Patti Austin is an American singer whose particularity, apart from being a singer, is to have had as godfather and godmother at birth Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington !
But also to have started her artistic career at the age of…4 years old at the Apollo Theater, just that…
As a teenager, we find her recording advertising jingles and she released a first title "I wanna be loved" at the age of 15, a title that will go somewhat unnoticed...
This is not the case of "The family tree" which will be released 4 years later in 1969 and which will bring her her first success.
During the 1970s, she was found as a backing vocalist, notably for Paul Simon on his title "50 ways to leave your lover" but also alongside a certain...Michael Jackson on his album "Off the wall", as well as alongside George Benson on his track "Moody's mood for love".
She also released a first solo album "End of a rainbow" in 1976. Album which will know a nice success of esteem, just like "Havana candy" which is released the following year in 1977 and "Body language" which will be released in 1980.
The culmination of her album career will take place 5 years later with the release in 1981 of the album "Every home should have one", an album whose flagship Single will be "Do you love me".
But it is above all the year 1982 which will definitively consecrate her thanks to the enormous duet with James Ingram on the title "Baby, come to me", a title which will undoubtedly remain as one of the most emblematic titles of the decade.
Other albums and other titles will be released later, but none will be able to match the level of success she achieved at the very beginning of the 1980s.
To discover or rediscover...
Discography (among others ...) :
60s Decade :
I wanna be loved 1965
Take away the pain stain 1966
The family tree 1969
70s Decade :
Say you love me 1977
Love, I never had it so good 1978
We're in love 1978
80s Decade :
Body language 1980
Do you love me ? 1981
Razzamatazz 1981
Betcha wouldn't hurt me 1981
Every home sould have one 1981
Baby, come to me 1982
How do you keep the music playing ? 1983
In my life 1983
It’s gonna be special 1984
Rhythm of the street 1984
Shoot the moon 1984
Honey for the bees 1985
Gettin' away with murder 1985
Gimme gimme gimme 1985
The heat of heat 1986
Smoke gets in your eyes 1988
True love 1988
90s Decade :
Through the test of time 1990
Givin' into love 1991
I'll keep your dream alive 1992
Reach 1994
Maybe 1998
Once in a lifetime 1998
Why you wanna be like that 1998
A candle 1999
I only have eyes for you 1999
Look what you've done to me 1999
2000s Decade :
Girlfriend 2001
Love's been kind to me, mately 2001
You'll have to swing it 2002
But not fot me 2002
Funny face 2007
2010s Decade :
Round and round 2011
Lean on me 2011
Tracks :
1965...the very first steps of a young singer who will become in a few decades one of the major artists of the international music scene. But no one knows yet, not even her of course...
1966 ... trendy beginnings but which do not pay more than that. Young Patti still can't stand out from the crowd...
1969... the efforts finally paid off, you just had to believe in it. It is with this fine title that she will finally win her first ranked title...
1977...then nothing interesting for almost 8 years. Here she is finally back in this year 1977 in a form that we will qualify as certain...
1978...certain and above all sufficient to see her return to the race. It was necessary that at some point the take-off took place and this time will be the good one...
1978...certainly we are not talking about a smashing career take-off but all the same. She now chained the hits one after the other and began to make a name for herself in the middle as they say...
1980...the ascent will have been long but it is getting closer and closer to the summit. The best is yet to come, it is clear...
1981...here she is finally known on both sides of the Atlantic, it is now done. A linear rise in power and which will above all give her time to find her marks...
1981 ... her collaboration with Quincy Jones on this title will allow her to record her biggest success to date. Better and better...
1981...a sequel that will struggle to compete with the previous title but is not devoid of interest, that's for sure. Anyway, we'll be happy with that...
1981 ... a beautiful and BIG year 1981 which sees her become one of the phenomena of the moment and this in an indisputable way. While waiting for a sequel that promises to be sumptuous to say the least...
1982... only one title for this year 1982 but what a title ! She will sign here one of the duos among the most glamorous of the decade and at the same time afford the biggest success of her entire career. MAS-TER-FUL !
1983...we take the same ones and start again the following year. Even if this title is unable to compete with the huge single that preceded it, it will do more than well...
1983... return to solo with this title and big drop in the Charts. Too bad she didn't know how to capitalize on the huge previous successes because there was plenty to...
1984...fortunately business resumed with this title. We were afraid that she would pick up irreparably but it was very bad to know her...
1984...she was able to adapt perfectly to the latest musical trends of the moment and inevitably it paid off in the end. Excellent strategy...
1984... all the titles released during this year 1984 will have been classified, which is not nothing. This one will remain as the 'little' hit of the year but it will also have known the light...
1985...here she covers a title by Alison Moyet from the previous year. A title that will only work in the United States but it's still better than nothing as they say...
1985...a 1985 which will not remain as its best Vintage, that is clear. But she still manages to stay in touch even if she is more at the end of the pack than anything else...
1985... the duets are particularly successful for her, once again the proof with this title. Admittedly, the success will be less than with James Ingram but there will be great success all the same...
1986...a single title year but a year of success in any case. She signs here one of her biggest titles and strongly reminds us that we will still have to count on her afterwards...
1988...at least we thought she was going to continue on the same dynamic. Unfortunately, that's not really going to be the case...
1988...a year 1988 which saw her disappear from the Singles Charts and come out in extremis in the Albums Charts. An astonishing reversal of the situation...
1990... it will take her 2 years to succeed in coming back to the surface. We feared the worst for her, but she managed to turn things around just fine...
1991...a beginning of the 90s which remains favorable to her but not sure that it will still last like that for a long time. We're not going to lie to each other, the best years are now behind her...
1992...she tells herself that glamorous duos have always brought her luck and that she has every interest in using them to save what can still be saved. It comes from a good feeling but it will not be enough on this one...
1994...the last single to find favor with the public. Nearly 30 years after her debut, the singer seems to have reached the end of the track at first sight...
1998... the adventure is certainly not over, but it is clear that the singer will definitely lose contact with the race leader. Hard law of the trade...
1998...in any case, she continues to believe in it and we can only salute this desire to move forward at all costs. Rightly or wrongly, that's something else...
1998...on the other hand, as long as she manages to produce quality titles, why would she throw in the towel ? Well, we totally agree with this principle...
1999... the production of titles remains impressive at the end of the decade and shows that the singer absolutely does not intend to stop there. It is the basic fans who are necessarily delighted...
1999...a know-how in the Intimist which will always remain its main strength. She will have produced a package of titles in this field and each time the quality will have been there...
1999... once again the proof with this title. It is clear that with such a qualitative level we can only encourage her to produce others !
2001...and here she begins her 5th decade of career quietly but surely. An exceptional longevity for an artist who is no less...
2001...she has lost none of her motivation to move forward and once again with finesse and gentleness. We are definitely asking for more !
2002...a new opus in homage to Ella Fitzgerald which will mainly please fans of the 2 artists. Because for the younger generations it's not really what they're after, it's clear...
2002...she will not be the first nor the last to produce this kind of tribute album. The only problem in these cases is that it affects a very limited audience...
2007...a 2000 decade which will mainly see her covering old standards in order to pay homage to those who created them. A strategy that can only isolate her irremediably...
2011...all the way back from the 2010 decade and back in a style and sound much more suited to that era. But unfortunately it's too late...
2011...she has dropped so far back that she will never be able to catch up. But as with her nothing is ever finished, it could very well be that we find her later, that's for sure...
Wiki :
Greatest Hits :
Discography :