Serge Gainsbourg/Biography/1970-1978
1970
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin spend four months in Yugoslawia for the shooting of two movies: Le voleur de chevaux (directed by Abraham Polonsky) and Le traiître, a Yugoslawian production.
11 September: In the TV show Variances, Serge says: "Si j'avais été plus joli garçon, je serais mort d'épuisement à l'heure actuelle!"
1971
Serge Gainsbourg composes songs for Zizi Jeanmaire, France Gall and Juliette Gréco. He also writes a text for Jacques Dutronc, "Elle est si".
March: Release of the album Histoire de Melody Nelson, often considered as Serge's masterpiece.
29 March: In the TV show Les frères ennemis sur la deux Serge sings two excerpts from the album.
22 April: Joseph Ginsburg, Serge's father, dies in Houlgate where he has spent holidays with his wife Olga.
23 May: In the French TV show Discorama, Serge confesses to Denise Glaser: "Je ne fais pas de concessions, je me prostitue un peu, mais pas dans les banlieues." On "Je t'aime... moi non plus" he precises: "Je pensais en vendre 25'000, j'ai dû en vendre 3 millions et demi, 4 millions. Je passe à la caisse après. On va encore me traiter de cynique, mais je regrette, c'est un métier où on passe à la caisse! [...] Cette chanson a fait ma fortune, ce n'était pas provoqué, j'ai fait cette chanson parce que je la trouvais belle et la plus érotique qui soit. C'est une chanson d'amour, c'est tout. Et puis je t'aime, pourquoi moi non plus? Parce que je suis un garçon trop pudique pour dire moi aussi!"
21 July: Charlotte Gainsbourg is born in London.
22 December: In TV, Melody Nelson becomes a "musical fairytale", directed by Jean-Christophe Averty.
1972
January: Release of the single La décadanse.
Spring: Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin announce their marriage. It will be celebrated at the Gare de Lyon with an enormous buffet, a fancy-dres ball and the couple will take a train which will drive to a secret destination.
4 November: Serge sings "La noyée", maybe the most beautiful of his unreleased songs, in the TV show Samedi loisirs, with Jean-Claude Vannier on the piano. He is also interviewed by Pierre Bouteiller.
End of the year: Jane Birkin records her first solo album, Di doo dah.
25 December: In the French TV show Top à Petula Clark Serge sings "Les anthropophages", maybe the worst of his unreleased songs, with Dalida, Petula and Claude François.
1973
15 May: Serge Gainsbourg suffers a heart-attack. Three days later, still in his room at the Hôpital Américain in Neuilly, he calls a journalist of the newspaper France-Soir and yields an exclusive interview.
19 September: On French TV, Michel Lancelot dedicates a sequel of the series A bout portant to Gainsbourg. The one who says: "J'aime détruire. J'aimerais détruire mes disques. J'aimerais détruire ces premiers chansons, me détruire pour me renouveler." On young Charlotte (2 years): "Ce sera une fleur, une mauvaise herbe, je ne sais pas, enfin je la taille un peu, je suis un bon jardinier, je crois." And about Jane: "En fait, elle est la fille que j'attendais. Je ne m'en suis pas aperçu comme ça au départ, il y a eu une mutation en moi. Je pense qu'elle est la dernière... si elle me quitte... J'aime cette fille, je peux le dire, je n'ai jamais dit ça de personne."
17 November: Release of the album Vu de l'éxterieur. In the French TV show Top à Petula Clark Serge sings "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais".
28 November: In William Pozner's TV play Le lever de rideau, Serge plays the role of a prince magician along with Micheline Presle and Agathe Deschamps.
1974
4 May: During the TV show Top à Serge Gainsbourg by Carpentier, Serge sings "La javanaise", "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais", "Valse de Melody" and other songs.
26 June: The short movie La dernière violette (directed by André Hardellet), a first class supplement to the movie Emmanuelle, premieres in Paris. Serge plays the main role in it.
1975
Serge Gainsbourg writes some texts for Jacques Dutronc, among them "Les roses fanées". Jane Birkin releases her second solo album LOLITA GO HOME, featuring the music of Serge and texts by Philippe Labro.
March: Release of the album Rock around the bunker.
12 April: In the TV broadcast Un jour futur Serge sings "Nazi rock" and "Rock around the bunker".
June: Release of the single L'ami caouette, a pleasant summer hit.
September: Shooting for the movie Je t'aime moi non plus starts in Uzès (Departement Gard). It is Serge's first movie as a director.
1976
Serge Gainsbourg shoots his first commercial film ("pub") for Woolite. From 1976 to 1977 he shoots three such commercials with Jane Birkin, Brigitte Fossey and Marlène Jobert. Jane sings "Ballade de Johnny Jane".
10 March: The movie Je t'aime... moi non plus premieres in Paris. It includes Jane Birkin, Joe Dallessandro, Hugues Quester, Gérard Depardieu and René Kolldehoff. Depardieu has a fine role, playing a white-clothed gay on a white horse.
9 October: During the TV broadcast Numéro 1 dedicated to Jane Birkin, Serge sings two excerpts from the album L'homme à la tête de chou: "Marilou" et "Marilou sous la neige".
1977
Serge Gainsbourg writes songs for Françoise Hardy, Nana Mouskouri and Zizi Jeanmaire (for his new show at the Bobino). Also he writes some songs for the album Rock'n rose by Alain Chamfort, including the hit "Baby Lou".
January: Release of the album L'homme à la tête de chou.
June: Release of the single My lady héroïne, the radio hit of this summer.
1978
At the beginning of the year, Serge Gainsbourg is visited by the "petits gars de Bijou", a French rock group which demand his authorisation to cover "Les papillons noirs", a song Serge sang 1966 together with Michèle Arnaud. He accepts the proposition and even provides some backing vocals for singer Philippe Dauga. Plus he writes the song "Betty Jane Rose" for Bijou, which is released as a single at the end of the year.
9 April: Together with the rock group Bijou, Serge sings a new version of his song "Les papillons noirs" in the TV broadcast Musique and music.
Spring: While Jane shoots the movie Mort sur le Nil, Serge who accompanies her, writes the script for a new film entitled Black-out.
11 June: Pre-premiere of the summer hit "Sea, sex and sun" in the TV broadcast Blue jeans 78. Three months later, Patrice Leconte uses the song as the theme song for his movie Les bronzés.
June: Jane Birkin releases her third solo album Ex-fan des Sixties and the hit single Ex-fan des Sixties.