"Draw of the Cards" by Kim Carnes

Song#:  0707
Date:  08/08/1981
Debut:  72
Peak:  28
Weeks:  12
Genre:  Pop, Rock



Pop Bits:  Carnes scored the biggest hit of 1981 with her rendition of "Bette Davis Eyes" (#1, 9 weeks) and her album "Mistaken Identity" also hit #1. It would be the high point of her career. The follow-up to that mega-hit was this second single from the LP. Unfortunately, it didn't connect with audiences and it petered out after barely getting into the Top 30.

ReduxReview:  Now, I will say that I really like this song and it was a good A-side closer on the LP. But why on earth this song would be selected as the follow-up single is beyond me. My guess is the record company wanted to keep with the dark, synth-y sound of "Bette Davis Eyes" and this was the only track on the album that was even close. I think it was a huge mistake. She had a couple of other songs on the album that would have been far better as singles and I think she could have easily had another Top 10 hit with one of them. This dark-synth theme would follow through to her next album and it almost brought her recording career to a screeching halt. Just judging the song, I'd rate this an easy 7. But as a single...

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  One song from the album that could have easily been a single was "Don't Call It Love." Written by hit-makers Tom Snow and Dean Pitchford, the song got covered by Dolly Parton in 1985 and it was released as a single. The song reached #3 on the country chart.

_________________________________________________________________________________