"Jet Boy, Jet Girl" is a 1977 song by

Elton Motello Elton Motello were an English punk rock and new wave band. Elton Motello is both the moniker of Alan Ward, the lead singer and songwriter, and the name of the band itself.Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Elton Motello", in ''The Great Indie Discograph ...

about a 15-year-old boy's sexual relationship with an older man, who then rejects him for a girl.

Background

Alan Ward had toured Belgium with Bastard. Through his connections there, he had his new moniker, Elton Motello, debut on the Belgian label Pinball with the single "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" in 1977. The song was backed by

session musicians A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...

Larkin, Colin (1992) ''The Guinness Who's Who of Indie and New Wave Music'', Guinness Publishing, p. 190, Mike Butcher (guitar), John Valcke (bass), and Bob Dartsch (drums), instead of Elton Motello's regular musicians. That exact same backing track was simultaneously used by Belgian artist

Plastic Bertrand Roger François Jouret (born 24 February 1954), better known as Plastic Bertrand, is a Belgium, Belgian musician, songwriter, producer, editor and television presenter, best known for the 1977 international hit single "". Biography Early life ...

on his internationally successful hit single "

Ça plane pour moi "Ça plane pour moi" () is a 1977 song by Belgian musician Plastic Bertrand. The music is also used in the 1977 song "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" by Elton Motello. The song has been covered by many artists, though the original recording was the most suc ...

". Since then, "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" has sometimes been wrongly thought to be a cover of "Ça plane pour moi", with new lyrics over the same backing track, but the truth is that the two songs were simultaneous adaptations of the same backing track.La véritable histoire de Ca Plane Pour Moi (in French)
/ref> While Bertrand's single was an international hit, Motello's single in English made little impact, except in Australia, where it was released on the

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

label and hit #33 on the National Top Forty (and regionally in Melbourne at #11 and in Sydney, at #10). Also in Australia, "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" has appeared in a television commercial featuring the chorus and not the sexual lyrics.

Composition

"Jet Boy, Jet Girl" has the same backing track as

/ Lou Deprijck's "

". A few months before the vocals for "Ça plane pour moi" were recorded, the record firm used the same backing track with the same musicians to release "Jet Boy, Jet Girl". Alan Ward recorded his song in English.

United States censorship

In 1989, the American

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...

(FCC), acting on a complaint from activist Jack Thompson, fined radio station

WIOD WIOD (610 AM) is a commercial radio station in Miami, serving South Florida. It airs a talk radio format and is owned by iHeartMedia, The studios are on SW 145th Avenue in Pembroke Pines. WIOD's transmitter site is on Krome Avenue in Wes ...

$10,000 for allowing talk host Neil Rogers to play the song. Thompson considered the song obscene, and the FCC agreed with him.

Charts

Personnel

;Elton Motello * Alan Ward – vocals * Jet Staxx/Mike Butcher – guitar * John Valke – bass * Bob Dartch – drums

Cover versions

The song has been covered by numerous bands and artists, including The Damned,

FIDLAR Fidlar, stylized as FIDLAR, is an American punk and garage rock band from Los Angeles. The band's name is an acronym for Fuck It Dawg, Life's a Risk, a skate mantra stolen from singer Zac Carper's former roommates. Originally, FIDLAR went unde ...

Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded the punk rock band the Damned in 1976, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. He is kn ...

& the Softies,

Chron Gen Chron Gen (short for Chronic Generation) are a British punk band, formed in January 1978 in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England.Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'', MOJO Books, , p. 115-6Glasper, Ian (2004) ''Burning Brita ...

, the Bamboo Kids, the pUKEs, Manic Hispanic, Spencer P. Jones and

Crocodiles Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant member ...

. The New York City punk rock band The Breaking Sounds cover the song as well with the lyrics being sung in both Finnish and English. The original version received renewed attention when it was included on

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

' 2007 compilation CD '' A Date with John Waters''. Canadian recording artist and drag queen Mina Mercury also recorded the song in 2019. In 2024, the song was included in the sound track for the Cary Grant documentary “Archie” (backgrounding the 14 year old Grant’s arrival in New York City with a vaudeville troupe).

References

{{authority control 1977 songs 1977 debut singles LGBTQ-related songs EMI Records singles Captain Sensible songs