1990 - Scène de vie

In 1990 Patricia Kaas moved from her former record company Polydor to CBS/Sony. Cyril Prieur and Richard Walter
of the firm Talent Sorcier from Paris replaced Bernard Schwartz to become her managers in 1987. Prieur and Walter contributed
significantly to the singer's success, in return for which Patricia Kaas referred to them as her "family".
With a new record company Patricia Kaas produced "Scène de vie" (Eng: The Stage of Life) in 1990.
It reached the top of the French charts and stayed there for 10 weeks, going diamond in the process as Mademoiselle chante had done before it.
With the song "Kennedy Rose" Patricia Kaas again worked with Elisabeth Depardieu and François Bernheim; this collaboration was more successful than "Jalouse",
reaching 34th place in the French singles charts. The song was dedicated to Rose Kennedy, matriarch of the Kennedy clan and mother of former US president John F Kennedy.

1993 - Je te dis vous

Patricia Kaas' 1993 album "Je te dis vous" (Eng: I address thee as you) was her definitive breakthrough in the international music scene,
selling 3 million copies in 47 countries.
It was produced in Pete Townshend's Eel Pie Studio in London, England by Robin Millar, who had already worked for Sade and the Fine Young Cannibals.
In the US and United Kingdom it appeared under the name of Tour de charme (not to be confused with the live album of the same name).
On the album Patricia Kaas sang her first song in German: the song "Ganz und gar" (Eng: Absolutely) came from the pen of the German singer
and songwriter Marius Müller-Westernhagen.
The album also featured three tracks in English, including a cover of the James Brown number "It's A Man's World".
The British rock musician Chris Rea accompanied Patricia Kaas on the tracks "Out Of The Rain" and "Ceux qui n'ont rien" (Eng: Those who have nothing) on guitar.
"Je te dis vous" is currently Patricia Kaas' most successful album in the German-speaking world, only just missing out on
the German top 10 (it spent 2 weeks at 11th place), but spending 36 weeks in the top 100.
In Switzerland Patricia Kaas reached 2nd place in the album charts, and in France 1st.
It was her third album to go diamond, 11 months after its appearance. With the single "Il me dit que je suis belle"
(Eng: He tells me I'm beautiful) by Sam Brewski (aka Jean-Jacques Goldman) Patricia Kaas achieved her second top five single in France.
A remix of "Reste sur moi" (Eng: Stay on me) reached the top 20 of the US dance charts.

1997 - Dans ma chair

In 1997 Dans ma chair (Eng: In my flesh) was made.
It was produced in New York by Patricia Kaas and Phil Ramone, who had previously worked with Ray Charles, Billy Joel and Paul Simon.
The album marked the second time the singer officially worked with the French songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman
(They start to work together in 1993 for the song "Il me dit que je suis belle"). The collaboration with Goldman, which continues to this day,
was one of the most important of Patricia Kaas' career.
Further contributors to the success of the album were the American songwriter and singer Lyle Lovett, with the song "Chanson simple" (Eng: Simple song),
and James Taylor with "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight", on which he duetted with Patricia Kaas. The track "Quand j'ai peur de tout" (Eng: When I'm afraid of everything),
written by Diane Warren, was later remade in 2003 by the band Sugababes under the name "Too Lost In You".

1999 - Le mot de passe

In 1999 "Le mot de passe" (Eng: The password) was produced by Pascal Obispo, on which Patricia Kaas was accompanied by an orchestra on several tracks.
Jean-Jacques Goldman again contributed to the making of the studio album, among others with 2 songs
"Une fille de 'l'Est" (Eng: A girl from the East) in which Patricia Kaas praised her German-French heritage and "Les chansons commencent".
The French singer Zazie wrote the track "J'attends de nous".
The song "Les éternelles" (Eng: The eternals) was also published in Germany as a duet with the Swiss tenor Erkan Aki under the title of "Unter der Haut"
(Eng: Under the skin), and was the theme music of the five-part ZDF serial Sturmzeit (Eng: Stormy Times), based on a book by Charlotte Link.

2002 - Piano Bar

To accompany the film the concept album Piano Bar By Patricia Patricia Kaas was released in 2002.
While not a soundtrack to the film, some songs performed from the film were included on the album in slightly different versions, making up a sort of concept album
that was inspired by the movie.
The real soundtrack has never been released. Piano Bar was Patricia Kaas' first published album that was sung mainly in English, and is a homage to the great
French chanson artists of history. It includes cover versions of "Where Do I Begin"(originally on the soundtrack to Love Story) and an English version
of Jacques Brel's "Ne me quitte pas" (Eng: Don't leave me), here named "If You Go Away".

The album in France reached 10th place in the charts, but it was the second most successful of Patricia Kaas' albums in Germany, reaching 12 place.

