 Oxygène initially proved difficult to sell . Jarre was turned down by several record companies , until another of Schaeffer 's students , Hélène Dreyfus , persuaded her husband to publish the album on his label , Disques Motors . The first pressing of 50 @,@ 000 copies was promoted through hi @-@ fi shops , clubs and discos , and by April 1977 the album had sold 70 @,@ 000 copies in France . When interviewed in Billboard magazine , Dreyfus 's director Stanislas Witold said " In a sense we 're putting most of our bets on Jean Michel Jarre . He is quite exceptional and we 're sure that by 1980 he will be recognised worldwide . " Oxygène has since sold an estimated 12 million copies , the best @-@ selling French record of all time . It reached number 2 in the UK , number 65 in Canada [ 1 ] , and broke the top 100 in the US . It also contains his most recognisable single , " Oxygène IV " , which reached number 4 in the UK single charts . 
