"Devil Woman" is a 1976 single by British singer

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

from his album '' I'm Nearly Famous''. A worldwide hit on its original release, the song saw a resurgence in popularity after appearing in the film ''

I, Tonya ''I, Tonya'' is a 2017 American biographical sports film directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Steven Rogers. It follows the life and career of American figure skater Tonya Harding and her connection to the 1994 assault on her rival Nan ...

'' (2017), as the theme for the character of LaVona Golden, played by

Allison Janney Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. Known for her performances across the screen and stage, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Allison Janney, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

. The song was written by

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born 17 July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo (band), Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many ot ...

and Christine Authors (who was the singer of

the Family Dogg The Family Dogg were a British vocal group, noted for their harmony vocals. They are best known for their debut album, '' A Way of Life'', and the subsequent single of the same name. Career The idea was born when the Anglo-American singers of ...

under the name Christine Holmes). The song is told from the point of view of a man

jinx A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. Examples of "jinxing" in the 21st-century press include the suggestion a ship might be "jinxed". The connection was made wi ...

ed from an encounter with a stray cat with

evil eye The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glaring, glare, usually inspired by envy. Amulets to Apotropaic, protect against it have been found dating to around 5,000 years ago. It is found in many cultures i ...

s, and his discovery that the

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

medium whose help he sought to break the

curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...

was the one responsible for the curse in the first place. However, the nature of the curse is not made clear.

Original release

Released in late April 1976, "Devil Woman" rose to number 9 on the

singles chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

in Richard's native UK in June 1976. It became Richard's first single to reach the Top 20 in the US, making number 6 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

, Richard's highest-peaking single and biggest seller in the US. "Devil Woman" is the third biggest-selling Cliff Richard single, with over two million copies sold worldwide. It was certified Gold by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in the US and the CRIA in Canada. The musicians featured on the recording are

on guitar,

Alan Tarney Alan Tarney (born 19 November 1945) is an English record producer and musician. He was born in Northside, Workington, Cumberland, but spent his teenage years in Adelaide, Australia, where he met his songwriting and musical partner Trevor Spenc ...

on bass,

Clem Cattini Clemente Anselmo Agustino Cattini (born 20 August 1937) is an English rock and roll drummer of the late 1950s and 60s, who was a member of The Tornados before becoming well known for his work as a session musician. He is one of the most prolifi ...

on drums, Graham Todd on keyboards, and

Tony Rivers Tony Rivers (born Douglas Anthony Thompson, 21 December 1940, Shildon, County Durham, England) is an English singer, best known for singing with the groups Tony Rivers and the Castaways and Harmony Grass. Additionally, Rivers sang on albums by S ...

, John Perry, and Ken Gold on backing vocals, with string arrangements by Richard Hewson. The song is heavily guitar-driven, with soft-distortion lines doubling the melody in the chorus and long, high, sustained single notes providing atmosphere over the verses. A Rhodes electric piano, bass guitar, drums, and percussion are the only other instruments. The chorus vocal line was mimicked on Black Sabbath's "Lady Evil".

Track listing

7": EMI / EMI 2458 # "Devil Woman" – 3:41 # "Love On (Shine On) – 3:04 7": Rocket / PIG-40574 (North America) # "Devil Woman" – 3:35 # "Love On (Shine On) – 3:04

Personnel

– vocals *

– guitar *

– bass guitar * Graham Todd –

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

– drums *

– backing vocals * John Perry – backing vocals * Ken Gold – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

In-depth Song Analysis
at the Cliff Richard Song Database * {{authority control 1976 singles Cliff Richard songs Songs written by Terry Britten 1976 songs EMI Records singles The Rocket Record Company singles MCA Records singles Number-one singles in South Africa