"Da Funk" | ||||
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Single by Daft Punk | ||||
from the album Homework | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 8 May 1995 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Daft Punk | |||
Daft Punk singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Da Funk" on YouTube | ||||
Audio sample | ||||
"Da Funk" |
"Da Funk" is an instrumental track by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, initially released as a 12-inch single in May 1995 by Soma and Virgin and later included on their debut album, Homework (1997). Prior to its inclusion on the album, "Da Funk" received little attention and was limited to 2,000 copies. The song and its accompanying music video directed by Spike Jonze are considered classics of 1990s house music. [3] It went on to sell 30,000 copies in 1997. A reversed clip of "Da Funk" was also released on Homework as "Funk Ad", which is the final track on the album.
Daft Punk produced "Da Funk" after listening to American G-funk records: the bass was composed using a Roland TB-303 synthesizer. A siren was originally going to be the riff before later being replaced to reflect the style the duo were going for. They wanted to make a song in the style similat that of gangsta rap and electro. Bangalter also stated that the song's melody is meant to be reminiscent of Italian producer and composer Georgio Moroder. The song received acclaim from music critics and has been listed as one of the greatest dance songs of all time by Rolling Stone.
"Da Funk" was initially released as a 12-inch single on 8 May 1995 under the Soma Quality Recordings label, with the B-side "Rollin' & Scratchin'". [4] [5] The pressing was limited to 2,000 copies and was "virtually ignored" according to a Muzik magazine feature at the time. The single received a boost in popularity when the Chemical Brothers incorporated it into their live shows. Subsequently, the British duo's song "Life Is Sweet" was remixed by Daft Punk for a single release in August 1995. [6] The track also received early support from veteran BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Nightingale. [7]
Daft Punk eventually signed with Virgin Records after a bidding war amongst several labels. "Da Funk" was re-released in early 1997 by Virgin with the B-side [8] "Musique", a track that later appeared on the anthology Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005 . The duo's debut album Homework features "Da Funk" as well as a reversed excerpt titled "Funk Ad". Daft Punk expressed that they wanted to make the album balanced by distributing tracks evenly across each of the four vinyl sides. [9] The Homework release of "Da Funk" sold 30,000 copies. [10]
In an interview with Fredrik Strage for Swedish magazine Pop #23, Bangalter said that "Da Funk" was made after listening to American G-funk for weeks. He stated that the duo wanted to make a song in the style of gangsta rap. They tried to "murk [...] sounds" as much as possible. However, Bangalter said that "no one has ever compared it to hip hop." According to him, the melody and the synthesizers used in the song are reminiscent of music producer Giorgio Moroder and genres such as electro. [11]
The riff was originally a siren sound, but was changed to reflect the "gangsta rap" aesthetic they were trying to achieve. The bassline was created with a Roland TB-303 synthesizer [12] Bangalter purchased in 1993. He had created several patterns with the 303 beforehand: "When we were looking for a bassline, we listened to some of [the] ones I'd already programmed and took the one that fit best." [6] Da Funk is written in the key of G minor, [13] and composed with a tempo of 111 beats per minute. [14]
Larry Flick from Billboard described the track as a "wriggling instrumental combination of cutting-edge electronic dance and Cameo-styled funk". [15] Andy Beevers from Music Week's RM Dance Update rated it five out of five, adding that "this single is a bit of a refresher for those who have been wondering why there is so much hype surrounding the French duo." He explained further, "'Da Funk' still sounds incredibly fresh with its huge distorted synth riffs, thumping rhythm and scratchy guitar mashed up to create a mutant disco gem." [16]
Andy Crysell from NME wrote, "Two young Parisians abduct the insane lovechild of a one-night stand shared by Hardfloor's fittest 303s and a '70s superfly jam to devise a title track rich in troubled funk and wiggly acid and a flip of murderous hammering house." [17] Dave Fawbert from ShortList declared it as "sensational", stating that it "manages to combine about six different outrageously funky parts over the top of an unyielding, solitary, bass note. When the 303 finally kicks in, it's electro ecstasy." [18] David Sinclair from The Times commented, "Another rave standard goes overground." [19]
"What was special was seeing the streets of New York City react in real time to the character of Charles the Dog Boy as if he was real. Because of the location and the nature of how it was put together, aside from a few knowing smiles, most people just accepted it as reality and that was kind of amazing. Half the people totally ignored Charles, as if he was just any other character on the streets, and that was part of what made it so magic. I was laughing to myself all the time."
