Serge Gainsbourg: Search and Destroy

Avoid: 'Rock Around The Bunker'. Mel Brooks did it better in 'The Producers'.

Destroy - nothing I've heard is bad, but I've been told that the later stuff is a bit ropey.

destroy: oh, there's some stuff to destroy alright. but the names are all in french and thus i'm at a loss to recall them. i could sing them if you like.

As for the rest, search everything. Honestly. I have managed to get nearly everything and it's mostly wonderful, from the jazz tinged early stuff to the straight out pop! of his collaboration with Bridgette Bardot.

Love on the Beat has naughty lyrics, but then so does a lot of Serge. In terms of music, though, it struck me as particularly weak.

I'm with Nicole, pretty much destroy later stuff which I couldn't be bothered with. Search anything with a chick singer from the 60s. That's awesome stuff.

Destroy:

1. 'Lemon Incest' - many condemn it for its controversial lyrics; I condemn it for its terrifyingly awful '80s production.

2. 'Love on the Beat' - did someone actually praise this? Jesus, it's awful, a musical abortion, again over sickening '80s production. The person who keeps yelping "oww!" like they're being pimp-slapped does not improve things.

3. 'Aux Armes Et Cetera' - again, controversial for the wrong reasons. This is Serge mumbling the lyrics of the French national anthem to a reggae accompaniment. Its opponents see it as an insult to French national honour. And I'm not surprised, the reggae accompaniment is embarrassingly bad.

4. I'm beginnging to think Serge's "What I said is 'I want to fuck you'" comment to Whitney Houston is not actually big and clever and in fact typifies the talentless, bloated boor he became in later life.

Whattaguy!! :)

So what about that "Gainsbourg & Birkin" album? Worth checking out? I downloaded '69 Annee Erotique'...liked what I heard.

if you're looking to delve deeper into Gainsbourg's history, pick up the "Gainsbourg Percussions" CD/LP. a great album of what's generally referred to as "exotica", ie. jungle drums, chants, and world music style rhythms... some of his best songs. the entire album save for one track is on Mercury US's "Couleur Cafe" compilation, wheich is to his exotica/latin phase as "Comic Strip" is to his pop phase. there's also "Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin" which is the bop-style jazz compilation. the 3 Mercury comps are all incredibly solid and well put together, and do serve as great introductions to the various phases in his career. unfortunately, they didn't do a reggae one. "Aux Armes De Atcetera" is the best of his reggae period. also worth mentioning id the "I Love Serge: Electronicagainsbourg" Comp that was just recently released by Mercury France... french and UK dance/electronic acts remix some of Serge's best songs, and it's actually pretty solid... the versions of the 80's songs hold up a lot better than the originals, and the mixes of the "classic" songs hold up well also. it may not be immediately satisfying, but it's enjoyable even for someone who's not familiar w/ his entire catalogue. sorry for such a long post, but as i said, he's one of my favorites, and i thought i'd pay my respects. happy hunting!

Histoire de Melody Nelson has a twin: "L'homme à tête de choux". alo very good but can not be compared to the master piece "Histoire de Melody Nelson".

he made jazz in the beginning: if you are interested listen one of this two very good albums "du jazz dans le ravin" or "Gainsbourg confidentiel"

pop music: he made a pop album around 66 "Initial BB" dedicated to Brigitte Bardot. 2 or 3 incredible songs, the rest is not that interesting.

african music: "Gainsbourg Percussions" is without any doubt one of his best albums, as original as melody nelson, he made there african songs with a lot of rythm and chors;

reggae: "Aux Armes" was made with the wailers (1981). They said after that it was the best reggae album they ever made. I agree with them. listen Lola Rastaquouère.

He made a lot of different things I did not mention. But I believe these are the most interesting albums he made.

I have a request for you please. I am looking for anything that has been written about Histoire de Melody Nelson. If you have anything, can you please contact me?

I must disagree, Rock Around The Bunker is a very enjoyable record.

It's not quite so provocative if like me you can't understand the lyrics.

This is a Gainsbourg thread, right?

Search: his soundtrack from the '70 flick Cannabis. Theme is classic dinosaur rock.

dig those funky riffs though. And those girl backing vocals.

"Aux Armes Et Cetera", "Melody Nelson" are also absolutely genius.

i was just in france and i saw a couple of new double cds of his reggae stuff. i didn't know what they were so i didn't buy them. instead i bought the single disc Aux Armes and am thoroughly unimpressed. maybe the dub stuff would have been cooler? unless it's recent dubs. could maybe suck.

