Serge Gainsbourg's "Sell Out" & "Gainsbourg For Sale"

(Bootlegs, 2018 & 2019, France)

There is no such thing as a bad Serge Gainsbourg record. Indeed, some are better than others, but Gainsbourg is always good. People have come up and asked me where they should start with Serge. This question causes me a certain amount of anxiety, and I physically shake, but I try to hide this ‘weakness’ I have for recommending artists I adore. So, (for today’s column), I’m going to beat the drum for these two albums that will be difficult for one to find and, therefore, absurd for me to recommend. They’re challenging to locate due that they are illegal. In other words, they are bootlegs. Both albums pull Gainsbourg’s music from French TV commercials from the 1960s to 1980s, an interesting and specialized type of music. Gainsbourg had no trouble morally selling his music to the commercial world, and I have to presume that he made plenty of French Francs for that service to the consumer world. Most of the melodies are from his well-known songs, so he is adopting his work to another medium.

Both albums have a witty visual presentation. They both visually quote the album covers of “The Who Sell Out” and The Beatles For Sale, which, ironically enough, are my two favorite albums by these artists. Sell Out is music Gainsbourg wrote for Martini, Woolite, and Sortir products. And the other compilation Gainsbourg For Sale, focuses on Tia Maria, Pepsodent, Pentil, and Konica, among other companies. I haven’t the foggiest idea where the recording sources came from, but the sound is pretty good. What’s lovely is that we already have compilations of his film soundtrack works (various editions, both in CD and vinyl format) and his songs done by other artists, which I imagined had some control or was overlooked by Gainsbourg. But the little toss-off works he did for the TV commercial market are much needed for the hardcore Serge fan, and as a connoisseur, I’m happy to have these two albums.

In America, it was looked down upon by the counter-culture of the 1960s for artists/rock stars to make music for commercials. However, in France, it was (and more likely still is) a vital outlet to get music out to the world, as well as an acceptance of the relationship between art and commerce. Even Jean-Luc Godard did TV ads. The mysterious compiler of these two compilations did a good job of dating the songs and the artists involved. Still, there is no fan-like information about the recordings themselves, nor how they were placed in the context of the music business in the 20th century. Gainsbourg was a professional songwriter. He wrote songs for other artists, as well as for different mediums. I think it was very much looked upon as a job, and it was work that he was excellent at.

The songs or ‘selections’ last from 30 seconds to almost four minutes. Even short music pieces have their charm, which is very well made by Gainsbourg and whoever he was in the studio with. Of course, this is not an essential pair of record releases to the Gainsbourg cannon, but it is of great interest to the fan and those intrigued by how a composer gets his music out to the world. And yes, there are better Serge Gainsbourg albums (and compilations), but these tasty side dishes are delicious.