Kim Carnes .:. Bette Davis Eyes

“Bette Davis Eyes” is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, and made popular by American singer Kim Carnes. DeShannon recorded it in 1974; Carnes’s 1981 version spent nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was Billboard‘s biggest hit of 1981.

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. Keyboardist Bill Cuomo came up with the signature synth riff, using the Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 synthesizer, which now defines Carnes’s version. The song was recorded in the studio on the first take.

Kim Carnes – Official Web Site