Today, two experts proved what almost everybody knew for over 30 years: Roger Jouret, better known as Plastic Betrand, did not sing the biggest Belgian punkhit ever: Ça plane pour moi. Bertrand’s legal team isn’t impressed, they released a statement saying that in a legal sense, their client is still considered to be the performer. The history of the song is shady. First off, their was Jet Boy, Jet Girl, sung by Elton Motello (aka Alan Ward, a sound engineer who’d record an enormous amount of hits). Story goes that producer and co-author Lou Deprijck used the same band to record a less risky version. Lou himself sang, but because he didn’t look punk enough, drummer Roger became the face of the record. It sold 8 million copies. UPDATE: Jouret fessed up: he did not sing on the record.
Deprijck, who’s best known for his latin-disco-outfit Two Man Sound (they also recorded a version of Jet Boy, Jet Girl called Bad Boy, Bad Girl – if you have an mp3, please share!) but also the man behind Viktor Lazlo, Lou & the Hollywood Bananas and Kim’Kay, didn’t seem to mind that much that he wasn’t considered the singer. He was co-author of the song, so the money came pouring in. But maybe, like Dustin Hoffman in Wag the Dog, he wanted the full credit. In 2006, Lou lost a court case about who sang the song. Now, speech-experts say they can tell it’s Deprijck singing. And what about Alan Ward/Elton Motello? He worked with Lou several times after Plane became a millionseller, so I guess something was settled. Read this interesting article on the roots of the song too. Belgian hero Arno Hintjens claims that Jet Boy was based on a song he did with his first band Tjens Couter in the mid-70s. Alan Ward was the engineer for that session.
In the past and present, Ça plane pour moi was covered many, many times. Even US indie-darlings Vampire Weekend did their version. I did a post with over 15 versions on the old blog. On this blog you find a nice round up too. This time I present several recent versions that I like a lot, plus the above mentioned roots-versions. Two covers are sung with the real Plastic Bertrand, by American country-funnymen The Boss Hoss and Canadian gypsyjazz-funnymen The Lost Fingers. Annie Dufresne is from Quebec as well, her version is at break-neck speed. I recently came across the rockabilly-version by Dutch oldtimers Keessie & the Seltans of Swing, and the 80s German version by Benny (hilarious video here). I really like the Nouvelle Vague-cover, and the ironic dance-rework by Set de Choeur. Plastichke is a funny Belgian parody. Read all about that one here.
Tjens Couter – Gimme what I need
Elton Motello – Jet Boy, Jet Girl
Benny – Bin Wieder Frei
Plastichke – Ca gaze pour moi
Annie Dufresne – Ça plane pour moi
Boss Hoss & Plastic Bertrand – Ça plane pour moi
Lost Fingers & Plastic Bertrand – Ça plane pour moi
Nouvelle Vague – Ça plane pour moi
Keessie & the Seltans of Swing – Ça plane pour moi
Set de Choeur – Ça plane pour moi
Raven-haired beauty Gaele made a second album, that leans heavy on percussion. Because of the way she sings and talks, I’d call her a slammeuse. There are mostly acoustic instruments used on the album, ranging from the ukele to a full brassband. There’s a reggae-vibe, some New Orleans-style funk and lyrics about current affairs (like the financial crisis). One song was written by the great Daniel Belanger. Kick-off track Femme en ic is my favourite because of the jazzy style and the wordplay.
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