La Grande Mademoiselle...

Nostra Dam
Jul 7, 2020
7 min read

Updated: Dec 4, 2023

Patricia Kaas is a French singer who began her musical career at the age of 8 by giving performances on songs by Sylvie Vartan, Claude François and other Mireille Mathieu.

Things got serious at the age of 13, when she was hired by a cabaret in Saarbrücken to sing there every Saturday evening. She was noticed by François Bernheim who decided to produce her first Single, Single named "Jalouse" which did come out but turned out to be a failure.

Berheim, who deeply believes in the singer, presents her two years later to a certain… Didier Barbelivien. Composer who will write the title that will change everything, namely the enormous "Mademoiselle chante le blues". Song refused a short time before by Nicoletta…

The title was released in 1987 and made a real splash. The notoriety of the singer explodes overnight.

In 1988 released her first album "" Mademoiselle chante ... " which in turn was a hit and from which will be extracted no less than 3 Singles hits that are "D'Allemagne","Elle voulait jouer cabaret","Quand Jimmy dit" and 1 mega hit with "Mon mec à moi".

The Bernheim/Barbelivien duo will concoct two new albums in the following years with "Scènes de vie" in 1990 which will produce the hit "Les hommes qui passent". And "Je te dit vous" in 1993 which produced the magnificent "Entrer dans la lumière".

As well as "Il me it que je suis belle", pure jewels written to measure by a certain ... Jean-Jacques Goldman, who reveals himself slowly but surely as one of the greatest composers for women of the 80s.

Change of image and composers from 1997, Obispo and Goldman replaced Barbelivien.

The album "Dans ma chair", carried by the flagship titles "Quand j'ai peur de tout" and "IJe voudrais la connaitre" is selling well but sales are flattening.

And the Obispo version for "Le mot de passe" released in 1999 will unfortunately not reverse the trend, despite titles like "Ma liberté contre la tienne" or "Une fille de l'Est".

Kaasmania is slowing and the albums which will be released thereafter will only confirm the progressive decline of the singer.

Singer with an exceptional voice and physique and who deeply marked the French musical landscape of the 80s.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

80s Decade :

Jalouse 1985
Mademoiselle chante le blues 1987
D’Allemagne 1988
Mon mec à moi 1988
Vénus des abribus 1988
Elle voulait jouer cabaret 1989
Quand Jimmy dit 1989

90s Decade :

Les hommes qui passent 1990
Les mannequins d’osier 1990
Kennedy Rose 1990
Regarde les riches 1991
Entrer dans la lumière 1993
Il me dit que je suis belle 1993
Ceux qui n'ont rien 1993
Reste sur moi 1994
Quand j'ai peur de tout 1997
Je voudrais la connaitre 1997
Je me souviens de rien 1998
Ma liberté contre la tienne 1999
Une fille de l'Est 1999
Une femme comme une autre 1999

2000s Decade :

Rien ne s'arrête 2001
My man 2002
What now my love 2002
The summer knows 2002
Où sont les hommes ? 2003
La nuit est mauve 2003
J'en tremblerai encore 2003
Toute la musique que j'aime 2005
Kabaret 2009
Falling in love again 2009
Et s'il fallait le faire 2009

2010s Decade :

Mon dieu 2012
Hymne à l'amour 2012
La vie en rose 2012
Madame tout le monde 2016
Le jour et l'heure 2016
Adèle 2017

Tracks :

1985 ... the very first of a young unknown girl who will not stay long...unknown ! Just a little more effort before the start of an adventure that will turn out to be incredible ...

1987 ... then this title arrives ! The shocking arrival on the front of the stage of an alien with the voice of a trucker and with an incredibly blue look ... France is in shock and above all ... under the spell. HU-GE !

1988 ... the rise. Power is the word that describes this singer out of nowhere and who weighs heavy, very heavy !

1988 ... the HUGE hit which literally explodes its notoriety and makes her one of the now essential figures in the French musical landscape at the end of the decade. In just 3 years she has become one of the biggest phenomena on the French music scene. MAS-TER-FUL !

1988 ... after a festival of very large caliber titles, this title will unfortunately go under the radar. An 'industrial accident' without consequences as they say ...

1989 ... the singer is now at cruising speed and unrolling in an impressive manner. We are almost at 1 title = 1 hit !

