Serge Gainsbourgs songs were translated to English before (by Mick Harvey on this two brilliant tribute albums, and later on for this album), there have been various tribute albums (one springs to mind), so what makes Brad Scott’s Serge Gainsbourg Experience worthwile? Not his looks. His throaty voice works in songs like Sorry Angel and I Just Come to Tell You I’m Going, and he gets vocal help from the fragile Celia. My guess is shes his French daughter, for she doesn’t sing with the same accent as Brad (and sounds really sexy in SS in Uruguay). Mick Harvey had that right icey, arrogant tone in his voice. Brad lacks this, so Bonnie & Clyde is more a screamfest then the brooding song it is in the Serge-Brigitte version. Other songs, like Contact, are turned up to 11 as well. Ma Lou Marilou is just silly with the sqeaky noises and off-key accordion. But I like Valse de Melody, in which Brad sounds a bit like Arno Hintjens. By the way, the English translations were made by Boris Bergman, who also wrote Aphrodite’s Child Rain and Tears. And Brad played bass with Bashung, Jacques Higelin and Arthur H. And he met Serge once. I envy him. A lot.
The Serge Gainsbourg Experience – Sorry Angel
BONUS: all other versions
Serge Gainsbourg – Sorry Angel
Jane Birkin – Sorry Angel
Bollock Brothers – Sorry Angel
Walkabouts – Sorry Angel
Franz Ferdinand & Jane Birkin – Sorry Angel
Jef Lee Johnson & Nathalie Richard – Sorry Angel