Serge Gainsbourg wrote twelve songs* for France Gall (ten between 1964 and 1967, and two more in 1972).
At the end of 1963, the first EP of France Gall, a young singer of 16, was released. The reception is very promising. Her team, including her father, lyricist Robert Gall, decided, in order to set her apart from the other stars of the time, to build up a repertoire of original songs for the young girl. There was no question of singing adaptations of English and American hits, as the other french idols did most of the time. Her producer Denis Bourgeois decides to start a collaboration which will prove to be enormously beneficial for its two protagonists: France Gall and Serge Gainsbourg.
At that time, for Serge Gainsbourg, the income is meager. Other than a modest success for one of his 45 rpm record, his singing career never took off, and his stage performances ended in terrible failures. Of course, his reputation as a songwriter is slowly starting to grow, thanks to his collaborations with Juliette Gréco, among others. But all this remains timid. From 1964, he offered France Gall on average one song for each of her records. For the female singer, along with the jazzy songs and a few others that she is particularly fond of, the songs that Serge Gainsbourg wrote for her are among her favorites. And of all those she performed in her early part of her career, they will remain so until the end of her life. This is how she will personally choose to nominate Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest: a choice that will consecrate the duo and make it part of the history of french music. The recognition is international, the young girl travels the world, and Serge Gainsbourg, finally, becomes essential.
Their collaboration will continue for a few more years. In 1966, after the success of the Baby Pop song, France Gall had recorded Les Sucettes: the story of a little girl who loves aniseed lollipops, and divides her time between these treats, and trips to the grocery store in order to restock. At this still very puritanical period where taboos are numerous, France Gall, 18, recorded this double-meaning song in all innocence, without suspecting that, for part of the public, it would be this second reading, to which she does not pay attention, which would take precedence. She will later admit to having suffered a lot from this episode, which completely changed her relationship with men and projected an image of her that was far removed from her temperament. When in 1967, of her 13th EP, the radios preferred Bébé Requin, written by Joe Dassin, to Teenie Weenie Boppie, written by Gainsbourg, the duo Gall-Gainsbourg decided to take a break: no resentment, but they both considered that they have “gone around”. The following year, France Gall left her record label and changed her team completely. After a few more laborious years, she reunions with Serge Gainsbourg for the recording of a 2-track 45 rpm, in 1972. But success was no longer really there. It would not return for France Gall until 1974, never to leave her again. Her meeting with Michel Berger marked this new turning point. From then on, she would never sing other songwriters than him again, and would completely turn the page of her teenage repertoire. During her last concert in 1997, she will cover for the first and last time a title that Serge had written for her: after having considered and rehearsed Baby Pop, she finally retained Attends Ou Va-T'En, which she chose to honor with a single release and a TV rotation. France Gall will then retire from the stage and will never sing again.
Note that France also covered two other songs written by Serge : Je Suis Venu Te DIre Que Je M'En Vais during a radio show in the 70s, as well as Sous Le Soleil Exactement in duet with singer Marc Lavoine for a 1993 tv show.
Finally, among the things remaining unclear, there is this Bloody Jack which came out of nowhere in 2003: a hybrid title recorded in 1967, made of the melody and arrangements of Teenie Weenie Boppie, coupled with the text popularized by Zizi Jeanmaire. There is also this Gall / Gainsbourg duo EP project which we still don't know where it was interrupted (written? Recorded? Produced?). It was supposed to contain the song “Qui Se Souvient De Caryl Chessman” and can-be “Dents De Lait, Dents De Loup”.
N’Écoute Pas Les Idoles • Laisse Tomber Les Filles • Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son • Attends Ou Va-T’En • Nous Ne Sommes Pas Des Anges • Baby Pop • Les Sucettes • Dents De Lait, Dents De Loup (duet F. Gall/S. Gainsbourg, unreleased in record • Néfertiti • Teenie Weenie Boppie • Frankenstein • Les Petits Ballons (lyrics : S. Gainsbourg, music : Jean-Claude Vannier)
Негізгі бет France Gall • About Serge Gainsbourg (2001-03-10, Interview • English Subtitles)
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