Daft Punk: The End of The Journey

I heard the single “One More Time” on the radio in 2000 and I didn’t know what I was had just heard. It was such a feel good song. Back then I only had my tape recorder so I would wait for the next time the DJ played it on the air and I was ready with the record button.

What a trip it’s been since that day in 2000. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Daft Punk was a French duo, made up of Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter. These names are well known in the electronic scene.

That single wasn’t the beginning of their career. It all started back in 1993. The group got it’s name from a dissatisfied music critic who called their music a bunch of “daft punk”. Little did that critic know that they would become cultural icons of the electronic scene.

Their first album Homework was aptly named as the two were around 19 years old. The album took French house to a new level and in just three years the album went gold and platinum with over 2 million copies sold internationally.

Their appearance changed over time, but Guy-Manuel and Thomas had an affinity for costumes. The video “Da Funk” depicts someone in a dog mask, but the mask could have very well been just an artistic aspect of the video. The group didn’t wear dog masks going forward, but their music videos did have dancers and performs in different costumes, with the eventual emergence of their sleek outfits adorned with their iconic robotic LED helmets and metallic-like gloves around 1999.

Their savvy usage of samples from the 1970s and 1980s put a whole new spin on music. Their “Discovery” came with heavy disco samples that were upbeat and emotional. The as the soundtrack for the movie Interstella 5555 allowed the silent film to take on a life of it’s own. It’s on YouTube. Give it a watch if you haven’t. You almost forget that there is no audio whatsoever. The music goes together beautifully and artistically.

It’s bittersweet talking about them because they formed much of my childhood and early adolescence from the energetic party hits to the somber emotional love songs. Well done guys. I don’t know where either of you will go on to next, but your greatness will be enjoyed through the albums you made. Thank you.