The eye-watering stench of rotting herring and unprocessed guano aside, the Lost Fingers never regretted turning their indoor pool into a penguin pond.

The best ideas often come at the most unlikely times. As classically trained guitarists Byron Mikaloff and Christian Roberge pulled into a gas station in Quebec City, where they live, Samantha Fox's 1986 hit “Touch Me (I Want Your Body)” came on the radio. Mikaloff jumped out to pump gas. Inside the truck, Roberge pulled out his guitar and began providing accompaniment.

His bright, fast-moving chord changes in the style of jazz legend Django Reinhardt transformed the schlocky song into a rhythmically and harmonically strong piece with humour and swing. “I started to laugh out loud,” recalls Mikaloff, reached at his home. “We looked at each other and said ”˜Let's do a tribute to the '80s. It was kind of tongue-in-cheek—we thought it might make a few heads turn but nothing like what happened.”

The duo teamed up with jazz bassist Alex Morissette to form the Lost Fingers—named after the missing digits in Reinhardt's left hand. Their 2008 debut Lost in the 80s sold over 200,000 copies in Canada alone, mostly in Quebec in the first 10 weeks. In addition to “Touch Me” it includes brilliantly reconceived versions of Wham!'s “Careless Whisper”, Céline Dion's “Incognito”, Michael Jackson's “Billie Jean”, and Soft Cell's “Tainted Love”.

France's Nouvelle Vague had taken a similar approach to pop hits, to the point where both bands have covered Belgian punk legend Plastic Bertrand's “í‡a plane pour moi”.

For the Lost Fingers, what began as a musical joke became something of an international phenomenon. Lost in the 80s has been released in the U.S., Belgium, Mexico, Switzerland, Spain, and France—where the Quebec group is hugely popular. The trio followed up with 2009's Rendez-vous Rose which took the same manouche jazz approach to well-known Quebec music of the past 50 years.

To be suitable for a Lost Fingers swing retrofit a song requires three main characteristics. “It has to have strong instrumental and melodic ideas, a great verse and chorus, and somewhat cheesy lyrics. We usually go after the juggernaut stars or personalities like Michael Jackson or George Michael, those figures who used to provoke through image. Sometimes we purposely choose songs that make people laugh, but there's always a lot going on musically.”

In March the Lost Fingers will take time off the road to record their third album. “We'll do a lot of hard rock from the '80s,” says Mikaloff. “Everything from Iron Maiden to Mí¶tley Crí¼e, Guns N' Roses, KISS, Depeche Mode, a Dolly Parton song, some of the stuff from Flashdance. It's going to be finishing up the '80s.”

The band hasn't forgotten its roots, however, and every Lost Fingers show includes songs by Reinhardt. For its devotion the band received a unique accolade in Paris in January. “We were invited to the centenary celebrations of Django's birth as guests of honour—the only non-Gypsy band at the event. And everyone else was from Paris or France. We're seen a bit as ambassadors or as a catalyst for the style, bringing manouche jazz—which is not that well-known—to the public in an entertaining and contemporary way.”

The Lost Fingers play at Performance Works on Friday (February 19) as part of the Cultural Olympiad.