Jeanne Mas
Encyclopedia
Jeanne Mas, born on 28 February 1958 in Alicante
, Spain, is a French pop singer and actress.
She was well known in France, Switzerland and Belgium for a number of hit singles released in the 1980s. From the late eighties onwards her career slid into the has-been category. Her first success was "Toute première fois" in 1984. This song was simultaneously released in the United Kingdom in English. Two of her singles charted at number one in France: "Johnny, Johnny" and "En Rouge et Noir
" in 1985 and 1986, respectively. Her 1980's albums are good examples of the Euro disco
electro-pop style popular in Continental Europe
at the time, featuring synthesizers and very catchy melodies.
In 1979 she signed her first contract with RCA Italia and recorded her first single : "On the moon", and toured with a rock group which was rather hardcore. She recorded several 45's, one in English and the others in Italian. In 1984, she signed a contract with the Major EMI MUSIC FRANCE. Piero Calabrese, Massimo Calabrese, Roberto Zaneli and Romano Musumara wrote her first French Hit : "Toute premiere fois".
French people discovered a young woman on their TV screen entirely dressed in black, with jet-black hair, an emaciated face, and very pronounced make-up: a bland version of the punk look. Stimulating choreography with jerky gestures reinforced the image of a woman "who wants some action", almost aggressive. It is without a doubt this image that would seduce the young public. The press, the radio, the television and even the discos grabbed hold of this phenomenon.
At the beginning of the following year, she successively released a second single "Johnny, Johnny" followed by an album simply called Jeanne Mas. For this first go in the big leagues, she asked Daniel Balavoine
for help. He produced two of the songs for the occasion.
Another single "Coeur en stéréo" was a hit in its own turn. In October, she played the Olympia club in Paris for the first time for four triumphant concerts. A few weeks later, she won the trophy for Revelation of the year and best female artist of the year during the first Victoires de la musique.
" interpreted by the gloss and glitter Princess Stephanie of Monaco. At the beginning of 1986, she released Femmes d'aujourd'hui
which went on to sell over 1 million copies. The single from the album "En Rouge et Noir
" quickly became a hit. In June, the album and the single were number one on the French charts. In the autumn, she played for seven days at the Palais des Sports in Paris and continued with forty concert dates in the rest of France.
1988 allowed her to look closely at her career, her artistic doubts. In September she got involved publicly for a subject that she held close to her heart, crimes against children.
Jeanne nevertheless didn't stay inactive and got back to work quickly with Piero Calabrese. She went into a studio for three months and chose the best musicians for the recording: Manu Katche on drums, Steve Shehan on (drums) percussions, Tony Levin on bass and David Rhodes on guitar. In February 1989 a new album titled Les crises de l'âme
was released. The lyrics seemed more committed with songs like "J'accuse", "Tango" or still "Y'a des bons..." which denounced violence in the world. The latter song was in fact the first track on the album and Jeanne would make the video clip. In September, she played at Bercy. The tour was cancelled and this was the beginning of the end! success.
came out in October. She recorded the beautiful "Tous les cris les S.O.S." by Balavoine. EMI invested a lot in the promotion of the first single, "Shakespeare", but the album and singles were total flops. A year later, EMI released a compilation Depuis la toute première fois.
In 1992, Jeanne Mas gave birth to a little boy named Christopher. Au nom des rois
was the new album which came out on AB Productions in September, her collaboration with EMI having ended. The first single of the album was "Au nom des rois" of which the video clip was once again directed by the singer. "Dors bien Margot" followed a few months later with a slightly different mix. 1993 saw the release of a new version of the album including three new songs, one of which was the third single "Aime-moi". In September 1993, she played three nights at Casino de Paris and followed with a fifty-five-date tour. Her career floundering she withdrew from public life for a while and settled in the South of France. In 1994 "C'est pas normal", a more dancefloor-oriented song, was released but received limited airplay and was another flop.
After this comeback, Jeanne Mas, still interested in cinema, took some screenwriting courses in Paris. She even did a short film. All the same she wrote songs without being sure to want to make a record, her former experiences having taught her a lesson. It was the record company XIII Bis that enabled her to release a record in 2000. Désir d'insolence is therefore her seventh album. Among all of the songs, three have texts by the poets Paul Verlaine, Alfred de Vigny and Guillaume Appolinaire's "Le pont Mirabeau".
In 2003 Jeanne Mas releases a new album: Les Amants de Castille in hommage to the famous play Le Cid by Corneille.