1989 ... not necessarily her best title but rhythm, rhythm and more rhythm ! A level that is largely sufficient to keep her in the lead without too much problem

1990 ... change of decade which rhymes with more Intimist songs and change of progressive look. Patricia Kaas Season II is now on ...

1990 ... all in force, once again. A force that sublimates the song each time. One of the very few singers to have this extraordinary vocal capacity

1990 ... a nice title but which will not remain as its best, it is clear. Anyway, the 1990 vintage was still a BIG year and that's the main thing !

1991 ... little folko-jazzy delirium. Not necessarily her favorite field with a slight underperformance as a result. Bad pick as they say ...

1993 ... which will surely remain one of her most beautiful titles. Thank you who, thank you Didier, says the tube maker. He offers her on a tray a tailor-made title where she can show another facet of her, more in finesse and softness. What more !

1993 ... but that's without counting on this WONDER ! The ultimate consecration thanks to this jewel offered by a JJ Goldman once again at the height of his inspiration. MAS-TER-FUL !

1993 ... a year 1993 which will have consecrated her in France but also beyond the borders, a real feat. At the height of her art !

1994 ... after an exceptional year 1993 in all respects, the year 1994 will look very pale next to it. No major title and a quality that we will qualify as average. Tough law of the trade ...

1997 ... the decade of WONDERS ! An uninterrupted series of sumptuous titles with incredible lyricism that have allowed her to be consecrated incontestably as one of the major singers of this end of the XXth century on the French side, just that !

1997 ... and it continues very smoothly and finely. Once again, thank you Jean Jacques ! As much as the 1980s saw her warlike, as much as the 1990s saw her essentially in the femme fatale version. And why not...

1998 ... another title that literally floats in the air. Certainly, the latter will not have the incredible success of some others but we will be content with it !

1999 ... another incredible title which once again sublimates the singer. The greatest composers of the 90s will have written for her, this time it's from the great Obispo. Missing more than Berger to complete the picture. Unfortunately, he will not have had time ...

1999 ... who did what ?? Pascal, Didier or Jean-Jacques ?? Once again Jean Jacques ! The association of the composer and the singer will have produced a record number of very large-caliber titles !

1999 ... she ends this decade in style with a title once again in more than certain quality. The 1980s saw her hatch, the 1990s saw her explode. Not sure that the decade 2000 was also favorable to her unfortunately. To be continued...

2001...in any case, she certainly doesn't intend to stop on such a good path, that's clear. But we're not going to lie to each other, the best years are now behind her...

2002...a second part of her career which will not really resemble the first with a style and sounds which will not have much to do with everything she has done before...

2002...starting with this new opus where she revisits old standards of yesteryear in a particularly original way. On this track, it's Gilbert Bécaud and his "Et maintenant" that she revisits in a very beautiful way...

2002...a beautiful tribute paid here to the film 'A Summer of 42' and its world-famous theme. A title by Michel Legrand dating from 1971 and which will undoubtedly remain as one of his most beautiful compositions...

2003... she now alternates new titles and luxury covers. Since we had the luxury covers previously, it will be easy to deduce that this new opus will only contain originals...

2003...no title taken from this album will be classified but the album will be. Which shows all the same that there is still a certain number of basic fans who continue to follow the singer…

2003...even if the level of inspiration isn't what it used to be, what she continues to deliver is far from devoid of interest. Anyway, we'll be happy with that...

2005...here she revisits the title of Johnny Hallyday dating from 1973 and even if her version will not bring much more than the original it will offer a female version at least...

2009...a new opus that doesn't really stick to the latest trends, it has to be said. Difficult in these conditions to attract the young generation...

2009 ... after is she really tries to do it, not won all that. As long as she keeps her base of fans from the start, all is well in the best of worlds...

2009...the only thing we can blame her for is precisely not having tried more than that to reinvent herself. Because the competition is now light years ahead...

2012...since the previous opus made it possible to present new things, it is easy to imagine that this one will do in the luxury cover. Which is of course the case...

2012...certainly covering Edith Piaf isn't very original because a bunch of other artists have done it before her. But her versions will be of superior quality, that's undeniable...

2012 ... we will appreciate this opus of high level covers anyway. She shouldn't multiply them ad infinitum but this one we take !

2016...we're going back to original mode with this new opus, the opposite would have been very surprising, you tell me, given its usual release rate...