The British newspaper The Guardian described it as "an instantly recognisable hook that rides on a bossa nova beat to explore the galaxies".[6]

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1977–1978) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 26
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[8] 3
France (SNEP)[9] 3
Germany (Official German Charts)[10] 16
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 7
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[12] 3
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[13] 6
Spain (AFE)[14] 1
UK Singles (OCC)[15] 4
Chart (1989) Peak
position
UK Singles (OCC)[15] 65

Year-end charts
Chart (1977) Rank
Dutch Charts (MegaCharts)[16] 71
UK Singles Chart (BMRB)[17] 38

In 1993, Hank Marvin arranged a rock version from this song for his album Heartbeat.[18] The song is used in 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV,[19] and as the introduction music to the "Adventure Call" sketches in the BBC Scotland sketch series Limmy's Show and in many arcade grabbers distributed by Elaut, using a short clip of the "chorus" that is played at random intervals while the machine is active but idle. The most recognisable is Mega Crane. Cosmic Cranes in Britain used this, but not in America. The song was used for the credits of the news show on Antenne 2, presented by Jean-Pierre Elkabbach,[2] and in BBC Drama's Micro Men.[20]

References
  1. Bacon, Tony (2006). Singles. Backbeat UK. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-871547-73-3.
  2. "Oxygène 4 : histoire d'un tube". Aerozone JMJ (in French). Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  3. "Oxygène : Le poème électronique de Jean-Michel Jarre". France Musique (in French). Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  4. Crawley, Peter (April 9, 2008). "A breath of fresh air after 30 years". The Irish Times. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
  5. Music, Computer (25 May 2021). "The 40 greatest synth sounds of all time, No 5: Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene, Pt 4". MusicRadar. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  6. Allen, Jeremy (5 October 2016). "Jean-Michel Jarre – 10 of the best". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 153. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. "Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène IV" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  9. "Les Chansons – Le Détail par Artiste: J" (in French). Infodisc. Retrieved 26 August 2018. Select "J-Michel JARRE" from drop-down menu and click "OK".
  10. "Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygene IV" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  11. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Oxygene". Irish Singles Chart.
  12. "Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène IV" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  13. "Jean-Michel Jarre – Oxygène IV". Top 40 Singles.
  14. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  15. "Jean-Michel Jarre: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  16. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1977". GfK Dutch Charts. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  17. Hunter, Nigel; Scaping, Peter, eds. (1978). "Top 100 Singles in 1977". BPI Year Book 1978 (3rd ed.). British Phonographic Industry. pp. 216–17. ISBN 0-906154-01-4.
  18. "Original versions of Oxygene (Part IV) by Hank Marvin". SecondHandSongs. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  19. "Crime pays for music biz with new Grand Theft Auto". Reuters. 28 April 2008. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  20. Smith, Tony. "Micro Men: The story of the syntax era". The Register. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
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