text:
Complete Song List
1950s (182 songs)
1960s (1516 songs)
Song Analyses
* Bachelor Boy
* Daddy's Home
* Devil Woman
Single Analyses
UK 1958 to 1979 Releases
UK 1979 to Today Releases
UK Other Releases + Charts
Video/TV Analyses
Series and Specials
John Panteny's
Cliff and Shads Discography
The Shadows Database
Mono vs. Stereo
Never in Digital
100th Single
Cliff Richard -- Devil Woman
An in-depth song analysis
Record Date: September 8 & 9, 1975
Record Location: Abbey Road Studios, London
Written By: Terry Britten & Christine Holmes
Arranged By: Bruce Welch
Produced By: Bruce Welch
Engineered By: Tony Clark & John Barrett
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Terry Britten (guitar), Alan Tarney (bass), Clem Cattini (drums), Graham Todd (keyboards), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals), Ken Gold (backing vocals)
Initially Released On: I'm Nearly Famous LP album (1976 May — UK — EMI EMC 3122)
Comments and Observations
Recording the Song: Devil Woman was recorded at Abbey Road in London on September 8 and 9, 1975, at sessions which also produced the popular Miss You Nights song. It was the first session produced by Bruce Welch exclusively and the first session recording with backing vocalists Tony Rivers, John Perry and Ken Gold, whom Cliff would use for many years to come. (Despite what is written in the album's liner notes and various books, Tony Harding did not perform on the song.)
The song had been presented to Cliff months earlier by writer Terry Britten, but Cliff had rejected it. It was at producer Bruce Welch's persistence that Cliff finally recorded the song. The song was presented to Cliff again at the same time as Miss You Nights and I Can't As For Any More Than You. It was at this point that Cliff finally agreed to recorded it, although he remained reluctant.
It is unclear why Cliff was resistant to recording the song af first, but it has been suggested that he primarily did not like the lyrics and their fortune-telling theme. Bruce Welch persisted and Cliff finally relented after changing some of the lyrics to more overtly suggest that the "devil woman" was dangerous and should be avoided. It is unknown what the original lyrics were that Cliff changed. The lyrics as performed on the Kristine I'm A Song album, are sung in third person ("He's had nothing but bad luck..."), use the lyrics "I can see me a gypsy woman" instead of "I can see me a tall dark stranger" and "and he knew what he came there for" instead of and "I wonder what I came there for" in the second verse, and excludes the "stay away" and "look out" lyrics from the second bridge. It is known that Cliff added the "Stay away! Look out!" parts, however if this and the aforementioned changes are all that Cliff changed, then he changed very little at all for his version. He also likely changed the line to "I wonder what I came there for" which clearly obscures the meaning of what he, the singer, was doing there.
During the recording, Tony Clark apparently enthused that the song would be a hit in America. Perhaps the other didn't believe him, but Tony's words turned to be prophetic.
Releases: The song was released as a 7" single in the UK by EMI on May 1976 with stock number "EMI 2448" and having the Cliff Richard-penned song Love On (Shine On), a song unique to this single, on the B-side. It was also the 8th track on the I'm Nearly Famous album and the second single taken from that album (with the first being Miss You Nights). It is Cliff's 66th single release (approximately, as the counting of Cliff's singles varies depending upon how they are counted). The single was reissued in 1981 with the same stock number, but this time with an original picture sleeve and a new record label. It was released in the USA as a 7" single on a Rocket Record Company single (PIG-40574) with the same Love On (Shine On) song on the B-side and on the I'm Nearly Famous LP, the first Cliff LP release in the US since the Two A Penny soundtrack in 1968.
Devil Woman was released during a period when Cliff's popularity and chart success were waning. It was the first top ten hit since 1973 and the third top ten hit of the 1970s. It entered the UK Top 50 chart on May 8, 1976, peaked at #9 on June 5, 1976, and spent 8 weeks in the chart. Although it was not a monster hit in the UK, it had big international success. It is also significant that it was a breakout hit for Cliff in the USA, being his first USA charting song since 1968's Congratulations (which peaked at a meager #99). It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on July 4, 1976, reached #6 for three consecutive weeks on September 26, October 3 and October 10, 1976, spending 22 weeks in the chart. It is Cliff's highest charting hit on the USA charts ever, being certified gold (having sold a million copies) on October 20, 1976. The song has a curious distinction of being the only Cliff Richard song that charted higher in the USA than it did in Cliff's home country of the UK.
The song is a truely pivotal song, ushering in a renaissance for Cliff. The I'm Nearly Famous LP is the first LP of many successful LPs that featured exclusive production by Shadow Bruce Welch. The album was also picked up by Rocket Record Company in the USA thanks to the insistance of Cliff's friend, Elton John, where a major push behind the album and Devil Woman single was able to propel them both to great success. Today, the I'm Nearly Famous album is considered by fans and critics to be one of Cliff's finest, with both Devil Woman and Miss You Nights still being played on the radio and performed in concerts today.
Cliff found out about the song's success in America while performing a concert in Hong Kong. He was on stage, speaking to the audience during the concert, when Bruce walk across the stage and whispered the song had "made it" in America. Surely Cliff was chuffed at the news, although it's unclear how he reacted while on stage.
The song was lyrically referenced years later in Cliff's unique cover version of Elvis Presley's All Shook Up. Released in late 2001 on the Alan Tarney produced Wanted album, the very unique arrangement of the song contains the lyric "she put a spell on me; she put a spell on me; she's a devil woman" which was not in the original lyrics.
Writing the Song: The song was written based upon a riff that Terry Britten had developed. The riff had a mysterious vibe to it, like I Heard It Through The Grapevine, but Terry had not yet developed it into a song. He met Christine Holmes and played her the riff. Hearing the mysterious vibe of the song, she had to idea to use the theme from her book of ideas about a fortune telling seductress. Thus the pair went to her flat in Kensington and wrote the song together, with Terry writing the music and Christine writing the words. This song is the only collaboration they did together.
There has been a lot of confusion over exactly who wrote the song. Although Britten's authorship has never been questioned, Holmes' has varied greatly because of the many stage names she has used over the years. Her birth name is Christine Hodgson, for a while she was using the stage name Kristine Sparkle, and she was married to Barry Authors and sometimes using his family name professionally. Thus the writing credits vary radically, with the first name sometimes written as "Christine" or "Kristine" combined with variable last names, including "Holmes", "Hodgson", "Sparkle", "Authors" and "Anchor". One source even credits the song to Barry Authors himself, which is clearly an error. But the most proper credit is for Christine Holmes as that is the name she finally settled on using. Curiously, although Cliff went on to record many Terry Britten songs, he never recorded any other songs written by Christine Holmes.
Christine Holmes recorded the song herself under the stage name "Kristine" (no last name) on her 1976 I'm A Song album (it was a single in Canada only), although it remains unclear if she recorded the song before or after Cliff released and had a hit with his version. A sample of the Kristine version can be heard HERE.
USA Single Mix: On the strength of the material for I'm Nearly Famous, particularly Devil Woman and Miss You Nights, Cliff was signed to the Rocket Record Company in the USA. A decision was made to slightly remaster the song Devil Woman, giving the song more punch with a stronger bass and drum. It was this mix that was used on the USA single, while the album had the standard worldwide single/album mix. A comparison of these mixes can be heard HERE. The first part heard is the original album version, followed by the USA single mix (both the intro and the fade are heard).
Years later, this mix appeared on the 1989 CD issue of 40 Golden Greats. Why was this mix used for this compilation? It remains a mystery why, but when this 1989 CD compilation was prepared of the original 1978 LP compilation, it is clear that the compilers chose to recompile the tracks and not use the original masters prepared for the LP. Where the LP had several mock stereo versions of the early songs that were recorded only in mono, the CD reverted to the original mono versions as mock stereo was no longer in fashion by the late 1980s. It is assumed the that compilers went looking for what they thought was the best master of Devil Woman and inadvertantly picked up the USA single mix.
This USA single mix next appeared on the 1998 compilation simply called 1970s. (Several decade-themed compilations were released in 1998). As 1998 was Cliff's 40th anniversary in show business, his catalog had undergone a major overhaul under engineer Keith Bessey. The idea was to remaster the best versions of Cliff's hit songs and use them for all releases from then on. The only 40th anniversary compilation with Devil Woman was the 1970s set and once again, the USA single mix was picked for it. This mix, next appearing on 2000's The Whole Story - His Greatest Hits compilation, has been used on all releases since then, completely replacing the original album mix. The USA single mix was even used on the 2001 remaster of the I'm Nearly Famous album.
The Song's Meaning: Cliff believes the song to be about the occult and serves as a warning against it, which is the reason he changes the song's lyrics. Songwriter Christine Holmes states is not really about the occult, simply about a fortune telling woman seducing a man. Bruce Welch agrees, stating that it's about a seductress using her sexual prowess to seduce the song's antagonist. The seductress just happens to be a mystical fortune teller, which fits the song's theme of the evil seductress. Indeed, the song's lyrics never explicitly mention the occult; the implication of the occult can be derived in the song's divination theme and the "evil" and "devil" references. Divination is explicitly forbidden in Christian teachings from the Bible (Deuteronomy 18:10), but other than this reference, divination is not necessarily Satanic or evil.
In interviews, Cliff very often accounts a story of the song for which he is very proud. He tells of having been contacted by a fan in Australia who told of being lost and having no direction in life. She had been considering and dabbling in the occult as a means to finding her needed direction. Upon hearing Cliff's recording of Devil Woman and taking the lyrics to heart, she turned away from the occult and became a Christian very involved in her church. Cliff has told this story many, many times over the years and apparently it's a great source of pride.
Structure and Lyrics
Below is the structure of the fullest, most complete version of the originally released song as available on the standard issues of the I'm Nearly Famous album.
-Guitar Intro
Guitar intro
-Verse 1
I've had nothing but bad luck
Since the day I saw that cat at my door
So I came into you sweet lady
Answering your mystical call
Crystal ball on the table
Showing the future, the past
Same cat with them evil eyes
And I knew it was a spell she cast
-Chorus 1
She's just a devil woman
With evil on her mind
Beware the devil woman
She's gonna get you
She's gonna get you from behind
-Bridge 1
Long guitar note
Give me the ring on your finger
Let me see the lines on your hand
I can see me a tall dark stranger
Giving you what you hadn't planned
I drank the potion she offered me
I found myself on the floor
Then I looked in those big green eyes
And I wonder what I came there for
She's gonna get you from behind, from behind
Stacatto guitar notes with Cliff whispers Stay away! Look out!
If you're out on a moonlit night
Be careful of the neighbourhood strays
Of a lady with long black hair
Trying to win you with her feminine ways
You better get out of there fast
She's gonna get you... Ah, stay away!
She's gonna get you (get you!)
She's just a devil woman...
There are three known non-live variations of the original Devil Woman They are:
-Devil Woman (Standard Release)
-Devil Woman (USA Single Version)
-Devil Woman (My Kinda Life Version)
The standard release was used on the original I'm Nearly Famous LP and the original UK Devil Woman single. There was a punchier mix for the USA single release (although the USA album had the same mix as the UK), that also had a slightly earlier fade. In 1998, this USA single mix superceded the original mix and has been on all releases since then.
In 1992, Cliff released a French compilation called My Kinda Life (EMI 7994322) in which he reworked several of his previously released songs, enhancing them with new vocals and/or instrumentation. Included in this was a new version of Devil Woman to which guitars, drums and percussion (but no new vocals) were added over the existing backing track. The drums are much stronger and the guitars have more intensity, giving the song a harsher and more "evil" sound. In addition, the fade out is extended by an additional 10 seconds, allowing for all of chorus 5 and part of chorus 6 to be heard.
Song Section
Lyric/Part
Devil Woman (Standard Release)
Devil Woman (USA Single Version)
Devil Woman (My Kinda Life Version)
Guitar Intro Guitar Intro YES YES YES
Verse 1 I've had nothing but bad luck YES YES YES
Since the day I saw that cat at my door YES YES YES
So I came into you sweet lady YES YES YES
Answering your mystical call YES YES YES
Crystal ball on the table YES YES YES
Showing the future, the past YES YES YES
Same cat with them evil eyes YES YES YES
And I knew it was a spell she cast YES YES YES
Chorus 1 Ooh! YES YES YES
She's just a devil woman YES YES YES
With evil on her mind YES YES YES
Beware the devil woman YES YES YES
She's gonna get you YES YES YES
She's gonna get you from behind YES YES YES
Bridge 1 Long guitar note YES YES YES
Verse 2 Give me the ring on your finger YES YES YES
Let me see the lines on your hand YES YES YES
I can see me a tall dark stranger YES YES YES
Giving you what you hadn't planned YES YES YES
I drank the potion she offered me YES YES YES
I found myself on the floor YES YES YES
Then I looked in those big green eyes YES YES YES
And I wonder what I came there for YES YES YES
She's gonna get you from behind, from behind YES YES YES
Bridge 2 Stacatto guitar notes with Cliff whispers Stay away! Look out! YES YES YES
Verse 3 If you're out on a moonlit night YES YES YES
Be careful of the neighbourhood strays YES YES YES
Of a lady with long black hair YES YES YES
Trying to win you with her feminine ways YES YES YES
You better get out of there fast YES YES YES
Chorus 4 She's just a devil woman YES YES YES
She's gonna get you... Ah, stay away! YES YES YES with additional effects added to the Ah, stay away! lyric
She's gonna get you (get you!) YES YES YES but without the additional (get you!) lyric
She's gonna get you YES - YES
She's just a devil woman YES - YES
With evil on her mind - - YES
Beware the devil woman - - YES
She's gonna get you - - YES
Chorus 6 She's just a devil woman - - YES
Beware the devil woman... - - YES
Musicological Analysis
From a musicological perspective the song has 4 sections: riff (verse), pre-chorus, chorus and bridge. To understand some of these sections, it is helpful to first understand the blues pentatonic scale. This scale is made up of the 1, flat-3, 4, 5, and flat-7th degrees of the corresponding major scale, so the D blues pentatonic scale - the one relevant to Devil Woman - comprises the (natural) notes D, F, G, A and C.
