Rocktrospectiva: The Acclaimed "Mistaken Identity" Turns 45

Released on April 1981, "Mistaken Identity" was the sixth studio album by US singer Kim Carnes. The album spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard 200, and it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. The album's lead single "Bette Davis Eyes" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for nine non-consecutive weeks and topped the Hot 100 year-end chart of 1981. It won the 1982 Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year. Follow-up singles "Draw of the Cards" and "Mistaken Identity" reached numbers 28 and 60 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.

 

Los Angeles native Kim Carnes had been releasing records for fully ten years, starting with 1971's "Rest On Me," when she came up with the album that would make her a platinum-selling celebrity in the US, and take her around the world. That album was "Mistaken Identity." Carnes had gradually been building her audience all the way through the 1970s, scoring a top 40 Adult Contemporary hit in 1975 with "You're A Part Of Me" and then, in 1976, having her third album "Sailin" produced by no less of a studio presence than Jerry Wexler.  

 

Back in March 1981, her version of Jackie DeShannon and Donna Weiss' 1970s composition "Bette Davis Eyes" made the US chart and became a national and international sensation. It topped the Hot 100 for an astounding nine weeks, became a global hit and would be named both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the following year’s Grammys. It was some introduction to the album that soon followed. 

 

Mistaken Identity, produced by Val Garay, included another chart single, "Draw Of The Cards," and 33 years on, stands up as a superior set of songs for a great listen. Carnes' own title track retains its subtle power, as does her version of "When I’m Away From You," written by Scottish rocker Frankie Miller, and she can switch gear from the rocker "Break The Rules Tonite (Out Of School)" to the reflective closing track "My Old Pals."

 

The album's supporting tour, titled the Mistaken Identity Summer Tour '81, ran from August to October 1981, split into two legs. The first leg began in Dallas, Texas, on August 16. and it was Carnes' first time headlining a tour.

 

Mistaken Identity became Carnes' best-selling album, and her first to chart within the US Top 40. It entered the Billboard 200 at no. 66 in the week of May 2, 1981, and climbed to No. 1 in its ninth week. It spent a total of four weeks at the top of the chart, selling 1 million copies and earning Platinum certification. 

 

Mistaken Identity Track List:  

 

1. Bette Davis Eyes

2. Hit And Run

3. Mistaken Identity

4. When I'm Away From You

5. Draw Of The Cards

6. Break The Rules Tonite (Out Of School)

7. Still Hold On

8. Don't Call It Love

9. Miss You Tonite

10. My Old Pals