Serge Gainsbourg

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Serge Gainsbourg
Gainsbourg in 1981
Born	Lucien Ginsburg (1928-04-02)2 April 1928 Paris, French Third Republic
Died	2 March 1991(1991-03-02) (aged 62) Paris, France
Other names	Julien Grix Gainsbarre
Occupation	Music artist songwriter pianist poet painter screenwriter writer actor director
Years active	1957–1991
Spouse(s)	Elisabeth "Lize" Levitsky ​ ​ (m. 1951; div. 1957)​ Béatrice Pancrazzi ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1966)​
Partner(s)	Jane Birkin (c. 1968; sep. 1980) Caroline Paulus (c. 1980)
Children	4, including Charlotte
Musical career
Genres	French pop[1] rock[2] jazz[3]
Instruments	Vocals piano guitar
Labels	Philips Mercury (Universal Music Group)
Associated acts	Brigitte Bardot Charlotte Gainsbourg France Gall Alain Goraguer
Musical artist
Website	Official website from Universalmusic

Serge Gainsbourg (French: [sɛʁʒ ɡɛ̃zbuʁ] (listen); born Lucien Ginsburg;^[4] 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991)^[1] was a French musician, singer-songwriter, author, filmmaker and actor.^[5] Regarded as the most important figure in French pop whilst alive, he was renowned for often provocative and scandalous releases which caused uproar in France, dividing its public opinion,^[6][7] as well as his diverse artistic output, which ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, funk, reggae, and electronica.^[8] Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians.^[9]

His lyrical works incorporated wordplay, with humorous, bizarre, provocative, sexual, satirical or subversive overtones, including sophisticated rhymes, mondegreen, onomatopoeia, spoonerism, dysphemism, paraprosdokian, and pun. Gainsbourg wrote over 550 songs,^[10][11] which have been covered more than 1,000 times by a range of artists.^[12] Since his death from a second heart attack in 1991, Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France, and he is regarded as one of France's greatest ever musicians^{[citation needed]} and one of the country's most popular and endeared public figures.^[13] He has also gained a cult following in the English-speaking world with chart success in the United Kingdom and the United States with "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde", respectively.

Biography[]

1928–1956: Early years[]

Born in Paris, France on 2 April 1928, Gainsbourg was the son of Jewish Russian migrants, Joseph Ginsburg (27 March 1896, in Feodosia, Russian Empire — 22 April 1971, in Paris) and Olga^[a] (née Besman; 15 January 1894, in Odessa, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) – 16 March 1985, in Paris), who fled to Paris via Istanbul, Ottoman Empire after the 1917 Russian Revolution.^[14] Joseph Ginsburg was a classically trained musician whose profession was playing the piano in cabarets and casinos; he taught his children—Gainsbourg and his twin sister Liliane—to play the piano.^[10] Gainsbourg's childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Germany during World War II. The identifying yellow star that Jews were required to wear haunted Gainsbourg; in later years he was able to transmute this memory into creative inspiration.^[14] During the occupation, the Jewish Ginsburg family was able to make their way from Paris to Limoges, traveling under false papers. Limoges was in the Zone libre under the administration of the collaborationist Vichy government and still a perilous refuge for Jews.^[10] He attended the Lycée Condorcet high school in Paris but dropped out before completing his Baccalauréat.^[15]

In 1945, Gainsbourg's (Ginsberg's) father enrolled him into Beaux-Arts de Paris, a prestigious art school,^[15] before switching to the Académie de Montmartre, where his professors included the likes of André Lhote and Fernand Léger.^[16][17] There, Gainsbourg would meet his first wife Elisabeth "Lize" Levitsky, daughter of Russian aristocrats who was also a part-time model.^[15] They married on 3 November 1951 and were divorced by 1957.^[15] In 1948, he was conscripted by the military for twelve months of service in Courbevoie. He never saw action and spent the time playing dirty songs on his guitar, visiting prostitutes and drinking, later admitting that the service made him an alcoholic.^[15] Gainsbourg obtained work teaching music and drawing in a school outside of Paris, in Le Mesnil-le-Roi. The school was set up under the auspices of local rabbis, for the orphaned children of murdered deportees. Here, Gainsbourg heard the accounts of Nazi persecution and genocide, stories that resonated for Gainsbourg far into the future.^[14]

1957–1963: Early work[]

