Did Daft Punk Steal Their Act From The Earons?

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Daft Punk has gone from an obscure helmet sporting French synth duo to Grammy award winners and a household name, but did they steal their entire gimmick from obscure 80s group The Earons?

Both groups wear signature motorcycle helmets, funky futuristic outfits and play similarly funky synth tunes, but like any musical act with a fashion gimmick parallels are sure to be drawn between the modern group and some previous influence.

The similarities are pretty darn clear after watching the video, and since The Earons had but one album, which was released nearly thirty years ago, they seem like the perfect targets to emulate since it's unlikely anyone would ever uncover the truth. But let's face it, those hipsters the Earons were into being anonymized by their motorcycle helmets and playing spacy tunes way before it was cool.

Via Dangerous Minds

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Craig L beat me to it. The Residents were a feature on the pre-MTV show Nightflight. Strange stuff indeed.

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The Earons seem to be borrowing from DEVO a bit, and they aren't wearing the helmets in the whole video, so probably nothing direct. Robot/space suits pop up all over the place, so it's hard to say there's anything but a coincidence. The music just sounds like generic 80s synth pop rather than the sample-heavy, pitch-shifted, hyper sequenced electronic tunes DP play, where Kraftwerk is more of an inspiration. The French band Space have the DP vibe much more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_ukfGAd8T4

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I'd say that Daft Punk, the Earons and every other pop/rock act that kept their faces hidden 'borrowed' the idea from The Residents whose most memorable 'helmets' were in the form of giant eyeballs. Everything after that was "yeah, big deal"...

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Dystopian future guys wearing bio suits and helmets vs. robots? And is there a hard number of funky synth bands that have been in existence prior to Daft Punk? This feels like a bit of a stretch.