In June of 2017, Phoenix released Ti Amo, their sixth studio album and one that, once again, yielded comparisons to MOR kings like Hall and Oates, Steely Dan, and 10cc.There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. But buried way back in the history of Phoenix lies a very different band, one that’s more Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez than Kenny Loggins. The Phoenix of old were steeped in the influence of electronic music and the French Touch: They made disco-inflected house music for fashionable Parisian label Source, remixed Air, commissioned club-slaying dance-floor hits from the fashionable remixers of the day, and worked with Cassius’ Philippe Zdar and Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter on their debut album.It’s fairly well known that Phoenix guitarist Laurent Brancowitz played alongside Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter in their pre-Daft Punk band, Darlin’. But Phoenix’s disco dalliance started in earnest in 1997 when, after the success of their self-released single, “Party Time” b/w “City Lights,” the band signed to Source, then one of the most fashionable labels in France thanks to its brilliant 1995 compilation Source Lab, which featured early recordings from the likes of Air, Motorbass, and DJ Cam. (Source Lab 2, released in 1996, would be similarly epochal, featuring Daft Punk’s “Musique” alongside music from Dimitri From Paris and Alex Gopher.)Phoenix’ first track for Source would be “Heatwave,” initially released on the 1998 Source Rocks compilation (alongside Sébastien Tellier’s “Fantino”) then unleashed as a single in its own right the following year. “Heatwave” was a pristine disco classic: four minutes of nebulous chord changes and chicken-scratch guitar that shone like the sun coming up on the Seine after a long night out. It also fit perfectly with the sound of the French Touch, which was then bringing Gallic grace to global dance floors—so much so, in fact, that “Heatwave” was later appropriated by Italian act DB Boulevard as the basis for their global dance hit of 2002, “Point of View.” On Source, Phoenix’ labelmates included Air, who shared their home town of Versailles. Phoenix ended up backing Air on several of their early television appearances and, in 1998, remixed Air’s classic “Kelly Watch The Stars,” adding a Gallic nu-disco strut to the original song’s orchestral sophistication.The year 2000 was a pivotal moment for Phoenix. It represented the peak of their electronic powers, thanks to two singles—”Too Young” and “If I Ever Feel Better”—whose remixes would set global dance floors aflame. “Too Young” was remixed by Zoot Woman (an early band of super-producer/DJ Stuart Price) and Le Knight Club, a duo formed by Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel and producer Éric Chédeville. The former takes the song’s melody and structure on an electro-pop excursion, while the latter breaks down “Too Young” into a series of sky-scraping loops and tensions that were typical of Le Knight Club’s filter-friendly approach.“If I Ever Feel Better” proved even more impactful, thanks to remixes from New Jersey producer (and later Daft Punk collaborator) Todd Edwards and The Buffalo Bunch, a duo made up of Guy-Manuel’s brother, Paul de Homem-Christo and Romain Séo. The Buffalo Bunch would prove to be one of the lesser-known heroes of the French Touch, becoming the only act to record for both Thomas Bangalter’s Scratché label and Guy-Manuel’s Crydamoure. However, their remix of “If I Ever Feel Better”—retitled “If I Ever Feel Better (Ill Go To The Disco) [Said The Buffalo Bunch]”—would cement their legacy; it appeared on numerous house compilations and will be used to fire up flagging dance floors until time immemorial. It is a brilliant piece of remix work, taking a tiny, seemingly innocuous part of the original song’s vocal—“I can try, I can try, I can try”—and looping it into an irresistible earworm, which they combine with a wiggly bassline, disco-ish strings, and a thumping house beat.Phoenix’s debut album, United, would follow soon after and, if it didn’t necessarily continue the disco sound of “Heatwave,” it would display fairly serious French Touch credentials, with Thomas Bangalter contributing Yamaha CS-60 synthesizer to the gorgeously wan “Embuscade” and Pedro “Busy P” Winter––then manager of Daft Punk, later founder of Ed Banger Records—playing Rapman synthesizer on Part Two of the frankly deranged hoedown “Funky Squaredance.” More importantly, United would see Phoenix work for the first time with Philippe Zdar, a pillar of the French Touch who lent his exquisite production sheen to seven of the album’s 10 songs.Phoenix’s history with electronic music didn’t end with United, of course. The band would continue to work with Zdar, including on their 2009 breakthrough album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, while their releases would often come with electronic remixes attached. But the band’s latter success in the global rock market seemed to move them away from their French Touch origins, while the French Touch itself drifted out of fashion.Knowing Phoenix’s roots, however, can help us understand how they landed on their sound and how on earth they made such a fashionable success of their slick AOR revisionism. And if they would consider bringing “Heatwave” back to their setlists, then it would make some ageing house-music heads very grateful indeed.