Gainsbourg was disillusioned as a painter as he lacked talent but earned his living working odd jobs and as a piano player in bars, usually as a stand-in for his father.^[15] He soon became the venue pianist at the drag cabaret club Madame Arthur.^[18] Whilst filling in a form to join the songwriting society SACEM, Gainsbourg decided to change his first name to Serge, feeling that this was representative of his Jewish background and because, as his future partner Jane Birkin relates: "Lucien reminded him of a hairdresser's assistant".^[10] He chose Gainsbourg as his last name, in homage to the English painter Thomas Gainsborough, whom he admired.^[19] Gainsbourg had a revelation when he saw Boris Vian at the Milord l'Arsouille club whose provocative and humorous songs would influence his own compositions.^[20] At the Milord l'Arsouille, Gainsbourg accompanied singer and club star Michèle Arnaud on the guitar.^[16] In 1957, Arnaud and the club's director Francis Claude discovered, with amazement, the compositions of Gainsbourg while visiting his house to see his paintings. The next day, Claude pushed Gainsbourg on stage. Despite suffering from stage fright, he performed his own repertoire, including "Le Poinçonneur des Lilas",^[21][22] which describes the day in the life of a Paris Métro ticket man, whose job is to stamp holes in passengers' tickets. Gainsbourg describes this chore as so monotonous, that the man eventually thinks of putting a hole into his own head and being buried in another.^[23] He was given his own show by Claude and was eventually spotted by Jacques Canetti, who helped propel his career with a spot at the Théâtre des Trois Baudets and on his tours.^[24] In 1958, Arnaud began recording several interpretations of Gainsbourg's songs.

His debut album, Du chant à la une !... (1958), was recorded in the summer of 1958, backed by arranger Alain Goraguer and his orchestra, beginning a fruitful collaboration. It was released in September, becoming a commercial and critical failure, despite winning the grand prize at L'Academie Charles Cross and the praise of Boris Vian, who compared him to Cole Porter.^[25] His next album, N° 2 (1959), suffered the same fate. He made his film debut in 1959 with a supporting role in the French-Italian co-production Come Dance with Me, starring his future lover Brigitte Bardot.^[26] In the following year, he featured as a Roman officer in the Italian sword-and-sandals epic-film The Revolt of the Slaves.^[27] He would continue playing "nasty characters" in similar productions, including Samson (1961) and The Fury of Hercules (1962).^[28] Gainsbourg's first commercial success came in 1960 with his single "L'Eau à la bouche", the title song from the film of the same name, for which he had composed the score.^[29] L'Étonnant Serge Gainsbourg (1961), his third LP, included what would become one his best known songs from this period, "La Chanson de Prévert", which lifted lyrics from the Jacques Prévert poem "Les feuilles mortes".^[30] After a night of drinking champagne and dancing with singer Juliette Gréco, Gainsbourg went home and wrote "La Javanaise" for her.^[31] They would both release versions of the song in 1962, but it is Gainsbourg's rendition that has endured.^[30] His fourth album, Serge Gainsbourg N° 4 was released in 1962, incorporated Latin and rock and roll influences whilst his next, Gainsbourg Confidentiel (1963), featured a more minimalistic jazz approach, accompanied only by a double bass and electric guitar.^[32][33]

1963–1966: Eurovision and involvement in the yé-yé movement[]

Gainsbourg, Gall, and del Monaco at the Eurovision Song Contest, 20 March 1965

Despite initially mocking yé-yé, a style of French pop typically sang by young female singers, Gainsbourg would soon become of its most important figures after writing a string of hits for artists like Brigitte Bardot, Petula Clark and France Gall.^[19] He had met Gall after being introduced by a friend as they were Philips Records labelmates,^[34] thus beginning a successful collaboration that would produce hits like "N'écoute pas les idoles", the frequently covered "Laisse tomber les filles" and "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", the latter of which was the Luxembourgian winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965.^[35] Inspired by the 4th movement (Prestissimo in F minor) from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 1, the song featured double entendres and wordplay, a staple of Gainsbourg's lyrics.^[36] The controversially risqué "Les sucettes" ("Lollipops"), featured references to oral sex, unbeknownst to the 18-year-old Gall, who thought the song was about lollipops.^[35] Gall later expressed displeasure at Gainsbourg's antics, stating she felt "betrayed by the adults around me" in 2001.^[37] Gainsbourg married a second time on 7 January 1964, to Françoise-Antoinette "Béatrice" Pancrazzi, with whom he had two children: a daughter named Natacha (b. 8 August 1964) and a son, Paul (born in spring 1968).^[38] He divorced Béatrice in February 1966.^[38]

