That's alright by... anybody?

In what has been an intriguing week for the music world, Roger Jouret, better known as Plastic Bertrand, strenuously denied the allegations levelled against him in a Belgian court battle, then a day later admitted to them. The allegations? That his is not the voice on the first four albums released under his pseudonym's name, but rather record producer Lou Deprijck is the singer.

Will the original Milli Vanilli please jump about and mime?

This may come as a shock to some, but I recall reading rumours about PB's lack of vocal involvement with the song years ago. And don't forget - as a member of Hubble Bubble, Jouret's first band, he was the drummer, not the singer.

And, of course, "Ca Plane Pour Moi" (translated in various ways, but "That's alright by me" is the one that appeals to me - other perhaps than for PB's one-time assertion on the John Peel Show that it actually meant "I like it when I'm high"), is not even the original song.

The real thing: Elton Motello's "Jet Boy Jet Girl" - I'm gonna make you penetrate...

No, that honour belongs to Elton Motello. Rather than being bitter about the relative obscurity of the band's version, Alan Ward (who also used the "Elton Motello" moniker for himself, as well as the band), famously said,

We have all been ripped off at some point in our lives, but judging by the emails I receive, my lyric has touched many more people and seems to ring a chord in many more hearts than the French one will ever do. That's why I wrote it. If I was meant to be rich it would have happened. But I am rich in the knowledge that my thoughts will never disappear.

I wonder how Roger Jouret feels now, safe in the knowledge that the world knows of the 33-year deception surrounding his claim to fame.