In 2004–2005 she tours to celebrate her 20 years of career and performed at the Espace Pierre Cardin and the Casino de Paris.
Jeanne Mas left France in June 2005 and settled in California where she created her own label Red Rocks Productions. In 2006 a new album : The missing Flowers is recorded between Paris and Los Angeles and produced with Dj Esteban. A new page, a new Jeanne Mas with a new look. Blond hair and feminine. In 2007: the album is released in Europe by Edina Music France.
Todd Connelly (bass), Matt Lesser (drums) and Balint Sapszon (keyboards).
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, Spain, is a French pop singer and actress.
She was well known in France, Switzerland and Belgium for a number of hit singles released in the 1980s. From the late eighties onwards her career slid into the has-been category. Her first success was "Toute première fois" in 1984. This song was simultaneously released in the United Kingdom in English. Two of her singles charted at number one in France: "Johnny, Johnny" and "En Rouge et Noir
En Rouge et Noir
"En Rouge et Noir" is a 1986 French single recorded by Jeanne Mas, from her album Femmes d'aujourd'hui. It achieved a great success in France, topping the chart during 1986 summer. At present, it is undoubtedly the most known song of this artist....
" in 1985 and 1986, respectively. Her 1980's albums are good examples of the Euro disco
Euro disco
Euro disco is an all encompassing colloquial term used to describe a variety of European electronic dance music that first originated from disco in the 1970s; incorporating elements of pop, New Wave and rock into disco-like continuous dance atmosphere...
electro-pop style popular in Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
at the time, featuring synthesizers and very catchy melodies.
Biography
Jeanne Mas was born on 28 February 1958 in Alicante, Spain. She started studying languages at the University of Nanterre (near Paris). After a one year studying Spanish and Italian, she took off for Italy giving up her studies at the university. She settled in Rome when she was only 18 years old. In Rome, she took dance and acting classes. She started landing small parts in commercials as well as in full-length films and she hosted her own show on a private channel: La Uomo TV. Music was her true passion.In 1979 she signed her first contract with RCA Italia and recorded her first single : "On the moon", and toured with a rock group which was rather hardcore. She recorded several 45's, one in English and the others in Italian. In 1984, she signed a contract with the Major EMI MUSIC FRANCE. Piero Calabrese, Massimo Calabrese, Roberto Zaneli and Romano Musumara wrote her first French Hit : "Toute premiere fois".
First time (1984–1985)
"Toute première fois" It was an instant success: she sold more than 900,000 copies of the single which was played on the radio all the way until December.French people discovered a young woman on their TV screen entirely dressed in black, with jet-black hair, an emaciated face, and very pronounced make-up: a bland version of the punk look. Stimulating choreography with jerky gestures reinforced the image of a woman "who wants some action", almost aggressive. It is without a doubt this image that would seduce the young public. The press, the radio, the television and even the discos grabbed hold of this phenomenon.
At the beginning of the following year, she successively released a second single "Johnny, Johnny" followed by an album simply called Jeanne Mas. For this first go in the big leagues, she asked Daniel Balavoine
Daniel Balavoine
Daniel Balavoine was a French singer and songwriter. He was hugely popular in the French-speaking world, and inspired many singers in the 1980s, such as Jean-Jacques Goldman, and Michel Berger, his closest friend...
for help. He produced two of the songs for the occasion.
Another single "Coeur en stéréo" was a hit in its own turn. In October, she played the Olympia club in Paris for the first time for four triumphant concerts. A few weeks later, she won the trophy for Revelation of the year and best female artist of the year during the first Victoires de la musique.
Triumphant Olympia (1986)
Made strong by this success, ravaging and full of energy, she locked herself in a studio in Denmark to record her next album. Heavily into her work, she already started writing her own lyrics. Jeanne Mas had a critical look on music and knew what she wanted. This is why she refused a song written by Musumara which would become "OuraganOuragan (song)
"Ouragan" , also released under the title "Irresistible", is the first single recorded by Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, from her album, Besoin...
" interpreted by the gloss and glitter Princess Stephanie of Monaco. At the beginning of 1986, she released Femmes d'aujourd'hui
Femmes d'aujourd'hui
Femmes d'aujourd'hui is the second studio album by Jeanne Mas, released in April 1986 by Pathé Marconi. As for the previous album, all texts were written by Romano Musumarra. The French singer Daniel Balavoine also participated in the production of the album...
which went on to sell over 1 million copies. The single from the album "En Rouge et Noir
En Rouge et Noir
"En Rouge et Noir" is a 1986 French single recorded by Jeanne Mas, from her album Femmes d'aujourd'hui. It achieved a great success in France, topping the chart during 1986 summer. At present, it is undoubtedly the most known song of this artist....