His next album, Gainsbourg Percussions (1964), was inspired by the rhythms and melodies of African musicians Miriam Makeba and Babatunde Olatunji.^[39] Olatunji later sued Gainsbourg for lifting three tracks from his 1960 album Drums of Passion.^[40] Nevertheless, the album has been hailed as being ahead of its time for its incorporation of world music and lyrical content depicting interracial love.^[39] Between 1965 and 1966, Gainsbourg composed the music and sung the words of science fiction writer André Ruellan for several songs made for a series of animated Marie-Mathematics shorts created by Jean-Claude Forest.^[41] He would reunite with Michèle Arnaud for the duet "Les Papillons Noirs" from her 1966 comeback record.^[42]

1967–1969: Famous muses and duets[]

Bardot (left) pictured in 1968 and Birkin pictured in 1985

In 1967, Gainsbourg wrote the script and provided the soundtrack for the musical comedy television film Anna starring Anna Karina in the titular role.^[43][42] Another Gainsbourg song, "Boum-Badaboum" by Minouche Barelli, was entered by Monaco in the Eurovision Song Contest 1967, coming in fifth place.^[42] In that year, Gainsbourg would have a brief but ardent love affair with Brigitte Bardot. One day she asked him to write the most beautiful love song he could imagine and, that night, he wrote the duets "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde" for her.^[44] The erotic yet cynical "Je t'aime", describing the hopelessness of physical love, was recorded by the pair in a small glass booth in Paris. But after Bardot's husband, German businessman Gunter Sachs, became aware of the recording he demanded it be withdrawn. Bardot pleaded with Gainsbourg not to release it and he complied.^[45] Bardot's LP Brigitte Bardot Show 67 contained four songs penned by Gainsbourg, including duets such as the playful "Comic Strip" and the string-laden "Bonnie and Clyde", which tells the story of the American criminal couple and was based on a poem written by Bonnie Parker herself.^[3] His own Initials B.B. (1968) included these duets and was his first album in nearly four years. It blended orchestral pop with the style of rock characteristic of London in the swinging sixties, where the album was largely recorded.^[46] Gainsbourg borrowed heavily from Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony for the title track, named after and dedicated to Bardot.^[30] Phillips subsidiary Fontana Records also issued the compilation LP Bonnie and Clyde (1968) comprising their duets and other previously recorded material.^[47]

His percussion heavy 1968 single "Requiem pour un con" was performed onscreen by Gainsbourg in the crime film Le Pacha, for which he was the composer.^[48] Shortly after being left by Bardot, Gainsbourg was asked by Françoise Hardy to write a French version of the song "It Hurts to Say Goodbye". The result was "Comment te dire adieu", which is notable for its uncommon rhymes and has become one of Hardy's signature songs.^[49]

In mid-1968 Gainsbourg fell in love with the younger English singer and actress Jane Birkin, whom he met during the shooting of the film Slogan (1969).^[10] In the film, Gainsbourg starred as a commercial director who has an affair on his pregnant wife with a younger woman, played by Birkin.^[50] Gainsbourg also provided the soundtrack and dueted with Birkin on the title theme ""La Chanson de Slogan". The relationship would last for over a decade.^[51] In July 1971 they had a daughter, Charlotte, who would become an actress and singer.^[52] Although many sources state that they were married,^[53] according to their daughter Charlotte this was not the case.^[51] After filming Slogan, Gainsbourg asked Birkin to re-record "Je t'aime..." with him.^[45] Her vocals were an octave higher than Bardot's, contained suggestive heavy breathing and culminated in simulated orgasm sounds. Released in February 1969, the song topped the UK charts after being temporarily banned due to its overtly sexual content. It was banned from the radio in several other countries, including Spain, Sweden, Italy and France before 11pm.^[54] The song was even publicly denounced by The Vatican.^[55] It was included on the joint album Jane Birkin/Serge Gainsbourg, which also contained "Élisa" and new recordings of songs written by other artists including "Les sucettes", "L'anamour" and "Sous le soleil exactement". In 2017, Pitchfork named it the 44th best album of the 1960s.^[46]

