Retro: Serge Gainsbourg - Comme un Boomerang

There's been a huge amount of activity ahead of the 20th anniversary of the death of Serge Gainsbourg.

Biggest item has to be the new 20CD compilation on Mercury records, essentially his complete discography, film work and duets. Looks like a fine item, although there is no doubt a whole lot of material that completists will have already bought several times already. At just under 150 Euros from FNAC it's not cheap, but certainly tempting.

Other new items include the second of two vinyl box sets of his EPs. the first covered 1958-62 this month sees a second covering 63-68. Like the 20CD compilation, its a limited edition and comes in at around 100 Euros, like the previous volume of EPs.

Fortunately this new commercial activity includes some of Serge's lesser known recordings getting their much deserved time in the sun, one being the Inédit "Comme un Boomerang."

Originally written for the singer Dani in 1975, it got another lease of life with a version recorded by Dani with Etienne Daho in 2001. Gainsbourg's unreleased version is a demo version, and reveals an artist very much at the peak of their game.

While some might say the release of Gainsbourg material could be seen as cashing in on his reputation, there's no denying that this track certainly deserves to be heard.