Plastic Bertrand’s first hit, “Ca Plane Pour Moi,” is regarded in some circles as a new wave classic; this might explain why there are so many bloody covers of it. I count at least eight different versions out there so far.

The original chugs along nicely, with a saxophone adding a bit of spice to an otherwise straightforward upbeat rock song. Loosely translated, the title reads “This Life’s For Me.” Loosely translated, the song’s lyrics turn out, apparently, to be nonsense. Not that most people without a decent background in French will know or care—the main attraction is the loopy woo-ooo-ooo-ooh! in the chorus, a refrain you’ll probably repeat in your head for days.

Freedom Of Choice was a pro-choice charity effort whose musical modus operandi was to get alternative bands of the moment to play new wave hits of the 70s and 80s. Among the artists involved: Yo La Tengo, Mudhoney, Superchunk and Sonic Youth (A personal favourite of mine is the Polvo track, a cover of “Mexican Radio”).

Apparently this version of the song has new nonsense lyrics; I can’t tell because my French is abysmal. As you would expect from Sonic Youth, this version is a lot noisier and—dare I say it?—grungier than the original. The extra grit does wonders for the song. Extra points for the vigorous falsettos during the chorus.

Connect the dots time: Holly Golightly (not to be confused with Canadian band Holly Go Lightly) was last seen putting out her latest album, Truly She Is None Other, but just before that she got a fair amount of press riding on the coattails of the White Stripes, on which she sang “It’s True That We Love One Another” with Jack and Meg White. Her solo outings have traced a similar path to the Stripes, with more emphasis on the country and blues aspects versus the all-out lo-fi rock.

Before that, though, Holly Golightly was a member of Thee Headcoatees. This description may not give the band enough credit, but essentially Thee Headcoatees were a lo-fi garage-rock girl group, with all the Svengali associations inherent in the term “girl group.” The puppetmaster here was one Billy Childish, who along with his own band Thee Headcoats, formed a sort of garage-rock empire in the early and mid-90s. I don’t know how seriously he took his music, but much of it is pretty light fare in the sense that it seems to have one purpose—to overwhelm you with distortion and guitars. It’s simple, it’s brash, and it’s oddly endearing.

This particular rendition of “Ca Plane Pour Moi” is a perfect example of what Thee Headcoatees are all about—the sass and energy of a 60s girl group fused with the snarl of 70s Ramones-style punk. The Headcoatees manage to make the track sound as if it was always a raw garage-rock classic—no small feat.