French Music: The Droids "The Force" 1977
Influential underground Star Wars Space Disco
The Droids were a one hit, one album French synthpop proto-electro band from the 70s and an unmistakable influence on later electronic French music icons like Daft Punk. Formed by Fabrice Cuitad and Yves Hayat, who appear on many electronic music projects around this time, The Droids created a unique blend of electronic disco and pre-techno sounds for their sole LP, "Star Peace" (get it?), inspired by the "Star Wars" movie.
Star Wars came out in October 1977 and this single was released in November of the same year, taking advantage of the frenzy of excitement surrounding the film. This is coincidentally also the last year France executed anyone with a guillotine.
"(Do You Have) The Force," bears influences from Giorgio Moroder, Kraftwerk and Jean-Michel Jarre and is a mix of early synthesizer disco, electro and analog sequencing. While the album was a product of the moment, Star Wars-themed space disco dance loops fill a sometimes beautiful album from the early days of electronic music. While occasionally a bit tinny, it’s worth listening to.
The track was released as a single in 1977, then on the album in 1978. This was The Droids’ only album as they disbanded in the same year as its release. Still, The Droids left a lasting mark on space disco and electronic music with a kind of underground fame ever since.
The Droids performed this on Italian channel RA with ballet dancer Chantal Dardenne, who didn’t enjoy the awkward interview or the host’s corny style. While Chantal gracefully executed ballet moves, Hayat and Lornac, dressed in tinfoil, moved awkwardly, even for robots. Anthony Daniels would have been proud.
Just in case you’re not into Disco, consider Jon Savage’s comments about the genre:
Forget all the Disco Sucks bollocks, this was where the creativity was. Many of the qualities of Disco that were so derided were mirror images of those qualities that were celebrated in Punk: an annihilating insistence on sex as opposed to puritan disgust; a delight in a technology as opposed to a Luddite reliance on the standard Rock group format; acceptance of mass production as opposed to individuality. It was the difference between 1984and Brave New World: between a totalitarian nightmare or a dystopia accomplished through seduction. […] Disco’s stateless, relentlessly technological focus lent itself to space/alien fantasies which are a very good way for minorities to express and deflect alienation: if you’re weird, it’s because you’re from another world. And this world cannot touch you.
— Jon Savage
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