The Droids: the first robots to make music
If you were to think about French electronic music, the immediate duo that obviously springs to mind is Daft Punk. But really, The Droids are the pair they have to thank.
That might not be a name you’re overly familiar with, at least in a musical sense, but don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re not one of those in the know. The whole point was that this was a band who entirely changed the face of music in their own bespoke corner of the world, but did so largely without many people noticing it at the time.
Indeed, a lot of things with regard to this robotic revolution can simply be explained away by the fact that it was the late 1970s. The crackling sci-fi energy of Star Wars: A New Hope had taken the world by storm when it first hit the big screen in 1977, and with its famous scene with the line “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for,” it clearly lit a spark of inspiration between a certain French pair.
The duo, who were not, in fact, droids but real humans by the names of Yves Hayat and Fabrice Cuitad, were evidently so inspired by the sci-fi characters that they decided to don the same personae for their own electronic outfit, releasing the single ‘Do You Have the Force’ the same year as A New Hope, in 1977, followed by an album, Star Peace, the next year in 1978.
Nowadays, this is the type of nerdy thing that would not totally be out of place at a Star Wars convention or any given iteration of Comic-Con, but this really was a serious music act begging to be seen as a worthwhile entity. Their love of the sci-fi series was worn on their sleeves, being plain for all to see, but for better or worse, that was always going to be the pillar they lived and died by.
Although Star Wars has obviously continued on its mission with lightning force, it probably doesn’t need a rocket scientist to tell you that the lifespan of The Droids didn’t last nearly as long. Indeed, after the single and subsequent album, it seemed to be the end of the road for the French pair in their current form.
Yet even though their music and name itself didn’t necessarily stand the test of time, their impact is still far more present than you might ever believe. Watch any one of their performances, or even see a photograph, and you’ll instantly catch the resemblance to Daft Punk in all their masked spacesuit glory.
That particular pair may not have come about until some two decades later, with their 1997 debut record, Homework, a whole universe away from their Star Wars counterparts. But even if The Droids may have been considered too cheesy or simplistic in their vision, there’s no denying that they were the gateway to a version of French electronic music which completely changed the world.
Granted, the genre isn’t ever going to be absolutely everyone’s cup of tea, much like Star Wars itself in many ways. But regardless of whether a bit of continental synth is something which takes your fancy or not, it’s clear that The Droids made an important, albeit subtle, imprint on music in their own robotic way. We may all worry that AI is taking our jobs, but some people just love to embrace the sci-fi revolution.
