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Bette Davis Eyes

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"Bette Davis Eyes"
Song
B-side"Miss You Tonight"

"Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, and made popular by American singer-songwriter Kim Carnes. It spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Billboard's biggest hit of the entire year for 1981. The recording won the 1982 Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

History

The song was written in 1974 by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon. DeShannon recorded the song that same year on her album New Arrangement.[3] In this original incarnation, the track is performed in an "R&B lite" arrangement,[1] featuring a prominent uptempo piano part, as well as flourishes of pedal steel guitar and horns.[4] However it was not until 1981, when Kim Carnes recorded her version of the song in a radically different synthesiser-based arrangement, that "Bette Davis Eyes" became a commercial success.

The Carnes version spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the US Billboard Hot 100 (interrupted for one week by the "Stars on 45 Medley") and was Billboard's biggest hit of the year for 1981.[5] The single also reached No. 5 on Billboard's Top Tracks charts and No. 26 on the Dance charts.[6] The song won the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The song was also a number one hit in 31 countries, including Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, Japan and Brazil, but it achieved more moderate success in the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 10. The music video was directed by Russell Mulcahy.

According to producer Val Garay, the original demo of the tune that was brought to him sounded like "a Leon Russell track, with this beer-barrel polka piano part." The demo can be heard in a Val Garay interview on TAXI TV at 21:50.[7] Keyboardist Bill Cuomo came up with the signature synth riff, using the then-new Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer, which now defines Carnes' version. The song was recorded completely live in the studio on the first take.[8]

Bette Davis admitted to being a fan of the song and approached Carnes and the songwriters to thank them for making her "a part of modern times."[citation needed]

The song was used frequently as bumper music on Coast to Coast AM with Art Bell.

The song was ranked at number 12 on Billboard's list of the top 100 songs in the first 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and at number one of the biggest hits of the 1980s.[9]

Cleopatra Records released a re-recording of the song as a single in 2007.[10]

Cover versions

Leighton Meester released a cover in April 2009.[11] Later in the year, Courtney Love also performed the song.[12] In 2010, Brandon Flowers covered it at Highline Ballroom, New York City.[13] In 2011, Taylor Swift covered the song at the Staples Center during her Speak Now World Tour.[14] The rendition appears on the album Speak Now World Tour – Live.

Music video

The video opens in a dance hall with a black-draped leaning figure. The drape opens to reveal Kim Carnes wearing sunglasses as she sings the first verse. In the first chorus, she performs with a band; halfway dancers enter the hall. In the second verse, the dancers make slapping and floor-pounding dance motions. They disappear and reappear in the second chorus. The song finishes with the dancers making dance motions while approaching Carnes; the band is already gone when the video ends with the black-draped leaning figure. A shadowed silhouette of Bette Davis smoking a cigarette appears throughout the video. The video was directed by Australian film director Russell Mulcahy.

Lyrics

There is much confusion over whether the lyrics are "she knows just what it takes to make a crow blush" or "... pro blush". Jackie DeShannon sings "crow" in her version, and Kim Carnes recorded it as "pro" from a mistranscription of the lyrics. This error has proliferated through numerous cover versions. The phrase "could make a crow blush" is an early 20th-century Midwestern United States colloquialism meaning that one could unease someone with little effort, and the arranger from Carnes's version was unfamiliar with the term.[citation needed] [dubious – discuss]

Track listing and formats

Charts

Order of precedence
Preceded by Australian Kent Music Report number-one single
June 15, 1981 – July 13, 1981 (5 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Canadian CHUM number-one single
May 23, 1981 – May 30, 1981 (2 weeks)
Preceded by Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary number-one single
June 27, 1981 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Je veux de la tendresse" by Elton John
"Confidence pour confidence" by Jean Schultheis
 French IFOP number-one single
July 24, 1981 – September 25, 1981 (10 weeks)
October 23, 1981 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Confidence pour confidence" by Jean Schultheis
"La danse des canards" by J.J. Lionel
Preceded by German number-one single
July 13, 1981 – August 24, 1981 (7 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Dance Little Bird" by Electronicas
Swiss number-one single
July 5, 1981 – August 16, 1981 (7 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"(Out Here) On My Own" by Nikka Costa
 Italian number one single
November 21, 1981 – December 5, 1981 (3 weeks) 		Succeeded by
"Cicale" by Heather Parisi
Preceded by
"Hubba Hubba Zoot-Zoot" by Caramba
 Norwegian number-one single
40/1981 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"More and More" by Joe Dolan
"Kids in America" by Kim Wilde
 South African number-one single
July 18, 1981 – August 8, 1981 (4 weeks)
August 22, 1981 – August 29, 1981 (2 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
"Ma quale idea" by Pino D'Angiò
 Spanish number-one single
October 5, 1981 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"Ma quale idea" by Pino D'Angiò
Preceded by US Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
May 16, 1981 – June 13, 1981 (5 weeks)
June 27, 1981 – July 18, 1981 (4 weeks) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by US Cash Box number-one single
May 30, 1981 – June 13, 1981 (3 weeks)
July 4, 1981 – July 11, 1981 (2 weeks)
Preceded by
"Call Me" by Blondie
1980
 US Billboard Hot 100 best-selling single of the year
1981 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ a b Greenwald, Matthew. "Bette Davis Eyes – Song Review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  2. ^ Useted, Tom (February 18, 2010). "Jackie DeShannon: Jackie DeShannon, Me About You / To Be Free, New Arrangement". PopMatters. Retrieved May 3, 2014. It's hard to approach this album without focusing on the presence of "Bette Davis Eyes", which, issued forth from the tortured larynx of Kim Carnes, became one of the defining new-wave records.
  3. ^ Cad, Saint (October 14, 2012). "10 More Famous Songs With Unknown Originals". Listverse. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
  4. ^ Deming, Mark. "Jackie DeShannon – New Arrangement". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Top 100 Hits for 1981". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d "Kim Carnes – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  7. ^ "Legendary Producer Val Garay". Ustream. November 27, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  8. ^ Jackson, Blair (September 1, 2003). "Classic Tracks: Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes"". Mix Online. NewBay Media. Retrieved May 3, 2014.
  9. ^ Archived 2008-09-13 at the Wayback Machine. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  10. ^ Bette Davis Eyes (single) on We7. Retrieved April 10, 2013
  11. ^ Gicas, Peter (April 7, 2009). "Leighton Meester: Music to Your Ears?". E! Online. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  12. ^ Goodman, William (September 14, 2009). "WATCH: Courtney Love Covers 'Bette Davis Eyes'!". Spin. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  13. ^ Harvilla, Rob (August 27, 2010). "Brandon Flowers Sang "Bette Davis Eyes" (And, OK, A Lot Of His New Solo Songs) At Highline Ballroom". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 4, 2014.
  14. ^ Lerman, Ali (August 29, 2011). "Taylor Swift at the Staples Center Saturday Night". OC Weekly. Retrieved May 5, 2014.
  15. ^ Bette Davis Eyes (US 7-inch Single liner notes). Kim Carnes. EMI. 1981. 006-86 359.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ Bette Davis Eyes (US 12-inch Maxi Single liner notes). Kim Carnes. EMI. 1986. 052-86 359.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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  53. ^ "Italian single certifications – Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select "2014" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "Bette Davis Eyes" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
  54. ^ "American single certifications – Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes". Recording Industry Association of America.
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