"DUDE." SAID U ROY, "CHALICE."

Well, you gotta give him credit. When Serge Gainsbourg decided to make a reggae LP, he went to Jamaica. So, with the exception of his vocals, the music is pretty straight forward reggae. It had better be, the rhythm section is Sly and Robbie, the backing vocals are the I-Threes, Mikey Chung on guitar, Ansel Collins on organ, "Sticky" Thompson on percussion, and Robbie Lyn on guitar. All seasoned reggae studio musicians. (If you don't recognize any of the names, for gods sake get with the program.). Anyway, this shit is interesting, not vital but interesting.

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Listen:
Serge Gainsbourg - Daisy Temple mp3 at Internet Archive
Serge Gainsbourg - Vieille canaille (You Rascal You) mp3 at Internet Archive
Serge Gainsbourg - Relax Baby Be Cool mp3 at Internet Archive
Serge Gainsbourg - Marilou Reggae Dub mp3 at Internet Archive

DOWN WITH COMBS

Serge Gainsbourg did this one, from a soundtrack to some foreign flick called "La Horse", supposedly really rare at one time. It's like some sort of twisted cousin of a Morricone soundtrack. It almost sounds like a few songs edited together, it's got so many things popping in an out. The drum break in the middle is pretty baddass. This is what he sounds like with his mouth shut.

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Listen:
Serge Gainsbourg with Jean Claude Vannier - Theme from La Horse mp3 at Now Again Records

LE COOT IN DUB

I don't know if it's still the case, but in years past Serge Gainsbourg has been pretty much hipster bait. His my shit don't stink attitude, personal style, and, oh yeah, his music, made him perfect for other generations to emulate and name drop. You know the type. They have a couple records of his laying around to appear cool. While some of his music is worthy, no question about that, his dabbling in reggae was pretty weak. That said, the dub versions are kind of a hoot. His vocals just pop in here and there to remind you that you are listening to the guy who told Whitney Houston that he wanted to fuck her on a French TV show. What a nut!

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Listen:
Serge Gainsbourg - Javanaise Dub mp3 at Mp3 Juno (?)
Serge Gainsbourg - Dub Locataires mp3 at Mp3 Juno (?)
Serge Gainsbourg - Three more dub cuts (streaming via Box.net) at Sibling Shot On the Bleachers

GET YOUR YÉ-YÉ OUT

Mel Torme is to blame. The Velvet Fog. He always seemed like some old crooner that was on every telethon ever. I never knew what all the fuss was about. Then, I heard "Comin' Home Baby", Dude did have cool in him. Who knew? That particular song is so smooth that it sounds like a parody. So, I run into Sylvie Vartan's cover of it, in French, and I'm going fully Gomez. I ended up on the Wiki page for yé-yé, and read about the ye-ye girls thing ("The singers were also sexy in a deliberately naïve way.") That lead to France Gall and her song "Les sucettes" ("Lollipops"), written by bird dog Serge Gainsbourg. She was eighteen at the time and had already been a successful singer for a couple years. The lyrics to the song were pure Gainsbourg, "Annie loves lollipops, aniseed lollipops, when the sweet liquid runs down Annie's throat, she is in paradise." If that's not suggestive enough, witness the lollipops in the video, there's no mistaking. It's dancing dildos.

It turns out that Gall also recorded "Laisse tomber les filles" a year or two before Gainsbourg got a hold of her. You might know it from the April March cover, rettitled "Chick Habit".

.

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Listen:
Mel Torme - Comin' Home Baby mp3 at A Gr8 Song
Sylvie Vartan - Ne t'en vas pas (Comin' home baby) mp3 at Discos y Mostrous
France Gall - Laisse tomber les filles mp3 at Damnish (?)
April March - Chick Habit mp3 at 10 Things I Hate About You
Video:
France Gall - Les sucettes at YouTube
Visit
Yé-yé entry at Wikipedia

CROWD THINNING SPECIAL

Two peas in a pod, aren't they? In some weird way, they are alike. Maybe because they're both, in their own way, repelling to some people. You know, the ones you don't want around anyway.  Here's a video I ran into at Aquarium Drunkard. It's the two of these guys together, for eight minutes, doing "Constipation Blues". There is singing in there, but there's a whole lot more weirdness. Gainsbourg seems totally unfazed by the grunting and carrying on of Hawkins, not because he's Joe Cool, it's more like some secret society of nut cases.

