The song has been covered by many artists, though the original recording was the most successful, reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in mid-1978.[3][4] While mainly regarded as a punk rock song,[5] "Ça plane pour moi" has also been described as new wave[1] and as a parody or pastiche of punk rock.[6] The title is a French idiom that is best translated as "this works for me" (literally: "it is gliding for me").[7]
Controversy surrounding the vocals
Producer Lou Deprijck always maintained that he performed the vocals on the original recording, and the question remains controversial. In 2006 the Brussels court of appeal, upholding the decision of a lower court, found that Bertrand was the sole interpreter of the song.[8] In 2010 an expert opinion produced for another case suggested the 1977 vocalist had a Picard accent, like Deprijck's.[8] This did not, however, alter the 2006 ruling, and media statements by Deprijk to the effect that his claim to be the singer had been "recognised by the justice system"[9] were ill-founded.[8] (All of the proceedings between 2006 and 2010 arose from disputes between the record company AMC, which owned the catalogue of Plastic Bertrand's Belgian label RKM, and Deprijck, whom it believed to be making inappropriate use of the material. Deprijck never took the question of who sang what to court himself.)[10][8]
In an interview prompted by the 2010 episode, Bertrand appeared to admit that he was not the vocalist,[11][12] but in a follow-up interview the next day he denied this, saying he was being ironic and had been trapped, and threatening legal action.[13] This echoed a similar incident in the 1990s when Bertrand seemed to tell journalist Gilles Verlant that he was not the singer before quickly retracting.[14] Since 2010, Bertrand has consistently said that he is the performer on the original recording, and this remains the position in law.[15]
Deprijck later recorded a version of the song under his own name and claimed that scientific analysis proved his version and the original version were sung by the same voice.[16]
Everything started from the text of Pipou [Lacomblez], which required a very staccato singing, as did, in the United Kingdom, the then fashionable punk singers. I only brought to the text the title, by reference to a song by Michel Delpech, "Tu me fais planer". What we wanted to do was pogo-pogoing, the punk dance. A kind of pastiche. I had three simple chords, A E and D, and musicians that I had chosen to fit the bill. I did not want virtuosos but guys a little bit wild. Once in the studio, with this text and my three chords, I told them "Get by yourselves" and we did it.
The music was recorded by Mike Butcher (guitar), John Valcke (bass guitar) and Bob Dartsch (drums), and the song was released as a B-side to "Pogo-Pogo",[18] which was chosen to launch the solo career of Plastic Bertrand. However, following the success of "Ça plane pour moi", the two sides were switched when the single was re-pressed.[19] The session to record both songs took only two hours.[17][18]
Composition
"Ça plane pour moi" is a three-chord rock song based on a twelve-bar blues progression that features nonsensical French lyrics with occasional lines in English.[17][20] Steve Huey of AllMusic describes the song's melody as a "four-note hook which sounds like something straight out of an early Beach Boys or Four Seasons song", accompanied by "... mildly distorted guitars, plus a steadily pumping rhythm section and an old-time rock & roll-style saxophone. Huey also describes the voice as "cartoonish...[staying] in a monotone as he recites all the lyrics."[20]
The song has been described as having "largely nonsensical French lyrics about whiskey-drinking cats and a divan king" and "with words seemingly plucked at random from two entirely different languages."[21][22][23] Lou Deprijck has said "... the lyrics are a succession of incoherent things, that a guy, who is stoned, seems to see... it means nothing. It is like if you take LSD. That is exactly the thing you see".[16] The first verse is as follows:
Wham! Bam! Mon chat "Splash" gite sur mon lit a bouffe
Sa langue en buvant trop mon whysky.
Quand à moi peu dormi vidé brimé.
J'ai du dormir dans la goutiere ou j'ai un flash.
Hou-hou-hou-hou! En quatre couleurs.
Wham! Bam! My cat, Splash is rolling around on my bed
He swallowed his tongue as he drank all my whisky
As for me, I've hardly slept, I feel empty and reprimanded
I had to sleep in the gutter where I had a flash of inspiration
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh! In four colours.[24]
Reception
The song was praised by Joe Strummer of The Clash: "Plastic Bertrand compressed into that three minutes a bloody good record that will get any comatose person toe-tapping, you know what I mean? By purist rules, it's not allowed to even mention Plastic Bertrand. Yet, this record was probably a lot better than a lot of so-called punk records."[25]
In a review of the song for AllMusic, Steve Huey praised its "simple, inspired stupidity".[20]
The song is also a well known part of the Australian radio station Triple M’s “Rush Hour with JB and Billy” afternoon show, where it is played in response to co-host Billy Brownless’s closing joke if it is considered funny by the producer (Ryan “Rabs” Warren).
Swedish singer and former rapper Leila K covered "Ça plane pour moi" in 1993. It was released by Mega Records as the second single from her first solo album, Carousel (1993). The song was produced by Denniz Pop and Douglas Carr, and achieved moderate success on the charts in many European countries. It peaked at No. 6 in Finland, No. 8 in Austria and Denmark, No. 13 in Germany, No. 16 in Belgium and No. 17 in Switzerland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, "Ça plane pour moi" reached No. 21 in May 1993.
Critical reception
Simon Price from Melody Maker called the song "a bizarre Moroder-ised version [...] on which she gets away with calling someone 'a fat c***' because it's in French, and adds, unbelievably, 'I am the Queen of the Divan'."[54] Pan-European magazine Music & Media remarked that here, the Plastic Bertrand French-language punk classic had been "re-styled in an electronic dance fashion à la Billy Idol. Très bien!" Head of music Peter Kricek at Czech Republic's Bonton Radio/Prague said that the original from 1978 was known in his country in the communist days, but it was more of an underground thing. He said, "The people here are absolutely mad about Leila's cover, which is a powerplay at our station. Every four hours we play it."[55]
Alan Jones from Music Week gave it three out of five, stating that the song "is transformed into technopunk by the self-proclaimed 'queen of the divan' who, although better known as a rapper is in singing mode here." He also added that the Felix mixes on the CD and 12-inch "take it into trance territory. An odd combination, but likely to do well."[56]Andrew Harrison from Select deemed it a "towering disaster".[57]Sylvia Patterson of Smash Hits praised Leila K's version, giving it five out of five and naming it Best New Single. She declared it "brilliant", saying, "Phew! Ruck and Rool!! (Or whatever it is in French). A delirious synth whirl which hollers and spits and pouts not unlike EMF in a Electrolux spin-cycle without their guitars."[58]
In 2006, by Pigloo under the title "Ça plane pour moi (le twist)", as the third single from the album La Banquise. It reached number 18 on the French SNEP Singles Chart and remained in the top 100 for 24 weeks.[82]
