"Devil Woman" is a 1976 single by British singer

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

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 film directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Steven Rogers. It follows the life and career of the American figure skater Tonya Harding and her connection with the 1994 attack on her rival Nancy ...

'' (2017), as the theme for the character of

LaVona Golden Tonya Maxene Price (née Harding; born November 12, 1970) is an American former figure skater, retired boxer and a reality television personality. Born in Portland, Oregon, Harding was raised primarily by her mother, who enrolled her in ice sk ...

, played by

Allison Janney Allison Brooks Janney (born November 19, 1959) is an American actress. In a career spanning three decades, she is known for her performances across multiple genres of screen and stage. Janney has received various accolades, including an Academ ...

. The song was written by

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born 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 and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

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 t ...

under the name Christine Holmes). The song is told from the point of a 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. The word ''"jynx"'' meaning the bird wryneck and sometimes a charm or spell has been in use in English since the seventeent ...

ed from an encounter with a stray cat with

evil eye The Evil Eye ( grc, ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος; grc-koi, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός; el, (κακό) μάτι; he, עַיִן הָרָע, ; Romanian: ''Deochi''; it, malocchio; es, mal de ojo; pt, mau-olhado, olho gordo; ar ...

s, and his discovery that the

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

medium (a

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

) 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 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 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), radio play, and online streaming ...

, 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 A ''cria'' (pronounced ) is a juvenile llama, alpaca, vicuña, or guanaco. Etymology The term comes from the Spanish word cría, meaning "baby". Its false cognate in English, ''crya'' (pronounced ), was coined by British sailors who explored C ...

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 Spence ...

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 ...

, John Perry, and Ken Gold on backing vocals, with string arrangements by

Richard Hewson Richard Anthony Hewson (born 17 November 1943) is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who created the studio group RAH Band. Career Hewson began in the late 1960s as an arranger, and has worked with musicians s ...

. 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.

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 which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

– drums *

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

Chart performance and certifications

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