"That Ole Devil Called Love" is a song written in 1944 by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher. It was first recorded by

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

, who released it as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of her hit "

Lover Man "Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)" (often called simply "Lover Man") is a 1941 popular song written by Jimmy Davis, Roger ("Ram") Ramirez, and James Sherman. It is particularly associated with Billie Holiday, for whom it was written, and her ...

" in 1945. "That Ole Devil Called Love" at SecondhandSongs.com
Retrieved 6 May 2014"Song of the Day: That Ole Devil Called Love", ''Music and Meaning: The RBHS Jukebox'', 18 September 2013
Retrieved 6 May 2014 In 1985, the song was recorded by

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard (; ; born 18 June 1961), formerly known as Alf, is an English singer. Noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice, she came to prominence as a member of the synth-pop duo Yazoo (band), Yazoo (known as Yaz in Nor ...

, whose version, produced by

Pete Wingfield William Peter Wingfield (born 7 May 1948) is an English record producer, Keyboardist, keyboard player, songwriter, singer, and music journalism, music journalist. Career Whilst at Sussex University, Wingfield and three other students formed ...

, topped the chart in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

for three weeks and reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

Alison Moyet version

In 1985,

released her own version of the song as a non-album single. It reached No. 2 in the UK and remained in the charts for ten weeks. A music video was filmed to promote the single, which was directed by

Vaughan Arnell Vaughan Arnell (born 31 May 1961) is a British music video and television commercial director. Although having done films for high-profile clients in the TV commercial field, including Nestlé and Levi's, he is best known for his directorial work ...

and

Anthea Benton Anthea Benton is a British television commercial and music video director, best known for her adverts for Stella Artois and Levi's. Career Benton began her career as a Fashion Designer and moved into directing in 1982 as half of the directing du ...

. Moyet's version was recorded following the success of her debut album '' Alf''. When CBS suggested releasing a fourth single from the album, Moyet spoke against the idea and suggested she record a cover of "That Ole Devil Called Love" in order to give fans something new. Speaking to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 2004, Moyet commented on the song: "After my versions of "That Ole Devil Called Love" and "

Love Letters A love letter is a romantic way to express feelings of love in written form. Love Letter(s) or The Love Letter may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Love Letters'' (1917 film), an American drama silent film * ''Love Letters'' ( ...

" did well, there was definite pressure for me to become some sort of jazz diva."

Reception

Upon release, Marshall O'Leary of ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' did not consider the song to be "one of erfavourites" but described it as a "smoochy number" and "one to play while you're with your loved one". Peter Trollope of the ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

'' commented: " oyetgets the blues and coaxes it into another smash single that has the look of a number one about it!"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other versions

Other artists who have recorded the song include

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023), known professionally as Tony Bennett, was an American jazz and traditional pop singer. He received many accolades, including 20 Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, ...

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

Diane Schuur Diane Joan Schuur (born December 10, 1953), nicknamed "Deedles", is an American jazz singer and pianist. As of 2015, Schuur had released 23 albums, and had extended her jazz repertoire to include essences of Latin, gospel, pop and country musi ...

, "That Ole Devil Called Love" search at ASCAP
Retrieved 6 May 2014

Jeri Southern Jeri Southern (born Genevieve Lillian Hering; August 5, 1926 – August 4, 1991) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Early years Born Genevieve Lillian Hering in Royal, Nebraska, United States, Southern was the granddaughter of a German pig ...

and

Susannah McCorkle Susannah McCorkle (January 1, 1946 – May 19, 2001) was an American jazz singer. Life and career A native of Berkeley, California, McCorkle studied Italian literature at the University of California at Berkeley before dropping out to move to ...

References

{{Authority control 1944 songs 1985 singles Billie Holiday songs CBS Records singles Alison Moyet songs Songs written by Allan Roberts (songwriter) Songs written by Doris Fisher (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Pete Wingfield Number-one singles in New Zealand