A major chord is made up of 3 notes played simultaneously: the root note (after which the chord is named), the note four semi-tones higher than the root note (an interval of a major 3rd, hence this note is called "the 3rd"), and the note 7 semi-tones higher than the root note (an interval of a perfect 5th, hence this note is called "the 5th"). So the major chords based on the D blues pentatonic scale and their spellings are:
D F# A
F A C
G B D
A C# E
C E G
This set of chords has been termed the (D) "blues harmonic scale". Note, however, that all of these chords except F major contain notes that are not themselves part of the blues pentatonic scale on which the chords are based:
D (The I chord) which has F# as its 3rd
G (The IV chord) which has B as its 3rd
A (The V chord) which has C# as its 3rd and E as its 5th (i.e. 2 non-scale tones)
C (The flat-VII - also written bVII - chord) which has E as its 3rd
Two of these tones - the F# in the D chord and the C# in the A chord - are the natural 3rd and 7th tones of the D major scale. The clash of flat-3rd and flat-7th notes in a melody against the natural 3rd and 7th tones in the accompaniment is one of the most defining features of the blues, and this is exactly what this group of chords gives us when set against the scale comprising their root notes (i.e. the blues pentatonic scale).
In Devil Woman, the riff that starts the record is a sequence of dyads. A dyad is a pair of notes played simultaneously, so a major chord with one note removed is, by definition, a dyad. The specific chord progression on which the riff is based is D, G, F, C and D (I-IV-bIII-bVII-I) with chord degrees 5, 3, 5, 3 and 3 making up the notes removed to produce the dyads. The riff is repeated twice as the introduction, then two more times as the backing to the first verse. The tune of the verse uses notes from the blues pentatonic scale, giving the verse of Devil Woman a very bluesy flavour and making it a perfect example of a blues melody being harmonised by blues harmonic major chords.
Following the verse, the pre-chorus - i.e. "Crystal ball on the table .... spell she cast" - shifts to the parallel minor (D minor), mainly utilising the natural form of the minor scale but borrowing the A major chord from the harmonic minor as a transitional chord to the chorus. The tune in this section stays within the mode, using only the 4 natural notes D, E, F and G (the D natural minor scale also includes the notes A, Bb and C, but these do not appear in tune of the pre-chorus). The chord progression in this section is bVII-i-bVII-i-bVII-i-bVI-V (C-Dm-C-Dm-C-Dm-Bb-A), all for one bar each.
The chorus returns to blues-modal harmony. The first 3 bars has a strictly blues pentatonic tune, all harmonised by a D major chord. The melody for the last bar adds the 2nd degree of the D minor scale (E natural), and is harmonised by an interrupted bVI-bVII cadence - half a bar each of Bb and C. The cadence is completed (back to I) by overlapping the D major chord that signifies the return of the riff.
After once through the riff the verse, pre-chorus and chorus repeats. This time the interrupted cadence is prolonged by another 4 bars of alternating flat-VI and flat-VII chords (Bb and C) before returning to the riff. For these 4 bars - which comprise the bridge - the harmonic rhythm is halved, with a full bar between each chord change.
There is no new musical material in the rest of the record: two passes of the riff, the final verse and pre-chorus before concluding with repeated choruses. Overall the song exhibits a reasonably high degree of musical invention mixing blues material cast in a relatively modern harmonic setting with traditional tonal music.
These are the known statistics for the various countries' music charts. If you can fill in the missing information or know of charting information in other countries, please let me know at the email address listed at the bottom of this page.
UK Official Top 50 Chart Entry Date: May 8, 1976 41 24 21 11 9
(June 5, 1976) 12 15 33
New Musical Express Top 30 Chart Entry Date: May 8, 1976 27 23 18 11 7
USA Billboard Hot 100 Chart Entry Date: July 4, 1976 87 77 67 57 47 42 34 30 20 17 13 7 6
(September 26, 1976) 6
(October 3, 1976) 6
(October 10, 1976) 7 14 32 51 61 80 80
USA Cash Box Top 100 Chart Entry Date: June 26, 1976 88 79 70 62 57 43 30 24 17 14 12 9 7 6 5
(October 16, 1976) 16 26 33 36 42 44 67
USA Record World Top 40 Chart Entry Date: [DATE UNKNOWN] Peak at #5 during a run of an unknown number of weeks on the chart
Australia Chart (Top 5 Only) Entry Date: October 4, 1976 4 3
(October 11, 1976) 3
(October 18, 1976) 5 Note: It's known that the song ran for 26 weeks on the chart,
however the scale and placings of that run are unknown beyond the Top 5
Canada CHUM Chart Entry Date: August 18, 1976 28 20 14 12 3
(September 29, 1976) 5 4 9 11 14 20 22 30
Canada RPM Top 100 Chart Entry Date: July 10, 1976 98 84 74 66 51 43 32 23 21 19 9 8 8 4
(October 16, 1976) no chart published 8 11 15 22 26 28 40
France Chart Entry Date: [DATE UNKNOWN] Peak at #10 on October 1, 1976 during a run of 13 weeks on the chart
Hong Kong Chart Entry Date: [DATE UNKNOWN] Peak at #9 during a run of an unknown number of weeks on the chart
India Chart Entry Date: [DATE UNKNOWN] Peak at #10 during a run of an unknown number of weeks on the chart
Ireland Chart Entry Date: June 5, 1976 16 10 7 6
(June 26, 1976) 6
(July 3, 1976) 8 13 20 24 29
Italy Chart Entry Date: [DATE UNKNOWN] Peak at #39 during a run of an unknown number of weeks on the chart
Malta Chart Entry Date: [DATE UNKNOWN] Peak at #4 during a run of an unknown number of weeks on the chart
New Zealand Chart Entry Date: July 2, 1976 40 18 18 5
(July 23, 1976) 10 7 6 7 6 6 9 9 11 9 7 15 14 20 21 25 32 31 32 40
Norway Top 10 Chart Entry Date: June 21, 1976 9 10 8 7
(July 19, 1976) 9 7
(August 2, 1976)
South Africa Chart Entry Date: [DATE UNKNOWN] Peak at #1 during a run of 15 weeks on the chart
Thailand Chart Entry Date: [DATE UNKNOWN] Peak at #8 during a run of an unknown number of weeks on the chart
Here are all the known UK releases of the song:
Running Time: 3:41
Released On:
Devil Woman 7" single (1976 April 23 — UK — EMI EMI 2458)
I'm Nearly Famous LP album (1976 May 7 — UK — EMI EMC 3122/OC 062 o 06084)
I'm Nearly Famous 8-track album (1976 May 7 — UK — EMI 8X-EMC 3122)
I'm Nearly Famous cassette album (1976 May 7 — UK — EMI TC-EMC 3122/OC 244 o 06084)
40 Golden Greats LP album (1977 September 30 — UK — EMI EMTVS 6/OC 156-06 508/9)
40 Golden Greats 8-track album (1977 September 30 — UK — EMI 8X-EMTVS 6/OC 386–06 508/9)
40 Golden Greats cassette album (1977 September 30 — UK — EMI TC-EMTVS 6/OC 286-06 508/9)
Cliff 7" singles box set (1982 February 19 — UK — EMI CRBOX ONLY 1)
Devil Woman 7" single (1982 February 19 — UK — EMI EMI 2458)
I'm Nearly Famous LP album (1982 May — UK — Fame FA 3010)
I'm Nearly Famous cassette album (1982 May — UK — Fame TC-FA 3010)
The Video Connection VHS videotape (1983 — UK — Picture Music MVP 99 1040 2/5 099999 104023)
The Video Connection laserdisc (1983 — UK — Picture Music PMI 90 1960 1)
The Video Connection VHS videotape (1983 — UK — EMI TVE 90 1960 2 /5014138520816) [mono]
The Video Connection Betamax videotape (1983 — UK — EMI TXE 90 1960 4) [mono]
The Best Of Cliff Richard And The Shadows LP album box set (1984 April — UK — Readers Digest GRIC A 140)
The Best Of Cliff Richard And The Shadows cassette album box set (1984 April — UK — Readers Digest CRIC-A-140)
It's A Small World LP album (1985 May — UK — Myrrh MYRR 1209)
It's A Small World cassette album (1985 May — UK — Myrrh MYRC 1209)
It's A Small World CD album (1985 May — UK — Myrrh MYRCD 1209/5014182411206)
From The Heart LP album (1985 September — UK — Tellydisc TELLY 28)
From The Heart cassette album (1985 September — UK — Tellydisc MC TEL 28)
The Video Connection VHS videotape (1992 — UK — VCI/Music Club MC2081/5 014138 520816)
The 31st Of February Street/I'm Nearly Famous CD album (1993 October 4 — UK — EMI CDEMC 3642/7 80491 2/0777 7 80491 2 8)
It's A Small World CD album (1994 — UK — Alliance ALD 023/023/5028519002327)
Cliff Richard Box Set VHS videotape box set (1998 — UK — PMI/VCI VC6714/5 014138 067144)
Devil Woman (Edited Remix Version)
Devil Woman 7" single (1976 May — USA — Rocket Record Company PIG-40574)
40 Golden Greats CD album (1989 June 12 — UK — EMI CZD 202/CDS 7924252/0 077779 242528)
40th Anniversary Complete CD album box set (1998 January — Australia — EMI Records Australia 4934052/7243 4 93405 2 7)
[40th Anniversary Complete – Volume 4 1971–83 CD (EMI Records Australia 4934092/7243 4 93409 2 3)]
1970s CD album (1998 October 12 — UK — EMI 497 1342/7243 4 97134 2 0)
1960s 1970s 1980s CD album box set (1998 October — UK — EMI 498 2642/7243 4 98264 2 7)
The Whole Story - His Greatest Hits CD album (2000 October 9 — UK — EMI 529 3222/7243 5 29322 2 1)
The Whole Story - His Greatest Hits cassette album (2000 October 9 — UK — EMI 529 3224/7243 5 29322 4 5)
I'm Nearly Famous CD album (2001 July 9 — UK — EMI 533 1142/7243 5 33114 2 1)
The Singles Collection CD album box set (2002 August 12 — UK — EMI 537 5512/7243 5 37551 2 6)
1970s digital album (2003 March 1 — UK — EMI 7243 4 97134 5 1)
The Singles Collection digital album box set (2003 March 3 — UK — EMI 7243 5 37551 5 7)
I'm Nearly Famous digital album (2003 March 3 — UK — EMI 7243 5 33114 5 2)
40 Golden Greats digital album (2003 March 3 — UK — EMI 077779 242559)
Platinum Collection CD album (2005 November 14 — UK — EMI 333 8032/0946 3 33803 2 5)
Platinum Collection digital album (2005 November 14 — UK — EMI 0946 3 33803 5 6)
The Collection CD album (2006 April — UK — Marks & Spencer MS2037/M 7634 567 S)
...And They Said It Wouldn't Last! {My 50 Years In Music} CD album box set (2008 September 15 — UK — EMI 216 5922/5099921659225)
[The Hits: Number Ones Around The World CD (EMI 216 5972/5099921659720)]
50th Anniversary Album CD album (2008 November 3 — UK — EMI 242 3892/50999 2 42389 2 2)
The Fiftieth Anniversary Album digital album (2008 November 3 — UK — EMI 50999 2 42389 5 3)
The Collection CD album (2010 July 5 — UK — EMI 633 3602/50999 6 33360 2 3)
The Collection CD album (2011 — UK — Reader's Digest RDCD7221-4/3 801410 000003)
75 At 75 CD album (2015 September 18 — UK — Rhino 0825646048892)
75 At 75 digital album (2015 September 18 — UK — Rhino 825646048885)
Stronger Thru The Years CD album (2017 November 10 — UK — Parlophone 9572611/0190295726119)
Stronger Thru The Years digital album (2017 November 10 — UK — Parlophone 190295726102)
I, Tonya soundtrack digital album (2017 December 8 — USA — Milan Records 731383692765)
I, Tonya soundtrack CD album (2017 December 15 — USA — Milan Records M2 — 36927/731383692727)
I, Tonya soundtrack digital album (2017 December 29 — UK — Milan Records ?)
I, Tonya soundtrack CD album (2018 January 12 — UK — Milan Records 399 975-2/3299039997529)
I, Tonya soundtrack LP album (2018 March 30 — UK/Europe — Milan Records 399 999-2/3299039999929)
I, Tonya DVD (2018 June 25 — UK — Entertainment One E052161D/5039036082914)
I, Tonya Blu-ray (2018 June 25 — UK — Entertainment One E052161B/5039036083089)
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina - Music From Season 1 soundtrack digital album (2018 October 27 — Worldwide — ?)
