serge gainsbourg - "vu de l'exterieur"
serge gainsbourg. what does the name mean to you? casual viewers of television programmes such as "eurotrash" will undoubtedly tell you that gainsbourg was that dirty old sod who sang "je t'aime" with jane birkin and groped her backside constantly throughout the video clip. if you're lucky, you may be told that he wrote a few eurovision standards for young girl singers like france gall.
it's
a crying shame that this attitude prevails in the u.k. in
reference to gainsbourg. still relatively unknown outside of his
native paris, serge recorded several wonderful records between
the early 60s and 90s, covering such a range of musical styles
and incorporating so many different influences that 'eclectic'
seems rather a weak term to describe his prolific output.
if you're lucky enough to find a decent review of one of his
albums written in english, no doubt it will be of the 1971
"le histoire de melody nelson" album, an ambitious but
intimate masterpiece which has enjoyed a renaissance, due to a
re-release on philips a few years ago. "vu de
l'exterieur" from 1973 is of an equally high standard, but
is still criminally overlooked, despite featuring some of his
most intimate work.
the album artwork features photos of gainsbourg interspersed with
those of monkeys and apes. low self-esteem and a wry sense of
humour combined to produce this playful image - insecurity
without the whinging, whining and self-pity that usually goes
with it. the inside of the gatefold depicts a very suave and
confident-looking serge in jeans and pinstripe jacket, collar
open. contradictory, but it makes total sense if you've read
anything about his character.
the record starts with "je suis venu te dire que je m'en
vais" - roughly translated in english, this means "i've
come to tell you i'm going". from the outset, the sound is a
very upfront small group mood - just the basics of modern
electric instrumentation, with gainsbourg's voice to the front,
but barely rising above a whisper. this sets the scene for the
entire record - where songs about love, farting animals and
shaving sit next to each other and actually work together as an
album. eclectic to say the least.
there's a certain spontaneity about it all. it's dark like good
chocolate, but there's also a dry sense of humour at it's heart
which is spread throughout the tracks, like good molten chocolate
perhaps. gainsbourg sniggers at points in songs such as "des
vents des pets des poums" (the one about farting animals)
and on "l'hippopodame", from the start you can tell
that he's barely managing to control his cheeky mirth - the song
ends in a heap when the entire band can't manage it any longer.
every time you listen to this track, you can't help but be
completely drawn into it and end up with a grin on your face, the
feeling really is that infectious. it isn't osmond-like staged
japes, full of fixed, bleached smiles and trite choreographed
laughter, this is the sound of a small group really enjoying
making an album together. the record closes with "sensuelle
et sans suite" which features one of the most beautiful
piano melodies ever written.
gainsbourg had access to some of the finest musicians of the
time, for this record. the personnel list reads like a who's who
of score-writers, session and library musicians of the early 70s
- it's enough to make a collector of kpm and de wolfe labels drip
with excitement. judd proctor and chris karan were all over roy
budd's dramatic score of 'get carter' a couple of years earlier.
alan hawkshaw (yes, he really did write the famous 'grange hill'
theme tune and 'countdown' and wrote countless albums for just
about all the major music libraries in europe) is on keyboards
and remains one of the finest exponents of the hammond-groove to
this day. his friend alan parker is undoubtedly the best
filthy-funk guitarist you'll ever find - his non pretentious,
wank-free yet compelling sound flavours this album like a warm,
spicy marinade. he's also known for literally hundreds of library
albums and scores, from incidental music in 'the sweeney' to his
role in pop band 'blue mink' with soul singer madeline bell.
gainsbourg knew how to surprise, excite and entertain people all
at the same time. his antics were often subtle, clever and funny
- especially compared to the tired, blatant shock tactics used by
many artists today. it's all there on "vu de
l'exterieur" in abundance and you owe it to yourself to own
this record, whether you track down the original vinyl with it's
lavish gatefold sleeve or get the cd re-issue. if you're familiar
with gainsbourg but haven't heard this material, you will grow to
love it. if you haven't heard any gainsbourg apart from the
ubiquitous "je t'aime", this is a good place to start -
along with "le histoire de melody nelson".
when he died, jane birkin said something along the lines of
"serge can't be replaced - no-one can surprise us anymore,
no-one can shock us anymore". it's certainly a fact that we
will never encounter his particular brand of visionary
entertainment ever again.
reviewed by jon brooks (aka king of woolworths).