The 1970s[]

Gainsbourg in 1973

Histoire de Melody Nelson was released in 1971. This concept album, produced and arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier, tells the story of a Lolita-esque affair, with Gainsbourg as the narrator. It features prominent string arrangements and even a massed choir at its tragic climax. The album has proven influential with artists such as Air, David Holmes, Jarvis Cocker, Beck and Dan the Automator.^[56]

He had a heart attack in May 1973, but refused to cut back on smoking and drinking.^[54]

In 1975, he released the album Rock Around the Bunker, an album written entirely on the subject of National Socialism. Gainsbourg used black comedy, as he and his family had suffered during World War II, being forced to wear the yellow star as the mark of a Jew. Rock Around the Bunker belonged to the mid-1970s "retro" trend.

The next year saw the release of another major work, L'Homme à tête de chou (Cabbage-Head Man), featuring the new character Marilou and sumptuous orchestral themes. Cabbage-Head Man is one of his nicknames, as it refers to his ears. Musically, L'homme à tête de chou turned out to be Gainsbourg's last LP in the English rock style he had favoured since the late 1960s. He would go on to produce two reggae albums recorded in Jamaica (1979 and 1981) and two electronic funk albums recorded in New York (1984 and 1987).

In Jamaica in 1979, he recorded "Aux Armes et cætera", a reggae version of the French national anthem "La Marseillaise", with Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar and Rita Marley. Following harsh and anti-semitic criticism in right-wing newspaper Le Figaro by Charles de Gaulle biographer Michel Droit,^{[citation needed]} his song earned him death threats from right-wing veteran soldiers of the Algerian War of Independence, who were opposed to their national anthem being arranged in reggae style. In 1979, a show had to be cancelled, because an angry mob of French Army parachutists came to demonstrate in the audience. Alone onstage, Gainsbourg raised his fist and answered: "The true meaning of our national anthem is revolutionary" and sang it a capella with the audience. The soldiers joined them, a scene enjoyed by millions as French TV news broadcast it, creating more publicity. Shortly afterward, Gainsbourg purchased the original manuscript of "La Marseillaise". He replied to his critics that his version was closer to the original as the manuscript actually features the words "Aux armes et cætera..." for the chorus. This album, described by legendary drummer Sly Dunbar as "Perhaps the best record he ever played on", was his biggest commercial success, including major hits "Lola Rastaquouère", "Aux armes et cætera", and a French version of Sam Theard's jazz classic "You Rascal You" entitled "Vieille canaille".^[57] Rita Marley and the I-Three would record another controversial reggae album with him in 1981, Mauvaises nouvelles des étoiles. Bob Marley was furious, when he discovered that Gainsbourg made his wife Rita sing erotic lyrics.^[58] Posthumous new mixes, including dub versions by Soljie Hamilton and versions of both albums by Jamaican artists, were released as double "Dub Style" albums in 2003, to critical praise in France as well as abroad and to international commercial success. Although belatedly, Aux Armes Et Cætera – Dub Style and Mauvaises Nouvelles Des Étoiles – Dub Style further established Gainsbourg, posthumously, as an influential icon in European pop music.

Final years[]

Tribute graffiti covers the outer wall of Serge Gainsbourg's house on the rue de Verneuil in Paris, looked after by Charlotte Gainsbourg after her father's death

In 1982, Gainsbourg wrote an album for French rocker Alain Bashung, Play blessures. The album, although now considered a masterpiece by French critics, was a commercial failure.^[59]

After a turbulent 13-year relationship, Jane Birkin left Gainsbourg.^[10] He still went on to write and produce three more albums for her: Baby Alone in Babylone (1983), Lost Song (1987), Amour des feintes (1990), with many songs being about their relationship (including "Fuir le bonheur de peur qu'il ne se sauve", which would be read by Catherine Deneuve during Gainsbourg's funeral in 1991).