Devil Woman (Gastroli Cliffa Richarda v Leningrade - August 1976)
Record Date: August 1976
Record Location: Leningrad, Soviet Union
Produced By: Unknown
Engineered By: Unknown
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Chris Rea (guitar), Terry Britten (guitar), Dave Richmond (bass), Graham Jarvis (drums), Brian Bennett (percussion), Cliff Hall (keyboards), Graham Todd (keyboards), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals), Stu Calver (backing vocals)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from TV broadcast)
Devil Woman (Musik Extra 3 - June 14, 1977)
Record Date: 1977 (performed); June 7, 1977 (broadcast)
Record Location: Germany TV studio
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Terry Britten (guitar), Graham Todd (piano), Unknown (bass), Unknown (drums)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from Musik Extra 3 TV broadcast)
Devil Woman (Gouden Zeezwaluw-Festival - July 7, 1977)
Record Date: July 7, 1977
Record Location: Knokke, Belgium
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Chris Rea (guitar), Terry Britten (guitar), Bryn Haworth (guitar), Mo Foster (bass), Graham Jarvis (drums, percussion), Clem Cattini (drums, percussion), Brian Bennett (percussion), Cliff Hall (keyboards), Graham Todd (keyboards), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals), Stu Calver (backing vocals)
40 Golden Greats Sampler #4
Record Date: February 3, 1968 [Congratulations], May 2, 1969 [Throw Down A Line], March 12, 1970 [Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha], August 24, 1971 [Sing A Song Of Freedom], December 28, 1972 [Power To All Our Friends], February 11 & 13, 1974 [(You Keep Me) Hangin' On], September 9, 1975 (backing track) & September 11, 1975 (vocals) [Miss You Nights], September 8 & 9, 1975 [Devil Woman], September 8, 1975 (backing track) & September 9, 1975 (vocals) [I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You], January 10, 1977 [My Kinda Life]
Record Location: Abbey Road Studios, London [all songs]
Produced By: Norrie Paramor [Congratulations, Throw Down A Line, Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha, Sing A Song Of Freedom], David MacKay [Power To All Our Friends, (You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Bruce Welch [Miss You Nights, Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You, My Kinda Life]
Engineered By: Peter Vince [Congratulations, Throw Down A Line, Power To All Our Friends, Miss You Nights], Unknown [Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha, Sing A Song Of Freedom], Tony Clark & Mike Jarrett [(You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Tony Clark [Miss You Nights, Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You, My Kinda Life], John Barrett [Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You]
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals) [all songs], The Norrie Paramor Orchestra (orchestra) [Congratulations], John Paul Jones (bass) [Congratulations], The Breakaways [Vicki Haseman, Margo Quantrell, and Jean Ryder] (backing vocals) [Congratulations], Hank Marvin (vocals, guitar) [Throw Down A Line], The Mike Vickers Orchestra (orchestra) [Throw Down A Line, Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha], Brian Bennett Orchestra (orchestra) [Sing A Song Of Freedom], Terry Britten (guitar) [Power To All Our Friends, (You Keep Me) Hangin' On, Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You], Kevin Peek (guitar) [Power To All Our Friends, (You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Alan Tarney (bass) [Power To All Our Friends, (You Keep Me) Hangin' On, Miss You Nights, Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You], Trevor Spencer (drums) [Power To All Our Friends, (You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Barrie Guard (percussion) [Power To All Our Friends, (You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Cliff Hall (keyboards) [(You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Dave Macrae (keyboards) [(You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Gordon Huntley (steel guitar) [(You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Anna Peacock (backing vocals) [(You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Jean Hawker (backing vocals) [(You Keep Me) Hangin' On], David MacKay (backing vocals) [(You Keep Me) Hangin' On], Clem Cattini (drums) [Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You], Graham Todd (keyboards) [Miss You Nights, Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You], Tony Rivers (backing vocals) [Miss You Nights, Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You, My Kinda Life], John Perry (backing vocals) [Miss You Nights, Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You, My Kinda Life], Ken Gold (backing vocals) [Miss You Nights, Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You], Mo Witham (guitar) [My Kinda Life], Alan Jones (bass) [My Kinda Life], Roger Pope (drums) [My Kinda Life], Alan Hawkshaw (keyboards) [My Kinda Life]
Released On: 40 Golden Greats promo double EP (1977 October — UK — EMI PSR 414/PSR 415)
Devil Woman (London Palladium - March 4 1978)
Record Date: March 4, 1978
Record Location: London Palladium, London
Engineered By: Tony Clark
Remixed by: Peter Vince
Remix Location: Abbey Road, London
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Terry Britten (guitar), Dave Christopher (guitar), Graham Murray (guitar), Mo Foster (bass), Graham Todd (keyboards), Graham Jarvis (drums), Clem Cattini (drums), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), Stuart Calver (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals)
Thank You Very Much LP album (1979 February 2 — UK — EMI EMTV 15/OC 062-06 939)
Thank You Very Much cassette album (1979 February 2 — UK — EMI TC–EMTV 15/OC 262-06 939)
Thank You Very Much 8-track tape album (1979 February 2 — UK — EMI 8X–EMTV 15)
Thank You Very Much LP album (1984 October 10 — UK — Music For Pleasure MFP 41 5677 1/5 099941 567715)
Thank You Very Much cassette album (1984 October 10 — UK — Music For Pleasure MFP 41 5677 4/5 099941 567746)
Green Light/Thank You Very Much CD album (1993 October 4 — UK — EMI CDEMC 3644/7 80496 2/0777 7 80496 2 3)
Thank You Very Much CD album (2004 July 26 — UK — EMI 473 3562/7243 4 73356 2 4)
Thank You Very Much digital album (2004 July 26 — UK — EMI 7243 4 73356 5 5)
Devil Woman (Edited Version) (London Palladium - March 4 1978)
Thank You Very Much VHS videotape (1981 — UK — Picture Music MVP 99 1013 2/5 099999 101329) [mono]
Thank You Very Much laserdisc (1981 — UK — EMI Music Video 6132–70) [mono]
Thank You Very Much VHS videotape (1983 — UK — EMI TVE 90 0329 2/No UPC) [mono]
Thank You Very Much Betamax videotape (1983 — UK — EMI TXE 90 0329 4) [mono]
Thank You Very Much VHS videotape (1989 — UK — EMI PM0003/5 014548 000038) [mono]
Thank You Very Much VHS videotape (1989 — UK — VCI/Music Club MC 2012/5 014138 520120) [mono]
Thank You Very Much VHS videotape (1991 — UK — VCI G 0011/5 01438 320126) [mono]
Devil Woman (Apollo Victoria Theatre - October 18 1980)
Record Date: October 18, 1980 (record date); March 20, 1981 (broadcast date)
Record Location: Apollo Victoria Theatre in London
Produced By: Cliff Richard
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Graham Jarvis (drums), Mike Moran (keyboards), Dave MacRae (keyboards), Mark Griffiths (guitar), Martin Jenner (guitar), Paul Westward (bass), Stuart Calver (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals), Tony Rivers (backing vocals)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from Cliff In London broadcast)
Devil Woman (Unidentified American TV Studio - 1981)
Record Date: Spring 1981 (performed); December 7, 1981 (broadcast)
Record Location: Unidentified New York TV Studio, U.S.A.
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Stu Calver (backing vocals), Graham Jarvis (drums), Martin Jenner (guitar), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), Mark Griffiths (guitar), Graham Todd (keyboards), John Clark (guitars), Alan Park (keyboards), John Perry (backing vocals)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from 3rd episode of the BBC's 1981 Cliff broadcast)
Devil Woman (Savoy, New York - April 2 1981)
Record Date: April 2, 1981 (performed); December 14, 1981 (broadcast)
Record Location: Savoy, New York, U.S.A.
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from 4th episode of the BBC's 1981 Cliff broadcast)
Devil Woman (Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23 1982)
Running Time: 3:44 [includes extended cheering at end of song, but not the reprise portion]
Record Date: November 23, 1982
Record Location: Royal Albert Hall, London
Arranged By: Richard Hewson
Produced By: Cliff Richard & Richard Hewson
Engineered By: John Kurlander
Mixed By:Keith Bessey
Mix Location:Strawberry Studios South, Surrey
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), The London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Richard Hewson (orchestra), David Cooke (synthesizer), Mark Griffiths (bass), Graham Jarvis (drums), Steve Gray (piano), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), Tony Harding (backing vocals), Stuart Calver (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals)
Dressed For The Occasion LP album (1983 May 9 — UK — EMI EMC 3432/OC 062-07 730)
Dressed For The Occasion cassette album (1983 May 9 — UK — EMI TC–EMC 3432/OC 262-07 730)
Dressed For The Occasion CD album (1989 June 12 — UK — EMI CZ 187/CDP 792420 2/0 077779 242023)
Dressed For The Occasion CD album (2004 January 19 — UK — EMI 583 3892/7243 583389 2 8)
Dressed For The Occasion digital album (2006 March 27 — UK — EMI 7243 5 83389 5 9)
Devil Woman (Promo Banded Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23 1982)
Released On: Dressed For The Occasion LP album (1983 May 9 — UK — EMI PSLP 372)
Devil Woman (Single Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23 1982)
Released On: Mujer Diabólica/Repetición 7" single (1983 June — Spain — EMI 006 1077417)
Devil Woman (Reprise) (Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23 1982)
Devil Woman (Reprise) (Remaster Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23 1982)
Devil Woman (Reprise) (Single Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23 1982)
Devil Woman (Reprise) (TV Edit Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23 1982)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged)
The Best Of Cliff Richard And The Shadows Mix
Record Date: November 16, 1962 [Bachelor Boy]; July 24, 1958 [Move It]; April 28, 1959 [Living Doll]; March 25, 1960 [Please Don't Tease]; May 17, 1962 [It'll Be Me]; August 11, 1961 [The Young Ones]; May 5, 1962 (backing and vocals) [Summer Holiday]; November 19, 1962 (orchestra) [Summer Holiday]; November 16, 1966 [In The Country]; June 1, 1967 [The Day I Met Marie]; October 5, 1967 [All My Love]; February 3, 1968 [Congratulations]; December 28, 1972 [Power To All Our Friends]; June 17, 1960 [Apache]; Unknown [Wonderful Land, Dance On!, Foot Tapper]; September 8 & 9, 1975 [Devil Woman]; September 9, 1975 (backing track) & September 11, 1975 (vocals) [Miss You Nights]; May 29, 1979 [We Don't Talk Anymore]; January 7-12, 1979 (backing tracks) & February 2, 1979 (vocal) [Carrie]; November 17, 1965 [Visions]
Record Location: Abbey Road Studios, London [Bachelor Boy, Move It, Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, It'll Be Me, The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, In The Country, The Day I Met Marie, All My Love, Congratulations, Power To All Our Friends, Apache, Wonderful Land, Dance On!, Foot Tapper, Devil Woman, Miss You Nights, Visions]; R.G. Jones Recording Studios, Wimbledon [We Don't Talk Anymore]; Pathe Marconi, Paris, France (backing tracks) & Abbey Road, London (vocals) [Carrie]
Produced By: Norrie Paramor [Bachelor Boy, Move It, Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, It'll Be Me, The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, In The Country, The Day I Met Marie, All My Love, Congratulations, Apache, Wonderful Land, Dance On!, Foot Tapper, Visions]; David MacKay [Power To All Our Friends]; Bruce Welch [Devil Woman, Miss You Nights]; Alan Tarney [We Don't Talk Anymore]; Cliff Richard & Terry Britten [Carrie]
Engineered By: Malcolm Addey [Bachelor Boy, Move It, Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, It'll Be Me, Summer Holiday, Visions]; Malcolm Addey & David Lloyd [The Young Ones]; Peter Vince & Richard Lush [In The Country]; Peter Vince [The Day I Met Marie, All My Love, Congratulations, Power To All Our Friends, Miss You Nights]; Unknown [Apache, Wonderful Land, Dance On!, Foot Tapper]; Tony Clark & John Barrett [Devil Woman, Miss You Nights]; Tony Clark [We Don't Talk Anymore]; Tony Clark & Haydn Bendall [Carrie]
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals, Chinese drum) [Bachelor Boy, Move It, Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, It'll Be Me, The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, In The Country, The Day I Met Marie, All My Love, Congratulations, Power To All Our Friends, Apache, Devil Woman, Miss You Nights, We Don't Talk Anymore, Carrie, Visions], Hank Marvin (guitar, piano, backing vocals) [Bachelor Boy, Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, It'll Be Me, The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, In The Country, Apache, Wonderful Land, Dance On!, Foot Tapper], Bruce Welch (guitar, backing vocals) [Bachelor Boy, Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, It'll Be Me, The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, In The Country, Apache, Wonderful Land, Dance On!, Foot Tapper], Brian Locking (bass) [Bachelor Boy, It'll Be Me, Summer Holiday], Brian Bennett (drums) [Bachelor Boy, It'll Be Me, Summer Holiday, In The Country], Ernie Shear (guitar) [Move It], Ian Ralph Samwell (guitar) [Move It], Frank Clarke (bass) [Move It], Terry Smart (drums) [Move It], Jet Harris (bass) [Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, The Young Ones, Apache], Tony Meehan (bass) [Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, The Young Ones, Apache], The Norrie Paramor Strings (orchestra) [Summer Holiday], John Rostill (bass) [In The Country], The Mike Leander Orchestra conducted by Mike Leander (orchestra) [The Day I Met Marie], The Bernard Ebbinghouse Orchestra (orchestra) [All My Love, Visions], The Mike Sammes Singers (backing vocals) [All My Love, Visions], The Norrie Paramor Orchestra conducted by Norrie Paramor (orchestra) [Congratulations], John Paul Jones (bass) [Congratulations], The Breakaways [Vicki Haseman, Margo Quantrell, and Jean Ryder] (backing vocals) [Congratulations], Terry Britten (guitar, backing vocals) [Power To All Our Friends, Devil Woman, Carrie], Kevin Peek (guitar) [Power To All Our Friends], Alan Tarney (bass, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) [Power To All Our Friends, Devil Woman, Miss You Nights, We Don't Talk Anymore], Trevor Spencer (drums) [Power To All Our Friends, We Don't Talk Anymore], Barrie Guard (percussion) [Power To All Our Friends], Clem Cattini (drums) [Devil Woman], Graham Todd (keyboards) [Devil Woman, Miss You Nights], Tony Rivers (backing vocals) [Devil Woman, Miss You Nights], John Perry (backing vocals) [Devil Woman, Miss You Nights], Ken Gold (backing vocals) [Devil Woman, Miss You Nights], Herbie Flowers (bass) [Carrie], Graham Jarvis (drums) [Carrie], Bill Livesy (keyboards) [Carrie], Tristan Fry (percussion) [Carrie], Mel Collins (saxophone) [Carrie]
Released On: The Best Of Cliff Richard And The Shadows Flexi-single (1984 — UK — Lyntone LYN 14745)
Devil Woman (Sydney, Australia - November 1984)
Record Date: November 9 or 10, 1984
Record Location: Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Graham Jarvis (drums), Alan Park (keyboards), Dave Cooke (keyboards), John Clark (guitar), Mart Jenner (guitar), Mark Griffiths (bass), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals), Stuart Calver (backing vocals)