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Listen:
Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Alligator Wine mp3 at Api.ning.com
Serge Gainsbourg - Couleur Cafe mp3 at Sadko-Martin

HIPSTER MEAT, BUT I LIKE IT TOO

Say what you will. Go ahead, get it out of the way. (Blabbady blah blah blah.) As I was about to say, I rarely listen to Serge Gainsbourg, and have a general impression of him as a total asshole. But, you know what? He did a lot interesting stuff, a lot, without ever kicking rock 'n' roll ass. Dude barely raised his voice. Which might normally be terms for exclusion here. He did have relationships with beautiful women. Some might consider that bonus points. The real reason why, asshole or not, I marvel at the dude's whole schtick? He made records with Jane Birkin and Brigitte Bardot...and Nico..and Rita Marley. Landslide. He's in.

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Listen:
Serge Gainsbourg - Couleur Cafe mp3 at Sadko-Martin
Serge Gainsbourg - Baudelaire mp3 at Fleurs du mal
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin - Je t'aime Moi Non Plus mp3 at Flash Mob Maker
Serge Gainsborg and Nico - Strip Tease mp3 at 8106
Serge Gainsbourg - Comic Strip mp3 at Pretty Goes With Pretty
Serge Gainsbourg - Laissez-Moi Tranquille mp3 at Selfstarterfoundation
Serge Gainsbourg - Elisa .mp3 at Georges-Alain Jones
Serge Gainsbourg - Ford Mustang mp3 at Carmenvera
Serge Gainsbourg et Brigitte Bardot - Bonnie and Clyde mp3 at Stop Okay Go
Oddball:
Scarlett Johansson and Lulu Gainsbourg – Bonnie & Clyde mp3 at Done Waiting
Video:
Serge Gainsbourg, Le Poinçonneur des Lilas (1959) at YouTube
Serge Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin - Histoire De Melody Nelson at YouTube 27 minutes
Serge Gainsboug with Brigitte Bardot - Comic Strip at YouTube
Visit:
Serge Gainsbourg at Wikipedia

L.L.COOL S

Compared to Serge Gainsbourg fans, the French, or even your average hipster, I know very little about Serge Gainsbourg, and I like it that way. He's always been just an often referenced acclaimed musician. A once controversial, disheveled guy, who didn't give a shit, was big in France, and knew how to charm the ladies. (Which of course, makes him a perfect candidate for a post.) And one thing that can be said about the French, when they do unremarkable looking and off color, they do it right. Dude had style. When it comes to male swagger, the French got Gainsbourg, and we get Charlie Sheen burning bowling shirts. America has yet to find a way to mix Bernard Herrmann and Johnny Thunders.

Here's a few, the first four from soundtracks, which were the impetus for my buckling. A couple of them kinda remind me of Ennio Morricone, but that might just be the soundtrack thing.

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Listen:
Serge Gainsbourg - Requiem Por Un Con (from Le Pacha soundtrack) mp3 at Now Again Records
Serge Gainsbourg - New Delire (from Manon 70 soundtrack) mp3 at Now Again Records
Serge Gainsbourg - Danger (from Cannabis soundtrack) mp3 at Now Again Records
Serge Gainsbourg - Theme From La Horse mp3 at Now Again Records
Serge Gainsbourg - Javanaise mp3 at Zdanz
Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birken - Je Taime...Moi Non Plus mp3 at Avenge the Virgins
Serge Gainsborg & Nico - Strip Tease mp3 at 8106
Serge Gainsbourg & Françoise Hardy - L'amour en Privé mp3 at Art Decade
Serge Gainsbourg - Marilou Reggae mp3 at Clumsy & Shy
Video:
Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot - Bonnie & Clyde at YouTube
Serge Gainsbourg - Initials B.B. (and documentary footage) at YouTube
Serge Gainsbourg meets Whitney Houston (not his best moment) at YouTube
Visit:
The Secret Life of Serge Gainsbourg at Vanity Fair
Serge Gainsbourg - A Requiem at Now Again Records
Serge Gainsbourg - The Obscurity of Fame at WFMU.org
SergeGainsbourg.com

HOWDY FROM THE JUNK DRAWER

Every once in a while I get backed up with different oddities that don't necessarily merit their own post (but of course, the Impossibles' "Mr. Slow" sure did). They might be of interest to some of you, and they may never pop up again, so there you go, reason enough to put them up anyway. The first is "Strip-Tease" by Nico, with former man about town, Serge Gainsbourg. That one may be known by some of you more well heeled Nico or Gainsbourg fiends, but it was new to me. The other is by Turbogeist, your standard newish owe-a-debt-to-punk type band. It's of interest for two reasons. One is that the singer/guitarist is Mick Jagger's son, and the second reason is, while it isn't earth shattering by any means, it's better than anything the Stones have done in recent years.

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Nico and Serge Gainsbourg - Strip-Tease mp3 at 8106
Serge Gainsbourg works his magic (video) at YouTube (I had to throw that in)
Turbogeist - Alien Girl mp3 at Coast Is Clear
Coast Is Clear's massive post of misc bands (If you want more new music, there's a few hundred.)