The 15 Hits of the French Touch

1. Daft Punk – One More Time (2000, Virgin)
When One More Time appeared in November 2000, Daft Punk had already experienced global success and changed the face of pop with their debut album Homework in 1997. One More Time was the first single from their follow-up, Discovery, which came out in March 2001. U.S. house DJ and producer Romanthony wrote and sang the lyrics, in which he called on Daft Punk to repeat their initial success, this time in the guise of the band from the fictional animation Interstella 5555: The Story of the Secret Star System, which they commissioned from Leiji Matsumoto, the Japanese artist behind the manga series Albator, as a visual for the entire album. It was a double dream come true for Daft Punk, who shot to number one worldwide with this track.

2. Modjo – Lady (Hear Me Tonight) (2000, Sound Of Barclay)
If there's a French Touch anthem, this is it! Its well-rounded bass and funky guitar are an invitation to dance right from the first notes of this debut offering from the duo, who met at the American School of Modern Music in Paris. Romain and Yann hit hard with the track, which was supported by a video shot by French director François Nemeta and was released on the legendary French label Barclay in September 2000. After picking up a French music industry Victoire de la Musique (French equivalent to the Grammys) award for their album Modjo in 2001, the two musicians went their separate ways to pursue solo careers, as a singer in the case of Yann Destal, and as a sound engineer in that of Romain, whose notable work includes Sexuality by Sébastien Tellier.

3. Stardust – Music Sounds Better With you (1998, Roulé)
Stardust were what is known as a one hit wonder. Not just any one hit wonder, though! This supergroup only stuck around for one song—their hit Music Sounds Better With You. They consisted of DJ Alan Braxe, singer and producer Benjamin Diamond, who afterward continued his solo career, and Thomas Bangalter—one half of Daft Punk—who were behind the label Roulé. To round off the dream team, the famous French movie director Michel Gondry took the helm for the video.

4. Air – Kelly Watch The Stars (1997, Source / Virgin)
When this track came out, the Versailles-based group were still called by their original name, AIR French Band—clearly aware of the value of their French image! They went on to produce some of the most finely honed music of the entire scene, applying the success of Kelly Watch The Stars for their debut album Moon Safari. Jean-Benoît Dunckel and Nicolas Godin had no qualms about blending the classic French sound with the vintage tones of early video games, whose imagery they used for the music video, in which they controlled two female table tennis players from their Atari console.

5. Mr Oizo – Flat Beat (1999, F Communications)
With Flat Beat, Mr Oizo introduced the world to the legendary, fearless yellow plush puppet Flat Eric—the star of the track's video! Over a syncopated beat like no other before it, its synthesized voice hammers out what in technical terms is described as a banger—in other words, a track you just can't resist shaking your head to, just like Flat Eric in the video. The zanily promoted track came out way back in 1999 via F Communications, Laurent Garnier's label, but hasn't aged a bit! As an aside, Mr Oizo is in fact none other than French movie director Quentin Dupieux, who naturally was also behind the music video.

6. Alex Gopher – The Child (1999, Disques Solid / V2)
Alex Gopher is connected to the duo Air going back to their high school days in Versailles, where they formed a band called Orange. Arguably the most skilled sound engineer from the French Touch movement, his present day career revolves around production. On The Child in 1999, with its muted sample of Billie Holiday, he took us for a ride, just like in The Love Boat, the TV series from which he took his pseudonym which he has been using ever since his debut Gopher EP in 1995, taken from the name of the chief purser from the series. The music video was made entirely out of words and produced by H5—the animation studio that remains inseparable from the French Touch esthetic.

7. Etienne de Crécy – Le Patron Est Devenu Fou (1997, Disques Solid/PIAS)
In 1997, Etienne de Crécy—also from Versailles—released the compilation Super Discount on his own label, Solid, bringing together some of the leading lights of French Touch, including Air, Alex Gopher, and his own aliases Minos Pour Main Basse (Sur La Ville), Mooloodjee, and La Chatte Rouge (the latter of the three also featuring Zdar from Cassius). The album certainly had a powerful marketing concept—as Ludovic Houplain from the studio H5 put it: "Super Discount is a huge deal!" And in the Crécy household, they like to do things as a family, the highly choregraphed music video being the work of Etienne's wife Marie.

8. Cassius – Cassius 1999 (1999, Virgin)
Zdar and Boom Bass from madcap duo Cassius managed to keep reinventing themselves by writing at least one hit per decade until Zdar's tragic death in 2019. Cassius 1999 was the first single from their appropriately named album 1999, which came out in 1999! It was preceded by this bouncy hit, which inspired their long term friend and director Alexandre Courtes to create a highly graphic accompanying video featuring a race as frenetic as the music.

9. Bob Sinclar – Gym Tonic (1998, Yellow Productions / EastWest)
Perhaps the most extroverted of the French Touch DJs, Christophe Le Friant is Bob Sinclar—an adaptation of the name of the superspy played by Jean-Paul Belmondo in The Man from Acapulco. When Gym Tonic was released, taken from his debut album Paradise on the Yellow Production label, produced together with DJ Yellow, the Jane Fonda sample had not been declared in advance. The track was actually made by Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk, on the understanding that it wouldn't be released as a single. Unfortunately, Bob couldn't control its success and it actually acted as a springboard for his career, in spite of the ensuing dispute, which had to be settled by lawyers.

10. The Supermen Lovers (feat. Mani Hoffman) – Starlight (2000, Lafessé Records)
Starlight and the Mr. Potato Head style characters from its video, created by French animator Numéro 6—one of the key contributors to the French Touch movement's graphical identity, marked the start of the budding career of Guillaume Atlan, fronted by the soulful voice of French singer Mani Hoffman. A big funk fan—Atlan took his pseudonym from the Johnny Guitar Watson track Superman Lover—he has had a successful career with releases on his own labels: first Lafessé Records, starting in 1999, and now Word Up Records.

13. Laurent Garnier – Flashback (1997, F Communications)
While the techno produced by Laurent Garnier is not necessarily a natural fit for the filtered house sounds of French Touch, his multiple successes as a DJ, such as the Victoire de la Musique award he picked up in 1998 in the electronic or dance music category, have gone a long way not only to popularize electronic music in France but also to boost the success of French Touch. After all, the F Communications label he founded in 1994 with Eric Morand bore the pioneering slogan We Give a French Touch to House Music. The sarcastic video for Flashback was made by Quentin Dupieux aka Mr Oizo, who was an F Communications collaborator at the time.

14. Cheek – Venus (Sunshine People) (DJ Gregory Remix) (1996, versatile Records)
Venus was one of the first releases from iconic French electronic music label Versatile Records. Cheek is the moniker used by the label's founder, Gilbert Cohen, alias DJ Gilb’R, one of the leading lights of the genre. This remix by DJ Gregory is the version most people remember.

15. St Germain – Rose Rouge (2000, Blue Note)
Producer Ludovic Navarre, also known as St Germain, was on the roster of F Communications from the early years. This classic French Touch track was a global hit in 2000 for legendary jazz label Blue Note. With its samples of Marlena Shaw, cymbals, and jazz trumpet, topped off by the photo of the River Seine on the sleeve, it became a symbol of French electronic music, eventually leading to a cover version by Jorja Smith in 2020.