Bette Davis Eyes

Recorded live without overdubs at Record One in Los Angeles during the Mistaken Identity sessions, the track was produced and engineered by Val Garay. Keyboardist Bill Cuomo transformed Jackie DeShannon’s earlier recording with a distinctive synthesizer riff; the released performance used the first take. The single spent nine weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the chart’s biggest hit of 1981. It won Record of the Year at the 1982 Grammys, while writers Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss won Song of the Year. The recording became Carnes’s signature hit and brought Bette Davis renewed recognition among younger audiences. Later recordings by Gwyneth Paltrow and Taylor Swift extended the song’s reach across generations.