" quickly became a hit. In June, the album and the single were number one on the French charts. In the autumn, she played for seven days at the Palais des Sports in Paris and continued with forty concert dates in the rest of France.
Bercy (1987–1989)
This tour started up again in March 1987 for twenty dates, one of which was a concert in Lyon where a live record and a ninety-minute filmwere made. She then decided to take a break and take advantage of this time to return to Italy to have a baby, a little girl named Victoria.1988 allowed her to look closely at her career, her artistic doubts. In September she got involved publicly for a subject that she held close to her heart, crimes against children.
Jeanne nevertheless didn't stay inactive and got back to work quickly with Piero Calabrese. She went into a studio for three months and chose the best musicians for the recording: Manu Katche on drums, Steve Shehan on (drums) percussions, Tony Levin on bass and David Rhodes on guitar. In February 1989 a new album titled Les crises de l'âme
Les Crises de l'âme
Les crises de l'âme is the third studio album by French pop singer Jeanne Mas, released in 1989.It marked a change in writing and musical style; indeed, unlike the two previous studio albums, lyrics were not written by Romano Musumarra, but by the singer herself, the songs deals with society themes...
was released. The lyrics seemed more committed with songs like "J'accuse", "Tango" or still "Y'a des bons..." which denounced violence in the world. The latter song was in fact the first track on the album and Jeanne would make the video clip. In September, she played at Bercy. The tour was cancelled and this was the beginning of the end! success.
Her first time Los Angeles (1990–1995)
Far from letting herself be beaten, the singer gathered her team to write a new album at the beginning of 1990. Recorded in Los Angeles, L'art des femmesL'art des femmes
L'art des femmes is the fourth studio album by French pop singer Jeanne Mas, released in 1990.-Track listing:#"L'albatros" #"L'amour du mal" – 5:23...
came out in October. She recorded the beautiful "Tous les cris les S.O.S." by Balavoine. EMI invested a lot in the promotion of the first single, "Shakespeare", but the album and singles were total flops. A year later, EMI released a compilation Depuis la toute première fois.
In 1992, Jeanne Mas gave birth to a little boy named Christopher. Au nom des rois
Au nom des rois
Au nom des rois is the fifth studio album by French pop singer Jeanne Mas, released in 1992.-Track listing:#"Ces hommes" – 5:06...
was the new album which came out on AB Productions in September, her collaboration with EMI having ended. The first single of the album was "Au nom des rois" of which the video clip was once again directed by the singer. "Dors bien Margot" followed a few months later with a slightly different mix. 1993 saw the release of a new version of the album including three new songs, one of which was the third single "Aime-moi". In September 1993, she played three nights at Casino de Paris and followed with a fifty-five-date tour. Her career floundering she withdrew from public life for a while and settled in the South of France. In 1994 "C'est pas normal", a more dancefloor-oriented song, was released but received limited airplay and was another flop.
Rocker (1996–2002)
She came back in 1996 with a new album on Arcade records. Jeanne recorded Jeanne Mas & les Égoïstes in Toulouse which had 14 songs that she wrote herself, more like rock so as to return to her first love. Aware that she could disappoint the public, she still shows a new serenity on her face. Unfortunately the record went unnoticed.After this comeback, Jeanne Mas, still interested in cinema, took some screenwriting courses in Paris. She even did a short film. All the same she wrote songs without being sure to want to make a record, her former experiences having taught her a lesson. It was the record company XIII Bis that enabled her to release a record in 2000. Désir d'insolence is therefore her seventh album. Among all of the songs, three have texts by the poets Paul Verlaine, Alfred de Vigny and Guillaume Appolinaire's "Le pont Mirabeau".
In 2003 Jeanne Mas releases a new album: Les Amants de Castille in hommage to the famous play Le Cid by Corneille.
In 2004–2005 she tours to celebrate her 20 years of career and performed at the Espace Pierre Cardin and the Casino de Paris.
Jeanne Mas left France in June 2005 and settled in California where she created her own label Red Rocks Productions. In 2006 a new album : The missing Flowers is recorded between Paris and Los Angeles and produced with Dj Esteban. A new page, a new Jeanne Mas with a new look. Blond hair and feminine. In 2007: the album is released in Europe by Edina Music France.
