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Rating: Things that make cptgaio realize that Spring is back:
A) Vega becomes observable again after Winter (as a kid this kind of worried me a bit...)
B) The scent of the first blooming of the Dandelion
C) The urge to listen to "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes
The damn Flowering of 1981.
Seasons may not be what they used to be, but the first warmth always reminds me of when, as a child, the greatest thrill was waiting for the bell at one o'clock (which marked the end of the school day) and then rushing with my friends into fields generously offered by provincial life: it was all a matter of jumping over ditches and catching lizards and various critters (no animals were harmed during the writing of this "review"). Then in the evening, as the days grew longer after each Spring Equinox (and with our parents' permission), we could meet up in some courtyard in our neighborhood to play together. I particularly remember one evening in May while we were playing a game that was particularly "stupid" (in a good way), which required the presence of a radio, a local station played the song from point "C)".
At that moment, as I was getting ready to "portray," motionless, the noble figure of the "tractor driver" (as country children we always had a vivid imagination...) I realized my life would never be the same: the next day I convinced my grandfather to buy me a record player (I still have mine...do you?) and spent the whole day searching for the single in question, with only the help of my "undeniable" vocal abilities and my (legendary) memory for melodies (since I didn’t even know the title, obviously). Eventually, we found it, and that started my career as a musical pain in the neck... (for better or worse?)
"She'll put her music on, you won't think twice. She is pure as New York snow, she has Bette Davis eyes" (Donna Weiss & Jackie DeShannon)
It goes without saying that often, even now, on Spring evenings, I find myself searching local FM stations (even though I own the record in at least three formats, the nostalgia effect is incomplete without the "chance") for the song: I must say, it’s never that hard to find...
Over the years, I’ve become a bit of everything, from metalhead to trip-hopper (is that how you say it?) passing through anything you can think of like a metaphorical Arturo Brachetti but in the end, the (Pop) imprinting remained and to that (increasingly commercial until the final victory) I'll return...
Talk a bit about the album and not just about your own stuff, crikey...
"Mistaken Identity" (1981) is the sixth album by the hoarse-voiced blonde and the album for which she will be remembered "in saecula saeculorum": the reason is, essentially, the presence of "Bette Davis Eyes". The single (written by Jackie DeShannon with the collaboration of Donna Weiss in 1974, and included in the album "New Arrangement" in 1975 and then "loaned" six years later to Kim) will make her one of the most brilliant examples of, precisely, "One Hit Wonder".
Besides the extensively cited song, the album offers a good (but certainly not transcendent) Pop-FmRock with elegant blues undertones and some foray into exotic realms (or at least as the chart demands of those years required), especially in the often South American-flavored rhythmic choices. Catchy and, as is now commonly said, "catchy," to attract the airwaves aficionados of that era, now as of now suffers from the passage of time but remains a good product of 80s pop-rock "archaeology". To listen only if you feel like some Indiana Jones of the second art...
...or to experience ancestral thrills...
Mo.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Bette Davis Eyes (03:49)
Her hair is Harlow gold
Her lips sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll turn the music on you
You won't have to think twice
She's pure as New York snow
She got Bette Davis eyes
And she'll tease you
She'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious, and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
She got Greta Garbo's standoff sighs
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll let you take her home
It whets her appetite
She'll lay you on the throne
She got Bette Davis eyes
She'll take a tumble on you
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come out blue
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll expose you, when she snows you
Hope you're pleased with the crumbs she throws you
She's ferocious, and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a spy
She's got Bette Davis eyes
And she'll tease you
She'll unease you
All the better just to please you
She's precocious, and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she's a spy
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll tease you
She'll unease you
Just to please you
She's got Bette Davis eyes
She'll expose you
When she snows you
She knows you
She's got Bette Davis eyes
03 Mistaken Identity (04:51)
(Kim Carnes)
Did she tell you it's over
Did she throw you out in the night
And here you come to your other lover
Thinkin' that a restless heart
Will get you high again
But I've change the number
Of my telephone
You won't find me when you come callin'
And I'll say
Must be a case of mistaken identity
I'm not the girl you want me to be
Must be a case of mistaken identity
I'm not the girl you want me to be
Did you think I'd be waiting for you
Did you think I'd be holding my breath
To hear the songs of your footsteps
Sayin' its all over with her
And now you need me
Now you need me
But I've change the number
Of my telephone
You won't find me when you come callin'
And I'll say
Must be a case of mistaken identity
I'm not the girl you want me to be
Must be a case of mistaken identity
I'm not the girl you want me to be
So don't try to call me anymore with your lies
Don't be a fool and make the
Mistake of thinking I still love you
Oh anyone can tell I'm find
And I don't need you
But I've change the number
Of my telephone
You won't find me when you come callin'
And I'll say
Must be a case of mistaken identity
I'm not the girl you want me to be
Must be a case of mistaken identity
I'm not the girl you want me to be
05 Draw of the Cards (04:54)
(Kim Carnes/Dave Ellingson/Bill Cuomo/Val Garay)
Sleight of hand
Hands of Fate
Chance you take
Life's a snake
And it's all in the draw of the cards
Lightnin' strike
Breath of life
Red black or white
Watch 'em fall
And it's all in the draw of the cards
And it's all in the draw of the cards
Drop the cards
Watch the eyes
Down and dirty
Let 'em ride
Boulevard
Small cafe
Cavaliers
Pass the day
The joker laughs
From the street
Weaves his web
Bittersweet
Ace is high
Deuce is low
Take the first
The rest should go
And it's all in the draw of the cards
And it's all in the draw of the cards
07 Still Hold On (04:40)
(Kim Carnes/Dave Ellingson/Wendy Waldman)
If I told you tonight that I loved you
Would you walk my way would you say
Lies that I wanted to hear
If I told you tonight that I need you
Would you break my heart would you start
Wearing me down again
I feel so lonely when I'm with I'm with you
But I'm so lonely when you're gone
I can't live with you
I can't live without you
I still hold on
If I told you tonight I was leaving
Would you call my name take the blame
Turn it all around again
'Cause you know I love you
And worth the heartbreak we make
But I still hold on I still hold on
I feel so lonely when I'm with I'm with you
But I'm so lonely when you're gone
I can't live with you
I can't live without you
I still hold on
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