Oh no, I’m losing it! Yet another YouTube craze which I’m a bit slow to pick up on (well YouTube isn’t the only site on the internet you know!). So maybe you’ve seen it, maybe you haven’t, either way this is a blast. Back at the end of November 2007, this hit cyberspace…. (pay attention)

It was influenced by this from June 2007..

Well there are loads of spin offs of these now, the top one is on an official Daft Punk YouTube page, so that makes if official, but it doesn’t give any history about it. Posted on the day before elsewhere is this one of the two girls doing the routine without boxes on their heads. Well their choreography is spot on, especially of course in the official version. This video here gives credit to the original by mashing the two together.

In my opinion, these are far better than Daft Punk’s original video, done in the anime style of cartoon. As much of a fan of this art I am, I wasn’t all that impressed by that concept for these music videos / film that is ‘Interstella 555’.

Fan videos are really important and they say a lot about the music industry and it’s current debate over copyright etc. What really sells music? Fans, I tell ye. Fans sell music. They spread the word and they want to. They are the real promoters. It is great to see people make their own creations based on the work of an artist they admire. In fact this has been the way it always has been. We just have a more instant way of doing things these days. The medium is the message.

So where did this all come from? How have Daft Punk got internet mashup mega-legs with this track (apart from it being brilliant of course!) and indeed a few others from their discography (Robot Rock Transformers). Could it have something to do with the heavy amounts of minimally altered sampling Daft Punk are prone to? Is this good karma that will help the greedy business side of music see that they can’t keep everything controlled. Artists should be paid for their work, there is no denying that, but we need to look at the value of copying. Is it making people more aware that there is nothing wrong with a little bit of piracy? and if I can stretch it that further – nothing wrong with a lot of it either. Sharing is caring!

So back to ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’. It’s a great tune with some catchy vocabulary and ever catchier big beats. It’s got a lot of people moving and has inspired people to get creative. Lets take a look back at two earlier renditions…

February 2007 –
Sophie Merry debut dances into the internet with her Groovy Dancing Girl routine and I have an inkling this may well have been the real creative spark to get people going. It has a sequel and some very cool iPod type ads as homages.

June 2006 –
A Daft Punk Accapella by The Carleton Singing Knights. This is a great harmony vocal performance of the track.

And it’s only fair to give the last word to Daft Punk’s inspiration, that is to Edwin Birdsong and here he is with “Cola Bottle Baby” >