Devil Woman

"Devil Woman"
Single by Cliff Richard
from the album I'm Nearly Famous
B-side	"Love on Shine On"
Released	23 April 1976
Format	7" single
Recorded	8 & 9 September 1975, Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre	Pop rock
Length	3:35
Label	Rocket (US) EMI (UK) 2448
Writer(s)	Terry Britten, Christine Holmes
Producer(s)	Bruce Welch
Certification	Gold
Cliff Richard singles chronology
"Miss You Nights" (1975) "Devil Woman" (1976) "I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You" (1976)

"Devil Woman" is a 1976 hit single for Cliff Richard from his album I'm Nearly Famous.

Background

"Devil Woman" was written by Terry Britten and Christine Holmes (singer of the Family Dogg) and also recorded by Holmes under the name "Kristine".

A No. 9 UK hit in June 1976, "Devil Woman" became Richard's first single to reach the Top 20 in the US, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, which was Richard's highest peaking single. "Devil Woman" is the third biggest-selling Cliff Richard single with over two million copies sold worldwide.^[1][2] It was certified Gold by the RIAA in the US and the CRIA in Canada.^[3][4]

The song is told from the point of a view of a man jinxed from an encounter with a stray cat with evil eyes, and his discovery that the psychic medium (a Gypsy woman) whose help he sought to break the curse was the one responsible for the curse in the first place.

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 musicians featured on the Cliff Richard recording are Terry Britten on guitar, Alan Tarney on bass, Clem Cattini on drums, Graham Todd on keyboards, and Tony Rivers, John Perry and A. Harding on backing vocals, with string arrangements by Richard Hewson.

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1976) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[5] 3 Canada (RPM 100 Singles)[6] 4 Denmark (Tracklisten)[7] 12 France (SNEP)[8] 8 Ireland (IRMA)[9] 6 Italy (FIMI)[10] 39 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 5 Norway (VG-lista)[12] 7 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[13] 1 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[14] 9 US Billboard Hot 100[15] 6 US Cash Box Top 100 5 US Record World 5

Year-end charts Chart (1976) Rank Australia[16] 26 Canada [17] 57 New Zealand[18] 17 US Billboard [19] 55 US Cash Box [20] 58

Covers

• 1976: Co-composer Christine Holmes sang the song as Kristine Sparkle.^[21]
• 1979: Estonian singer Jaak Joala, in the Estonian language (Title: Saatanlik Naine).
• 1983: Riot on their album Born in America.
• 1987: All About Eve, as a B-side of their 12" single Flowers in our hair.
• 1987: Shy on their album Excess All Areas.
• 1987: The Accüsed on their album More Fun Than An Open Casket Funeral.
• 1989: Artisan covered the song on their EP Through Till Dawn.
• 1995: Hank Marvin, as an instrumental in on Hank Plays Cliff.
• 2005: Cradle of Filth on their special edition release of 2004's Nymphetamine with backing vocals by King Diamond.
• 2007: Hayseed Dixie, as a bluegrass song in on Weapons Of Grass Destruction.
• 2009: Estonian singer Uku Suviste, in the Estonian language (Title: Saatanlik Naine).
• 2014: Chicago heavy metal band Spillage (with connections to Trouble) covered the song in live settings.

See also

• Cliff Richard discography

External links

• In-depth Song Analysis at the Cliff Richard Song Database
• YouTube video of the song
• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

References

1. Steve Turner, Cliff Richard, p. 274
2. William's Cliff Chart Site - Cliff Richard World Singles
3. "American certifications – "Richard, Cliff"". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
4. "Canadian certifications – Cliff Richard". Music Canada. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (doc). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
6. "Top Singles - Volume 26, No. 3, October 16, 1976". Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
7. Refer to the Top 20/30 tab: "Denmark singles chart - Devil Woman". danskehitlister.dk. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
8. "France singles positions". Dominic DURAND / Infodisc. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
9. "Ireland singles charts". Irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
10. "Italy singles chart positions". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
11. "Charts.org.nz – Cliff Richard – Devil Woman". Top 40 Singles.
12. "Norwegiancharts.com – Cliff Richard – Devil Woman". VG-lista.
13. As presented on Springbok Radio/Radio Orion: "South African Charts 1969 - 1989". rock.co.za. Retrieved 2014-06-14.
14. "Cliff Richard: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company.
15. "Cliff Richard – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Cliff Richard.
16. Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
17. "Top Singles – Volume 26, No. 14 & 15, January 08 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved June 13, 2016.
18. "Top Selling Singles of 1976 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Nztop40.co.nz. 1963-12-08. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
19. "Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
20. "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1976". 50.6.195.142. 1976-12-25. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
21. "Kristine Sparkle - Devil woman 1976". YouTube. 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2015-11-02.