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=== 1978–1981: Reggae period === {{multiple image | direction = horizontal | width = 200 | footer = [[The I Threes]] and [[Sly and Robbie]] pictured between 1979 and 1980 | image1 = Bob Marley I Threes.jpg | alt1 = | caption1 = | image2 = SlyDunbar1979.png | alt2 = | caption2 = | image3 = RobbieShakespeare1978.png | alt3 = | caption3 = | align = left | total_width = 350 }} In 1978, Gainsbourg dropped plans to record another concept album and contacted several Jamaican musicians including rhythm section players [[Sly and Robbie]] with the intention of recording a reggae album.{{sfn|Simmons|2001|p=86}} He set off for [[Kingston, Jamaica]] in September to begin recording ''[[Aux armes et cætera (album)|Aux armes et cætera]]'' (1979) with the likes of Sly and Robbie and the female backing singers [[The I-Threes]] of [[Bob Marley and the Wailers]];{{sfn|Simmons|2001|p=87}} thus making him the first white musician to record such an album in Jamaica.<ref name="JewishRenaissance">{{cite web |last1=Lynskey |first1=Dorian |title=The House That Serge Built |url=https://www.jewishrenaissance.org.uk/blog/the-house-that-serge-built |website=[[Jewish Renaissance]] |access-date=9 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309184433/https://www.jewishrenaissance.org.uk/blog/the-house-that-serge-built |archive-date=9 March 2022 |date=15 November 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The album was immensely popular, achieving [[Music recording certification|platinum]] status for selling over one million copies. But it was not without controversy, as the title track—a reggae version of the French national anthem "[[La Marseillaise]]"—received harsh criticism in the newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]'' from [[Michel Droit]], who condemned the song and opined that it may cause a rise in [[antisemitism]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Serge Gainsbourg responds to an article by Michel Droit |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1979/06/19/serge-gainsbourg-repond-a-un-article-de-michel-droit_2777487_1819218.html |website=[[Le Monde]] |access-date=9 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201115090100/https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/1979/06/19/serge-gainsbourg-repond-a-un |archive-date=15 November 2020 |date=19 June 1979 |url-status=live}}</ref> Gainsbourg also received death threats from right-wing veteran soldiers of the [[Algerian War of Independence]], who were opposed to their national anthem being arranged in reggae style.<ref name="guardian je t'aime"/> In 1979, a show had to be cancelled, because an angry mob of French Army parachutists came to demonstrate in the audience. Alone onstage, Gainsbourg raised his fist and answered: "The true meaning of our national anthem is revolutionary" and sang it ''[[A cappella|a capella]]'' with the audience.<ref name="RFI">{{cite web |last1=Hird |first1=Alison |title=Gainsbourg: still France's favourite bad boy three decades on |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/culture/20210303-serge-gainsbourg-still-france-s-favourite-bad-boy-three-decades-after-death-singer-songwriter-lemon-incest-metoo |publisher=[[Radio France Internationale|RFI]] |access-date=9 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123233721/https://www.rfi.fr/en/culture/20210303-serge-gainsbourg-still-france-s-favourite-bad-boy-three-decades-after-death-singer-songwriter-lemon-incest-metoo |archive-date=23 January 2022 |date=3 March 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> Birkin left Gainsbourg in 1980, but the two remained close, with Gainsbourg becoming the godfather of Birkin and [[Jacques Doillon]]'s daughter [[Lou Doillon|Lou]] and writing her next three albums.<ref name="IndependentIE">{{cite web |last1=Egan |first1=Barry |title='People say turn over the page, but you don't want to, so I wrote songs' – Jane Birkin on her daughter's death, Serge Gainsbourg and Je t'aime |url=https://www.independent.ie/style/people-say-turn-over-the-page-but-you-dont-want-to-so-i-wrote-songs-jane-birkin-on-her-daughters-death-serge-gainsbourg-and-je-taime-40088229.html |website=[[Irish Independent]] |access-date=9 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210405123006/https://www.independent.ie/style/people-say-turn-over-the-page-but-you-dont-want-to-so-i-wrote-songs-jane-birkin-on-her-daughters-death-serge-gainsbourg-and-je-taime-40088229.html |archive-date=5 April 2021 |date=14 February 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> His first live album ''[[Enregistrement public au Théâtre Le Palace]]'' (1980), exhibited his reggae-influenced style at the time. Also in 1980, Gainsbourg dueted with actress [[Catherine Deneuve]] on the hit song "[[:fr:Dieu fumeur de havanes|Dieu fumeur de havanes]]" from the film ''[[Je vous aime]]'' and published a novella entitled ''Evguénie Sokolov'', the tale of an [[avant-garde]] painter who exploits his [[flatulence]] by creating a style known as "gasograms".<ref name="Mortaigne">{{cite book |last1=Mortaigne |first1=Véronique |title=Je T'aime The Legendary Love Story of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg |date=2019 |publisher=Icon Books Limited |isbn=9781785785047 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QJh5DwAAQBAJ |access-date=11 March 2022}}</ref> His final reggae recording, ''[[Mauvaises nouvelles des étoiles]]'' (1981), was recorded at [[Compass Point Studios]] in The Bahamas with the same personnel as its predecessor.<ref name="Compass">{{cite web |last1=Pessis |first1=Jacques |title=Le jour où... Gainsbourg est devenu Gainsbarre |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/musique/le-jour-ou-gainsbourg-est-devenu-gainsbarre-20210302 |website=[[Le Figaro]] |access-date=11 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129212305/https://www.lefigaro.fr/musique/le-jour-ou-gainsbourg-est-devenu-gainsbarre-20210302 |archive-date=29 January 2022 |date=2 March 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Bob Marley]], husband to The I Threes singer [[Rita Marley]], was reportedly furious when he discovered that Gainsbourg had made his wife Rita sing erotic lyrics.<ref name="guardian je t'aime"/> New posthumous dub mixes of ''Aux armes et cætera'' and ''Mauvaises Nouvelles des Étoiles'' were released in 2003.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lavaine |first1=Bertrand |title=Jamaican Gainsbourg |url=http://www1.rfi.fr/musiqueen/articles/060/article_7112.asp |publisher=[[Radio France Internationale|RFI]] |access-date=9 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309230411/http://www1.rfi.fr/musiqueen/articles/060/article_7112.asp |archive-date=9 March 2022 |date=27 June 2003 |url-status=live}}</ref> During this period, Gainsbourg also had success writing material for other artists, mostly notably "[[:fr:Manureva (chanson)|Manureva]]" for [[Alain Chamfort]], a tribute to French sailor [[Alain Colas]] and the titular [[trimaran]] he disappeared at sea with.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Minonzio |first1=Pierre-Etienne |title='Manureva', un tube qui vient de loin |url=https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/la-victoire-en-chantant/la-victoire-en-chantant-08-novembre-2020 |publisher=[[France Inter]] |access-date=10 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629023627/https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/la-victoire-en-chantant/la-victoire-en-chantant-08-novembre-2020 |archive-date=29 June 2021 |date=8 November 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
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