Elton Motello

From: NewNowNext

Elton Motello was a British Punk Rock band founded by Alan Ward in the mid 70s.

Alan had connections in Belgium and there he recorded the backing track for “Jet Boy, Jet Girl,” using session musicians. The band then recorded the vocals over the backing track and released the single, which was revolutionary then, in 1977. It’s about a 15-year-old boy’s sexual relationship with an older man, who then rejects him for a girl. The song uses the boy’s pov: he is a wild thing, think Mickey in the first couple of seasons of Shameless. Their meeting: “We made it on a ballroom blitz, I took his arm and kissed his lips. He looked at me with such a smile my face turned red, we booked a room into the Ritz.” and then he triumphantly proclaims: “He gives me head”.

He then elaborates: “And though I’m only just fifteen, I like to kick, I like to scream and even if I have a kick or two in bed, when I’m with him it’s just a dream.” However: “The other day, what a surprise, I saw him with some other guys. God he was dressed up with a girl around his neck, I could have cried with both my eyes.”

He then projects himself in the future: “And if or when I make it through, or if my brain is stuck on glue and when the world tries to forget all that I’ve said, I’ll still remember you.”

The single was a minor hit in Australia, because a “harmless” part of the chorus was used on a TV ad. It didn’t do much anywhere else.

It seems that it’s shock value hasn’t lessened with time. In 1989, the American FCC fined a radio station $10,000 for playing the song. You, however, get to hear it.

The same backing track was used, with different lyrics, for the song Ça Plane Pour Moi. It is credited to Belgian Plastic Bertrand, although the record’s producer claims that he himself performed the vocals. This version became a big hit all over the world, hitting #1 in France and Switzerland, #2 in Australia and the Netherlands, #4 in Ireland, #6 in Germany, #7 in Belgium and #8 in the UK. It even made #47 in the US Hot 100.