Music Sounds Better With You

Album: Best Club anthems '99 (1998)
Charted: 2 62
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • In 1998 Daft Punk's Thomas Bangalter formed the anonymous one-off disco project Stardust with studio buddies Alan Queme and Benjamin Cohen to record this nu-disco anthem. The song was released independently in Bangalter's native France on his own Roule label in 1998, and it took Ibiza by storm that summer and was the club smash of 1998. However, when Bangalter was offered a £3 million deal for a full Stardust album, he declined.
  • The bassline guitar is a sample from a Chaka Khan track "Fate," which appeared on her 1981 album, What Cha' Gonna Do For Me.
  • Despite rumors to the contrary, Bangalter insists in interviews that the suggestive lyrics are not about drugs.
  • Madonna's "Get Together," from her 2005 Confessions on a Dance Floor album, samples this song.
  • The Michel Gondry-directed music video follows a young boy as he builds a model airplane and watches a video countdown on TV, featuring Stardust up against fictional bands. Gondry has directed classic music videos for Björk, The White Stripes, The Chemical Brothers, and others.
  • The song originated when Alan Queme was invited to perform at the Rex Club in Paris. He asked Thomas Bangalter to play keyboards and Benjamin Diamond, who he knew from school, to sing. "We were searching for a new song, looking for things to sample," he told The Guardian. "Benjamin put on Fate, a Chaka Khan track, and that was it. We knew it had something, so we sampled it and jammed around, playing it during the live show. Afterwards, we decided to make a record, spending a week collaborating in Thomas's studio."

Comments: 2

  • Alex from SheffieldMy favourite song ever. Absolute perfection
  • Sam-whoo-ra from BrazilOne of the best songs of all time, no wonder.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.

Artis the Spoonman

Artis the SpoonmanSong Writing

Even before Soundgarden wrote a song about him, Artis was the most famous spoon player of all time. So why has he always been broke?

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Booker T. Jones

Booker T. JonesSongwriter Interviews

The Stax legend on how he cooked up "Green Onions," the first time he and Otis Redding saw hippies, and if he'll ever play a digital organ.

Bill Withers

Bill WithersSongwriter Interviews

Soul music legend Bill Withers on how life experience and the company you keep leads to classic songs like "Lean On Me."