daft punk

[18] Kanye West, ‘Stronger’

Kanye West, ‘Stronger’

Jukebox Junior’s first ever Single of the Year, in 2005, was Kanye West’s ‘Gold Digger’. The wire-jawed walking ego has slipped a bit since, but still knows how to make an impact in the increasingly staid world of commercial hip-hop. ‘Stronger’ samples Daft Punk’s ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ (the fourth best single from Discovery), slowing it down and weaving its central line into Kanye’s big man narrative. It’s sharp, witty and massively sure of itself. Like our favourite blind-shaded rap maverick.
 
For Junior, a maverick herself, it’s a chance to dance with suitcases. This is not a routine I’ve seen before, but as Mr West says, “she’ll do anything for the limelight” – and I indulge her. What else is this place for?

[13] Daft Punk, ‘Around The World’

Dum dum dum, de do do do do do do-do der dum dum dum. SING ALONG.

I can’t get enough cute, glitterballed French disco, and nor should you. Junior loved it so much, I could’ve persuaded her to wear a luminous body sock and dance in formation with her mum (who’s rarely out of her luminous body sock). As it was, she was throwing some robotic shapes from the first bar, even modifying her moves when the bass thudded in. Music sounds better with her.

As the track bleeped and popped towards its sixth minute, Junior grabbed the electronic songbook and pressed the ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes’ button. It was as if Daft Punk were in the room, accompanying themselves, riffing on their own tune with da nursery rhyme funk.

We’ll be releasing our own limited edition glitch techno white label before the end of the year.

[17] Queen, ‘Radio Ga Ga’

The brainchild of the producer’s producer Trevor Horn, the Buggles took this to No.1 in 1979 and invented Daft Punk in the process. It is often derided as a novelty record, but this poignant slice of early electronica broke barriers and melted video age hearts.

Oh SORRY, Roger, was ‘Radio Ga Ga’ inspired by your baby son’s infant ramblings? Silly me. Actually, Queen go a stage further and are nostalgic for good radio, not any old radio. They update their sound with the synths, but can’t resist a typical massed clapalong. Ah, it’s ok.

I’m going to record a song based on Junior’s newfound vocabulary. Entitled ‘Radio Dada’, it will be an absurdist conceptual piece railing against the bourgeoisie and the conservatism of Magic FM.

[7] De’Lacy, ‘Hideaway’

Junior and I had a go at slapping out the military house beat on the sofa cushions. We were bang-on and superfly.

Right. I like the cheekily long breakdown on this, not quite rivalling Daft Punk’s ‘One More Time’ but good enough. It’s a belting vocal and a moment of dancefloor epiphany as the clattering percussion starts to come in a few seconds before we’re off and running again. Ignore the more straightforward remix that surfaced a few years later; this is the one with the soul. ‘Dubfire Needs To Score’, it’s called.

Maybe I edged over the hill after this, but I don’t think house/techno/dance in general gave us much of note from here on. In the early ’90s, Tony’s Records were selling us a couple of classics a week.

[9] Madonna, ‘Hung Up’

Her mum has played this many times, so Junior knows what to expect and she’s not precious about her ABBA samples. It has that gimmick where they fade out the treble and bring it back again, as if you’re leaving the party and coming back, and I can’t remember what the effect’s called. Daft Punk like it, and Kylie did it too because Daft Punk like it. It also has a ticking clock, like Gwen Stefani’s “tick tock”s and Kylie’s tick-tocking to ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’. Madonna is a magpie. No revelation there. 

Still, it’s a satisfying melting pot. 

Father and daughter exchange grimaces as we recall the contortionist leotard poses thrown in the video. Yes, yes, she looks good for 47 but, well, no. Considering her advanced years, though, the music’s more vital than much of the limp fare put out by pop stars half, maybe a third of her age. Mentioning no names. At this rate, they’ll get an advert at the head of the page. 

So, ‘Hung Up’. It’s an object lesson in turn-of-the-millennium disco pop house chicanery, that’ll do for Junior until Daft Punk is playing at her house.