Ça plane pour moi

"Ça plane pour moi"
Single by Plastic Bertrand
from the album An 1
B-side "Pogo Pogo"
Released December 1977
Format 7"
Genre Punk rock[1]
Length 2:57
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Lou Deprijck
Plastic Bertrand singles chronology
"New Promotion"
(1975)		 "Ça plane pour moi"
(1977)		 "Bambino"
(1978)

"New Promotion"
b/w
"You'll Be the One"
(1975)		 "Ça plane pour moi"
b/w
"Pogo Pogo"
(1977)		 "Bambino"
b/w
"Le Petit Tortillard"
(1978)

"Ça plane pour moi" () is a 1977 song by Plastic Bertrand.[2] The music was composed by Lou Deprijck. Yvan Lacomblez wrote the lyrics. Despite being credited to Plastic Bertrand, the vocals were actually performed by the record's producer Lou Deprijck.[3] "Jet Boy, Jet Girl", an adaptation recorded in November 1977 by Elton Motello, has the same backing track. The song was covered by many artists, though Plastic Bertrand's original recording was the most successful, reaching No. 8 on the UK charts in the summer of 1978.[4][5] While mainly regarded as a punk song,[1] "Ça plane pour moi" has also been described as parody punk[6] and as new wave.[2]

"Ça plane pour moi" is a French idiomatic expression which is best translated as "everything's going well for me" (literally: "it is gliding for me").[7]

Background

"Ça plane pour moi" was conceived as a pastiche, a caricature of the punk movement.[8][9] Lou Deprijck explained:[8]

Everything started from the text of Pipou [nickname of Yves Lacomblez] which required a very staccato singing, as did, in England, 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) and Bob Dartsch (drums), and the song was released as a B-side to "Pogo-Pogo" (another song with lyrics written by Lacomblez; both "Pogo-Pogo" and "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" had English lyrics written by Alan Ward for the Elton Motello single)[9][10] which was chosen to launch the solo career of Plastic Bertrand. Due to the success of the B-side, it was decided, when re-pressing the single, to switch both sides.[11] It took two hours to record "Ça plane pour moi" and "Pogo-Pogo".[8][9]

Composition

"Ça plane pour moi" is a three-chord rocker[8][12] which features nonsensical French lyrics and occasionally some English words.[12] Steve Huey from AllMusic describes the song melody as a "four-note hook which sounds like something straight out of an early Beach Boys or Four Seasons song" that Roger Jouret (Plastic Bertrand) sings in a "dead-on falsetto".[12] This melody is created by "mildly distorted guitars, plus a steadily pumping rhythm section and an old-time rock & roll-style saxophone" which, according to him, is "hardly used for anything other than rhythmic accompaniment".[12] He also qualifies Jouret's voice as "cartoonish". His voice "stays in a monotone as he recites all the lyrics".[12]

Chart performance

Although its lyrics are sung in French, "Ça plane pour moi" became a smash hit in several European countries, peaking at No. 19 in Austria, No. 12 in Sweden, No. 11 in Bertrand's native Belgium, No. 8 in UK, No. 6 in Germany, No. 4 in Ireland, and No. 2 in Netherlands (behind Boney M.'s "Rivers of Babylon").[13] It also topped the Swiss Charts for one week[14] and the French charts for 2 consecutive weeks.[15] In Oceania, the song peaked at No. 7 in New Zealand,[16] and No. 2 in Australia in early January 1979.[17]

On the other side of the Atlantic, "Ça plane pour moi" entered the Billboard Hot 100, a feat for a French-language song because only "Dominique" by the Belgian singer The Singing Nun and "Je t'aime... moi non plus" by French and English singers Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, respectively[9] had achieved such performance in the United States before this time.[9] "Je t'aime... moi non plus" had peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard Hot 100.[18] "Ça plane pour moi" eventually reached No. 47.[19] It also peaked at No. 58 in Canada.[20]

"Ça plane pour moi" has sold over 900,000 copies around the world[21] and is regarded as a "punk-new wave-pop classic".[9][22]