Rock In Australia VHS videotape (1986 — UK — PMI MVN 99 1130 2/5 099999 113025)
Rock In Australia VHS videotape (1991 — UK — VCI/Music Club MC2056/5 014138 520564)
Devil Woman (Rockspell - February 18 1985)
Record Date: February 18, 1985 (performed); April 7, 1985 (broadcast)
Record Location: Unknown
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Stu Calver (backing vocals), Mark Griffiths (bass), Unknown (drums), Unknown (guitar), Dave Cooke (keyboards), Alan Park (keyboards), Unknown (backing vocals), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), John Clark (guitar)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from Rockspell TV special)
Devil Woman (Cliff From The Hip - November 16, 1986)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Dave Arch (piano), Alan Park (keyboards), Tim Renwick (guitar), John Clark (guitar), Alan Jones (bass), Brett Morgan (unknown), Frank Ricotti (percussion), Sonya Morgan (unknown), Val McKenna (unknown), Keith Murrell (backing vocals), Mick Mullins (backing vocals), Phil Nichol (unknown), Gary Martin (unknown), Rebecca Wade (unknown), Celia Sheen (violin), Ita Hebert (unknown), Deborah Ann Johnston (unknown), Sheila Bromberg (unknown), Barry Castle (unknown)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from Cliff From The Hip TV special)
Devil Woman (Ohne Filter Extra - October 14, 1987)
Record Date: October 14, 1987 (performed); October 28, 1987 (broadcast)
Record Location: Baden-Baden, Germany
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Alan Park (keyboards), Mark Griffiths (bass), John Clark (guitar), Steve Lauri (guitar), Paul Moessl (keyboards), Henry Spinetti (drums, percussion), Rosemarie Ford (backing vocals), Mick Mullins (backing vocals), Peter Howarth (backing vocals)
Devil Woman (Odense, Denmark - May 1988)
Record Date: May 22, 1988
Record Location: Fyens Forum, Odense, Denmark
Engineered By: Lau Hansen and Colin Norfield
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Alan Park (keyboards), Mark Griffiths (bass), John Clark (guitar), Steve Lauri (guitar), Paul Moessl (keyboards), Henry Spinetti (drums, percussion), Mick Mullins (backing vocals), Peter Howarth (backing vocals)
Live & Guaranteed 1988! VHS videotape album (1989 — UK — PMI MVP9911793/5 099999 117931)
Live & Guaranteed 1988! VHS videotape/CD album (1995 March 6 — UK — PMI SAV 4913753/7243 4 91375 3 0 and SAV 4913103/7243 8 31697 2 6)
Record Date: September 8 & 9, 1975 (original backing track), April 20 to 23, 1992 (new instrumentation)
Record Location: Abbey Road Studios, London (original backing track), R.G. Jones Recording Studios, Wimbledon (new instrumentation)
Produced By: Bruce Welch (original backing track), Cliff Richard & Paul Moessl (new instrumentation)
Engineered By: Tony Clark & John Barrett (original backing track), Gerry Kitchingham & Ben Robbins (new instrumentation)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Terry Britten (guitar), Alan Tarney (bass), Clem Cattini (drums), Graham Todd (keyboards), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals), Ken Gold (backing vocals), Paul Moessl (drums, keyboards), John Clark (guitar)
My Kinda Life CD album (1992 May 18 — France — EMI CDEMD 1034/7994322/0 77779 94322 7) [UK imported releases on 1992 May 26]
My Kinda Life cassette album (1992 May 18 — France — EMI TC-EMD 1034/799432 4/0 77779 94324 1)
Human Work Of Art CD single CD2 (1993 June 1 — UK — EMI CDEM 267/8 80658 2/7243 8 80658 2 5)
My Kinda Life digital album (2008 December 1 — UK — EMI 5099926679853)
Devil Woman (From A Distance - The Tour 1991 - December 1, 1991)
Record Date: December 1, 1991
Record Location: Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia
Engineered By: Colin Norfield (sound); John James (monitor)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals, guitar), Paul Moessl (musical director, keyboards, backing vocals), Bob Noble (keyboards, backing vocals), Steve Stroud (bass, backing vocals), John Clark (guitar, backing vocals), Peter May (drums, backing vocals), Paul Panic (trumpet, backing vocals), Mark Taylor (saxophone, backing vocals), Anthony Bartlett (trombone, backing vocals), Blane Whitaker (saxophone, backing vocals)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from From A Distance - The Tour 1991 TV broadcast)
Devil Woman (Access All Areas Tour - 1992)
Running Time: 4:49 [1:17 introduction and 3:33 song performance]
Record Date: November 27, 28 and/or 29, 1992
Record Location: Wembley Arena, London
Produced By: Keith Bessey
Engineered By: Colin Norfield (sound), John James (monitor), Keith Bessey (overall)
Remixed By: Keith Bessey
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Paul Moessl (keyboards), Bob Noble (keyboards), Steve Butler (backing vocals), Gillian Jackson (backing vocals), Judith Walmsley (backing vocals), Steve Bayliss (backing vocals), Peter May (drums), Steve Stroud (bass), John Clark (guitar)
Access All Areas: The Tour 1992 VHS videotape (1993 April 5 — UK — PMI MVB 4911123/4911123/7 2434 91112 3 3) [includes spoken introduction]
Access All Areas: The Tour 1992 laserdisc (1993 — UK — Pioneer PLMPC 00831/5 022626 008319) [includes spoken introduction]
Devil Woman (Live In South Africa - The Platinum Hit List Tour - April 17, 1995)
Record Date: April 17, 1995
Record Location: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), John Clark (guitar), Steve Stroud (guitar), Peter May (drums), Peter Howarth (vocals), Mick Wilson (vocals), Pete Lincoln (vocals), Bob Noble (keyboards), Paul Moessl (keyboards), Mike Haughton (brass) and Raul D'Olivera (brass)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from Live In South Africa - The Platinum Hit List Tour TV broadcast)
Devil Woman (Royal Albert Hall - September 1998)
Record Date: September 21 and/or 22, 1998
Engineered By: Tony Blanc (front of the house engineer), John James (monitor engineer)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Alan Park (keyboards), Peter May (drums), John Clark (guitar), Steve Stroud (bass), Keith Murrell (backing vocals), Mick Mullins (backing vocals), Peter Lincoln (backing vocals)
The 40th Anniversary Concert VHS videotape (1998 November 2 — UK — VCI VC4147/5 014138 041472)
Unforgettable VHS videotape (2001 November 12 — UK — VCI VC6875/5 014138 068752)
Unforgettable DVD (2001 November 12 — UK — VCI VCD0187/5 014138 068875)
The Cliff Richard Concert Collection DVD box set (2002 November 25 — UK — VCI VCD0255/5 014138 069728)
The 40th Anniversary Concert DVD (2002 November 25 — UK — VCI VCD0252/5 014138 069698)
The 40th Anniversary Concert DVD (2003 March 24 — Europe — Video/Film Express 500417/8 713053 004179)
The 40th Anniversary Concert DVD (2005 October 31 — UK — Demon Vision DEMONMDVD003/5 014797 620032)
The Cliff Richard Box DVD box set (2006 February 27 — UK — Demon Vision DEMONDVDBX01/5 014797 770010)
Devil Woman (Musikbutikken - October 6, 1998)
Record Date: October 6, 1998 (performed); December 26, 1998 (broadcast)
Record Location: Denmark
Produced By: Cliff Richard and Keld Heick
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals, guitar), Keld Heick (guitar)
Released On: Unreleased (bootlegged from Musikbutikken TV broadcast)
Carrie/Devil Woman (An Audience With Cliff Richard - November 13, 1999)
Record Location: ITV studio, London
Written By: Terry Britten & B.A. Robertson [Carrie]; Terry Britten & Christine Holmes [Devil Woman]
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Alan Park (keyboards), Keith Hayman (keyboards), Peter May (drums), John Clark (guitar), Steve Stroud (bass), Keith Murrell (backing vocals), Mick Mullins (backing vocals), Peter Howarth (backing vocals)
An Audience With Cliff Richard VHS videotape (2000 March 20 — UK — VCI GV0194/5 014138 501945)
An Audience With Cliff Richard DVD (2005 November 14 — UK — Network 7952365/5 027626 236540)
An Audience With Cliff Richard DVD (2006 — UK — DD Home Entertainment D23341/5 019322 233411)
Backing Vocalist Medley: Green Light / Devil Woman / Carrie (World Tour - February 22, 2003)
Record Date: February 22, 2003
Record Location: The Mission in Napier, New Zealand
Written By: Alan Tarney [Green Light]; Terry Britten & Christine Holmes [Devil Woman]; Terry Britten & B.A. Robertson [Carrie]
Engineered By: Keith Bessey
Performed By: Alan Park (keyboards), Steve Stroud (bass), Pete May (drums), John Clark (guitar), Anthony Clark (guitar), Dave Cooke (keyboards), Pete Howarth (vocals), Mick Mullins (vocals), Keith Murrell (vocals)
Cliff Richard - World Tour 2003 VHS videotape (2003 October 13 — UK — VCI VC7010/5 014138 070106)
Cliff Richard - World Tour 2003 DVD (2003 October 13 — UK — VCI VCD0288/5 014138 070113)
Cliff Richard - World Tour DVD (2004 May 3 — UK — EMI 5 99574 9/7243 5 99574 9 4)
Cliff Richard - World Tour 2003 DVD (2006 October 9 — UK — Demon Vision DEMONDVDM009/5 014797 620094)
The Cliff Richard Collection DVD box set (2010 November 22 — UK — 2 Entertain 2EDVD0582/5 014138 605827)
Devil Woman (Live And Kicking Tour - April/May 2004)
Running Time: Unknown
Record Date: April 4 to 24 2004
Engineered By: Keith Bessey (recording engineer), Mike Warren (sound engineer), John James (monitor engineer)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Alan Park (keyboards), Keith Hayman (keyboards), Mick Mullins (backing vocals), Peter Howarth (backing vocals, guitar), Keith Murrell (backing vocals), Peter May (drums), John Clark (guitar), Steve Stroud (bass), Mike Haughton (brassy instruments)
Medley: Miss You Nights/Devil Woman/The Young Ones/We Don't Talk Anymore (Wembley Arena - November 8, 2006)
Record Date: November 8, 2006
Record Location: Wembley Arena, London, UK
Written By: Dave Townsend [Miss You Nights]; Terry Britten & Christine Holmes [Devil Woman]; Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett [The Young Ones]; Alan Tarney [We Don't Talk Anymore]
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Keith Hayman (keyboards), Mick Mullins (backing vocals), Peter Howarth (backing vocals), Keith Murrell (backing vocals), Peter May (drums), John Clark (guitar), Steve Stroud (bass), Mike Haughton (saxophone, flute), Phil Dennis (keyboards), Ritchie Lund (guitar), Dawn Joseph (backing vocals)
Cliff Richard Live - Here And Now DVD (2006 November 27 — UK — Universal 8245117/8245117–11/8245117–11/RO/5 050582 451177)
Cliff Richard Live 2004-2006 DVD box set (2007 November 26 — UK — Universal 8253049/8253049-11/5 050582 530490)
Devil Woman/Green Light (Wembley Arena - November 14, 2008)
Written By: Terry Britten & Christine Holmes [Devil Woman]; Alan Tarney [Green Light]
Arranged By: Keith Hayman
Engineered By: Keith Bessey, Mike Warren (sound engineer) & John James (monitor engineer)
Mixed By: Keith Bessey
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Keith Hayman (musical director, keyboards), Phil Dennis (keyboards), John Clark (guitar), Mark Griffiths (bass guitar), Pete May (drums), Mike Haughton (saxophone), Peter Howarth (backing vocals), Keith Murrell (backing vocals), Abbie Osman (backing vocals), Sara-Jane Skeete (backing vocals)
Time Machine Tour - 50th Anniversary DVD (2008 December 1 — UK — Universal 8259 44 1/825 944 1–11/825 944 1–11/RO/5 050582 594416)
Time Machine Tour - 50th Anniversary Special Limited Edition DVD (2008 December 1 — UK — Universal 825 944 2/825 944 2–11/825 944 2–11/RO/5 050582 594423)
Cliff Richard – The Concert Collection DVD box set (2014 November 17 — UK — Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd 8301157/8301157–11/5 053083 011574)
Devil Woman (Royal Albert Hall - October 17, 2010)
Record Date: October 17, 2010
Produced By: Cliff Richard and/or Michael Omartian
Engineered By: Mike Warren (audio engineer), Keith Bessey (recording supervisor) & John James (monitor engineer)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Keith Hayman (keyboards), Phil Dennis (keyboards), Tom Hemby (guitar), Craig E. Nelson (bass), Bob Mater (drums), Jason Holling (percussion), Unknown (trumpet), Unknown (trombone), Unknown (saxophone), Dawn Joseph (backing vocals), Keith Murrell (backing vocals), Mick Wilson (backing vocals)
Bold As Brass DVD (2010 November 22 — UK — 2 Entertain 2EDVD0559/5 014138 605599)
Bold As Brass Special Edition DVD (2010 November 22 — UK — 2 Entertain 2EDVD0614/5 014138 606145)
Bold As Brass Blu-ray (2010 November 22 — UK — 2 Entertain 2EBD0117/5 051561 001178)
Devil Woman (O2 Arena - October 26, 2011)
Record Location: O2 Arena, London
Engineered By: Mike "Bunny" Warren (sound engineer); John "JJ" James (monitor engineer)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Keith Hayman (keyboards), Phil Dennis (keyboards), Richie Lund (guitar), Andrew Geraint Jones (guitar), Stephen Walters (bass), Peter May (drums), Lennox Cary Cameron (backing vocals), Bryan Chambers (backing vocals), Derek Green (backing vocals), Errol Reid (backing vocals)
The Soulicious Tour DVD (2011 November 14 — UK — Universal 8285053/8285053-11/8285053-11/RO/5 050582 850536)
The Soulicious Tour Special Edition DVD (2011 November 14 — UK — Universal 8285162/8285162–11/5 050582 851625)
Devil Woman (Sydney Opera House - February 11, 2013)
Record Location: Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
Engineered By: Pat Richardson (sound engineer), JJ James (monitor engineer)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Keith Hayman (keyboards), Phil Dennis (keyboards), Andy Jones (guitar), Stephen Walters (bass), Peter May (drums), Suzie Furlonger (backing vocals), Tim Bonser (backing vocals), Stuart Ward (backing vocals)
Still Reelin' And A-Rockin' - Live in Sydney DVD (2013 November 11 — UK — Universal 8294588/8294588–11/8294588–11 / RO/5 050582 945881)
Still Reelin' And A-Rockin' - Live in Sydney Special Edition DVD (2013 November 11 — UK — Universal 8294589/8294589–11/5 050582 945898)
Still Reelin' And A-Rockin' - Live in Sydney Blu-ray (2013 November 11 — UK — Universal 8294928/8294928–11/8294928–11 / RO/5 050582 949285)
Record Location: Royal Albert Hall, London, UK
Engineered By: Mike Warren (sound engineer), John James (monitor engineer) and Keith Bessey (recording supervisor)
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), Keith Hayman (keyboards), Bobby Harrison (guitar), Stephen Walters (bass), Phil Dennis (keyboards), Mike Haughton (saxophone), Peter May (drums), Tim Bosner (guitar, backing vocals), David Luke (guitar, backing vocals), Suzie Furlonger (backing vocals)
75th Birthday Tour DVD (2015 November 30 — UK — Spirit Entertainment Limited SEL2051/5 060105 723377)
75th Birthday Tour Blu-ray (2016 April 22 — Australia — Viavision Entertainment VVE824/9 337369 008240)
Devil Woman (The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Version)
Record Date: September 8 & 9, 1975 (original vocals and band elements), 2018 (band and orchestra)
Record Location: Abbey Road Studios, London, UK (original vocals and band elements); Angel Studios, London, UK (orchestra)
Arranged By: James Morgan & Juliette Pochin (orchestra)
Produced By: Bruce Welch (original vocals); James Morgan & Juliette Pochin (orchestrated arrangement)
Engineered By: Tony Clark & John Barrett (original vocals and band elements); Chris Parker (ProTools), Jez Murphy (orchestra)
Mixed by: James Morgan & Ben Robbins at Red Room, London, UK
Performed By: Cliff Richard (vocals), The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (orchestra), James Morgan (conductor), Terry Britten (guitar), Alan Tarney (bass), Clem Cattini (drums), Graham Todd (keyboards), Tony Rivers (backing vocals), John Perry (backing vocals), Ken Gold (backing vocals)
Rise Up CD album (2018 November 23 — UK — Warner 0190295563059)
Rise Up digital album (2018 November 23 — UK — Warner 190295563042)
Cliff Richard YouTube Channel (2018 December 5 — Worldwide — YouTube xMttA4TsvLw)
Devil Woman has been performed on most all tours following its release. Cliff has taken to doing a particular cat-like dance on stage while performing the song.