In the 1980s, near the end of his life, Gainsbourg became a regular figure on French TV. His appearances were increasingly devoted to his controversial sense of humour and provocation. In March 1984, he burned three-quarters of a 500-French-franc bill on television to protest against taxes rising up to 74% of income.^[60][61]

Serge Gainsbourg

He would show up drunk and unshaven on stage: in April 1986, on Michel Drucker's live Saturday evening television show Champs-Élysées, with the American singer Whitney Houston, he objected to Drucker's translating his comments to Houston and in English stated: "I said, I want to fuck her"—Drucker, utterly embarrassed, insisted that this meant "He says you are great..."^[58] That same year, in another talk show interview, he appeared alongside Catherine Ringer, the well-known singer from Les Rita Mitsouko. Gainsbourg spat out at her, "You're nothing but a filthy whore" to which Ringer replied, "look at you, you're just a bitter old alcoholic...you've become a disgusting old parasite."^[62]

For many in France, this incident was the last straw, and much of his later work was overlooked since it was often done and performed while he was inebriated. After Gainsbourg's passing, Eddy Mitchell reported that their duet of "You Rascal You" had far fewer sales than would have normally been expected because of this. Michel Drucker, also, reported that he had a difficult time apologizing to Whitney Houston. After that particular incident, Gainsbourg was never again really "clean" in public, almost always having a drink in his hand and a lit cigarette between his lips, thus disgusting many with his behavior and demeanor in all he said and did. Famous humorist Pierre Desproges, who commented the incident with Catherine Ringer, said that he had admired Gainsbourg when he was alive (meaning to say that he was currently as good as dead), and that he was "the only genius looking like a garbage can" ("le seul génie qui ressemble à une poubelle").

His songs became increasingly eccentric during this period, ranging from the anti-drug "Aux Enfants de la Chance", to the highly controversial duet with his daughter Charlotte named "Lemon Incest".^[63]

Yet he continued to produce albums and songs for women—typically women with a frail voice—some of them highly successful, like the aforementioned Baby Alone in Babylone (1983) and Amour des feintes (1990) for Jane Birkin, Variations sur le même t'aime (1990) for Vanessa Paradis, Pull marine (1983) for Isabelle Adjani, "White and Black Blues" for Joëlle Ursull (which came second at the 1990 Eurovision).

His last official partner was Bambou. In 1986, they had a son, Lucien, known as Lulu.^[1] In 2010, Lise Lévitzky published a book called Lise et Lulu which raises the possibility of Gainsbourg being bisexual.^[64][65] In 2017, Constance Meyer published a book titled La jeune fille et Gainsbourg, in which she reveals that she had a love affair with the musician during his last years, which began in 1985 when, then aged 16, she sent him a love letter.^[66] In December 1988, while a judge at a film festival in Val d'Isère, he was extremely intoxicated at a local theatre where he was to do a presentation. While on stage he began to tell an obscene story about Brigitte Bardot and a champagne bottle, only to stagger offstage and collapse in a nearby seat.^[62] Subsequent years saw his health deteriorate. He had to undergo liver surgery but denied any connection to cancer or cirrhosis. His appearances and releases became sparser as he had to rest and recover in Vezelay. During these final years, he released Love on the Beat, a controversial electronic album with mostly sexual themes (examplified by the titular song, for which he sampled actual sexual screams from Bambou), and his last studio album, You're Under Arrest, which presented more synth-driven songs, as well as two live albums.^[1]

Film work[]

Acting

Gainsbourg appeared in nearly 50 film and television roles. In 1960, he co-starred with Rhonda Fleming in the Italian film La rivolta degli schiavi (The Revolt of the Slaves) as Corvino, the Roman Emperor Massimiano's evil henchman. In 1968 he wrote music for and appeared as himself in Le Pacha directed by Georges Lautner. In 1969, he appeared in William Klein's pop art satire Mr. Freedom, and in the same year he co-starred alongside Jane Birkin in The Pleasure Pit as well as in Slogan, for which he wrote the title song "La Chanson de Slogan". Also with Birkin, he acted in the French-Yugoslav film  [fr] (19 girls and one sailor) where he played a role of a partisan. They acted together again in Cannabis the following year, and again in Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye in 1973. He also made a brief appearance with Birkin in Herbert Vesely's 1980 film Egon Schiele – Exzess und Bestrafung.

Directing

Gainsbourg wrote and directed four feature films: Je t'aime moi non plus, Équateur, Charlotte for Ever, and Stan the Flasher. He also made a short film, Le Physique et le Figuré, and co-wrote the first color film made for French television "Anna."^[67][68] He directed a few music videos, including the controversial "Morgane de toi" for his friend Renaud, featuring a group of naked children running on a beach.