Weekly charts

Chart (1977–1979) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[17] 2
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[23] 19
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[24] 11
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[25] 7
France (IFOP)[15] 1
Germany (Media Control Charts)[26] 6
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[27] 2
New Zealand (RIANZ)[16] 7
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 12
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] 1
US Billboard Hot 100[19] 47
US Cash Box[29] 57

Year-end charts

Chart (1977) Position
France (IFOP)[30] 5
Chart (1978) Position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[31] 40
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[32] 39
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[33] 27
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 20

|}

Cover versions

  • In 1984, Hermann Gunnarsson covered "Ça plane pour moi" under the title "Einn dans við mig" on his album Frískur og Fjörugur.[35]
  • In 1997, Thee Headcoatees covered "Ça plane pour moi" on their album Punk Girls.[36]
  • In 2009, French band Nouvelle Vague covered "Ça plane pour moi" on their album 3.[37]

Kim Kay version

"Ça plane pour moi"
Single by Kim Kay
from the album Hits!
Released 2000
Format CD
Recorded 2000 at Sterman & Cook Studio
Length 3:10
Label EMI
Songwriter(s)
  • Lou Deprijck
  • Yvan Lacomblez
Producer(s)
  • Phil Sterman
  • Lov Cook
Kim Kay singles chronology
"Les Vacances d'été"
(2000)		 "Ça plane pour moi"
(2000)		 "Les Sucettes"
(2000)

"Les Vacances d'été"
(2000)		 "Ça plane pour moi"
(2000)		 "Les Sucettes"
(2000)
Music video
"Ça plane pour moi" on YouTube

Another version of the song was by the Belgian singer Kim Kay. It was released in 2000 on EMI as the third single and as well as the seventh track from her second studio album Hits! (2000). The song was produced by Phil Sterman and Lov Cook.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Ça plane pour moi"3:10
2."Ça plane pour moi" (karaoke version)3:10

See also

References

  1. 1 2
    • "Celine Dion Enters War Of Words". Billboard. Vol. 107 no. 30. 29 July 1995. p. 38. ISSN 0006-2510.
    • Ferrere, Vanessa (27 July 2010). "Plastic Bertrand: le point sur la polémique". L'Express (in French). Retrieved 2 February 2014.
    • Fricke, David. "Plastic Bertrand". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
    • Jones, Sam (29 July 2010). "Plastic Bertrand admits: Ça n'était pas moi". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 November 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
    • "Plastic Bertrand, de retour sur Terre". Paris Match (in French). 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  2. 1 2
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Plastic Bertrand: lyrics". David.gibbs.co.uk. August 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Przybylski, Eddy (8 October 2006). "Les vrais musiciens de Ça plane pour moi". La Dernière Heure (in French). Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Deheneffe, Bruno (10 August 2001). "Lou Deprijck un mégatube, "Ça plane pour moi"". Le Soir (in French). Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "Plastic Bertrand – Pogo - Pogo / Ça Plane Pour Moi". Discogs. Archived from the original on 25 November 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "Ça plane pour moi par Plastic Bertrand" (in French). Radio Bodink. SABAM. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Huey, Steve. "Ca Plane Pour Moi – Song Review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  13. ↑ "Week 21 (27 mei 1978)". Dutch Top 40. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  14. 1 2
  15. 1 2
  16. 1 2
  17. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). "8 January 1979". Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  18. ↑
  19. 1 2
  20. ↑
  21. ↑
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ "Plastic Bertrand – Ça plane pour moi – Austriancharts.at" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Plastic Bertrand – Ça plane pour moi" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  25. ↑
  26. ↑
  27. ↑
  28. ↑
  29. ↑ . Cash Box magazine.
  30. ↑ "TOP – 1977" (in French). Top-france.fr. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  31. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 1978" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  32. ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1978" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  33. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1978" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 23 April 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  34. ↑ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1978" (in German). Hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  35. ↑ "Fræg á fölskum forsendum". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). 30 July 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  36. ↑ Fennessy, Kathleen C. "Punk Girls – Overview". AllMusic. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  37. ↑ "Talking Shop: Nouvelle Vague". BBC News. 7 July 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.