One Hit Wonders

Kim Carnes (born July 20, 1945 in Los Angeles, California) is an American singer-songwriter. She is noted for her distinctive, raspy voice which she attributes to many hours spent singing in smoky bars and clubs.

Carnes was a member of New Christy Minstrels from 1966 until 1970. Kenny Rogers was also a member, and during this time Carnes met and married Dave Ellingson, with whom she would write most of her songs. For a short while in the early 1970s, she and Ellingson formed the folk duo Kim and Dave, which was not successful. She began releasing albums during the early 1970s.
In 1981 she recorded the Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss song “Bette Davis Eyes“. As the first single released from the album Mistaken Identity, it spent 9 weeks at number one on the US singles charts and became a worldwide hit. The single went on to become the #1 bestseller for the year and won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

It is ironic that Carnes’ best known and most popular song “Bette Davis Eyes“, written in 1974, was originally rejected by Carnes. It was only after a new instrumental arrangement was done by Bill Cuomo that Carnes agreed to record it and it became a huge hit. Bette Davis admitted to being a fan of the song and approached Carnes and the songwriters to thank them. Davis wrote to Carnes after the song was released and stated that she was very pleased with the song as it made her seem very up to date with her grandson. She had Carnes sing the song live for her at a tribute held just before her death.

Carnes continued to record and released several albums into the 1990s. Carnes had mild success with the following songs “Draw Of The Cards” No.28 in 1981, “Voyeur” a No.29 pop hit in 1982 and “Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes)” at No.15 in 1985 which was the last song to hit the US Top 20.

These releases failed to reach the level of success of “Bette Davis Eyes“, but by this time she was a highly respected songwriter, and collaborated with such artists as Barbra Streisand.

In 2004, she re-appeared with a self-released album Chasin’ Wild Trains.

In August 2005, her 1981 single “Draw Of The Cards” hit #1 on the internet radio request site FreezeFrameRadio.com.

She currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee with husband Dave Ellingson. She has 2 sons, Collin and Ry.

Her son Ry is named after musican Ry Cooder, who guests on the song “Rough Edges” on the album “Barking At Airplanes” Son, Collin, is featured in the beginning of the song “Crazy in the Night”

Kim is hinted at in the Tori Amos song “Glory of the 80’s” It says, “In the glories of the 80’s, I may not have to die. I’ll clone myself like that blonde chick that sings Bette Davis Eyes”

Source: Wikipedia