What is to be done with dead music stars once they are in the grave? In the case of those who can still assure prime time viewing figures on French TV (think Jo Dassin, Claude François, Daniel Balavoine etc.), special theme nights are organised and their greatest hits are cringingly rehashed by the pupils of
Star Academy. Meanwhile, erstwhile stars no longer guaranteed to pull audiences (Brassens, Brel, Ferré) can always have libraries or roundabouts named after them. And where does Gainsbourg fit into this schema of posthumous fame? As usual, the music rebel has carved out his own niche far from the madding crowd. Gainsbourg's presence continues to be felt through his music, firstly in regular re-releases from his impressive back catalogue. Soon, like Jimi Hendrix (one of the rare idols Gainsbourg admitted to having in life), the French star will have achieved the feat of having released more albums dead than alive. But, more importantly, Gainsbourg continues to exert a powerful influence from beyond the grave, elements of his work cropping up everywhere in the contemporary music world – even where you least expect them!
The commemorations surrounding the fifteenth anniversary of the singer's death have given rise to a whole string of re-releases including the seminal reggae roots classic
Live au Palace 1979. But the occasion has also spawned a series of original tributes such as
Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited, a compilation of respectful covers by the
crème de la crème of the current pop-rock scene (including Franz Ferdinand, Placebo, Michael Stipe and the Kills). Proof that the international Gainsbourg cult lives on.
Miraculously, Gainsbourg's influence has spread across the board, touching on all musical styles and genres. French rap king MC Solaar borrowed from Gainsbourg's Bonnie & Clyde on his Nouveau Western. Hip French electro duo Air also looked to the great Serge for inspiration, together with Benjamin Biolay, Chet and countless other elegant 'nouvelle chanson' dandies with long fringes and flagrant Oedipal complexes. Internationally, De La Soul used several samples of Gainsbourg on their best-selling second album and Beck worshipped at the same tomb, parodying Melody Nelson on his Paper Tiger. Meanwhile, the Australian Mick Harvey, one of Nick Cave's musicians, recorded two superb albums of direct Gainsbourg covers and sensitive adaptations of his songs in 1995 and 1997, boosting the French legend's reputation in the Anglo-Saxon world.
Gainsbourg also resurfaced via Texas, Massive Attack on the legendary remix of
Karmacoma by Portishead (committed Gainsbourg fans) and a whole battalion of electro stars including UFO, Renegade Soundwave and Mirwais. In fact, throughout the '90s - a decade he never got to experience himself – Gainsbourg was one of the most sampled artists around the world, not to mention one of the musical mentors most frequently cited by rock, pop, electro, rap and house stars. Meanwhile, the world's top DJs, always in search of the vinyl Grail, unearthed rare Gainsbourg grooves from the stack of film soundtracks he composed in the '70s. The Gainsbourg myth lives on and thrives in the 21
st century, too. The great Serge's innate talent for melody, his flair for choosing arrangers (Goraguer, Colombier, Vannier), his inimitable intuition for picking up on burgeoning music trends (jazz, Afro-Cuban sounds, British rock, reggae, punk and R&B) and his savoir-faire when it came to mixing all these elements together continue to fascinate the young generation of rock stars in the UK and the US today. No other French singer ever generated the same phenomenon – and the Gainsbourg cult is all the more amazing as, while his talent as a composer is justly recognised, it is his songwriting genius that is celebrated overseas.
The fact that Gainsbourg's lyrics are impossible to translate into English does not seem to have overly bothered singers who do not speak a word of French - and have thus lost a vital part of the "Gainsbourian" quintessence. This paradox would doubtless have appealed to the king of paradox himself.
Over the years it is reassuring to find that Gainsbarre, the drunkenly flamboyant – and frequently embarrassing - media persona Gainsbourg hid behind in the final phase of his career, has faded into the shadows. Teenagers discovering Gainsbourg for the first time today are certainly aware of the scandals. How could they not be when French TV regularly repeats those immortal soundbites: Gainsbourg taking his Zippo to a 500-franc note and telling Whitney Houston he wanted to "fuck" her on a live chatshow? But today's teenagers have seen beyond the mythical dimension of Gainsbourg's character, recognising him for what he created, rather than what he was – or pretended to be.
The work Gainsbourg created in the space of a few decades now looks guaranteed to live on for many more. Paradoxically, his songs never seem to wither with time – as each and every re-release, greatest hits or themed compilation confirms. The eagerly-awaited new 4-CD boxed set
Mister Melody reminds us that, besides his own masterpieces, Gainsbourg crafted a number of musical gems for other singers (predominantly female ones, predominantly sexy), subsuming their personality in the process. No doubt, this new release, which features some genuine Gainsbourg rarities, will titillate those contemporary creators who persist in living in the shadow of the late great Serge who must be up there right now at the bar in the sky clinking glasses with posterity.
