Jean Michel Jarre

Jarre was born in Lyon on August 24, 1948, the son of Maurice Jarre, a famous composer of film music, and France Pejot, a member of the French resistance during World War II. His grandfather, André Jarre, was one of the inventors of the first audio mixing consoles used by Radio Lyon, and he was also involved, after World War II, with one of the first portable phonographs (the Tepazz) , which he gave to his grandson as a present.

When Jean Michel was five, his father departed for Hollywood, and Jarre would not have much contact with him from then on. It was at this time that Jarre began studying classical piano. His interest in music was not yet passionate, and he had to change piano teachers several times. It was only when he discovered a strange trumpet or violin instrument in a local flea market that his interest really took off. On his tenth birthday, his mother took him to a Paris jazz club called "Le chat qui pêche" (The Fishing Cat), where he was introduced to the saxophonists Archie Shepp and John Coltrane, and the trumpet players Don Cherry and Chet Baker. Jarre stated in the 1997 documentary, Making The Steamroller Fly that this event really triggered his passion for music. Jarre then started to take courses in harmony and counterpoint at the Conservatoire of Paris, under the guidance of Jeanine Rueff. He was studying for a degree in law and economic science at the same time. Eventually he quit the classical studies, and turned to modern music theory instead

In 1988 the album Revolutions was released. Jarre, along with guests such as Hank Marvin, the legendary guitarist from The Shadows, performed this album and selected highlights from his discography at an event entitled Destination Docklands in front of 200,000 people[citation needed] (not including the thousands of observers who witnessed the event from outside the official concert gates) in two concerts on October 8 and October 9 1988. The event utilized the industrial backdrop of London's Royal Victoria Dock in the East End. The original show was supposed to be scheduled as a one off on the 24 September 1988, but due to safety issues with both Newham local council and London Fire brigade the license was turned down for the larger event. After Jarre's crews failing to maintain crowd safety, and after several vigorous meetings and negotiations (and Jarre potentially looking for other sites including Tilbury docks and Edinburgh castle to host the event), the application for the license was finally granted, but for two smaller audience capacity shows. Although the shows went ahead, they were not without hiccups. Bad weather had threatened to break Jarre's "Battleship" floating stage from its moorings, risking safety to the crew and also musicians and choirists. Although the original plan was to have Jarre float across the Royal docks it was deemed too unsafe due to the weather and hence was chained to the dockside. Despite this the concerts were well received, although the audience was soaked due to pouring rain and biting winds, but it was deemed a success and many of the British public attending will recall it as a very special and unique experience, including Diana, Princess of Wales who attended the concert and became a friend and fan of Jarre's music over his career.

One aspect of the show was during the transportation of several large mirror balls (some 4m diameter), which Jarre had commissioned for the show to be hung from the large dockside cranes. Whilst en route to the docks, one of the lorries had lost one of the balls on the roadside. On the same night a satellite was due to enter the Earth's atmosphere from space. A member of the public reported the sighting of a sphere like spacecraft rolling on the road, and hence caused major panic as police feared it was the satellite.