As is so often the way, it wasn’t until he had gone that everyone realised what a mark he had made. During the 2000s, Jacno had slunk into a more secretive style, and his final album, Tant de temps, was released almost anonymously in 2006.

Amoureux solitaires Etienne Daho / The Subs "Jacno Future" (Polydor) 2011 Listen

It was when he died three years later, in November 2009, that the impact he made on generations of musicians finally hit home. Jacno, avant-garde punk rocker with the rough but vital Stinky Toys, inventor of French electro-pop with his album Rectangle, and successful producer (e.g. Lio, Daho, Higelin) was above all a role model.

He was a dandy, a dilettante aesthete in the old style from a time when artists had none of the worries of boosting their viral marketing and updating their Facebook page. Although his personality smacks of another era, today his hits, and his distinctive style in particular, are the focus of fresh attention.

After the re-releases of two Stinky Toys albums at the cusp of 2010 and 2011 came a re-release of Elli & Jacno’s first album, Tout va sauter with its hit track Main dans la main, which marked a crucial moment in French music and inspired a wave of pop couples (Niagara, Rita Mitsouko, Kas Produkt, Luna Parker, etc.).

Then came the second album and especially the long-awaited re-release of the 1979 mini album Rectangle, which harbours a little gem of the same name and marked the unconscious mind of all those generations who tried to match a synthesizer with a guitar.

Jacno Future

On 30 June, a grand concert at La Villette will gather the main contributors to the recent tribute album, Jacno Future, which cocks a posthumous snook at the man who always shirked away from donning the punk label.

Read the biography The discography

The tribute reunites the Jacno "family": Etienne Daho, leader of the clan, who with Elli and Jacno’s daughter, Calypso Valois, sings a sort of electro dance to Amoureux Solitaire. Jacques Higelin, whose album Tombé du ciel was produced by Jacno, tackles Mauvaise Humeur, and Arthur H lends his voice to Rectangle. Thomas Dutronc (who played guitar on the pop dandy’s final album) interprets Je ne suis pas toujours de mon avis.

There are regrettable absences, like Dani and Alain Chamfort, but thankfully Christophe is there with his superb take on Je viens d’ailleurs. Brigitte Fontaine, Miossec and other Jacno enthusiasts make their contributions. Home, a post-conjugal duet by Benjamin Biolay and Chiara Mastroianni, runs into D’une rive à l’autre, with Dominique A singing his version of Je t’aime tant (of which Indochine did a version on their latest album).

Katerine’s cover of Rectangle is not one of the highlights (too much screeching gets in the way of the instrumentals), but there is a satisfying look back to another era, taking in electro (Château Marmont, Stereo Total), rock (Coming Soon) and pop (Alex Beaupain, Alexandre Chatelard). The tribute highlights the intensity of tunes that once formed the essence of French pop and still sound crisp despite the years.

Compilation Jacno future (Polydor) 2011
Concert Jacno future at the Cité de Musique in Paris on 30 June 2011

Further reading: Jacno l'amoureux solitaire, a tribute book by Pierre Mikailoff, Stephane Loisy and Jean-Eric Perrin (Editions Carpentier) has just been published.

Translation by Anne-Marie Harper