Jil Caplan

Jil Caplan, a French pop singer, attained her strongest commercial results in the opening years of the 1990s through her partnership with hitmaker Jay Alanski. Born Jil Valentine on October 20, 1965, she first encountered Alanski in the mid-'80s during his work with her friends in Les Innocents on their 1987 Top 40 single "Jodie." Spotting her promise, Alanski elected to produce and write nearly all of her debut full-length album, A Peine 21 (1987). The project delivered modest success for the unknown vocalist and introduced her first Top 40 single, "Oh! Tous les Soirs." Her second album, La Charmeuse de Serpents (1990), again written and produced by Alanski, extended that progress with a string of singles that included the Top Ten hit "Tout C'qui Nous Sépare," the Top 20 hit "Natalie Wood," and the Top 40 hit "As-tu Déjà Oublié?" The album's performance brought Caplan the 1992 Victoire de la Musique award for Female Pop Revelation of the Year. Capitalizing on the recognition, she reunited with Alanski for a third album, Avant Qu'il Ne Soit Trop Tard (1993), yet its weaker returns led her to alter course. On her fourth release, the self-titled Jil Caplan (1996), she pursued a more personal direction and co-wrote a substantial share of the material, working chiefly with Franck Eulry. Several years after the best-of compilation Jours de Fête (1998), she issued Toute Crue (2001) in collaboration with Jean-Philippe Nataf, aka Jipé of Les Innocents. She next teamed with another former member of Les Innocents, Jean-Christophe Urbain, for Comme Elle Vient (2004), then rejoined Alanski for Derrière la Porte (2007).