View from the exterior : Serge Gainsbourg

French cult figure, Serge Gainsbourg is forever synonymous with 'Je T'Aime--Moi Non Plus' on which he and Jane Birkin simulated the sounds of erotic congress.

But this 1969 Number One was a mere sideshow to an eye-stretching career in which he bestrode Gaelic culture as a singing composer, novelist, film director and actor.