Today (July 20, 2010) is the 65^th birthday of singer/song-writer Kim Carnes. Her first album was released back in 1972, but she is best known for her trademark raspy voice and for her 1981 hit song about a certain facial part of a certain actress. The song "Bette Davis Eyes" was actually written by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, then recorded by DeShannon back in 1974. It was not until Carnes released her version in 1981 that it became a commercial success. And what a success it was!

The song would spend nine weeks (during May-July of 1981) in the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100. It was the biggest hit of the entire year of 1981 and, according to Billboard, the second biggest hit of the entire 80s decade in the USA (only behind 1980's "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John). The song was even ranked impressively at #12 on Billboard's list of the top 100 songs in the first 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Not surprisingly, the song won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 1982 Grammys. This week's Flashback Video is "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes...

Bette Davis herself admitted to being a fan of the song and wrote to Carnes after the song was released thanking her and saying she loved the song. She wrote in her memoir, "It was a thrill to become a part of the rock generation." It is reported that Carnes and Davis struck up a special friendship, with the singer visiting Ms. Davis at her home several times until her death in 1989.

Previous to "Bette Davis Eyes," Carnes had a hit duet in 1980 with Kenny Rogers called "Don't Fall In Love With a Dreamer" which ranks on my Top 80s Duets list. In January of 1985, Carnes had the distinction of being on the Billboard Hot 100 with three singles simultaneously with "What About Me" with James Ingram & Kenny Rogers, "Make No Mistake, He's Mine" with Barbra Streisand and "Invitation to Dance" from the soundtrack to the film, That's Dancing! This meant she was on the chart as a solo artist in addition to being part of a duo and a trio all at the same time. Also in 1985, Carnes was invited to perform as part of USA For Africa on the "We Are the World" song. Here's a link to my special issue on that iconic song. She sang in the chorus and shared the last line of the bridge with Huey Lewis and Cyndi Lauper.

Even though the song "Bette Davis Eyes" served to cement Kim Carnes (and Bette Davis) into 80s pop culture history, she also had some other pretty impressive accomplishments during that decade. "And she'll tease you. She'll unease you. All the better just to please you."

That's all for another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of all of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use that Google Search Box to find any past issues or topics you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the Fan Page where I ask you to then click on the "Like" button. Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. You can also follow Old School on Twitter by clicking on the FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER LOGO also in the upper right hand column. This will take you the page and you can just click on the box that says "Follow". Even though the blog only updates a couple times a week, I try to send out daily 80s tweets. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.