RIP Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt (1927 – 2008) was an American actress, singer, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her 1953 Christmas song “Santa Baby“. Orson Welles once called her the “most exciting woman in the world”. She is internationally known for such songs as “I Want to Be Evil” (1957) and Where Is My Man (1983) (UK #36), the first a prime example of American cabaret, the second a gay anthem. She is an archetypical cat woman.
[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5VaBgXzuM&]
As for “I Want to Be Evil,” I just discovered the song today. The version on Youtube depicted was recorded for a Swedish television show called Kaskade or Kaskad, Swedish for waterfall.
The song was written by Lester Judson and Raymond Taylor, first recorded in 1953, taken from the album That Bad Eartha with space-age pop musician Henri René and his Orchestra.