2003 - Sexe Fort

On 1 December 2003 Patricia Kaas released the album "Sexe Fort" (Eng: Strong gender), reaching the 9th place in France. Again Jean-Jacques Goldman
contributed with "C'est la faute à la vie"(Eng: It's the fault of life) and "On pourrait" (Eng: We could), which he also produced himself,
just as Pascal Obispo, the producer of "Le mot de passe", did with "L'Abbé Caillou" (Eng: The Abbot Caillou).
Patricia Kaas sang "On pourrait" as a duet with the Swiss singer Stephan Eicher.
To promote the album Patricia sang on the radio the following songs:
01. Entrer dans la lumière
02. Une question de temps
03. Mademoiselle chante le blues
04. Je le garde pour toi
05. Il me dit que je suis belle
06. La nuit est mauve
07. L'aigle noir
08. Où sont les hommes

2008 - Kabaret

Here is the description of each song by Patrica:

Addicte aux Heroines
“This song was really written for this album.
We have chosen it to set the atmosphere for this album right from the start. It tells the story of women who are both fatal as well as arrogant. Because in the thirties arrogance was a way to get respect and also to show their strength.
If this song had been placed in the middle of the album, we wouldn’t listen to it in the same way.
It is the color which dictates the rest…
I spoke with Tanguy Dairane, the author. But I gave him all the space for his poetry, for his share in the fantasy. The words should be rough and daring, like the period in that time also was.
We tried to restore the language of that time.
It also was fun, because Tanguy gave me a list with words that were used then. And among them were words that I didn’t know. But if we see what Anais Nin wrote! For me it wasn’t even possible to speak like she did 20 years ago… And the level of interpretation, it was a new exercise for me, like when you learn how to talk.”

La chance jamais ne dure
“This is the first song that I choose.
It was created by Hildegard Knef, a german actress and singer. Less legendary than Marlene Dietrich, but also known at this moment. Her face was a bit angular, a bit masculine, a bit like Barbara….
"La chance jamais ne dure" is an adaptation and we couldn’t go too far away from the original. This interpretation has a cheerful side. When you meet somebody for the first time there is always joy and fun. And then after a while the routine sets in and you start asking questions… But I wanted to express this experience with a smile. It is a number from the album that stands out, because it gives the album a direction. I did feel very comfortable with this song, because it has a very strong german identity. If you listen to the original version, you see that the emphasis is on the right expression of the cabaret songs.
I was inspired by the pose of the persons in the old movies, in which the singer posed with her hand on her hip…”

Le jour se lève
“It is a song that I always love to sing.
It was created in 1971 by Esther Galil. In the beginning it was more a gospel song that had nothing to do with the album. I gave it a bit of a “lounge” feeling. There are people that rediscover the song and there are others that don’t know the song. In the beginning I didn’t know that François Bernheim, who also wrote “Mon mec à moi” and “La nuit est mauve” for me, did write this song. When I accidentally told him, that I was going to do a cover from “Le jour se lève” he told me he was the author. I couldn’t have known that, because at the moment he wrote it, it was under another name. And now it has been released under his own name!”

Une dernière fois
“I never heard my father and mother say:”I love you”.
Even my brothers and sisters didn’t say that to each other. Recently, during my sabbatical year, one of my brothers came to live with me for a while. We never had lived together like that and shared everything. When he left, he hugged me and told me:” I love you”. It gave me a huge shock, an intense emotion. And still the words are not difficult. But it is something so important. And when a man for the first time says:”I love you”, it does scare me more than anything else. So it wasn’t necessary the life I lived; it wasn’t the East where I came from, that blocked me.
At the stage I can express it more easily, but I never would say it like that to my public. I prefer to express it through a gesture, by the attention I give them. It is just how I am…
Claude Lelouch said, that I often have a certain sadness in my eyes, but when I smile, my smile is much more important…
But if somebody looks at you, eye to eye, and says: “I love you”, it has really have to come from inside. And still I have great difficulties with it! I can show it in several ways, but saying it, is not that obvious. I think I say it by singing. For me singing is an act of love…
It was the first time that I was busy writing a complete song. A long time ago I wrote a couple of sentences on paper and I got the picture of birthday candles that were lit and somebody who was blowing them out. I talked about it with Tanguy, the author and together we have completed the text…
When I sing this song on the stage, I am in my own bubble, because it it is very personal song.
But I never felt sorrow with this interpretation. Only just melancholy.”

Kabaret
This is also an adaptation.
The original is “Bensonhurst Blues” from Oscar Benton. When they suggested it to me, I thought it would fit well in the cabaret atmosphere. We also had to take care of the fact that it would be translated in French in the correct way, because that wasn’t easy. That is why we hired 2 authors, who knew me well: Tanguy Dairaine and Brifo.
This was one of the first songs that we recorded. But we weren’t easily pleased with it. We recorded it like 3 or 4 times. And when we had done the last attempt, I was sure that it would never be on the album. But maybe this is a form of denial, which meant that I had sung it without thinking of the interpretation and that is why it has a certain distance; it gives the song its charm…
The public loves the rhythm. It is a great moment in the concert.”