Johnny Halliday is actually Belgian.

they sound pretty good!
it's a live album and it's
titled 'arabesque'

Saw this in the shop today so worth checking out then?

About the dubs, I think they're old dubs. Someone I know (and into dub) said they were really good. There's also some DJ-mixes on it (patchy, was the word). I'm thinking of buying the vinyl dubversion, although the 20-page cd booklet is supposed to be great.

Why annoying?

My next question is, why in Hell haven't I been listening to this guy for the last twenty years?

Certainly check out the soundtracks he did in the late 60s/70s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlLcYVMKsfc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK_e26KurKY

And if you haven't heard the Melody Nelson album before, go start there.

Isn't the cheap 4 cd box set of his soundtracks available outside France?

I have a 3CD boxset "Le Cinema de Serge Gainsbourg" - is that the same one? Seems to be available in the UK anyway:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cinema-Serge-Gain-Gainsbourg/dp/B00005YX6Z/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1298824207&sr=8-3

yup

RIP. Twenty years ago, today.

I visited his grave last summer & it was hilariously covered with odd things: cigarette packs, condoms, lots of pictures of women, in addition to the usual Metro tickets with strange inscribed verses.

Is his house still covered in graffiti?

the original "je t'aime" with bb is just phenomenal. so weird and dreamlike. a lot of that atmosphere doesn't carry over to the jane birkin version imo

So true, the BB version is miles better, it's like the whole song is unfolding in slow motion, I don't know how to describe it. I prefer BB's singing to Jane Birkin's too.

xpost

It was in late December.

Just saw the 'fairytale' biopic, which was OK, given that I'm not a worshipper. US release forthcoming.

of the movie, and Charlotte:

http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/gainsbourgs

http://media.spincds.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/265x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/m/e/melody2cddvd.jpg

Two CDs and a DVD. Also, an LP set and a pricey Deluxe edition "with book"

More than that, I don't know. Except that it's due in November.

http://lucyintheweb.net/lucy/forum/images/uploads/Filou/melodynelson_deluxe_lucy_315.jpg

Oooh. I wonder what's on it.

Only info I can find (http://www.charmandising.com/francais-melody-nelson-coffret-super-deluxe-histoire-de-melody-nelson-serge-gainsbourg-p-6629.html) suggests it's alternate takes rather than new tracks.

http://www.charmandising.com/images/_PRODUCT/GAI1115_vinyle-melody-nelson-serge_gainsbourg_900.jpg

was there ever a thread about the 2010 biopic? what did you guys make of it?

Started watching it once but couldn't get into it. Maybe time to give it another try. Click through a link or two upthread to read Morbius review.

guy who played gainsbourg was pretty ok, but it had a lot of pretty dumb stuff in it.

thanks guys.

I thought the movie was a bit puzzling and sloppy at first, but it's grown on me quite a lot.

I went in expecting to like it, and ended up deciding it was pretty bad.

The thing that put me off was a sense of Magic Realism Done Gone Wrong.

^otm

huh so I guess I found one of those Melody Nelson vinyl reissues yesterday. pretty good!

Meoldy Nelson is such a perfect album

nicely timed revive, just today pre-ordered this compilation

been rocking this collab w Vannier all week, monster breakbeat in the middle and those chords at the end are v late Stereolab

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYh6mLNlC40

prior to this I think the only actual Gainsbourg track I'd heard was Bardot's "Contact". And I'd heard a bunch of people cover that Bonnie and Clyde song.

been super in to the reggae albums lately. they're so good.

some awesome banjo on la horse if i remember correctly. the cannabis soundtrack is amazingly good, too.

^also vannier arranged

The Gainsbourg cinema comp is so so good, possibly the most essential after Melody Nelson.

Though as gr8080 points out the (two? iirc) reggae albums are also essential.

Like I feel even Gainsbourg himself didn't recognise his best material.

Sly and Robbie on both of those?

yep.

there's a live album from 1980 that's great too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIcjem3knzU

I believe there is awesome version of "Harley Davidson" on that one.

Shakey you NEED L'Homme à tête de chou!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DEstQqgglk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPOYtC1n5bE

it's a reet album is that, notwithstanding excellent contribution from rabid neo-nazi with lingering stench of cat piss. Torrey Canyon is great as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnRIxW3uOj0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd-guev0FkE

new version of "Le Cinéma de Serge Gainsbourg" pretty essential.

His house is open for visitors + a museum across the road. https://www.maisongainsbourg.fr/en

Saw that elsewhere

Wonder if you’re allowed to smoke in there

You're not allowed not to smoke in there.

Lol