More information on Cliff's performance of Devil Woman on tour and various live performances will be determined at a future date.
UK vinyl single * EMI * EMI 2458 UK I'm Nearly Famous album * EMI * EMC 3122 UK vinyl 1981 re-issue single * EMI * EMI 2458 USA vinyl stock single * Rocket Record Company/MCA Records * PIG-40574 USA vinyl promo single * Rocket Record Company/MCA Records * PIG-40574
USA vinyl re-issue single * Capitol Records * URC 1107 USA vinyl re-issue single * American Pie * 9109 Australia vinyl stock single * EMI * EMI-11141 Belgium vinyl single * EMI * 4C 006-06143 Canada vinyl stock single * Rocket Record Company/MCA Records * PIG-40574
France vinyl stock single * EMI * 2C 010-06143 France vinyl promo single * EMI * 2C 010-06143 Germany vinyl single * EMI * 1C 006-06143 Holland vinyl single * EMI * 5C 006-06 143 Italy vinyl single * EMI * 3C 006 06281
Japan vinyl single * EMI * EMI EMR-20063 Philippines single * EMI * EMI EMI-73-X-107 Portugal vinyl single * EMI * 8E 006-06 143 Yugoslavia vinyl single * EMI * SEMI 88903
Riot on their Born In America album (1983)
Hank Marvin on his Hank Plays Cliff album (1995)
Cradle of Filth on their Nymphetamine special edition album (2005)
The Evil Streaks on their The Evil Streaks! album (11/2017)
Use in Movies and TV programs
Come Dine With Me series 35 episode (2015)
I, Tonya (2017)
Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina TV series (2018)
Sheet music as published in the UK.
Sheet music as published in the USA.
Sheet music as published in the Australia.
Promotional Videos and TV Performances
There was a promotional video made of Devil Woman that features just Cliff and a microphone on a black soundstage. The entire video uses optical effects to show repeated images of Cliff singing the song that often fade into the background. The performance is a lip synch of the album/version of the song. And the video has never been commercially released.
Televised performances of the song will be documented at length at a future date.
Enter comments only about this song. (Inappropriate comments will be removed.)
Does anyone know about the version that appears on the NZ comp "Their 40 Big Ones?"?? I can provide a sample if it helps. It fades out very early, earlier than any other version i've ever heard.
Tell the world what you think of Devil Woman. What do you think of Cliff singing such a scandalous song? :)
[On being told that Devil Woman had reached #14 on the American Cash Box chart:] "Your kidding, is that right? Woohoo! Fantastic news, no i hadn't heard that actually thats good. No. 14? Wow. David, i can't tell you, its been such an elusive place for me, but, um that kind of news really makes my decade. [...] thanks for that great news, I mean that No. 14 in the States is beyond all my dreams,+	it really is."
Cliff Richard (August 1976 - radio interview by David Hamilton on BBC Radio 2)
"The visit did me a lot of good. I've had a top-five hit over there with Devil Woman. I did a lot of radio stations... [...] Actually the lyric is anti-spiritualism. It's a warning: beware. I'm not trying to preach at anyone but black magic and spiritualism are very dangerous areas. When we recorded I was worried about one line that said 'And I knew what I came here for' so I altered it to 'I wondered what I came here for'."
Cliff Richard (circa 1976 [published 2008 May] - The Bachelor Boy)
"[Devil Woman is] still No. 1 in my chart!"
Cliff Richard (1985 - liner notes for From The Heart album)
"[Cliff] then told me he had some other songs he had not done anything with. One of them was Devil Woman by Terry Britten, which he had been sitting on for over eighteen months. [...] The album went on to reach No. 5 in the chart. A month before, Devil Woman was released as a single, and peaked at No. 9. Suddenly, after two years of mediocrity, people started to sit up and take notice of Cliff Richard again. The music papers hailed it as 'the renaissance of Cliff Richard'. On the strength of the success of I'm Nearly Famous, I went back on tour with Cliff, playing rhythm guitar. Apart from myself, his backing group was made up entirely of the musicians featured on the album, including Terry Britten on guitar, Alan Tarney on bass and Tony Rivers and the guys on vocals. We were on stage in Japan one evening in August when I noticed one of our tour managers in the wings waving his hands frantically, trying to attract our attention. I went across to see what was happening. 'Devil Woman has just got into the American hit parade,' he shouted over the noise of the music. I went over to Cliff, and in a suitable break told him the news. He was absolutely exhilarated, as we all were. We had worked so hard and so much as a team on that album. The song was put out on Elton John's Rocket label in the States, and when Cliff flew out for a short promotional tour, it soared to No. 5 in the chart and sold more than a million copies. The worldwide reaction to I'm Nearly Famous was phenomenal. It was, quite simply, the best thing Cliff Richard had done, and he was back, stronger than ever. Besides re-establishing his credibility as a recording artiste, it gave my career as a producer a tremendous lift. We were all excited about the success; we had a hit album for the first time in many years, and Cliff and Peter Gormley asked me to carry on the good work. I went out on another expedition looking for songs. I produced Cliff's next two albums, Every Face Tells a Story (which included one of my songs, Hey Mr Dream Maker) and Green Light."
Bruce Welch (1989 - Rock 'n' Roll - I Gave You The Best Years Of My Life)
"I record a song, even a track like Devil Woman, for instance, with no apparent Christian message, and offer it to the Lord and let him do the rest. I heard of two people, would you believe, who became Christians as an indirect result of listening to that particular song. [...] Here I am, having spent more time in the UK charts than any other artist (The Beatles included)-- with the sole exception of Elvis-- yet the average American will never have heard of me. He or she will probably recognise a song title-- Devil Woman, We Don't Talk Anymore, Dreamin', Daddy's Home and others were all decent-sized Top Thirty hits over the years. But as for Cliff Richard, the name won't mean a light."
Cliff Richard (1988 - Single-Minded)
"I've had eleven top thirty hits [in America], but no album success. That's where you get the hits with the albums. I mean, Devil Woman was number five. We Don't Talk Anymore was in the top ten. Dreamin', A Little In Love, Carrie, Suddenly with Olivia Newton-John. I had a lot of hit records like that, but there was no albums. So this year we're not signed with EMI in America."
Cliff Richard (circa 1987 - unknown interview from the Baktabak interview disc (BAK 2063))
"I think Devil Woman is the best record I ever made. [...] And in fact, that's when I did Devil Woman. The first thing I did after I made up my mind which way to go [whether to be an actor or a singer], was I'm Nearly Famous which had Miss You Nights, Devil Woman... So I was really glad I did that."
Cliff Richard (circa 1989 - unknown interview from interview disc (The Young1))
"At #10 [in the BBC Radio 2 Cliff Toppers program] is Cliff's all time favourite song, Devil Woman, which gave him a special thrill in 1976 when it nearly helped him to make it in America."
Mike Read (May 1992 - Cliff Toppers BBC radio special)
"We were doing a concert tour of the east. And we were starting Hong Kong. And it was about the third night, the last night in Hong Kong and Bruce Welch was in the band. And somehow they must have got word to him because while I was [on stage] talking into the mike to introduce a song, he just came over and he whispered, '18 with a bullet.' But it was that phraseology and I knew exactly what he meant. There's only one country in the world that uses bullets and I knew that we'd made the States. But, of course, I didn't think it was going to get to #5. And I didn't think we were going to get a gold disc out of it too. I think it sold about a million and a half."
Cliff Richard (May 1992 - Cliff Toppers BBC radio special)
"When I went to America with Devil Woman it sold 1.4 million copies. When I came back people said to me, 'You've cracked America!' The only thing I could think of was that 249 million people did not buy it."
"The most successful of [the 1976 singles], Devil Woman reached No.9 and Miss You Nights No.15... For the September 1975 sessions at Abbey Road, three songs had been channelled to Cliff through Bruce Welch, who was producer for Devil Woman, I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You and Miss You Nights. Collectively these singles showed that Cliff had not only caught up with the contemporary scene, but was breaking new ground as well. April 23, 1976: Cliff's 66th single, Devil Woman/Love On [sic], is released. One reviewer, Bob Edmonds, asks: 'Has Cliff been caught up again? He cut a previous single, Honky Tonk Angel, without apparently knowing what it was about. This time someone may have forgotten to tell him what the words devil and woman mean. You see, Cliffie, a devil is a naughty person and a woman is more or less a person of the opposite sex. Now, is it right for an upstanding young man to sing about naughtiness and sex? Isn't this just setting a bad example to his followers?' June 26, 1976: Devil Woman picks up heavy 'FM' air-play on San Fanciscan radio stations. August 1976: In America, Devil Woman enters the Cashbox and Billboard charts to give Cliff his third-ever hit Stateside and his first since It's All In The Game in 1964. October 1976: His single Devil Woman becomes Cliff Richard's biggest-ever hit on the other side of the Atlantic, making both the No.6 position in the Billboard charts and the No. 5 spot in the rival Cash Box chart."
Mike Read, Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (1995 - The Complete Chronicle)
"...there is a common misconception that Cliff had no success in the United States until Devil Woman in 1976. Although it is true that the Rocket Records release was his first American Top Tenner, Living Doll did reach the US Top 30 [in 1959]."
Paul Gambaccini (1997 - liner notes for The Rock 'n' Roll Years 1958-1963 album)
"The song always dictates the way you record it. Miss You Nights and Devil Woman fit on the same album because they were by the same artist and used the same producer. There is cohesion because we did them all at the same time. In the end, the song tells you what to do."
"It would be difficult to decide whether Devil Woman or We Don't Talk Anymore [as one of my greatest experiences]. Devil Woman, I think, is the record I'd most like to be remembered for. But We Don't Talk Anymore is the biggest single I ever sung. [...] Yeah, [Devil Woman was about the occult], but it was a warning against the occult. In fact, I added some words... I just changed... You don't have to change many words to make it positive. Originally, it was just the story of a man who goes and meets with a woman who can read the future. And he had nothing but bad luck. And that's okay, but I thought to myself, I don't want to sing about the occult unless I speak against it. And so all I did was change a few lyrics and said, 'You'd better stay away. Beware the devil woman. If you find yourself with her, then get out of there fast.' And I changed it and made it really positive. And the really good part of this story is that when I was in Australia a girl came to me... She wrote a letter saying, 'I was about to become involved with the occult and I heard Devil Woman.' And she said, 'I listened to the lyrics and I listened to the warning and I didn't go.' And she said, 'I'm only writing to tell you now that I'm a Christian in this church in Melbourne and God has entered my life.' And I thought, isn't that fantastic. Devil Woman may have been recorded... I know I like it. I'm sure a lot of you would have liked Devil Woman. But I like to think that this song was written for her because it saved her life."
