Thursday, August 27, 2020

The 1980 Listening Post - Kim Carnes - Romance Dance

 Kim Carnes - Romance Dance


June 1980
Kim Carnes
Romance Dance
Genre: Raspy Pop Rock
3 out of 5


Highlights:
More Love


Requisite 80s cover: 
“Cry Like a Baby”. Once again…the covers are the brightest spots on the record. 
“Tear Me Apart” a ChinniChap joint that was written for Suzi Quatro. Remember Suzi? She was Leather Tuscadero. Man, I miss the 70s… Suzi’s version is a razorblade of glam on a Saturday night made for cruising the main strip looking for action. Kim’s is a middle aged divorcee sitting in a bar in Zzyzx, CA who hit L7 on the jukebox and is looking for love in the arms of an 18 wheeler commander. 
“More Love”. I couldn’t get away from this song in 1980. A good choice for Kim. 

I never realized it until now just how much Kim Carnes sounds like a female Rod Stewart. This is not a compliment, I think, to either vocalist. But instead of sounding like  a soccer player who decided to get up on stage at a karaoke bar, Kim comes across as a barfly at that bar who is on her second pack of Camels that night. 
Okay, that was fun. Truth is, she has a unique and instantly recognizable voice, one that I would actually like to hear duet with Beth Hart. They are so singular and identifiable but opposite ends of the same whiskey soaked blues that I wonder what that would be like.
Especially on “Cry Like a Baby”, a song crying out for Beth’s piano skills and her vibrato. 
I wonder ho many people bought this record for “More Love” and then listened to it once and never pulled it out again. 
Smart move to put the big hit on Side Two. At least, maybe someone would put side one on first and hear some of it. 
And then never hear it again. 


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