2008 Concert
In June 2010, Jeanne Mas has announced four following nights of concert at the Trianon in Paris.2009 Olympia Theatre – Paris, France
In May 2009, Jeanne Mas performed two nights at the Olympia Theatre in Paris with her band – Mike Pachelli & Willis Clow (guitars),Todd Connelly (bass), Matt Lesser (drums) and Balint Sapszon (keyboards).
Studio albums
- Jeanne Mas (1985)
- Femmes d'aujourd'huiFemmes d'aujourd'huiFemmes d'aujourd'hui is the second studio album by Jeanne Mas, released in April 1986 by Pathé Marconi. As for the previous album, all texts were written by Romano Musumarra. The French singer Daniel Balavoine also participated in the production of the album...
(1986) - Les crises de l'âmeLes Crises de l'âmeLes crises de l'âme is the third studio album by French pop singer Jeanne Mas, released in 1989.It marked a change in writing and musical style; indeed, unlike the two previous studio albums, lyrics were not written by Romano Musumarra, but by the singer herself, the songs deals with society themes...
(1989) - L'art des femmesL'art des femmesL'art des femmes is the fourth studio album by French pop singer Jeanne Mas, released in 1990.-Track listing:#"L'albatros" #"L'amour du mal" – 5:23...
(1990) - Au nom des roisAu nom des roisAu nom des rois is the fifth studio album by French pop singer Jeanne Mas, released in 1992.-Track listing:#"Ces hommes" – 5:06...
(1992) - Jeanne Mas & les Égoïstes (1996)
- Désir d'insolence (2000)
- Je vous aime ainsi (2001)
- Les amants de Castille (2003)
- The Missing Flowers (2006)
- Be West (2008)
- Divas Wanted (2010)
- Bleu Citron (2011)
Compilation albums
- Depuis la toute première fois (1991)
- Les plus grands succès de Jeanne Mas (1996)
- L'essentiel (2000)
- J'M – Le meilleur de Jeanne Mas (2001)
- Best of (2004)
- Most of the best (2006)
- My 80's (2007)
- The Flowers Collection" (2009)
Singles
- 1978 : On The Moon
- 1984 : Toute première fois
- 1985 : Johnny, JohnnyJohnny, Johnny"Johnny, Johnny" is a 1985 song recorded by the French singer Jeanne Mas. It was her second single from her debut album, Jeanne Mas, on which it features as the second track...
- 1985 : Coeur en stéréo
- 1986 : En Rouge et NoirEn Rouge et Noir"En Rouge et Noir" is a 1986 French single recorded by Jeanne Mas, from her album Femmes d'aujourd'hui. It achieved a great success in France, topping the chart during 1986 summer. At present, it is undoubtedly the most known song of this artist....
- 1986 : L'enfant
- 1987 : Sauvez-moi
- 1987 : La bête libre
- 1989 : Y'a des bons...
- 1989 : J'accuse
- 1989 : Carolyne
- 1990 : Bébé rock
- 1990 : Shakespeare
- 1991 : Angela (L'art des femmes)
- 1992 : Au nom des rois
- 1992 : Dors bien Margot
- 1993 : Aime-moi
- 1994 : C'est pas normal
- 1996 : Côté H côté clean
- 1997 : Anna
- 2000 : Désir d'insolence
- 2001 : Je vous aime ainsi
- 2003 : Chimène
- 2003 : Poussière de Castille
- 2004 : Toute première fois (FDP Remix)
- 2005 : Johnny, JohnnyJohnny, Johnny"Johnny, Johnny" is a 1985 song recorded by the French singer Jeanne Mas. It was her second single from her debut album, Jeanne Mas, on which it features as the second track...
(Remix) - 2006 : Màs alli màs allà
- 2006 : On A Summer Day
- 2007 : Un air d'Argentine
- 2007 : C'est interdit
- 2008 : Be West
- 2009 : Plus jamais
- 2011 : " Les dimanches"
Filmography
- The Count of Monte-Cristo (1975)
- Porca società (1978)
- Caro papà (1979)
- Ricomincio da tre (1981)
- Il cavaliere, la morte e il diavolo (1985)
- Malone (TV episode Génération braqueurs) (2003)
- L'instit (TV episode Privé d'école) (2004)
External links
- Official site
- English biography
- Review of Bleu Citron (in English)