Cliff Richard (December 26, 1998 - Musikbutikken TV show)
"It is ironic that what is arguably the most significant recording date of Cliff Richard's post rock 'n' roll career came about almost by accident, when, in one forty-eight hour period in September 1975, Cliff made the decision to record, under the production guidance of Bruce Welch, Devil Woman and Miss You Nights. It was these two recordings, later released as top side singles in February and May 1976 respectively, that would set the tone for what many would call the renaissance of Cliff Richard's recording career. Cliff had already been given... Devil Woman, the story of a seductive fortune teller, not by Welch, but by the writer Terry Britten, some months earlier but had done nothing with it. It was only through Welch's sheer persistence and a no let-up pressure that Cliff ended up recording the song, exactly as the demo had sounded... Although Miss You Nights, the first single to be released [from the I'm Nearly Famous sessions] sold well enough to place Cliff back in the top twenty for the first time in two years, ever since Hangin' On [sic] charted just outside the ten in May 1974, it was Devil Woman, released two months later that re-established his chart presence once more, eventually becoming Cliff's biggest selling single since The Young Ones in 1961. He was also given another chance of a stab at the American singles market, thanks to Elton John and manager John Reid's Rocket label releasing the track that June. [...] With Devil Woman, things momentarily changed. The record entered the Billboard charts at number eighty-four, and over the coming two months slowly crept its way into the top ten eventually peaking at number six, becoming in the process Cliff's first American million seller. Released in May 1976 this single gave Cliff his first top ten single since Power To All Our Friends back in 1973. After entering the chart on 8 May 1976 at #41 it climbed to #9 during a run of 12 weeks. The single qualified for a gold award from the Record Industry Association of America."
Peter Lewry & Nigel Goodall (July 2001 - liner notes for I'm Nearly Famous remaster album)
"And then, of course, there's Devil Woman. I mean, I think Devil Woman again is much more contemporary than Move It, but I love songs that tell stories with hooks in the chorus line. And it's got a hook guitar."
Cliff Richard (April 2002 - Top Of The Pops internet interview)
"As [Terry] Britten has previously done with Devil Woman [songwriters], the riff came from him, the story from someone else. With Devil Woman, it was from Christine Holmes, a singer and children's television presenter who came up with the title and wrote the story."
Peter Lewry & Nigel Goodall (July 2001 - liner notes for Rock 'n' Roll Juvenile remaster album)
"...If a Martian came down and said, 'What dod you do?' I'd want to play him Devil Woman."
Cliff Richard (2003 October 28 - interview on Radio 96.4, The Eagle)
"In the case of Devil Woman, for instance... You know, it's interesting, when I first recorded Devil Woman, the press in Britain said, 'Oh!' They tutted their tongues and said, 'Oh my goodness! Here's Christian Cliff Richard singing about the devil and you know, devil is Satan and woman is sex. Sex and Satan! Oh, Cliff!' And I guess they were just having fun. But they kind of missed the point as quite often critics do miss the point. Particularly if they're not necessarily fans of yours. And I can understand that people aren't fans of everybody that they criticize. Devil Woman in fact, was a song that is anti-the occult. So it was easy for me to agree to sing it. It was-- I did change some of the lyrics to make sure that it was anti-occult. And I don't know whether I've told you this Steve and Johnnie, when I went to Australia once, I got a letter from a girl saying she was about to become involved with the occult, when a friend of hers said, 'Look, I know your a fan of Cliff's. Just listen to this new record, Devil Woman.' And she said in her letter, 'I listened to the song and I heeded the warning in the lyrics. And I'm now a member of a church in Melbourne and helping run the Sunday school...' And I'm thinking, 'Oh my goodness. That record may well have been recorded just for her.'"
Cliff Richard (February 18, 2005 - WGN Radio 720 Chicago interview)
"Well, there was [a bit of controversy about the lyrics], but the controversy shouldn't have been there 'cause I'd already dealt with the lyrics before I ever recorded it. I don't record anything I'd ever find dangerous-- I mean dangerous in a bad way. I mean, Heathcliff was dangerous for me to do as an artist. But I don't like doing songs that are negative in some sense or [are] dangerous to people. Now Devil Woman was written just strictly about a song about somebody who got involved with the occult. Now I wasn't as a Christian going to say 'let's just leave it like that and if people want to dabble in the occult, they can.' The truth is, of course, they can if they want to. But I turned it into a warning against the occult. That's why it says, 'beware the devil woman. Stay away. And if you're in her company, you'd better get out of there fast.' And so, I turned it into a positive thing. And in fact, I know it worked because I got a letter from a woman in Australia who said she was a fan and she says, 'I was about to get dabbling in the occult.' There's something happening in her life, she's depressed and all that. A friend of hers said, 'Okay, you're a fan of Cliff's. Listen to this!' And she said, 'I heard Devil Woman. I heeded the warning in the lyrics. And I want to tell you now, I didn't get involved with the occult and I'm now a member of the St. John's church or whatever it is and I run the school choir.' I can't remember what it was. And I thought, 'Isn't it fantastic that one song can do that-- can turn someone's life around.' It actually turned her life around. And so, the controversy was because people are always dying for me to sing about the devil and women. And they took Devil Woman-- Because journalist tend to-- they don't really dig deep enough. And I don't think that they really quite know what we're doing. They ought to know what we're doing, really, but they don't."
Cliff Richard (2005 March 27 - interview on 107.7 Splash FM with Dave Hunt)
"The intro to Devil Woman - I got that idea from Heard It through the Grapevine [sic]. Without a doubt. 'Cause I was so fascinated with the mystery of [Sings intro melody to Grapevine] and the atmosphere it created straight away. When you listen to Devil Woman at the start it's got the real mystery to it. You don't know quite what's going to happen. It's a bit of a riff, yeah. I like riffs. I can use it a few times. Carrie was another one. Actually it was quite involved, that one, but still had that mystery. I love creating atmosphere, it's really important. Yeah [Devil Woman was quite a radical departure for Cliff Richard in 1976] I had that riff for quite a while and at sound checks I'd just work on it. And then I got together with somebody who did a few lyrics and I don't know how that came about, we've only ever written the one song together. But these odd things happen in your life which are fantastic. You suddenly find yourself in a flat in Kensington, co-writing. You think 'Why the hell am I doing this? I don't want to work with this person.' And then you find yourself there. I said, 'Well, let's write a song for Cliff. I've got this riff.' And she came up with a title, and I thought, well it's not a very original title, it's been done. There had already been a song called Devil Woman, a country song. Marty Robbins. But it worked. And it was commercial. Christine Holmes, her name was. She was a TV presenter at one time. Oh yeah, [Cliff liked it straight away and] Bruce Welch went crazy. We had a great time recording it at Abbey Road. It was fantastic. And then it all went horribly wrong. 'Cause Cliff had this Honky Tonk Angel song out and somebody said, 'Oh, Cliff obviously doesn't know what a honky tonk angel is, a prostitute, and here is Cliff Richard, the Christian, singing about a prostitute.' And poor old naive Cliff, as soon as he realise, he pulled the record. Killed it off. And of course what's the next thing you do after that? Well you can't do that, you see. So it sat on the shelf for a year. We recorded it in '74 at Abbey Road, Allan Clarke from the Hollies was walking down the corridor, came in, put his head around and went, 'That's a hit.' And the engineer went, 'America. This is going to be a hit in America.' And Cliff's never had a hit in America, so I'm going, 'Ah, people, what do they know?' Mr Confidence, you know. But when they brought it out, I remember I was in Epsom in the kitchen, I was making my breakfast, it was eight o'clock in the morning, and it came on and he said, 'Listen to this! You're never going to guess who this is!' He said, 'I'll play it again! I'll tell you what, let's have a competition. You ring in and tell me who you think this is singing this song.' And I don't believer this - twice he's played it. Then he played it three times in a row, and I'm going, 'Wow!' It sounded fantastic on the radio. And there was this buzz. It was huge in America. Even now, it gets played in America. I would have liked to do more like that, but Cliff being the beast that he is has got this thing about always trying something different. Which is accepted here, but in America you had Devil Woman out and in America if that's what you do, that's what you do. But he came out next with this falsetto, funny, lightweight track, and I thought, why on earth are they wasting this opportunity by not following through with a similar vibe?"
Terry Britten (2005 - Songwriters Speak by Debbie Kruger)
"And Cliff Richard reveals that Devil Woman (No 41) is his favourite vocal performance 'because it is my kind of rock'n'roll.'"
Mark Brown (August 2, 2006 - The Guardian)
"'I know I made the US Top 10 only thrice, Devil Woman went to No. 6 while both Dreamin' and We Don't Talk Anymore made it to 7,'� he said, but was quick to point out that nothing could have made him any happier than he is with his career. "
Author Unknown (2007 February 11 - The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka))
"Devil Woman was the biggest hit of three records [made in September 1975] making the top ten in the UK and Number 5 in the USA! [...] Devil Woman sounded like a 'Hit' as soon as we started to record."
Tony Rivers (circa 2007 - tonyrivers.com)
"One of the most successful of the 1970s singles was Devil Woman, which although it missed the coveted chart position in the UK, it was #1 in South Africa. It was one of several singles from the I'm Nearly Famous ground-breaking album that saw Cliff return to the contemporary music scene."
Nigel Goodall & Peter Lewry (2008 - liner notes for The Hits: Number Ones Around The World album in the ...And They Said It Wouldn't Last! {My 50 Years In Music} set)
"Cliff's In the Ghetto, his career-changing contemporary comeback single, was Devil Woman, released in 1976, which made him a chart regular again. He'd only had one top 10 hit in the previous five years and that – Power to All Our Friends – was another Eurovision entry. With Devil Woman, a cracking tune, he became a purveyor of top-end contemporary MOR pop, and commenced a run of sophisticated and memorable singles leading up to 1979's We Don't Talk Anymore..."
Bob Stanley (September 17, 2009 - The Guardian)
"In May 1976 I'm Nearly Famous, the first of three albums to be produced by Bruce Welch, gave Cliff his first Top 5 album of new material in over a decade and spawned three Top 10 hits including Devil Woman."
Peter Lewry & Nigel Goodall (July 2010 - liner notes for The Collection album)
"[Cliff Richard had] his comeback as a rock star in 1976 with the release of Devil Woman..."
Author Unknown (December 18, 2011 - The Sunday Times)
Steve Turner:
"In one 48-hour period in September 1975, Welch produced Devil Woman and Miss You Nights. These two records, more than any others, were to set the tone for the rest of his career.
It was [the demo] version of [Miss You Nights] that Welch took down to Cliff's home in Weybridge one summer evening along with Devil Woman written by Terry Britten and I Can't Ask For Anything More Than You by Ken Gold and Michael Denne.
'Cliff put the cassette of Miss You Nights on in his music room and the hairs stood up on his arms,' remembers Welch. He'd already been given Devil Woman some months before but he hadn't done anything with it. I pushed him. I said, 'Why on earth haven't you recorded this song?'
Devil Woman had started off as a riff which Terry Britten couldn't find words for and then he linked up with Christine Holmes, a singer and children's television presenter who had been produced by Dave Mackay, and she gave it a title and wrote the story of a seductive fortune teller.
'I had my ideas about this fortune teller song in my notebook and Terry had this guitar riff and we just put them together,' says Holmes. 'We wrote it together in my flat.'
'I knew it had to be a rock number. Helen Reddy had done a song called Angie Baby which was a really spooky song and used sounds in the mix that hadn't been used too much in pop music. In my mind I knew that I wanted Devil Woman to sound similarly spooky. We both very much knew what we wanted and Cliff copies the demo exactly.'
When Cliff went into Abbey Road to record the three songs, Welch, as producer, retained Alan Tarney and Terry Britten from Dave Mackay's rhythm section but added Graham Todd on keyboards and Tony Rivers, John Perry and Ken Gold on backing vocals.
'It was a great session the day we did Devil Woman,' remembers Terry Britten. The engineer Tony Clark was standing in front of the speakers as it was played back and as quick as a flash he said, America! This is gonna be a smash in America!'
Tony Clark remembers the emotion of the session. 'You could feel something was happening,' he says. 'The actual groove of the track was something instant. When I said it was made for America I was probably more excited than anyone else. In those days it wasn't normal to stand up in the control room and shout out loud.'
Three months later, with Devil Woman and Miss You Nights still unreleased as singles, the same team returned to the studio to complete an album of the songs that Welch had gathered.
Miss You Nights was to be the first single released, in February 1976, because there was some concern that Devil Woman might get confused with the Electric Light Orchestra's Evil Woman which had entered the charts in January. It sold impressively and returned Cliff to the top twenty for the first time in two years, but it was Devil Woman, released two months later, which re-established him as a chart force.
'I was sitting in my kitchen in Espom and the DJ said he was going to play a record and we should try and guess who it was,' remembers Terry Britten of the first radio play he heard. 'He played this record and my ears went up when I heard the first couple of bars. Then everyone started ringing in and getting it wrong and he played it again and there was this tremendous excitement that this was Cliff Richard. No one could believe that Cliff could make a record like this.'
'Devil Woman sound like something that the Rolling Stones or at least Elton John would record. The voice was as clean as ever but the sound of the track was dirty and swampy. Cliff had never worked around a riff like this before and this story of seduction conjured up images of dark backstreets in New Orleans; of a world a million miles away from Take Me High.'
The writer, Christine Holmes, says the song is about a man who is seduced by a fortune teller.
'It's a very rude song actually,' admits Holmes. 'But I'm not sure Cliff was aware how rude it was. My whole thing was to convey that women can be very spooky and clever when they try to snare a guy. They can force a guy into doing things he wouldn't normally do. They can be witches when they want to be.'
Cliff has indeed interpreted the lyrics in a different way, believing it to be a warning against dabbling in the occult. This view was endorsed for him when a young woman from Australia wrote to him to say that the song had been instrumental in her Christian conversion. 'I heeded the warning,' she told him.
