The Belgian singer and songwriter behind punk hit ‘Ça plane pour moi’, Lou Deprijck has died aged 77.
ADVERTISEMENTFrancis "Lou" Deprijck was admitted to a hospital in Brussels, and died on 19 September, his partner announced. The 77-year-old Belgian singer and songwriter was best known for writing the song ‘Ça plane pour moi’, released by Belgian musician and songwriter Plastic Bertrand.
“My darling, my man… I accompanied you until your last breath as you wanted… You will be my only and last love”, wrote Deprijck’s partner Vanessa Vanderkimpen on Facebook.
Deprijck was born in 1946 in Lessines, in French-speaking Belgium. He rose to become a key figure in Brussels’ music scene during the 70s and 80s.
As a member of a provocative artist scene, including ‘On a soif’ singer Grand Jojo and The Sex Life of the Belgians director Jan Bucquoy, Deprijck created his own surreal works including an underpants museum in Lessines.
His most internationally known achievement was ‘Ça plane pour moi’ in 1977. A huge hit that has been covered and used in many films, the song’s fame was almost eclipsed by the legal saga over naming rights.
This punky hit has been covered many times, notably by the American rock groups Sonic Youth and Red Hot Chili Peppers. In 2006, Coca-Cola chose it for an advertising campaign in Southeast Asia. It’s featured in pivotal scenes of The Wolf of Wall Street and Jackass 3.5.
In 2010, based on an expert report requested by a Belgian court, Lou Deprijck claimed to be himself the interpreter of the song (which he composed) and not Plastic Bertrand.
The report, underlined Mr. Deprijck , “reveals that with the endings of sentences noted on the tapes, we can only attribute the voice to a Ch'ti or a Picard”.
For his part, Plastic Bertrand, whose real name is Roger Jouret, who is now 69 years old, has always opposed this in two Brussels judgments, at first instance and on appeal in 2006, designating him as the legal interpreter of the song.
In its repertoire of works, Sacem (French society of authors, composers and music publishers) presents him as “performer” of the hit, Francis “Lou” Deprijck being the composer and Yves Lacomblez the author.
