"Draw of the Cards" | ||||
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Single by Kim Carnes | ||||
from the album Mistaken Identity | ||||
B-side | "Break the Rules Tonite (Out of School)" | |||
Released | August 1981 | |||
Recorded | January 1981 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:53 (Album Version) 4:02 (Single Version) | |||
Label | EMI America | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) | Val Garay | |||
Kim Carnes singles chronology | ||||
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Licensed audio | ||||
"Draw Of The Cards" on YouTube |
"Draw of the Cards" is a 1981 single, the second released from Kim Carnes's Platinum-plus Mistaken Identity album.
Carnes said that the idea for the song came from when she went with her husband and co-writer Dave Ellingson and her producer Val Garay to visit her guitarist in the hospital. Carnes said that she said "something about his illness being all in the draw of the cards." Carnes continued that "We wrote some lines that went with that theme, the later Bill [Cuomo] brought his Prophet synthesizer over, played a line he had, and we pulled out the lyrics to finish the song." [1]
The single reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1981, failing to match the chart success of its predecessor, "Bette Davis Eyes", which reached #1. [2] [3] Billboard called it an "adventurous track" in which Carnes' "cool, distant vocal delivery maintains its intriguing edge" and said that the song has a "dazzling arrangement." [4] Record World said that "Serpentine keyboards lurk among grating guitars and Kim's raspy purrs" and felt this was a strong follow up to Carnes' previous single. [5]
Tampa Bay Times contributor Kevin Wuench felt that the song has a "great '80s synth sound." [6] Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh called it a "standout". [7] Music critic Colin Larkin described the song as having a "contagious, swirling organ-dominated sound." [8] Viacom ranked "Draw of the Cards" as Carnes' 10th best song, stating that it was "just as intoxicating in its creepiness" as Carnes' previous single, "Bette Davis Eyes." [9]
Some critics had negative reactions to the song. Boston Globe critic Bill Flanagan called it a "silly attempt at pulsating rhythmic sensuality...that sounds desperately self-conscious." [10] Leader-Post critic Bruce Johnstone called it "a blustery and bombastic piece of pseudo-rock" and said that "despite its catchy beat and some nice saxophone and guitar filler, nothing can disguise the song's inherent emptiness." [11] Chicago Tribune critic Blair R. Fischer called it "inimitably forgettable." [12]
The music video was directed by Russell Mulcahy, who had also directed the video for "Bette Davis Eyes." According to Wuench, the video "has some weird carnival activities and one long tongue by some creature of the underworld." [6]
Chart (1981) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [13] | 64 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [14] | 16 |
Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [15] | 42 |
Ireland (IRMA) [16] | 30 |
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [17] | 12 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [18] | 13 |
UK Singles (OCC) [19] | 49 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [20] | 28 |
US Cash Box Top 100 [21] | 25 |
West Germany (Official German Charts) [22] | 35 |
Kim Carnes is an American singer and songwriter born and raised in Los Angeles. She began her career as a songwriter in the 1960s, writing for other artists while performing in local clubs and working as a session background singer with the famed Water Sisters. After she signed her first publishing deal with Jimmy Bowen, she released her debut album Rest on Me in 1971. Carnes' self-titled second album primarily contained self-penned songs, including her first charting single "You're a Part of Me", which reached No. 35 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in 1975. In the following year, Carnes released Sailin', which featured "Love Comes from Unexpected Places". The song won the American Song Festival and the award for Best Composition at the Tokyo Song Festival in 1976.
"Bette Davis Eyes" is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was recorded by DeShannon that year but made popular by Kim Carnes in 1981 when it spent nine non-consecutive weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It won the 1981 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. The music video was directed by Australian film director Russell Mulcahy.
"In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, Face Value, in January 1981.
Mistaken Identity is the sixth studio album by American singer Kim Carnes, released in April 1981 by EMI America Records. The album spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, and was subsequently certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
"All Those Years Ago" is a song by the English rock musician George Harrison, released in May 1981 as a single from his ninth studio album Somewhere in England. Having previously recorded the music for the song, Harrison tailored the lyrics to serve as a personal tribute to his former Beatles bandmate John Lennon, following the latter's murder in 1980. Ringo Starr is featured on drums, and Paul McCartney overdubbed backing vocals onto the basic track. The single spent three weeks at number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, behind "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes, and it peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. It also topped Canada's RPM singles chart and spent one week at number 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary listings.
"Beast of Burden" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, featured on the 1978 album Some Girls. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song No. 435 on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
"Kids in America" is a song recorded by English pop singer Kim Wilde. It was released in the United Kingdom as her debut single in January 1981, and in the United States in spring 1982, later appearing on her self-titled debut studio album. Largely inspired by the synth-pop style of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) and Gary Numan, the song reached number two on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks and number one in Finland and South Africa, and charted in the top 10 of many European charts as well as Australia and New Zealand. In North America, the song reached the top 40 in Canada and the United States. It was certified gold in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Sweden; and has sold over three million copies worldwide. The song has been covered by many artists from different genres.
