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Rendez-vous
Studio album by Jean-Michel Jarre
Released	1 April 1986
Length	35:03
Label	Disques Dreyfus
Producer	Jean-Michel Jarre
Jean-Michel Jarre chronology
Zoolook (1984) Rendez-vous (1986) Revolutions (1988)
Singles from Rendez-Vous
"Fourth Rendez-Vous" Released: May 1986

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

Rendez-Vous is the eighth studio album by electronic musician and composer Jean-Michel Jarre released on Disques Dreyfus, licensed to Polydor, in 1986. The album art was created by long-time collaborator Michel Granger.

Composition and recording

Rendez-Vous was created over a period of about two months. It features heavy use of the Elka Synthex, notably so on "Second Rendez-Vous", a track Jarre often performs using a laser harp. As with Zoolook, it contains elements from the album Musique pour Supermarché, in this case it is in "Fifth Rendez-Vous". Some of the other musical themes on Rendez-Vous were recycled from various singles Jarre wrote and produced for Gérard Lenorman in the 1970s. Jarre also developed "Fourth Rendez-Vous" from a discarded demo at collaborator Michel Geiss' urging, noting that its success as both a single and live staple did little to dissuade his contempt for the song. "Second Rendez-Vous" was inspired by American musician Wendy Carlos' soundtrack to the film A Clockwork Orange, specifically its fusion of "this mad symphonic energy and music with electronics."

The last track on the album was originally scheduled to include a saxophone part recorded by astronaut Ron McNair on the Space Shuttle Challenger, which would have made it the first piece of music to be recorded in space. However, on January 28, 1986, 73 seconds after lift-off, the shuttle disintegrated and the entire Challenger crew were killed. The track was later dedicated to McNair and the other six astronauts on board Challenger. The saxophone part is played by French jazz reedist Pierre Gossez. The album was recorded and mixed at Croissy studio.

Release

Rendez-Vous was released in 1986, the album reached no. 9 in the UK charts and no. 52 in the US. in that same year. It won the Instrumental album of the year category, at the Victoires de la Musique, and was nominated for Grammy Award for Best New Age Album in 1987. In April 5, 1986, Jarre performed the large-scale outdoor concert Rendez-vous Houston in Houston, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the founding of Texas and attracting 1.5 million people, marking its second entry into the Guinness World Records.

Jean-Michel presented another performance on October 5, Rendez-Vous Lyon, marking Pope John Paul II's visit to Jarre's hometown, Lyon. According to Jarre, the Pope complimented "Second Rendez-Vous" when speaking with him, calling it "sacred music." In 1998, British commercial broadcaster ITV used a remixed version of "Fourth Rendez-Vous" (called Rendez-Vous 98) for their television coverage of the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. British group Apollo 440 were credited alongside Jarre for the remix.

Track listing

Alternate track listing

Some editions of the album had the tracks Second and Fifth Rendez-Vous split up into separate parts, and slightly different timings for Fourth and Last Rendez-Vous (Ron's Piece).

Personnel

The personnel listed in album liner notes:

• Jean-Michel Jarre – Seiko DS-250, Elka Synthex, Moog synthesizer, Roland JX 8P, Fairlight CMI, E-mu Emulator II, Eminent 310U, EMS Synthi AKS, Laser Harp, RMI Harmonic Synthesizer, Oberheim OB-X, Yamaha DX100, Roland TR-808, Linn 9000, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Casio CZ 5000, ARP 2600
• Michel Geiss – ARP 2600, Eminent BV, Roland TR-808, Matrisequencer
• Joe Hammer – E-mu Drumulator, percussions on "Second Rendez-Vous"
• Dominique Perrier – Memorymoog on "Second Rendez-Vous"
• The Choir of Radio France, directed by Sylvain Durand – vocals on "Second Rendez-Vous"
• David Jarre – Baby Korg keyboard on "Fifth Rendez-Vous"
• Pierre Gossez – saxophone on "Last Rendez-Vous (Ron's Piece)"

Charts

Certifications

References

1. "Music Week" (PDF). p. 35.
2. "FMQB" (PDF). p. 42.
3. Bush, John. Rendez-Vous at AllMusic. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
4. "Jean-Michel Jarre #3". Michel Granger (in French). Retrieved 29 August 2022.
5. ^ Remilleux 1988, p. 35
6. Duguay 2018, p. 72.
7. ^ Pettersen, Hogne Bø (16 November 2018). "The Journey to Equinoxe Infinity – Part 2: Losing Teeth and Digging in Trash Bins". The Domino Elf. Archived from the original on 13 April 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
8. "RENDEZ-VOUS". Connoly & Company LLC. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
9. ^ Rendez-Vous (booklet). Disques Dreyfus/Polydor. 1986. P33P 20042.
10. Oxygène Live in Concert 2008, Hill Shorter Ltd (printer), 2008, pp. 10–11
11. "Grammy Award Nominees 1987 - Grammy Award Winners 1987". www.awardsandshows.com. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
12. Glassman, James (2019). Houstorian Calendar, The: Today in Houston History. Arcadia Publishing. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-4671-3987-8. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
13. Portico & Matlock 2008, p. 86
14. Remilleux 1988, p. 93
15. Hughes & Reader 2003, p. 303
16. "Histoire de Lyon : quand Jean-Michel Jarre a donné un concert pour le pape à Fourvière". Vivre Lyon (in French). 7 January 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
17. House, Future Publishing Limited Quay; Ambury, The; Engl, Bath BA1 1UA All rights reserved; number 2008885, Wales company registration (2018-06-14). "BBC vs ITV: The battle of the World Cup theme tunes". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 2019-07-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
18. "Jean-Michel Jarre: Rendez Vous" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
19. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jean Michel Jarre – Rendez-Vous" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
21. "Swedishcharts.com – Jean Michel Jarre – Rendez-Vous". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
22. "Swisscharts.com – Jean Michel Jarre – Rendez-Vous". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
23. "Jean Michel Jarre | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
24. "Jean-Michel Jarre Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
25. "Charts.nz – Jean Michel Jarre – Rendez-Vous". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
26. Souza, Tarik de (6 January 1988). "Um bom ano para o disco". Jornal do Brasil. p. 36. Retrieved 18 March 2023 – via National Library of Brazil.
27. "French album certifications – J-Michel Jarre – Rendez-Vous" (in French). InfoDisc. Select J-MICHEL JARRE and click OK. 
28. "British album certifications – JMJ – Rendez Vous". British Phonographic Industry.

Sources

• Duguay, Michael (2018), Jean Michel Jarre, Books on Demand, ISBN 978-284-993-324-4
• Remilleux, Jean-Louis (1988), Jean-Michel Jarre (English ed.), Futura Publications Ltd., ISBN 0-7088-4263-1
• Hughes, Alex; Reader, Keith (2003), Encyclopedia of contemporary French culture, CRC Press, ISBN 0-203-00330-6
• Portico; Matlock, Glen (2008), The Little Black Book of Setlists, Anova Books, ISBN 978-1-906032-11-1

External links

• Rendez-vous at Discogs

• 1986 albums
• Jean-Michel Jarre albums
• Space Shuttle Challenger disaster