Month: April 2010

Listen: “Theme From La Horse.”

Serge Gainsbourg with Jean Claude Vannier: “Theme From La Horse.”

The rarest of the rare Gainsbourg records. His publishing company, Hortensia, thought that they could capitalize on the icon’s score of another Gabin film, and released a promotional 7” to theater-goers. Gainsbourg’s label, Philips, did not take kindly to this affront and promptly rounded up all of the copies that the company had manufactured and destroyed them. Which is a pity, as this Jean Claude Vannier assisted instrumental stalks like the film’s heroin slinging gangsters and contains not only heavy breakbeats and a surprisingly well executed banjo (!) breakdown (a reference to the film’s provincial setting?), but Gainsbourg’s thrilling refrain on the piercing Rocksichord, When Malcolm Catto first told me about this record, I thought he was lying. Only when I finally held the hand made, pasted-on cover in my hands did I know he had been blessed to have carried the haunting memory of this song in the years prior to its official reissue.

Read Egon’s extended review of this single here in our Picks section.

Listen: “Danger.”

Serge Gainsbourg with Jean Claude Vannier: “Danger”

The Cannabis soundtrack, long a holy-grail for those mystified by Serge’s funky side, has finally seen reissue. Now, this important bookend, which follows the Gainsbourg/Vannier masterpiece Histoire De Melody Nelson, can be appreciated by all. But, while the album contains orchestral rock ballads that would make an 80s metal band blush, this beautiful bit of drama can’t be topped. Well, maybe the films opening scene of Serge, decked out in flared trousers and a fur coat that contained the pelts of dozens of small animals, walking armed amidst a sea of dead, naked women tops it. “Danger,” indeed.

The version presented here is an edit of the song, originally issued on the anthology Les Annees Psychedeliques, now, sadly, out of print.

Listen: “New Delire.”

Serge Gainsbourg with Michel Colombier: “New Delire.”

From the 7” OST to Manon 70, a Catherine Denueve vehicle. I wonder how many record collectors first bought this record because they were attracted to the goddess in her prime? Those that did were in for a treat. This exploito-Indian sitar-psych fest dances with kitsch but goes home alone, ending with a mournful tap on the tabla to cap a frenzied, Paris-by-way-of-Delhi experience. Gainsbourg, always a fan of the double-entendre, cooked up a good one: New Delire, as in “New Delirum,” or a playful nickname for the Indian capital.

Listen: “Requiem Pour Un Con.”

Serge Gainsbourg with Michel Colombier: “Requeim Pour Un Con.”

From the 7” OST to Le Pacha, a Jean Gabin film noir best known in America for the “impromptu” “Requeim Pour Un Con” music video contained within. After hearing about the scene for years, I finally tracked down a VHS copy of the film while in Paris in early 2001 and watched it at a friend’s flat in the Montemartre. The scene was worth the hassle. Serge, surrounded by his natty combo – including a potential witness to the murder of Gabin’s partner – steps up to the mic and, smoking his signature Gitanes cigarette, belts out this proto-rap number. Gabin and his cohorts gaze at Gainsbourg through the engineer’s double paned windows in the control room. His index finger is colored yellow as a mummy’s from his habit, he embellishes each pause with a calculated throw of his head, and, all the while, you get the sense that Gainsbourg realized just how important this throwaway scene was. “C’est bonne, Serge,” calls the engineer, at the end of the scene. “Voila.” Serge walks out of the recording room, and into the history books.