Rétro: Noir Desir and Alain Bashung - Volontaire

I can't think why I've not featured this track before, featuring as it does two the talants of two of my favourite French acts combined, Noir Desir and Alain Bashung.

Add to this it was co-written by Serge Gainsbourg and you've got a round-up of several of the biggest names ever in French music combined in one track.

The song originally apepared on Bashung's 1982 album Play Blessures, his collaborative collection with Gainsbourg. The album was was a far from a success commercially or critically on its release, its apparent overall bleakness contrasting with the massive commercial success he had recently enjoyed with Gaby oh Gaby

However, with the passage of time it has become regarded as one of his most significant works. I'm not surprised.

The collaboration with Noir Desir came with his 2000 album Climax, which saw him re-vist some of his earlier work and re-record the songs.