Histoire de Serge Gainsbourg

"My life is a triangle made up of cigarretes, alcohol and women" this french singer said when he tried to define his life. Besides music composer, Serge Gainsbourg was poet, actor, filmmaker, provocative, sexual agitator, painter and controversial figure. Born Lucien Ginzberg in Paris on April 2, 1928. His parents were Russian Jews who fled to France following the events of the 1917 Bolshevik uprising. He suffers the nazi humiliation when he had to wear Jew symbol in his arm for being distinguished. Later, he always said that he could not forget his family's troubles those days. Until he was 30 years old he was working like music teacher (his father was pianist and Serge learned musical composition when he was a child) and he studied art. Thus, he started to play piano in some cabarets and he had the first opportunity for record a LP. He made his recording debut in 1958 with the album Du Chant a la Une. At the beginning he received strong criticism because of his extremely ugliness, even some critics made some jokes about him. They said things such as "A man, with that nose and those ears, is more like a clown, not a singer". This fact made suffer very much to Gainsbourg. He composed some songs for Petula Clark, Juliette Grecco or Sylvie Vartan. His songs begin to be successful. Serge works nonstop those days and in that time he met to Brigitte Bardot. The artist had a brief affair with Bardot. Moreover, they sing one of the most important and erotic songs of the history: "Je t'aime moi non plus". They sang unforgettable duets and Serge Gainsbourg is known by the audience already. "Bonnie and Clyde" or "Comic Strip" are very popular and Gainsbourg enjoys his victory. Later, that relation finished and broke his heart. After of that, the singer was falling in love with other sex symbol, Jane Birkin. In that moment, he revenges of those that attack him because of his ugliness. He says he does not care to be like a dog if he can get the best women in the world. Gainsbourg and Birkin make one of the essentials records in the history: Histoire de Melody Nelson.

This piece was conceived such as a conceptual story. All songs were inspired in Lolita's myth. Gainsbourg was telling stories about incest, voyeurs or Peeping Tom, alienation from modern culture and the suicide, among others. This album, was a terrible commercial failure. Gainsbourg had a lot of hits with other records and songs. However, this conceptual LP was a huge fiasco. Today, "Histoire de Melody Nelson" is considered by musicians and experts a masterpiece. The problem was time. It was released in 1971 and people were not prepared for this musical knowledge. March, 24 this record is going to be reissued in USA . It will suppose a perfect chance for those people who do not know anything about this record and this French artist. A good opportunity to know this man. The "freak" that was able to propose sex to Whitney Houston live on the French TV. The "enfant terrible" who made a controversial cover of "La Marselleise" and he had death storts for that song. Even, he was able to burn a bill on TV to protest against excessive taxes. He was famous, frivolous and thus, he was with the most desirable women and he used his intelligence and sharp humor all the time. When he died in 1991, France was in shock state and the President of the French nation, Francois Mitterrand, said about him that "he has been the modern Baudelaire". Today, Gainsbourg is a supreme figure in France and his album, "Histoire de Melody Nelson" a real masterpiece.

Serge Gainsbourg's Histoire De Melody Nelson Reissued

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