The music press was enthusiastic about the single, seeing it as a definite return to form. There was talk of the Cliff Richard Renaissance. The record climbed into the top ten, eventually becoming his biggest international seller since The Young Ones.
Elton John's manager, John Reid, heard Miss You Nights and wanted to release it in America on his three-year-old record label, Rocket. Elton has long been a fan (he could remember seeing him in pantomime at the Palladium) and it was thought that maybe Rocket could launch Cliff in America in the way that it had recently reversed the fortunes of Neil Sedaka in his home country.
Rocket's Executive Vice President in America was Tony King, a flamboyant English bachelor who had once worked for the Beatles' Apple label, and was closely acquainted with almost everyone who mattered in the rock industry.
He listened to the album and concluded that although Miss You Nights was a good song, it was Devil Woman that stood the better chance of becoming a hit. He had the track remastered to match the sound quality of American radio and it was released in June.
'We cut it really hot,' says King. 'Then I brought in publicist Sharon Lawrence who said that if we really want to crack America, Cliff would have to be brought over for a month to do press and radio. Peter Gormley agreed and so I went on the road with Cliff.
'We had to promote him as someone fresh,' says Tony King. Devil Woman started picking up interest and getting added to secondary stations in each area but we still needed to crack a primary station. Within a month it began to edge in at the lower end of the charts and then we knew there was a chance it could make it.'
'The most important radio stations to get on were those controlled by RKO. If you got on an RKO station it looked as though you were going to make it. The chain was run by a man named Paul Drew who was a friend of mine and of Elton John and of John Lennon but he was a tough guy and he wouldn't do anything to give me a break.'
'However because he was a friend, if he saw that I has something that looked as if it had legs he would maybe tip it a little in my direction. But only if the evidence was that he couldn't be accused of helping out a friend.'
'When Devil Woman looked as though it was really happening he gave us the break that really cracked it. He gave us the number one station in Boston and that gave us a good chart position the next week. Once it performed well on that station the rest fell like dominoes.' The record entered the US charts at number 88 at the end of June and slowly began to climb through July and August.
When it finally broke into the top ten Cliff was playing in Leningrad and Moscow on a ground-breaking Russian visit-- the first by a Western rock artist. It was a strange experience of playing to a mixture of sober-suited party officials and excited teenagers, with security leaping into action every time anyone showed any physical signs of appreciation.
'We were calling back home to get the Billboard chart positions all the time,' remembers Terry Britten. 'The news that it was going up really kept us going out there.'
Devil Woman went on to reach number five in the Billboard charts and to become an American million-seller. [...] When Devil Woman entered the Billboard charts Bruce Welch walked across the stage during a concert in Hong Kong and whispered the news in [Cliff's] ear."
Steve Turner (2008 January - Cliff Richard - The Biography (revised edition))
"I was doing a promo tour for (1976 single) Devil Woman which reached Number 6 in the American charts. During one interview a journalist offered to introduce me to Elvis. I said. 'Of course!' But then I thought about it and I asked if I could wait. Elvis was looking really.......heavy. I'd noticed that when he was making a film he would diet down and regain the animal magnetism. And I wanted a picture on my wall of Elvis looking good. So I said no and I waited. A year later he was dead. I really kicked myself."
Cliff Richard (March, 2008 - Q magazine)
"The single Devil Woman became a hit in America and it suddenly became OK to like Cliff again."
Steve Turner (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"When Terry Britten gave me a demo cassette of Devil Woman, I thought, 'Crikey! That's fantastic!' I had it for a year-and-a-half before I recorded it. I thought I could never do it because it would have been such a change for me. [...] Bruce knows what I can and can't do. I can't sing like Robert Plant, so I don't even try. But I can do a rocky number like Devil Woman and a soft ballad like Miss You Nights. Those are the two extremes of any type of music. Bruce knew what I was capable of, it was just a matter of finding the right material. the trouble was, people were still sending me songs that sounded like Congratulations and so Bruce didn't tell anyone who he was collecting for. He knew what he wanted and he went out looking for it. [...] I've come to the conclusion that in England in particular, the middle-of-the-road audience is much larger than the audiences at either extreme. It's an incredible market. So I think it would be stupid for me to say that all I was ever going to do from now on was Devil Woman. That song crossed the line somewhere because neighbours of mine have come up to me when I've been walking the dog and told me what a great song they thought it was. You don't expect that from that age group, but it came. I think that's because Devil Woman was a classic rock song. I get sick of singing Living Doll, but I don't think I'll ever tire as easily of Devil Woman because of it's qualities as a song. I don't want to cut the grandparents out. It's good if they hear what I'm doing now and enjoy it like I do."
Cliff Richard (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"Cliff has a great voice-- it has great quality. All his fans are women and they think he's singing only to them. That's the way it was for Elvis and Sinatra. That's what a song like Miss You Nights does. I took him Devil Woman, Miss You Nights and I Can't Ask For Any More Than You; when we recorded them no one could believe it was Cliff. [...] Cliff thought Devil Woman was about something else. That's because he didn't know. There was a line in it about 'neighborhood strays' and he thought it was about cats! [...] Those three songs [Devil Woman, Miss You Nights and I Can't Ask For Any More Than You] turned into I'm Nearly Famous and gave him credibility."
Bruce Welch (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"I had the music for Devil Woman and didn't quite know what I was going to do with it. Someone introduced it to a writer who was stronger on lyrics, Christine Holmes, and she gave it the title and came up with the story."
Terry Britten (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"I had the idea of doing a fortune-telling song and it was going to be the story of a guy going to a fortune-teller and the fortune-teller predicting that he would meet a tall, dark stranger and that she would be that stranger. In other words, the fortune-teller fancied him. It was based on my observation of women. I'm Piscean, so I'm the most sensitive sun sign. I'm a very good observer. I watch relationships very closely. Devil Woman is an observation of what women can be like when they're trying to get a guy."
Christine Holmes (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"Elton John absolutely loved Miss You Nights. He thought that would be the hit that would help Cliff crack America. He has to negotiate with EMI to allow Rocket to release the record in America and EMI was happy because they'd never really been able to do anything with Cliff in America. I was put in charge of promoting the record. [...] After I listened to I'm Nearly Famous, I realized that Devil Woman as the better track for America. We tinkered with it a little bit to master it a little hotter for American radio, and then I hired a press officer to promote him."
Tony King (2008 May - The Bachelor Boy)
"I have had nine Top 30 hits over here [in the US] and two of them were million sellers-- We Don't Talk Anymore [and] Devil Woman. There were a success. [...] If you said to me now, a Martian is going to land (and who knows, he might now that we're there)... A Martian might come down and you have to play him something that lets him know what you do, I would play him Devil Woman. Yeah, I would. To me that's iconic type rock 'n' roll-- guitar, fabulous guitar riff, great melody, unbelievable chorus, and it's got a storyline. And I think to myself, that's what I would play him. And I've had bigger hits, of course, sometimes that's not the point."
Cliff Richard (September 8, 2012 - Wired For Sound Radio)
"Bruce [Welch] got me to do [the backing vocal arrangements] for this first session he fixed up for Abbey Road, which I was fairly used to because the Castaways made all their-- most of their singles at Abbey Road, there was one we made independently. So Abbey Road was a good place for us to go back to because it had now become Abbey Road-- the world knew about Abbey Road. So to go there and start recording in the same studio that The Beatles made all their classic stuff... And that's where we made Miss You Nights, Devil Woman and I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You, all on the first session I ever did for him. All three were hits. [...] Devil Woman was a great record. And we were on it! You know, it's simple harmonies, nothing clever like Miss You Nights which is a little bit more full, you know, harmony wise. We just did the three part harmony behind Cliff on Devil Woman. He sang the chorus, he used [unintelligible]. That just the four of us standing there going 'she's just a devil woman with evil on her...' That in unison. And at the end, Cliff goes off into his falsetto astronomical direction and that's us doing 'she's just a devil...'"
Tony Rivers (September 8, 2012 - Wired For Sound Radio)
"[In regards to my favourite song I would say] if a Martian landed here, at this moment, and asked us what we did for a living, I'm not sure what you would tell him, but I wouldn't say a word. I would give him a copy of Devil Woman and say, 'here.' [pantomimes handing something over] So Devil Woman is what I like."
Cliff Richard (2013 September 4 - Channel 5 News)
"It's a shame, but it's a fact that we sometimes get compartmentalized. And I've been very careful... For instance, no one thought I should ever record Devil Woman because I wasn't the type of person to do that. I'm the Summer Holiday, Living Doll, Bachelor Boy guy. And I thought, 'I've got this fantastic rock 'n' roll song.' And I thought about it for a long time and then Bruce Welch said to me, 'Look, we're going to do an album together and we don't want anything like Congratulations or Summer Holiday or anything like it on it.' And I said, 'I've got the very song.' So we daringly did it along with a whole bunch of new stuff. And we were lucky. It was a good album. It sold well. And the public liked it. And it lead me on, so not only do I have old songs like Bachelor Boy, I've got really old songs like Devil Woman [and] We Don't Talk Anymore which will never get old. You know, these are crème de la crème pop songs. I am so lucky to have met people like Terry Britten and Alan Tarney who wrote those songs for me. I mean... although I write, I never wrote like that. I came from a generation slightly before them. Even though they're my age. But they gave me great songs to sing and the public accepted them, which means I was able to take the oldies and bring them... bring myself on a bit so that my oldies now aren't 55 years old, they can be 20 years old and they were hits."
Cliff Richard (September 9, 2013 - Time Out With Phillip Silverstone)
"Morrissey's obsessive dislike of the former PM [Margaret Thatcher]... is equally well documented. He said the media coverage of her funeral last year was 'rubbing salt in the wounds' and also once wrote and performed a song called Margaret On The Guillotine. Perhaps he could vent his spleen further by singing a cover version of Cliff's Devil Woman and dedicating it to Lady T's memory."
Author Unknown (2014 February - Unidentified UK newspaper clipping)
"I came to America eight or nine times, and each time I left, I had a record in the Top 30. Living Doll made Top 30 in the States; We Don't Talk Anymore, Devil Woman, Suddenly with Olivia [Newton-John], Dreamin' and Daddy's Home were all hits. [...] With Devil Woman, I moved away from EMI America and went to Rocket Records, Elton John's label. Elton got me, and he was right behind it and that song became a huge hit. So that proved to me given the same amount of support of my other records, I could possibly have made it bigger in America. But we made it to No. 4 with Devil Woman, and We Don't Talk Anymore got to No. 6. I was really thrilled those both made the Top 10. [...] [When Bruce came to produce my music], in my hands I had a song called Devil Woman written for me by Terry Britten. Bruce already had songs, too, and they were fabulous. So we worked together on the album, I'm Nearly Famous. When I played Bruce Devil Woman he went, 'Oh my God; that is fantastic. That is exactly what I need!' So we got together and made that album, and it brought me back with album sales again.My albums had not been selling that great compared to how my singles had been selling. Devil Woman was a big break for me. The press called it my 'renaissance' period (laughs). Somehow, even though I hadn't been anywhere, I'd kind of made a comeback. We thought Devil Woman would work on American radio, and we were right. Terry Britten went on to bigger things too, writing the song What's Love Got to do with It for Tina Turner. "
Cliff Richard (2015 January 15 - Goldmine)
"[In America] when you're having your hair cut, you know how hairdressers talk. And they're cutting your hair and they'll say, 'What do you do for a living?' And I'll think should I lie or should I... And I'll says, 'Well, I'm a singer.' [They'll respond: ] 'Oh, you make any money?' And I went, 'Yeah, I've done all right.' [They'll respond: ] 'Anything I would know?' And I'd sing: 'She's just a devil woman.' And the guy goes: 'with evil on her mind.' He said, 'That's you!?' And I'd go, 'Yeah, that's me.' So I have no identity there, but a couple of big hits."
Cliff Richard (August 23, 2015 - Solid Gold Sunday on KISSFM)
"The hits continued during the 1970s, with Devil Woman and We Don't Talk Anymore as particular highlights."
Unknown (October 10, 2015 - The Oxford Times)
"Wired for Sound and Devil Woman, obviously [are on the 75 At 75 compilation]. Move It of course. We Don't Talk Anymore and Some People are there. Because, yes, they are wonderful."
Simon Sweetman (December 7, 2015 - Off The Tracks website)
Tony Rivers:
"I first had to come up with some suitable vocal arrangements (and sing them of course), and they'd need to be good enough to please Bruce. September of that year we went into the studio at Abbey Road with three of the songs that he had found, and this is where things were about to change for me. I'd been arranging harmonies for a long time and fortunately the songs Bruce had found suited my style very well. It certainly helped that I'd also been doing sessions, for some years alongside my two good friends, John Perry and Ken Gold - with Stu Calver occasionally adding his voice to the mix as well. We all worked really well together and had our own distinctive sound although, to be honest, we/I owed a lot to Brian Wilson for the style. But of course the 'blend' was definitely our own. It was our sound, and it was this sound that we brought to Bruce ... and to Cliff. The songs to be recorded were Miss You Nights, Devil Woman and I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You. These all became single releases and were all pretty big hits as well. Devil Woman was very much the biggest hit of the three singles, making the Top Ten UK and number 5 or 6 in the USA, whilst I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You was a smaller hit [than Devil Woman] but still made it into the top twenty in the UK. For me, who had been totally hooked on American records since That'll Be The Day first entered these ears of mine, to be on a record in the US top ten that I have contributed to vocally was just UNBELIEVABLE.