Faites entrer les clowns
“Another adaptation.
The word “clowns” always reminds me of my father. I did start writing a text and maybe one day I will record it and in that text a clown talks with my father. This text ends with: “But don’t worry, I love you daddy”. What touches me is the duality between the artist that lets you laugh and the sad clown. And the melody is so beautiful.”

Falling in love again
“I couldn’t make an album that is a tribute to the thirties without Marlène Dietrich’s “Falling in love again.” Marlène is a woman with a character; she is the Blue Angel; “I am made for love from my head to my toe”, but there is always something that complicates everything.
And there is also this mix of English and French. Lili Marlène is one of the first songs I ever sang.
It is somebody that I always followed a bit. With my pale color of my skin and my deep voice they start to compare me with her. I even did some tests for a remake of the Blue Angel, which Stanley Donen wanted to make…
I really wanted to do this song with its words that say:”These men around me are like moths”…
This is the femme fatale in all her glory. The woman that can get every man, but that isn’t what interests her. She wants his heart. And if the man falls in love, then that is the end…
The idea behind this song was to record it like a virtual duet with Marlène. That has been done before. Unfortunately her grandson didn’t give us permission to do so.
So I do the duet with myself, but we keep the sound of the radio of that time, the German Grammophon. I loved doing this virtual duet with Marlène. It was really interesting to do and we did record it, but it is a pity, that we can’t use it. Maybe one day her grandson changes his mind…”

Pigalle
“If you look at the complete album, then this is a special title.
We realized that in the 1930 there also was jazz in Saint-Germain, gipsy music, tango in Buenos Aires… We wanted to restore these 3 streamlets in “Pigalle”. We got in contact with Caravan Palace, a group of 7 men, that make gipsy music and we wanted to make them a song for this album. They also made a new arrangement for the songs “Solo” and “La chance jamais ne dure”. They wanted to make a new song for me. But most of their music is instrumental.. And when I got their music, I thought it was beautiful, but there was no room for a song in it.
But I knew they made something really special and that it would give something extra on the stage, because of the rhythm.
They thought I could sing like a jazz singer, but that isn’t what I love doing. It was as if they were asking me to sing a rap! I can’t do that. So I decided to go into the studio and try out a lot of things. They recorded my voice and mixed it with other sounds. It was fun to do. This title is a bit of a relaxation on the entire album."

Solo
“This is always a special moment on the stage.
There is a bridge with unequal pads on the stage. I turn around that and dance…Vocally this is not an obvious song. She is fishing a bit… It is a song about desire, the desire that says:” We know that we feel good when we are together, but if we live together it is a mess”.
I often seek to be alone. In this branch there are always a lot of people around you and sometimes it is good to be alone. When you are on the stage performing for the public, that want all your attention and then minutes later, you are walking outside with your dog, the contrast is very big. That is crazy!
When you have somebody in your life, the contrast is less big, because you know that you will see him or talk with him on the telephone…”

Je t’aime encore
“It is a beautiful and sad song!
It is about not having lived enough and about somebody who left too soon. It is the story of a couple, a love story, where love is stronger than the death. But I prefer life.
I love the chorus:” And I still love you…I don’t sing this on stage, because I already have songs like “Entrer dans la lumiere” and “Je voudrais la connaitre” and those are in the same category as “Je t’ aime encore.”

Et s’ il fallait le faire
“In the intro you hear the voice of Fréhel.
It is one of the first songs I got at the beginning of the Kabaret adventure.
I accepted it without knowing in which direction I would go. At first it was more like a pop song, almost Italian and on the demo I heard Fred Blondin, the composer, who has a voice like Johnny(Halliday). Immediately, without knowing how it would be, I knew that I wanted to sing it with a standing mic. I saw before my eyes how it should be on the stage.
There is a mixture of strength and vulnerability in this song. It reminds me of “Il me dit que je suis belle”…
It is beautiful! But at the end she thinks:” Poor me. I believed everything”. This is not a positive song. I know that, whatever happens, I will never die of love!
If I hear this song on the radio, sung by somebody else, I tell myself:” What a beautiful song!”.
And I am very happy that this song was chosen for France for the Eurovision Song contest.”

Here you can find the words of this song in english and other languages.

Mon piano rouge
“Ah my red piano!
This song is more spoken than sung. In terms of interpretation and words, this is a sensual song. Strangely enough, more than “Solo” is. I make love with the piano. It was the song that I was the most afraid of to sing. So to give myself a pep-talk, I ordered a wodka-orange and took a swig of it! I didn’t want to ask myself too many questions…
I already knew this melody when I participated in the TV broadcast of the ELA club. I danced at the music in the company of the girls of the Crazy Horse…”