Toxygene

"Toxygene"
Single by The Orb
from the album Orblivion
B-side Alternate mixes
Released 27 January 1997
Format CD, 12"
Genre Ambient house
Length 5:19
Label Island
Writer(s) Le Gonidec
Producer(s) Alex Paterson, Andy Hughes, Thomas Fehlmann
The Orb singles chronology
"Oxbow Lakes"
(1995)		 "Toxygene"
(1997)		 "Asylum"
(1997)

"Toxygene" is a single by electronic music artist The Orb. It was released in 1997 as the first single from the album Orblivion.

"Toxygene" was originally commissioned as a remix of Jean Michel Jarre's "Oxygène 8" from Oxygène 7–13.[1] However, The Orb "obliterated it" and reassembled only a few fragments for their remix, much to the chagrin of Jarre, who reportedly "threw a fit and refused to release it".[1] The Orb released the track themselves under the name "Toxygene", which further irritated Jarre, to whom Paterson retorted "The French are always five years behind us, anyway."[1] In statements made after the release of "Toxygene", Jarre denied the reports: "It's not that I didn't like it, but I wanted the first wave of remixes to be linked to Oxygene's theme and textures."[2]

"Toxygene", was the highest charting single by The Orb, reaching #4 in the UK on 8 February 1997. The release was accompanied by a music video directed by Ben Stokes.

Track listing

CD single

CD 1

  1. "Toxygene (Edit)" – 3:37
  2. "Toxygene (Way Out West Begbie Mix)" – 7:40
    Remix - Way Out West
  3. "Delta MK II (Dal Vivo A Roma)" – 7:14
    Written by Giraudy, Hillage, Fehlmann
  4. "Toxygene (Kris Needs Up For A Fortnight Mix)" – 7:17
    Remix - Henry Cullen, Kris Needs

CD 2

  1. "Toxygene (Edit)" – 3:37
  2. "Toxygene (Fila Brazillia Mix)" – 6:10
    Remix - Fila Brazillia
  3. "Rose Tinted (Dal Vivo A Roma)" – 7:14
    Written by Lewis Keogh, Thomas Fehlmann
  4. "Toxygene (Toxic Genes Mix)" – 7:59

12" single

Remix - Henry Cullen, Kris Needs[3]
"Toxygene" (1997)
Clip from "Toxygene", The Orb's controversial pseudo-remix of Jean Michel Jarre's "Oxygene 8".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Music Video

The video for the song is inspired by the CIA's experimental mind control program: MK-ULTRA.

As the Orb's highest charting single, the band appeared on Top of the Pops to promote the song. The TOTP pretence of a live performance was avoided, instead the group danced around on playground rides.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Smith, Andrew (1997-02-16). "Music of the Spheres". The Sunday Times. p. 13.
  2. ↑ Aston, Martin (1997-01-27). "Dotmusic Talent: Jean Michel Jarre". Dotmusic (retrieved from the Internet Archive). Archived from the original on 1998-07-08. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  3. ↑ Discogs.com single info

External links