Composing

Throughout his career, Gainsbourg wrote the soundtracks for nearly 60 films and television programs. In 1996, he received a posthumous César Award for Best Music Written for a Film for Élisa, along with Zbigniew Preisner and Michel Colombier.

Writing[]

Gainsbourg wrote a short novel entitled Evguénie Sokolov, a first person narrative where the titular protagonist recounts how he became a famous avant-garde painter by exploiting his uncontrollable and violent farts, generating the trademark shaky graphic style of his works which he calls "gazogrammes".^[69]

Death and legacy[]

The gravesites of Serge Gainsbourg and Olga and Joseph Ginsburg

Gainsbourg, who smoked five packs of unfiltered Gitane cigarettes a day,^[70] died on 2 March 1991 of a heart attack, a month shy of his 63rd birthday. He was buried in the Jewish section of the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. French President François Mitterrand said of him, "He was our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire ... He elevated the song to the level of art."^[45]

Since his death, Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France.^[71] He has also gained a following in the English-speaking world, with numerous artists influenced by his arrangements. One of the most frequent interpreters of Gainsbourg's songs was British singer Petula Clark, whose success in France was propelled by her recordings of his tunes. In 2003, she wrote and recorded La Chanson de Gainsbourg as a tribute to the composer of some of her biggest hits.^{[citation needed]} The majority of Gainsbourg's lyrics are collected in the volume Dernières nouvelles des étoiles.^[72]

The Parisian house in which Gainsbourg lived from 1969 until 1991, at 5 bis Rue de Verneuil, remains a celebrated shrine, with his ashtrays and collections of various items, such as police badges and bullets, intact. The outside of the house is covered in graffiti dedicated to Gainsbourg, as well as with photographs of significant figures in his life, including Bardot and Birkin.^[73]

The French rock band BB Brunes was named after his song "Initials B.B.".

Film biopic[]

Comics artist Joann Sfar wrote and directed a feature film titled Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque), which was released in France in 2010. Gainsbourg is portrayed by Eric Elmosnino as an adult and Kacey Mottet Klein as a child. The film won three César Awards, including Best Actor for Elmosnino, and nominated for an additional eight.^[74]

Exhibitions[]

In 2008, Paris' Cité de la Musique held the Gainsbourg 2008 exhibition, curated by sound artist Frédéric Sanchez.^[75][76]

Tributes left at the gravesite

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Live albums[]

• 1980: Enregistrement public au Théâtre Le Palace (re-released in 2006 as Gainsbourg... et cætera – Enregistrement public au Théâtre Le Palace in an expanded edition)
• 1986: Gainsbourg Live (Casino de Paris)
• 1989: Le Zénith de Gainsbourg
• 2009: 1963 Théâtre des Capucines

Compilation albums[]

• 2021: L'ALbum de sa vie (100 titles) (Peak FR: #19, BEL (Wa): #89)

Selected film scores[]

• 1964: How Do You Like My Sister?
• 1967: Anna
• 1968: Le Pacha
• 1969: Slogan
• 1970: Cannabis (instrumental)
• 1976: Je t'aime moi non plus – Ballade de Johnny-Jane (instrumental)
• 1977: Madame Claude (instrumental)
• 1977: Goodbye Emmanuelle (instrumental)
• 1980: Je vous aime (only three pieces sung by Gainsbourg)
• 1986: Putain de film ! – B.O.F. Tenue de soirée

Singles and EPs[]

The majority of his EPs (represented in italics) were also released as 7-inch promo jukebox singles.

Notes

Editions[]

• De Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre (1989, 1994, Philips)

A 207-track survey of Gainsbourg's career from 1959 to 1981 on nine CDs, issued both separately and in a box: Vol. 1 – Le Poinçonneur Des Lilas, 1959-1960; Vol. 2 – La Javanaise, 1961-1963; Vol. 3 – Couleur Café, 1963-1964; Vol. 4 – Initials B.B., 1966-1968; Vol. 5 – Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus, 1969-1971; Vol. 6 – Je Suis Venu Te Dire Que Je M'en Vais, 1973-1975; Vol. 7 – L'Homme à Tête de Chou, 1975-1981; Vol. 8 – Aux Armes et Cætera, 1979-1981; and Vol. 9 – Anna, 1967–1980. A two-CD highlights collection, also called De Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre, was culled from this edition in 1990. The box was reissued in 1994 with two more discs containing the later albums Love on the Beat (1984) and You're Under Arrest (1987).

