Plastic Bertrand- Ca Plane Pour Moi

dscn5351This was $3.00 at a record show.  I had to get it.  You know how it is when you see a one hit wonder and then wonder to yourself, I wonder what his other songs sounded like? Well, that is the impetus behind buying this record.af7fb01ee30443f8995af6aed8d534a1

You say you don’t know who Plastic Bertrand was? Nor do you recognize his big hit “Ca Plane Pour Moi”?  Sure you do.  The french song has been used in countless soundtracks and montages. It has also been covered extensively as well as bastardize into the US version “Jet Boy”. Incidentally, the song’s title translates to “The Life’s for Me” but in conversational French, means things are going well for me.

The credited artist behind the song, which an international hit in 1978, was Roger Allen Francois Jouret, otherwise known as Plastic Bertrand.  Born in Brussels in 1954, the artist played in various rock and roll bands before this hit.  However, and this is where this story gets strange, the song writer of the tune was a Belgian singer and producer named Lou Deprijck, who was already pretty successful in the Belgian Pop Scene.  In all actuality, it was Deprijck who not only sang this song, but on all of the first four Plastic Bertrand albums.  So take that, Milli Vanilli.  The two actually went to court over this in 2010 and a court expert verified that the voice was indeed Deprijck’s.  Bertrand later admitted as much after the court ruled against him. Or at least that is how I understand events.  It all got kind of confusing.

Jouret and Deprijck
Jouret and Deprijck

Plastic Bertrand’s Webpage

This album, released in the same year as the single, 1978, was the enity known as Plastic Bertrand’s first album.  Released here in the US under Sire Records, I am unsure how well it sold here in the US.  Regardless, it is a collection of French sung New Wave music which all kind of sounds the same.  That is not a bad thing when the music is catchy.  Maybe perhaps as it is it Belgian, it is a bit better than the strange take the French have on Rock and Roll.

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For a sample, I went with the cover of the Small Faces’ “Sha La La La Lee” because it is ridiculous.  I mean I like it and it is very New Wave, but it is kind of funny at the same time. Below is the original so you can compare material.

Satisfactory enough record.  I learned something interesting about the artist while doing this post and I got to hear what his other songs sounded like.

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