It was a great few days in beautiful St. John's Wood, up in North London, meeting Cliff and all the superb musicians Bruce Welch had gathered to make these recordings. On electric piano there was the late, great Graham Todd, whilst Terry Britten (writer of Devil Woman and the future Tina Turner smash hit What's Love Got To Do With It?) was on guitar. Behind the drums sat my old mate Clem Cattini, whose name you may have noticed just keeps cropping up, from my early Cutaways days through to the early 70's at CBS - and now here we are again, Clem and I, mid 70's and about to make hit records with Cliff at the start of his second attempt at a 'street cred era' (the first of course, back in '58 was quite successful, not many get to do that twice). On bass was the very talented Alan Tarney. Alan was about to become my favourite bass player that I've ever worked with, and he soon went on to become an extremely successful songwriter and producer as well, and not only with Cliff but with Leo Sayer, Barbara Dixon and A-Ha.
It was good to be back at Abbey Road and I'm pleased to say that the sessions went fantastically well. There was a great vibe between all the musicians, and the sound engineers were great. Peter Vince was one that I remembered from way back in 62/63, when The Castaways had undertaken our 'recording test' at Abbey Road, and I seem to remember he may have been sound engineer that day (it may have been Tony Clark though). Hayden Bendall was assistant engineer in many of our EMI sessions. All of these guys were great to work with and, looking back, that was a pretty important ingredient of a successful session - they were great at what they did which, ultimately, helped us settle into working comfortably alongside people who had previously been 'idols' to us. Of course, Cliff was always a real upbeat, enthusiastic bloke to work with, whilst Bruce was very often funny, sometimes a bit of a pain, usually to do with tuning (well, actually ALWAYS over tuning), but overall we aimed at perfection and we always got that. Despite the fact that we had used these great studios in the past they had since become 'world famous' thanks to those 'Mop Tops'. We had to keep mentally pinching ourselves that we were here again working in Studio Two Abbey Road, with both Bruce Welch from the Shadows, and CLIFF RICHARD who incidentally had been the first to really put Abbey Road on the map. (Not forgetting, The Goons and Sophia Loren!) Goodness gracious me!
However, Devil Woman sounded like a HIT the moment we heard the track, and when we began to put our voices on top, it was clear that it had big HIT written all over it.
When the vocals were all done we sat back with a feeling of huge satisfaction at the results, what a successful first three recordings they were, and when Devil Woman was picked up by Elton John's Rocket label, and we saw it then storm the US charts, well words could not describe our satisfaction at a job so well done. It is very rare in session work that you have such an amazing success, ie Devil Woman, and on the same session such a beautiful masterpiece as Miss You Nights. The lead vocal by Cliff is perfect, complemented by the stunning wall of harmonies surrounding him, and of course the beautiful orchestral backdrop seals the deal. So we got three hits out of that first session, I'd never done that before nor since.
[Cliff] sang ballads brilliantly but did love the rock style songs that Terry Britten could write for him, those like Devil Woman, Carrie and Under Lock And Key."
Tony Rivers (2015 - I'm Nearly Famous (The Tales of a Likely Lad))
!@#!@#"I liked (Cliff's hit) Devil Woman and it was heartwarming when he sent out feelers to me a few years ago. If the chance arose I'd have worked with him."
Johnny Rotten (May 29, 2016 - The Express)
"Richard had a handful of hits in the US, with Devil Woman and We Don't Talk Anymore both going Top 10 in the '70s."
Cameron Adams (November 23 2016 - PerthNow)
"I've been so lucky I've been given phenomenal songs to sing. Devil Woman, to me, is a perfect pop song. [...] Terry Britten wrote Devil Woman. He had his finger on the pulse of what... In fact, he said to me that that was inspired by Grapevine, you know Heard It On The Grapevine? He covered that riff. Grapevine had that [imitates the riff] and Terry just put it all backwards and went [imitates the riff]... Devil Woman. So it's kind of influenced by that stuff. So for me it's a cracking song, great guitar solo, fantastic chorus, and a story to tell. "
Cliff Richard (December 4, 2016 - Celebrity Radio by Alex Belfield)
"The problem is, if you add songs [to a live show], you have to take something out. And I find it hard to drop Miss You Nights and Devil Woman and We Don't Talk Anymore and Dreamin'. But I think I'll have to be pretty vicious about it or it will be a four hour show."
Cliff Richard (December 20, 2016 - Steve Wright In The Afternoon)
"Cliff Richard thinks about his fortune teller, who has 'a crystal ball on the table, showing the future, the past' is a Devil Woman."
Chas Cozens (October 23, 2017 - The Guardian)
"The house lights dim and the following legend greets viewers: 'Based on irony-free, wildly contradictory, totally true interviews.' The disclaimer is almost immediately succeeded by bad mom LaVona Golden's (Allison Janney) first appearance in flashback, backed by Cliff Richard's pop tune Devil Woman. It soon becomes apparent that the interviews won't be the only irony-free facet of I, Tonya."
Scott Marks (January 10, 2018 - San Diego Reader)
"A pumped up soundtrack [for I, Tonya] featuring Devil Woman by Cliff Richard kicks off the film and has you humming the tune three weeks after you've seen the movie."
Landdis Hollifield (February 9, 2018 - The McDowell News website)
"[Cliff Richard] piled up numerous hits in England, but for at least 20 years, barely hit in the States, with the exception of a cover version of the Tommy Edwards smash It's All in the Game — released during Beatlemania in 1964 — and the song Devil Woman (not to be confused with the early 1960s Marty Robbins hit) in 1976 on Elton John's Rocket label."
Joel Goldenberg (August 18, 2018 - The Suburban)
"Terry Britten and Kristine Sparkle actually wrote [Devil Woman]. They were friends of mine anyway and they asked me if I would actually do the demo. And I actually did the demo record of Devil Woman. And then Bruce Welch of the Shadows who produced it phoned me up and asked, did I do the demo. And I said, 'yeah.' And he said, 'would you come and do the master?' And so I went to Abbey Road, or EMI as we know it now, and we did the song there, Devil Woman. So that's how that one came about. I'll always remember that one. [...] Oh, the fill-ins. I don't know what to say about that, really. Just off the top of my head, really. I did it on the demo, so I when I did the master, they just said, do the same. And so I did. [...] I worked with [Cliff] for two years in his band, you know, when he split with The Shadows and had his own band, I worked for two years with him. It was through Devil Woman that I got the job. Because they asked me about... a few months later when it got int he charts... [it] never got to number one, though, in England. You know, I didn't even know that, I didn't know it was in the American charts."
Clem Cattini (June 9, 2019 - The Vintage Rock & Pop Shop on WFDU 89.1 FM Radio)
In the USA, it was decided that Devil Woman was a good single, but it needed a little more punch. So it was remastered, giving the bass and drums more kick. In addition, the song's fade out was changed to slightly earlier, cutting the last two lines of the fifth chorus-- it's assumed that this earlier fade was inadvertant and done by an engineer who was a little too fast on the knob. This version was on the USA single only (Rocket Record Company PIG-2210) with the I'm Nearly Famous album that was issued in the US having the standard master that was released worldwide. This version first appeared elsewhere on the 1989 40 Golden Greats CD, then reappeared on the 1998 1970s album and has been released on all compilations and reissues since. It's not entirely clear why the USA mix was used on all these compilations and has since supplanted the original mix, however, it is thought that this was done in error when the 40 Golden Greats CD was first compiled. Several songs on that CD were slightly remastered from the album's LP counterpart, so the wrong master may have been accidentally chosen for the project. A comarison of these mixes can be heard HERE. The first part heard is the original album version, followed by the USA single mix (both the intro and the fade are heard).
"We tinkered with [Devil Woman] a little bit to master it a little hotter for American radio, and then I hired a press officer to promote him."
This performance is a live vocal and some live instrumentation to a tape backing.
The B-side of the second disc of the 40 Golden Greats promo only double EP set (EMI PSR 415) includes excerpts from the songs:
Throw Down A Line
Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha
Sing A Song Of Freedom
Power To All Our Friends
(You Keep Me) Hangin' On
Miss You Nights
I Can't Ask For Anymore Than You
My Kinda Life
Each track plays approximately the first 30 seconds of the song before it fades and the next track begins.
Devil Woman (London Palladium - March 4, 1978)
"[For the Thank You Very Much concert and album] the old hits were mainly drawn from the sixties repertoire while, for new material, naturally the recent his Devil Woman was chosen..."
"But with Cliff's older material, [John] Tobler continued in his review, things were somewhat different. '...more contemporary hits like Miss You Nights and Devil Woman were unsurprisingly very similar to the recorded versions, which is a tribute to the ability of Cliff and his band to reproduce their recorded sound in a live environment.'"
Peter Lewry & Nigel Goodall (July 2004 - liner notes for Thank You Very Much remaster album)
Devil Woman (Edited Version) (London Palladium - March 4, 1978)
This edit appears on the Thank You Very Much videotape release. It is an edit of the album version, with a short portion of the repeated ending cut.
Devil Woman (Apollo Victoria Theatre - October 18, 1980)
While promoting his I'm No Hero album in America, Cliff and his band played a small set in a TV studio as some sort of promotion. Segments of this appeared in the third episode of the 1981 BBC Cliff series. Only the last quarter of Devil Woman is actually heard with the first half of that obscured with an interview with Dave Lee Travis.
Devil Woman (Savoy, New York - April 2, 1981)
This performance, as heard in the fourth episode of the 1981 BBC Cliff series, is interrupted in the middle by an interview with Cliff.
Devil Woman (Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23. 1982)
As tracked on the Dressed For The Occasion albums (including the remaster), the Devil Woman instrumental reprise is tracked with the full Devil Woman song as one track.
Devil Woman (Promo Banded Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23, 1982)
This version, available only on the promo LP (EMI PSLP 372) fades in and quickly fades out on the audience cheering at the end. Unlike the original LP, it does not have the reprise portion attached at the end, but ends on the song proper.
Devil Woman (Single Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23, 1982)
As tracked on the Spanish Mujer Diabólica/Repetición single, the Devil Woman instrumental reprise is tracked with the full Devil Woman song as one track. The single actually labeled as Mujer Diabólica/Repetición to include the reprise.
Devil Woman (Reprise) (Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23, 1982)
Devil Woman (Reprise) (Remaster Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23, 1982)
As tracked on the Dressed For The Occasion albums (including the remaster), the Devil Woman instrumental reprise is tracked with the full Devil Woman song as one track. The version on the 2004 remaster, however, does not fade but continues into the next song, Daddy's Home and, as tracked on the 2004 album, also includes the introduction to Daddy's Home at the end.
Devil Woman (Reprise) (Single Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23, 1982)
As tracked on the Spanish Mujer Diabólica single, the Devil Woman instrumental reprise is tracked with the full Devil Woman song as one track. The single actually labeled as Mujer Diabólica/Repetición to include the reprise.
Devil Woman (Reprise) (TV Edit Version - Royal Albert Hall, London - November 23, 1982)
The version of this track, as broadcast on TV on July 1983 under the title Cliff Richard At The Royal Albert Hall is extended from the album versions, repeating the main riff a few more times.
This is available only on a promo flexi-disc, meant to promote the Reader's Digest compilation called The Best Of Cliff Richard And The Shadows. It includes a medley of Cliff and The Shadows songs, interspersed with Alan Freeman talking about them. The songs, in order of appearance, are: Bachelor Boy, Move It, Living Doll, Please Don't Tease, It'll Be Me, The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, In The Country, The Day I Met Marie, All My Love, Congratulations, Power To All Our Friends, Apache, Wonderful Land, Dance On!, Foot Tapper, Devil Woman, Miss You Nights, We Don't Talk Anymore, Carrie and finally Visions.
Devil Woman (Rockspell - February 18, 1985)
During this performance (and all performances on this tour), backing vocalist Rosemarie Ford came forward on stage and danced about Cliff while he sang, playing the song's antagonist and pretending to try and seduce Cliff.
This version uses the original 1975 take of the song, but adds new guitars over the existing backing track and the fade out is extended by an additional 15 seconds.
This performance is of the first verse and chorus only.
"He performs Old Devil Woman with the panache of a West End musical finale."
Guy Kiddey (2011 October 29 - The Journal)
"Of course, I have to do Devil Woman, We Don't Talk Anymore and all those sort of [at my 75th birthday concert]."
Cliff Richard (August 16, 2015 - Paul O'Grady on the Wireless)
"...Devil Woman blended hammy grandparent-dancing and a fusillade of biker-bar guitars. "
Ed Power (September 27, 2015 - The Telegraph review of September 26, 2016 Killarney show)
"When he performs Devil Woman it could be Top of the Pops from 1976 as he sings the song with the same arm movements and gestures as he did nearly 40 years ago."
Graham Clark (October 4, 2015 - The Yorkshire Times review of October 1, 2015 Sheffield show)
"Richard's other purple patch was the late 70s and early 80s, represented in the first half by the tremulous mirrorball fantasia of Miss You Nights and on the home straight by the mighty triumvirate of Devil Woman, We Don't Talk Anymore and the glorious Wired for Sound, each as well preserved as their performer and generating enough momentum to sustain the euphoria through dinky Eurovision ditty Congratulations and a closing medley of his early 60s bubblegum hits, Gee Whiz It's You, Please Don't Tease and On The Beach."
Fiona Shepherd (October 7, 2015 - The Scotsman review of October 6, 2015 Glasgow show)
"On the home straight with such classics as the mighty Devil Woman, We Don't Talk Anymore and the glorious Wired For Sound, each song was as well preserved as their performer."
Kevin Cooper (October 10, 2015 - Nottingham Post review of October 9, 2015 Nottingham show)
SEE IT ON
"[Rise Up] also sees a reworking of some of his classic tracks, including Devil Woman and Miss You Nights, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra."
Unknown (August 29, 2018 - BBC News)
"Rise Up will also feature re-workings of four of his classic hits, including Devil Woman and Miss You Nights, using Sir Cliff's original vocals though now with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra."
Unknown (September 11, 2018 - Cross Rhythms website)
This page is intended to be a complete record of information on the Cliff Richard song Devil Woman. If you notice any errors or omissions, please contact me at cliffrichardsongs@gmail.com and let me know. I strive for accuracy.
Robert Porter