• Gainsbourg Forever (2001, Mercury)

An 18-CD box issued to mark the tenth anniversary of Gainsbourg's death containing each of his sixteen studio albums and the EP Essais Pour Signature (1958) in its original format (one per CD), plus a disc of rarities, Inédits, Les Archives 1958-1981. A separate 3-CD box, Le Cinéma de Serge Gainsbourg: Musiques de Films 1959–1990 (2001, Mercury) covered his film music.

• Serge Gainsbourg Intégrale (2011, Philips)

A 20-CD, 271-track box issued to mark the twentieth anniversary of Gainsbourg's death. The first sixteen discs contain his studio albums and related tracks. They are followed by a disc of singles, a disc of television and radio recordings, and two discs of film music.

Albums written for other artists[]

• 1973: Di doo dah – Jane Birkin
• 1975: Lolita Go Home – Jane Birkin (about half of the album)
• 1977: Rock'n rose – Alain Chamfort
• 1978: Ex fan des sixties – Jane Birkin
• 1980: Guerre et pets – Jacques Dutronc (about two-thirds of the album)
• 1981: Amour année zéro – Alain Chamfort
• 1981: Souviens-toi de m'oublier – Catherine Deneuve
• 1982: Play blessures – Alain Bashung
• 1983: Isabelle Adjani (or Pull marine) – Isabelle Adjani
• 1983: Baby Alone in Babylone – Jane Birkin
• 1986: Charlotte for Ever – Charlotte Gainsbourg
• 1987: Lost Song – Jane Birkin
• 1989: Made in China – Bambou
• 1990: Amours des feintes – Jane Birkin
• 1990: Variations sur le même t'aime – Vanessa Paradis

Singles written for other artists[]

• "Laisse tomber les filles" (1964) – France Gall
• "N’écoute pas les idoles" (1964) – France Gall
• "Les Incorruptibles" (1965) – Petula Clark
• "La Gadoue" (1965) – Petula Clark
• "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" (1965) – France Gall
• "Attends ou va-t'en" (1965) – France Gall
• "Nous ne sommes pas des anges" (1965) – France Gall
• "Baby Pop" (1966) – France Gall
• "Les Sucettes" (1966) – France Gall
• "Les Papillons Noirs" (1966) – Michèle Arnaud
• "Teenie Weenie Boppie" (1967) – France Gall
• "Ne dis rien" (1967) – Anna Karina
• "Comment te dire adieu?" (1968) – Françoise Hardy (lyrics)
• "" (1978) – Bijou
• "" (1979) – Alain Chamfort
• "Manureva" (1979) – Alain Chamfort
• "Amour Puissance Six" (1989) – Viktor Lazlo
• "Dis-lui toi que je t'aime" (1990) – Vanessa Paradis
• "White and Black Blues" (1990) – Joëlle Ursull (lyrics by Gainsbourg)

Selected tribute albums and posthumous releases[]

• 1995: Intoxicated Man (tribute album by Mick Harvey)
• 1997: Pink Elephants (tribute album by Mick Harvey)
• 1997: Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg (tribute album)
• 1997: Comic Strip (collection of songs recorded between 1966 and 1969)
• 2001: I Love Serge: Electronicagainsbourg (remix album)
• 2005: Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited (tribute album)
• 2008: Classé X (compilation)
• 2008: Gainsbourg Gainbegiratuz (tribute)
• 2011: Best of Gainsbourg: Comme Un Boomerang (compilation)
• 2016: Delirium Tremens (tribute album by Mick Harvey)
• 2017: Intoxicated Women (tribute album by Mick Harvey)
• 2020 Serge Vie Heroique (tribute tape by Serge Nikos)

Notes and references[]

Notes[]

References[]

Sources[]

• Simmons, Sylvie (2001). Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes. London: Helter Skelter Publishing. ISBN 1-900924-28-5.
• Clayson, Alan (1998). Serge Gainsbourg: View From The Exterior. London: Sancuary. ISBN 978-1-86074-222-4.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Serge Gainsbourg.

• (in French) Serge Gainsbourg official site
• Serge Gainsbourg at IMDb
• Serge Gainsbourg discography at Discogs