Article: Kim Carnes Lifts 'Bette Davis' To The Top
There
is much talk these days about how the popular-record business is
changing. But then something comes along to reaffirm the old ways of
doing things. Take Kim Carnes, whose single, ''Bette Davis Eyes,'' has
ridden serenely on the top of the charts for weeks and has propelled the
album that contains it, ''Mistaken Identity,'' to the top of the album
charts, as well.
Miss Carnes is a
throwback in many ways. First, she has been around a long time, cranking
out five previous albums with a shifting assortment of co-writers,
producers and Los Angeles folk-rock session men in the time-honored way.
She had had her successes, most notably a duet with Kenny Rogers on his
''Gideon'' LP and a cover version of Smokey Robinson's ''More Love''
last year.
But then, suddenly, she
hits it rich with one song. Although she has yet to appear here live
since her breakthrough, she has promoted the song ''live'' in another,
more modern way - through video. To this taste, the video promotional
vignette for ''Bette Davis Eyes'' is cluttered and uninteresting. But it
has commanded a good deal of attention, and has apparently served the
cause of concert and television promotion for the song in a way that
live appearances used to do.
Whether
she sustains that success remains to be seen; chances are she won't.
But glorious one-shots are another pop tradition. The song itself is a
winner, even with some risibly clumsy rhymes (''precocious'' and ''pro
blush,'' above all). It is also several years old, having been written
by Donna Weiss and another bit of pop's past, Jackie De Shannon. Yet it
has been outfitted with a trendy, electro-pop arrangement, presumably by
Miss Carnes's latest producer, Val Garay. Mr. Garay also has his roots
in the past; before he became a producer he was one of Los Angeles's
best-known engineers, having worked closely with Peter Asher, above all,
on all the recent Linda Ronstadt and James Taylor albums.
Miss
Carnes's voice conforms to tradition, as well. It sounds eerily like
Rod Stewart's frayed tenor, so much so that Robert Christgau waspishly
remarked that ''Bette Davis Eyes'' is Mr. Stewart's best work since
''Maggie May.'' Another comparison to Miss Carnes's voice would be
Bonnie Tyler, the British singer who enjoyed a worldwide one-shot hit
three years back with ''It's a Heartache.''
That
kind of voice, raspy, soulful and uncontrolled, triggers powerful
evocations in people; the sound is, for many, inherently passionate and
emotional. Yet it is also a limited sound, in that many kinds of music
are unsuited for it for technical or stylistic reasons. Furthermore, in
her past albums, Miss Carnes has not evinced a very focused view of
herself or what she wanted to say with her music, and she may continue
to have such problems with her follow-up albums. Even the rest of
''Mistaken Identity,'' while pleasing enough, doesn't command attention
in the way her hit single does.
But that is not to take anything away from her version of ''Bette Davis
Eyes.'' With its erotic implications, mysterious imagery, arresting
instrumental and yearning vocal, this is the pop-single phenomenon of
the year.
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