10 Cover Songs Much Better Than The Original

10. Kim Carnes - "Bette Davis Eyes" (Jackie DeShannon)

This was first recorded by Jackie DeShannon (who you may know as the singer behind "What the World Needs Now Is Love" and "Put a Little Love in Your Heart") for her 1974 album, ironically titled New Arrangement, and is a much jauntier, Motown-lite song. DeShannon also displays zero passion or enthusiasm, crafting a hollow pop song only meant as a good-time record for the dance clubs.

But a few years later, Kim Carnes would get into the studio with her sultry, raspy vocals and drip her sex all over the track, turning it into a lustful, fiery anthem featuring a synth-heavy sound. She's basically a female Rod Stewart, with all the sexual reverberations that statement implies.