"long cool woman in a black dress" (also titled "long cool woman" or "long cool woman (in a black dress)") is a song written by allan clarke, roger cook, and roger greenaway and performed by the british rock group the hollies. originally appearing on the album "distant light", it was released as a single on 17 april 1972 (on parlophone in the united kingdom), selling 1.5 million copies in the united states and two million worldwide. it reached no. 2 on the "billboard" hot 100 in september 1972. "billboard" ranked it as the no. 24 song for 1972.