Martin deschamps has long nursed an ambition to restore Quebec rock to its former glory and, for at least one night last month, he succeeded in resurrecting an era when driving guitars ruled Montreal.

Deschamps is a smoky-voiced rocker who has refused to let severe physical handicaps stop him becoming a major Quebec star with three best-selling albums since 2000.

But in April it was by fronting an iconic band from the 1970s that he helped to recreate a piece of Quebec music history.

Deschamps, perched as usual on a pair of crutches, sang with the revered Quebec band Offenbach as part of a five-hour, ’70s rock extravaganza that also featured April Wine and Michel Pagliaro.

The show marked the 25th anniversary of a famous evening when Offenbach became the first Québécois act to headline the old Montreal Forum.

“Offenbach’s blues-rock came across as a sacrament, a bold, loose-limbed swagger dripping with a monumental church-revival feeling,” Montreal Gazette critic Juan Rodriguez described last month’s show.

It would be hard to overestimate the importance of Offenbach and its former lead singer Gerry Boulet to a generation of francophones, who came of age to crunching guitar licks in the bars and René Lévesque on the evening news.

Offenbach was the widely popular group that brought an emerging blues-rock sound from the U.S. and translate it into joual, or slang French.

Boulet’s death in 1990 of cancer ignited a blaze of public mourning that still smolders today. Since his death, Boulet has officially become Quebec’s most popular recording artist. His 1988 album, Rendez-Vous Doux, has sold 400,000 copies, making it the best-selling Quebec album to date.

Deschamps first joined to tour with Boulet’s
band mates in the late ’90s and it’s fitting that he has now returned to release a retrospective album of Offenbach hits.

Not only does Deschamps share Boulet’s bluesy, deep-throated delivery, but he also subscribes to a belief that the band’s 1970s heyday marked the golden age of rock.

He’s not alone. The rock ’n’ roll flame burns brightly in Quebec where francophones have maintained a striking — some might say peculiar — devotion to ’70s art rock acts such as Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and Deep Purple.

“I admire people who lived at that time,” Deschamps once told an interviewer. “I wish I’d lived at that time. I say it in my songs — ‘I’m here to save rock ’n’ roll.’ ”

In fact, in the 1970s, Deschamps was a child learning to confront life with his handicaps. He was born with only one leg and two deformed arms. After his birth, doctors didn’t think he would survive.

Deschamps, 34, says he’s never let his handicaps stop him from pursuing his rock ’n’ roll dreams. It’s a claim that’s not hard to believe given his sunny personality.

“For sure, when you’re a handicapped person, you have to overcome bigger obstacles but you develop other things,” he told an interviewer last year. “You develop guts and heart because you have to face adversity more often than people who are lucky enough to have all their limbs.”

“I’ve made some good music since the beginning of my career, but managing to change the way people look at me will always be my greatest hit.”

Deschamps’ success has made him a model of achievement for many handicapped Quebecers and he hasn’t shied away from the role. He’s given generously to Montreal’s French-speaking children’s hospital and served as a spokesman for Quebec handicapped persons’ week.

It’s doubtful whether Deschamps can recreate the glory days of Quebec rock when youthful exuberance danced with new-found nationalism in front of a stack of Marshall amplifiers. But he and his fans are having a heck of good time trying. IE