[1][2] As a child, he was exposed to classical music, with his family listening to records of composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, or Frédéric Chopin for an hour every night.
A demo recording reached Belgian producer Jean Kluger, who believed he could replicate the success of Michel Polnareff with Vangarde.
[8][9] The song "Aieaoa" from the album was later recorded as "Aie a Mwana", first by Black Blood and then by Bananarama, becoming the first UK hit for the latter group.
[3] The lead single, "Un bombardier avec ses bombes", criticized France's involvement in the international arms trade and resulted in his ban from French radio.
[12] Vangarde also produced the album Blogodo for the band La Compagnie Créole, who he found while travelling to the West Indies.
He persuaded the band to record the song "C'est bon pour le moral," but it initially struggled to gain popularity.
[11] In the 1990s, Vangarde was involved in disputes over the issue of Jewish composers and their intellectual property rights during the Nazi occupation of France.
[14] He accused SACEM of withholding funds from these Jewish musicians after the nation's liberation, which they denied asserting that they had paid what was owed.
[25] French producer Bertrand Burgalat described Vangarde as "one of the most singular personalities of his time" for his work in disco music production.
[3] In 2013, musician CK303 made a DJ mix of Vangarde's work for the magazine Dazed, noting his "incorporation of world music influences into disco/pop records was quite novel".
The Guardian described their album as "a mad, cartoonish blend of different musical cultures that also attempted to provoke what would now be called a 'dance challenge.
[27] Their music has also appeared in the DJ mix album Late Night Tales: Matt Helders by the Arctic Monkeys and in the second season of the FX series Fargo.
[29] Initially, Thomas was more interested in film and classical dance than music, but Thoreux had him learn piano from the ages of six to twelve.
[31] Thomas credited Vangarde with showing him how the record industry worked and helping Daft Punk in the early stages of their career.
[32][33] Vangarde was acknowledged in the liner notes of Daft Punk's album Homework for providing "precious advice" and in Discovery for concept and art direction.