Bienvenue! - Jonathan Edwards

Welcome to "Draw Serge!", my illustrative tribute to the late, great Gainsbourg. I'm a huge fan of Serge Gainsbourg. He's a hugely important figure in 20th Century popular music but, outside of France, seems to be remembered mostly for "Je t'aime.... Moi Non Plus" (a song which is oddly unrepresentative of the rest of his work) and an embarrassing TV appearance with Whitney Houston in the late '80s. His music encompassed styles as varied as pop, jazz, reggae, lounge, bossa nova, Africana, prog, pyschedelia and rock'n'roll yet is never referred to in the same hushed tones reserved for Dylan, the Beatles, etc. Unbelievably, his masterpiece "Histoire de Melody Nelson" was only released in America THIS year!

Next year Joann Sfar (coincidentally a comic artist) releases his film based on the life of Gainsbourg which should hopefully redress the balance and introduce a whole new audience to the music of Serge. In the meantime I'm trying to do my own bit to help the cause. Serge was an incredibly charismatic performer (as this clip proves) with an unmistakeable look. He's a joy to draw hence "Draw Serge!". Here's my first offering. All submissions gratefully received, please find the link to the right. Merci!

Now, do yourself a favour - buy this book, this DVD and type his name into Spotify or iTunes. As a start I'd recommend this, this and definitely this.