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Serge Gainsbourg - (April 2, 1928 – March 2, 1991) Poet, singer-songwriter, painter, actor and director. Born in Paris, France, the son of Jewish Russian parents. He had well known children : a daughter, Charlotte, with Jane Birkin; and a son, Lucien Gainsbourg (aka Lulu), with his last partner, Bambou. Two other children are non-mediatics : Natacha (born 8 August 1964) and Paul (born 13 April 1968) with Françoise Antoinette Pancrazzi. Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien Ginsburg), wanted to be a painter but earned his living as a piano player in bars. He was tapped to join the cast of the musical 'Milord L'Arsouille', where he reluctantly assumed a singing role; self-conscious about his rather homely appearance, Gainsbourg initially wanted only to carve out a niche as a composer and producer, never as a performer. His early influence was Boris Vian. Gainsbourg wanted to free himself from what he considered old-fashioned 'chanson' and explore other musical grounds, influenced especially by British and American pop. He also wrote soundtracks for more than 40 movies and directed himself in four movies: 'Je t'aime... moi non plus' (10 years censored*), 'Equateur', 'Charlotte For Ever' and 'Stan The Flasher'. * Je T'aime ... Moi Non Plus (1969) the song, featured simulated sounds of female orgasm. Originally recorded with Brigitte Bardot, it was instead released with a future girlfriend Jane Birkin as Brigitte Bardot backed out. The song was censored in many countries and in France even the toned-down version was suppressed. The Vatican made a public statement citing the song as offensive. Its notoriety led to it reaching no. 1 in the UK chart. A frequent interpreter of Gainsbourg's songs was British torch singer Petula Clark, whose success in France was propelled by her recordings of his tunes but the first English-language version of a Gainsbourg song was Dionne Warwick's 1965 version of 'Mamadou'. Concept album Histoire De Melody Nelson produced and arranged by Jean-Claude Vannier was somewhat based on Nabokov's novel Lolita. It has proven influential with artists such as AIR, David Holmes who covered a track and Beck. in 1978 with Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar and Rita Marley he made a Reggae version of the French national anthem “La Marseillaise“. His version earned him death threats from right wing veterans of the Algerian War of Independence (OAS). Gainsbourg was able to reply to his critics that his version was in fact closer to the original as the manuscript clearly shows the words “Aux armes et cætera...“ for the chorus. ------- Jane Mallory Birkin -British actress and singer based in France since the late '60s. Born: 14th December 1946 London, England Died: 16th July 2023 Paris, France Jane Birkin OBE (2002) was a bit of a It-girl during the swinging sixties. She appeared in two of the defining movies of the era: Richard Lester's “The Knack ... and how to get it“ and Antonioni's “Blow Up“. She then married movie scores composer John Barry and had a daughter, photographer Kate Barry. After splitting from John Barry she relocated to France where she met Serge Gainsbourg who was himself recovering from his own split from Brigitte Bardot. One of the most legendary and sexually charged artistic collaborations of the late 20th Century followed, with Jane playing the Beauty to Serge's Beast on records, most infamously “Je T'Aime ... Moi Non-Plus“ originally written for and performed by Bardot but banned by Bardot herself, in movies and in French newspapers and TV shows. They had a daughter, actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. After separating from Serge at the tail end of the seventies she lived with movie director Jacques Doillon with whom she had another daughter, model and actress Lou Doillon. Her estranged mentor kept on offering her songs to record all through the eighties until his death in 1991. When Serge passed-away, Jane concentrated on her acting career, branching out in theatre and even directing a couple movies. She came back to singing in the late nineties, first through various re-interpretations of Serge's back catalogue and then, in spite of her many declarations she couldn't even imagine singing someone else's words, with an album of collaborations with artists as diverse as Bryan Ferry, Caetano Veloso, Feist, Brian Molko, Manu Chao or Mickey 3D on 2004 “Rendez-Vous“, followed by further collaborations with Gonzales, Johnny Marr, Rufus Wainwright, The Magic Numbers, Beth Gibbons and Kate Bush on 2006 “Fictions“. Daughter of Judy Campbell and sister of Andrew Birkin. Aunt of Anno Birkin. ------- *ALL SONGS USED IN THESE VIDEOS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTFUL OWNERS. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.* **ALL RIGHTS GO TO THE ARTIST'S RESPECTIVE LABEL** - copyright UMG “Universal Music Division Mercury Records“
