Any other Jarre listeners out there?

[Mycanid]

The other day I was talking to another person and he asked me about some influential music in my life when I was younger. Well, he followed most of what I said until I came to Jean Michel Jarre. Absolutely lost him after that.

This is something I have encountered time and again here in the ole U S of A, but am told he has a much wider listening audience in Europe and other countries (Hong Kong seems to be big on him I am told).

Anywho - anyone else out there listen (or even still listen - I do! In fact as I type this I am listening to Karma II) to this fellow? Or am I the only enworlder to listen to him?! Sheesh ... I hope not.

 

[Turanil]

Or am I the only enworlder to listen to him?! Sheesh ... I hope not.

No, you are not, LOL! Approximately 20-25 years ago I had two CDs (well it wasn't CDs in those days, but the right word eludes me) of Jean Michel Jarre that I did listen to pretty often. Nowadays I much prefer Steve Roach...

 

[Mycanid]

Ah ha! Just to the point a little though ... you are in France. Folks know about him over there. (He is a Frenchman after all!) Also his father was a very famous and effective composer of film scores (Maurice Jarre).

I began listening to him in 1983. My friend came back from a summer camp with a few cassettes - Oxygen and Equinox I think. I soon scoured everywhere to find more and came across the "Magnetic Chants", Concerts in China and Zoolook. Rendezvous and The Concert in Houston came out in 1985 and 1986 I think, but by then I was hooked.

You heard of any other USA'ers listening to this stuff though? Or is it indeed more of a European thing?

Nice to know I'm not alone though.

 

[Turanil]

cassettes - Oxygen and Equinox <...> the "Magnetic Chants"

Yeah! That was what I listened to !

Even in France I don't know about anyone who likes and listen to his music though, as odd as it may appear...

 

[Mycanid]

For me his music was always perfect for sci-fi genre gaming. Back in the day I used to listen to it for Star Frontiers inspiration.

But even today his recent things have been inspirational for me. In fact, his fourth track of Listening with Cousteau inspired the whole huge campaign that is currently eating up almost all of my free time creating (about 240 hand-written pages this far).

His recent stuff has become more techno'ish or even chillout'ish, but some of it (especially this fourth movement from the album I mentioned above) still captures his early days feel.

Did you ever use his stuff for inspirational or just background material in gaming or for gaming?

 

[jgbrowning]

I used to listen to Equinox a lot when I was in HS, but I'm not a fan nor have any of his other recordings. I'd pick up Equinox if I saw it in a record store, however.

joe b.

 

[Mycanid]

Sigh!

Looks like I am DEFINITELY in the minority in here.

Those who have listened only listened to the older stuff (pre 1980 primarily, it seems). No one listening to his stuff today.

I was just listening to Oxygen 7-13 last night and thoroughly enjoying it!

 

[Richards]

I don't have any of his CDs, but I recognize his name from listening to "Music from the Hearts of Space," a weekly national public radio program we have here in the US. I'm an avid HoS listener.

Johnathan

 

[Mycanid]

Yes - I also enjoy listening to the Hearts of Space from time to time. And I think that the last piece of his used on a program I listened to was from his Oxygen 7_13 album.

I also get NPR - even out where I am (from two different stations and programs, in fact). In fact, a good friend of mine married the programmer who does the weekend shows, including the HoS, after which she does her own program kinda like it. It's a little different in flavor ... it would be hard to detail the differences though. She does put a "moonlight space hour" on from midnight to one A.M., though, where she plays MAJOR drone music. She even took a request and played Jarre's fourth track from "On Listening to Cousteau" for the entire hour.

The only other NPR programs I enjoy are "Thistle and Shamrock" and "Harmonia".

But then Jarre does not pop up much on them.

The second NPR station I can get plays a lot of HoS type music, but on a different show called "Echoes", which I also listen to from time to time, and which occasionally has Jarre's stuff.

But these occasions are far and few between.

 

[Richards]

I've heard "Echoes" once or twice at my last duty station - it didn't come in very clearly, so I didn't listen to it very often, but I did find out about a group called Zero One through the show, and was prompted to hunt up their two CDs as a result.

Hearts of Space I listen to just about every week. It's on Sunday nights, from 11:00 to midnight. I recall "Jarre Logic" being one of the albums during one of the programs.

Johnathan