Reddit reviews Boum! (The Best of Charles Trenet)

I looked up Serge's wiki article, and an album of his music done in his heyday (though "Sorry Angel" is the final track, as well as chronologically, released in 1984)...

Reading how his life had deteriorated due to his drinking and his succumbing to the need to be controversial, towards the end, and then hearing how absolutely beautiful his work in general was, is bittersweet. See this video for an example of what I mean; another instance referenced in the wiki would also seem to be the final straw for Europeans who saw it.

You often hear of having to separate a problematic artist from their art... This is one of the most difficult such separations I must make, in order to enjoy Serge's work. By that I mean, the chanson style that Serge mastered in his early work, as well as his duets with Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin, are undeniably beautiful to listen to, but knowing what he got up to when not recording... Definitely one of the most colorful people I've heard of in show business.

The most tragic thing of all is that his memory, and recollections of his work, is clouded by his bad behavior such as is evinced here and well-documented elsewhere. I do not feel comfortable with either dismissing him, or with ignoring his problematic behavior.

EDIT: That being said, listening to that greatest hits album I linked was about the extent of my interest in the guy - bad taste in the mouth and all that, and I don't really have any interest in looking him up any further, though I'll probably look up more examples of classic French singing-songwriting by other artists. GOOD sound there. Hey, here's Charles Trenet!