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Bette Davis Eyes

Here's a recent acquisition, one of half a dozen late '70s/early '80s singles picked up in April from "Derek's Records" in Chepstow. I liked the song when it came out and still like it now. I see, courtesy of wikipedia, that Carnes had a long career and other successes besides this one. Having said that, I can't recall any other of her songs getting airplay in the UK, and I'm ignorant of the rest of her œuvre.

One of the other singles I bought the same day was Smokey Robinson's 'Being With You'. I was entirely unaware until just now of Robinson having written that song with Carnes in mind, after having been much impressed by a version she'd performed of his track 'More Love'. "However, Robinson's then producer George Tobin insisted instead that he record and release the song himself" (wikipedia again),

I also hadn't known of 'Bette Davis Eyes' being a cover, the original recorded in 1974 by its co-writer Jackie DeShannon (with a very different arrangement). The B-side of Carnes' version is the self-penned 'Miss You Tonite' which could be considered a power-ballad - not a style I tend to enjoy, but there's no denying it has a strong chrous.

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