OTO was started in 1982 in Nancy from a meeting between Farid Dahlab and Pascal Hubert. In 1981, the two men were members of the band G-STRING, Farid on drums and Pascal on keyboards.

After difficult rehearsals punctuated by arguments between the members of the G-STRINGs, the two future OTO members decided to work together, with their inspiration coming more from synth duos like ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK and KAS PRODUCT, with whom they shared the same music scene in Nancy.
They used a Korg MS-10 that Pascal had just acquired, while Farid decided to abandon his drumming in favor of a Roland TR-66 Rhyhtm Arranger. After getting kicked out of the G-STRING, they continued to record at the same practice space and use some of their former band's instruments. And thus the first songs, the first premises of the OTO group were born: White Fly, Blue Arrow, Anyway, Satisfaction.

The duo held their first concert on May 25, 1982 at La Salle des Fêtes in Vandoeuvre. And, of course, they needed a name.
OTO was an obvious choice; it's short, incisive, and easy to remember, a bit like DEVO. OTO also evokes terms like "AUTONOMY", "AUTOSATISFACTION", or "AUTOCAR", which recalls the influence of KRAFTWERK (Autobahn). The concert proved to be a real success. KAS PRODUCT encouraged them to continue.

In July 1982, they brought their instruments to Pascal’s apartment with one idea in mind: to record a demo to present to Gérard N’Guyen (the producer of KAS PRODUCT). Over the span of a week they recorded 7 songs, including three new ones (Bats, Five Five, Too Fast). Gérard N’Guyen was presented with the demo, and after only listening to the song Anyway he decided to take on the band as their producer.
What followed was a series of hardships: the departure of Pascal for his obligatory military service, Farid restarting his medical studies, and several technical disasters that occurred during their recording process. They lost their practice space, and their housing. OTO was stuck.

One of their friends, Francois Rousseau, who had a brief appearance in G-STRING, happened to be looking for some roommates at the time, and thus ended up joining the band as well. The first compositions of the trio were completed in May 1984, which brought to fruition their mythical first 12” Anyway shared with Bats and Bad Boy, which was released in the summer of 1984 (Les Disques Du Soleil Et De L'Acier). Gérard N’Guyen agreed to distribute the record but was no longer interested in producing it, leaving the task for the band to do themselves. Nevertheless, the band benefited from great visibility and positive critical reception.

In the autumn of 1984, Pascal returned from his military service. Everything seemed to be building up again for OTO. They experimented with a new synth, the Roland SH-101, and the Bassline TB-303. They multiplied their concerts in Nancy and even played at the Grand Rex in Paris. They were now four on stage, with the arrival of Patrick Bandelier on bass
However, things began to slow down by the beginning of 1985. The band was forced to wait until 1986 for their new record Purge An Urge, and the lack of any meaningful distribution left them with little critical response. OTO began to lose steam. They pushed on, recording a new demo in their studio with a new Tascam Portastudio 244, featuring the songs Rock Alone and No More.
Finally, their practices became more and more sporadic. The band began to disintegrate.
Farid and François recorded their last song in the spring of 1987, No More Twist, the group’s swan song.