Tribute night - Serge Gainsbourg

“I was commissioned to write the biography of Serge Gainsbourg on the strength of a previous book I had written about the chansonnier Jacques Brel,” says writer Alan Clayson, who is one of the attractions at the evening dedicated to the idiosyncratic French singer at the Old Market Lane Garage this weekend. “I didn’t know much about him - just the business about Je t’aime…moi non plus and the fact that he was dead ugly. However, by the end of my research, I had become so involved that, just like an actor getting into a role, I was starting to assume certain aspects of Serge's character”.
 
That’s quite a personality to assume. Gainsbourg, having made his name with a song that broadcast the sounds of sexual congress to a shocked public, continued to court controversy. “One album, ‘Rock around the Bunker' was, ostensibly, hinged on Hitler and the Nazis,” says Alan. “Later, he recorded a number entitled Lemon Incest with his daughter Charlotte. It didn’t get much airplay.” Serge also toyed with making films and commercials, and was a favourite on TV chat shows, especially after he told a shocked Whitney Houston ‘I would like to fuck her,’ live on air. “He ended up as a French national treasure,” says Alan. “When he died, the whole of France went into mourning. He became quite a cult figure over here, as well. Years after his passing, for example, Jane Birkin did a concert consisting of nothing but his songs in a packed out Royal Festival Hall. The idea that there will be a whole night dedicated to him this weekend is a further demonstration of his impact.” AL