Tony Maxwell [20]
The track's music video was directed by Spike Jonze in February 1997 and titled Big City Nights. It focuses on the character Charles (Tony Maxwell, drummer of the band That Dog), an anthropomorphic dog in a leg cast with a crutch. Charles, who has lived in New York City for only one month, is shown walking around with a boombox blasting "Da Funk" at a high volume. His hobbled walk is mocked by a pair of children. He is turned down when he attempts to participate in a public survey. His boombox annoys a bookseller on the sidewalk from whom Charles buys a paperback novel titled Big City Nights.
Charles meets a woman named Beatrice (Catherine Kellner), who was once his childhood neighbor. They agree to have dinner together at her home, traveling by way of a city bus. Beatrice boards the bus, but Charles is startled by a sign stating "NO RADIOS". As he is unable to turn off his boombox (which is earlier indicated to have a broken/missing volume button) he reluctantly remains at the bus stop, as the bus drives off with Beatrice. Although the video has drawn several interpretations, Thomas Bangalter has stated that the music video has no story or meaning. [21]
The prominent French club magazine Coda named "Da Funk" the number one single with 33 percent of the vote. [6] In 2003, Q ranked it number 670 in their list of the "1001 Best Songs Ever". [22] In September 2010, Pitchfork Media included the song at number 18 on their "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s". [3] In 2011, it was featured in the video games Top Spin 4 and Ubisoft's Just Dance 3 . Same year, Slant Magazine listed it at number 93 in their ranking of "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s". [23]
In 2012, NME listed it in their "100 Best Songs of the 1990s", at number eight. [24] In 2021, Mixdown featured "Da Funk" in their list of "The 13 most iconic TB-303 basslines of all time". [12] Rolling Stone ranked "Da Funk" number 23 in their list of "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in 2022. [25]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Da Funk" (Side A) | 5:33 |
2. | "Musique" (Side B) | 6:52 |
Total length: | 12:25 |
No. | Title | Music | Length |
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1. | "Da Funk" (Short Edit) | 2:41 | |
2. | "Da Funk" (Long Edit) | 3:48 | |
3. | "Da Funk" (LP Version) | 5:32 | |
4. | "Da Funk" (Ten Minutes of Funk Mix) | Armand van Helden | 10:08 |
5. | "Da Funk" (Callout Research Hook) | 0:10 | |
Total length: | 22:19 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Da Funk" (Long Edit) | 3:48 |
2. | "Da Funk" | 5:33 |
Total length: | 9:21 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Da Funk" (Side A) | 5:28 |
2. | "Rollin' & Scratchin'" (Side B) | 7:26 |
Total length: | 12:54 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Da Funk" (Radio Edit) | 5:33 |
2. | "Musique" | 6:52 |
3. | "Da Funk" (Ten Minutes Of Funk Mix) | 10:08 |
Total length: | 22:28 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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France (SNEP) [49] | Silver | 125,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [50] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 8 May 1995 | 12-inch vinyl | Soma | [4] |
Europe | 10 January 1997 | CD | Virgin | [27] |
United Kingdom | 3 February 1997 |
| [51] | |
United States | 15 April 1997 | Alternative radio | [52] | |
24 March 1998 | [53] |
Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved early popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining elements of house music with funk, disco, techno, rock and synth-pop. The duo garnered further acclaim and commercial success and are now regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history.
Homework is the debut studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 20 January 1997 by Virgin Records and Soma Quality Recordings. It was later released in the United States on 25 March 1997. As the duo's first project on a major label, they produced the album's tracks without plans to release them, but after initially considering releasing them as separate singles, they considered the material good enough for an album.
Discovery is the second studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 12 March 2001 by Virgin Records. It marked a shift from the Chicago house of their first album, Homework (1997), to a house style more heavily inspired by disco, post-disco, garage house, and R&B. Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk described Discovery as an exploration of song structures, musical forms and childhood nostalgia, compared to the "raw" electronic music of Homework.
"Technologic" is a song by French duo Daft Punk from their third studio album, Human After All (2005). It was released as the second single on 14 June 2005. The music video for "Technologic" was directed by Daft Punk.
Human After All is the third studio album by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, first released on 14 March 2005 through Virgin Records. Unlike their previous studio album Discovery (2001), whose sound was inspired by disco and garage house and produced over the period of two years, Human After All was more minimalistic and improvisational with a mixture of heavier guitars and electronics, and was produced in six weeks.
Thomas Bangalter is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, alongside Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. He has recorded and released music as a member of the trio Stardust, the duo Together, as well as a solo artist. Bangalter's work has influenced a wide range of artists in various genres.
Roulé was a French record label founded in 1995 by former Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter. Roulé had a side label entitled Scratché which released only one record, produced by the Buffalo Bunch. Roulé was liquidated in 2018.
"Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" is the fifth single from LCD Soundsystem, released on February 21, 2005. The accompanying music video paid tongue-in-cheek homage to Spike Jonze's and Michel Gondry's music videos for Daft Punk's "Da Funk" and "Around the World", respectively. The track reached number one on the UK Dance Chart and number 29 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is a song by French duo Daft Punk, released in October 2001 as the fourth single from their second studio album Discovery. A live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was released as a single from the album Alive 2007 on 15 October 2007. This version won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2009. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 132 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
"Robot Rock" is the lead single from Daft Punk's third studio album Human After All. The single was released initially on 11 April 2005 with a music video, directed by and featuring the duo, preceding the single's release. While the single reached a moderately high chart position, many critics found the song overly repetitive when compared to songs from their other studio albums at the time. It features a sample of "Release the Beast" performed by Breakwater.
"Digital Love" is a song by French electronic music duo Daft Punk. It was released as the third single from their second album, Discovery, on 11 June 2001. It reached number 33 in France, number 28 in Italy, and number 14 in the United Kingdom. As part of the album, the song is featured in the film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem.
"Aerodynamic" is an instrumental track by French duo Daft Punk, featuring a prominent guitar solo. The track was released on 28 March 2001 as the second single from the Discovery album. "Aerodynamic" hit the U.S. dance charts through club play as the B-side to "Digital Love".
"Around the World" is a song by French electronic music duo Daft Punk. It was written by the duo and released in April 1997 by Virgin as the second single from their debut studio album, Homework (1997). The song became a major club hit globally and reached number one on the dance charts in Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It also peaked at number one in Iceland and Italy. The song's lyrics solely consist of the words "around the world", repeated on loop for a total of 144 times. The music video was directed by Michel Gondry and choreographed by Blanca Li. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 21 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
"Revolution 909" is an instrumental track from French electronic music duo Daft Punk's debut album, Homework (1997). The song was released by Virgin as the fifth and final single from the album in February 1998. The music video for the track was directed by Roman Coppola.
"Burnin'" is an instrumental track from French electronic music duo Daft Punk's debut album, Homework (1997). It was the fourth single released from the album. The accompanying music video for the track was directed by French photographer and video director Seb Janiak. The song later had a remix entitled "Extravaganza", created by Korean band BanYa for the dance video game Pump It Up. Elements of "Burnin'" were combined with the song "Too Long" in Daft Punk's live album Alive 2007.
"Music Sounds Better with You" is the only record by the French house trio Stardust, released on 20 July 1998. Stardust comprised the producer Thomas Bangalter, the DJ Alan Braxe and the vocalist Benjamin Diamond.
French electronic music duo Daft Punk released four studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, one soundtrack album, five remix albums, two video albums, twenty-two singles and nineteen music videos. Group members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo met in 1987 while studying at the Lycée Carnot secondary school. They subsequently recorded several demo tracks together, forming Daft Punk in 1993. Their debut single "The New Wave" was released the following year on the Soma Quality Recordings label. Daft Punk first found commercial success with the release of their second single "Da Funk", which peaked at number seven in France and topped the United States Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.
"One More Time" is a song by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released as a single from their second studio album, Discovery (2001), on 13 November 2000. It was shipped to radio in January 2001. It is a French house song featuring an auto-tuned vocal performance by Romanthony and a sample of "More Spell on You" by Eddie Johns. The music video forms part of the 2003 anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. "One More Time" reached number one on the French Singles Chart, number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Derezzed" is an instrumental song written, produced and performed by Daft Punk for the soundtrack of the motion picture Tron: Legacy, available on the album of the same name. As a pre-order bonus for the album on the iTunes Store, "Derezzed" was released by Walt Disney Records as a single on December 8, 2010. It was remixed by The Glitch Mob and Avicii for the remix albums Tron: Legacy Reconfigured and Dconstructed. "Derezzed" was also included on a 4-track vinyl EP titled Translucence, released by Walt Disney Records.
"Get Lucky" is a song written and performed by French electronic music duo Daft Punk featuring American singer Pharrell Williams and American guitarist Nile Rodgers. Daft Punk released the song as the lead single from their fourth and final studio album, Random Access Memories, on 19 April 2013. Before its release as a single, "Get Lucky" was featured in television advertisements broadcast during Saturday Night Live, after which Rodgers and Williams announced their involvement in the track. "Get Lucky" is a house-inspired disco, funk, and pop track with lyrics that, according to Williams, are about the good fortune of connecting with someone, as well as sexual chemistry. "Get Lucky" has since received acclaim from critics, with a number of them praising Williams's vocals and Rodgers's guitar riffs.
The singles are among the most potent dance music gateway drugs we've got: One moment you're digging "Around the World" [with its] hooky persistence and "Da Funk"...
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link)Going for adds April 15th!