"We've Got Tonite" is a song written by American rock music artist Bob Seger, from his album Stranger in Town (1978). The single record charted twice for Seger, and was developed from a prior song that he had written. Further versions charted in 1983 for Kenny Rogers as a duet with Sheena Easton, and again in 2002 for Ronan Keating.
"Being with You" is a 1981 song recorded by American singer Smokey Robinson and is the title track from his Gold-certified album with the same name. The song spent five weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart from March to early May 1981 and reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes, his highest charting solo hit on the Billboard pop charts. It also reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.
Now let me tell you about a coincidental relationship between Smokey at #2 and Kim Carnes who's at #1 again this week. Kim's last hit was "More Love", her remake of an old Smokey Robinson hit. Well, Smokey liked Kim's version so much that he wrote her another song, but when Smokey's producer heard the demo, he told Smokey, "You oughta record it yourself!", and that's the song we just heard in the #2 position. And how ironic it is that Smokey's recording of the song he'd written for Kim Carnes has been kept out of the #1 spot by a Kim Carnes hit for 3 weeks running. - Casey Kasem, American Top 40
"Get It On Tonite" is the lead single released from American singer turned pastor Montell Jordan's fourth album, Get It On...Tonite (1999). The song was produced by Brian "Lilz" Palmer and Sergio "PLX" Moore, who used a sample of Claudja Barry's 1976 single "Love for the Sake of Love".
Voyeur is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Kim Carnes, released on September 8, 1982, by EMI America Records. Carnes began writing material for Voyeur while touring her previous album Mistaken Identity (1981).
Café Racers is the eighth studio album by American singer Kim Carnes, released in October 1983 by EMI.
Barking at Airplanes is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Kim Carnes, released on May 5, 1985, by EMI America Records.
"Crazy in the Night (Barking at Airplanes)" is a song by American singer-songwriter Kim Carnes and the lead single from her ninth studio album, Barking at Airplanes (1985). Written by Carnes, and co-produced with Bill Cuomo, the track was inspired by her eldest son's struggles with nightmares and fear of the dark as a child. It was released as a single in April 1985 by EMI America.
"Voyeur" is a song by American singer-songwriter Kim Carnes from her seventh studio album of the same name (1982). Written by Carnes, her husband Dave Ellingson, and Duane Hitchings, the song is an uptempo synth-pop track. It is the first track from the album, and its lead single.
"More Love" is a 1967 hit single recorded by the American soul group The Miracles for Motown Records' Tamla label. The single, included on the group's 1967 album Make It Happen, later reissued in 1970 as The Tears of a Clown. Kim Carnes's 1980 cover of the song reached the Top 10 of Billboard's Adult Contemporary and Hot 100 charts.
"Make No Mistake, He's Mine" is a song written by Kim Carnes, recorded as a duet with Barbra Streisand in 1984. The duet was subsequently recorded as "Make No Mistake, She's Mine" by Ronnie Milsap and Kenny Rogers in 1987. Both versions of the song charted.
"Oh Sherrie" is the debut solo single by American singer Steve Perry. Written by Perry, Randy Goodrum, Craig Krampf and Bill Cuomo, the song was recorded and released on Perry's first solo album Street Talk in 1984, which he released while still a member of Journey. The song is often regarded as an "honorary" Journey song, being credited to the band on several hit compilation albums and in other media, largely due to its resemblance to the band's trademark sound, as well as their performances of the song on the Raised on Radio Tour, which proved to be Perry's live swansong with the band. The track is composed in the key of F major with a time signature of 4
4, following a tempo of 120 beats per minute.
American singer-songwriter Kim Carnes has released 13 studio albums, one live album, five compilation albums, and 48 singles. She signed with Amos Records in 1971 and released her debut album Rest on Me in the same year. Her self-titled second album was released in the following year. Kim Carnes yielded one single, "You're a Part of Me", which became Carnes' first charting title. The song reached No. 32 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. None of Carnes's albums charted until the release of her fifth studio album Romance Dance (1980). The album peaked at No. 57 on the Billboard 200, No. 77 on the Canadian Albums Chart and No. 89 on the Australian Albums Chart. Romance Dance produced two hit singles; the Smokey Robinson and the Miracles cover "More Love", which made the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 10, and "Cry Like a Baby", which peaked right outside of the top 40, at No. 44.
"Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer" is a song recorded by American singers Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes, the latter of whom wrote the song with her husband David Ellingson. It was released in March 1980 as the first single from Rogers' album Gideon. It was also recorded in Spanish as "No Te Enamores De Un Loco". The song was the only duet from the album Gideon.