"Evil Woman" is a song written by lead vocalist

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...

and recorded by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was first released on the band's fifth album, 1975's '' Face the Music''.

Background

When released as a single in late 1975, the song became the band's first worldwide

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. According to Lynne, this song was the quickest he had ever written, in thirty minutes, originally as 'filler' for the group's ''Face the Music'' album. The song placed in the top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic in early 1976. The song became a hit again in the UK in 1978 when it featured on ''

The ELO EP Below is the complete Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) discography including imports, videos, and hit singles. ELO's back catalogue is unusual since their compilation albums far outweigh their studio output in number, owing to the large number of ...

''. The lyric "There's a hole in my head where the rain comes in" in the song is a tribute to

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' song "

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Reception

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'' praised the use of the title lyrics as a

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'' noted the 20th-century influences and "commercial qualities" of the song, stating "from the classic hookline — a recurring four notes from '

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,' through an electronic schism from a dramatic TV serial two-thirds of the way through." ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Michael Gallucci rated it ELO's 3rd best song, saying that it has "old-school strings and new-school keyboards...backing a funky dance-floor beat that drives the song all the way to pop glory."

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Jeff Lynne version

re-recorded the song in his own home studio. It was released in a compilation album, '' Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra'', with other re-recorded ELO songs, under the ELO name.

Cover versions

A cover version of the song was performed by

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's Like a Version segment in April 2011.

References

External links

In-depth Song Analysis
at the Jeff Lynne Song Database (Jefflynnesongs.com) {{authority control 1975 songs 1975 singles 1976 singles Electric Light Orchestra songs Jet Records singles Song recordings produced by Jeff Lynne Songs written by Jeff Lynne United Artists Records singles