Legalize It!

He's a complicated man, and no one understands him but his woman... Serge Gainsbourg.

Does anyone know where I can score some Cannabis? I mean on DVD, dig?

Mr. Freedom Isn't Free

Next week Eclipse is putting out The Delirious Fictions of William Klein on DVD - never dreamed that Mr. Freedom would receive a Criterion-level restoration and release, but here it is, along with Who Are You Polly Magoo? and The Model Couple, three over-the-top satires by one of the masters of photography. Here is a tribute to Mr. Freedom that should wet your whistle.

Sloganeering

If this were only the original trailer...

Dents De Lait, Dents De Loup

The one-off TV variety special Dents De Lait, Dents De Loup (Milk Teeth, Wolf's Teeth) looks like the T.A.M.I Show of French Pop - another genre-defining masterpiece by the genius Pierre "Anna" Koralnik. This special stars not only Serge, but also France Gall (singing his already leering 'Les Sucettes'), Françoise Hardy (in a silver lamé biker jacket) and Marianne Faithful (speaking of biker jackets). Oh, and The Walker Brothers. It seems to be a musical retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in a disco designed by Marshall McLuhan.

Jesus Christ, is this not the best opening to a TV special you've ever seen?









Hey, France! America put out a 3-disc edition of Elvis' 68 Comeback special - ou est le Dents De Lait DVD?

Gitanes, Moi Non Plus

Ahh, Serge Gainsbourg, ignoring beautiful women once again; not even Françoise Hardy singing one of his songs on throw pillows in a mini-soundstage can rouse him from his Gitanes-tinted, scotch-fueled haze.

Depar Dieu

Just found out that Gerard Depardieu is playing Obelix for the THIRD time, in the latest Astérix film, due next year (though presumably not in English speaking Canada - don't remember the first two even making a token appearance in the theatres here). Has it really come to this? I guess the only way he can atone for two My Father The Heros is by making three live action Astérix films. Plus Alain Delon plays Julius Caesar in this one - oh, how the mighty have fallen.

I much prefer to think back on Depardieu as more of a rough trade type...

Voulez-Vous Danser, Mam'zell?

French Pop Wednesdays presents some ultra-rare Gainsbourg this week - a clip from the 1972 Claude Berri comedy Le Sex Shop. Lots of Gainsbourg's prolific soundtrack work has been released over the years but I've heard hardly anything hailing from this film, with a breakbeat-heavy score composed by Serge and arranged by the mighty Jean-Claude Vannier. This should be a revelation to most Serge-heads out there.


(Nice upload, victorkiswell!)

Serge Suppressor

French Pop Wednesday has a question for Serge Gainsbourg: "Have you no sense of decency, sir?"

Here he is making like the Big Bad Wolf to France Gall's Little Red Riding Hood...'Pauvre Lola', indeed. Reminds me of an exchange from the Gene Hackman movie Night Moves:

"I mean, there oughta be a law!"
"There is."



(Gemear, you love Serge as much as I do...)

Gitanes...Moi Non Plus

I've decided French Pop Wednesdays this July is an all-Gainsbourg affair.

This is from some French variety special from 1967, where I guess they just planted Serge down on the set, gave him a pack of smokes and told him which camera to glare at.

The song is 'Initials BB', a tribute to you know who.

(Thanks, pgallagher4!)