Join me the next ninety minutes packed with a playlist that’s so wickedly good, it’ll put a spell on you! Get ready to dance with the devil and groove to some bewitching beats!
| Title | Artist | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Venus | Shocking Blue | The Dutch band Shocking Blue with Mariska Veres released “Venus” in 1969, inspired by the goddess of love and beauty in Roman mythology. Robbie van Leeuwen, Shocking Blue’s guitarist, sitarist, and background vocalist wrote new lyrics set to music based on “The Banjo Song” by Tim Rose and the Big 3, which is in turn lyrically a modification of the 19th century song “Oh! Susanna” by Stephen Foster. Influences from other songs include the opening guitar riff that is similar to The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” |
| Witch Queen Of New Orleans | Redbone | “The Witch Queen of New Orleans” by Redbone, released in 1971, is about a 19th-century practitioner of voodoo from New Orleans named Marie Laveau, referred to in the song lyrics as “Marie la Voodoo veau”. The song was written by the two Native American brothers of the group Redbone, Lolly Vegas and Pat Vegas. It shows influences from New Orleans R&B and swamp pop. |
| Witchy Woman | Eagles | Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon and Don Henley wrote this about a number of women they had met. Don Henley’s date’s roommate in the early ’70s practiced “white witchcraft,” dabbling in the paranormal with good intentions. A few years later, Henley dated perhaps the most famous white witch of the era: Stevie Nicks. |
| Gypsy | Fleetwood Mac | Fleetwood Mac’s “Gypsy”, released in 1982, is about the free and fearless side of one’s personality. Stevie Nicks wrote it and dedicated it to her friend Robin Anderson who died of leukemia. |
| Evil Ways | Santana | This was originally recorded by Willie Bobo in 1965 and written by Sonny Henry, Bobo’s guitarist. Carlos Santana covered it in 1969, with lead vocals by Gregg Rolie. |
| Evil Woman | Electric Light Orchestra | “Evil Woman” by Electric Light Orchestra, released in 1975, was recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany. Jeff Lynne wrote the song on a piano in the studio on the last days of recording, writing it very quickly. The line “There’s a hole in my head where the rain comes in,” was inspired by the Beatles song, “Fixing a Hole.” |
| Hoodoo Voodoo | Billy Bragg and Wilco | “Hoodoo Voodoo” from Wilco’s 1998 collaboration with Billy Bragg, Mermaid Avenue, consists of previously unreleased lyrics by legendary American folk singer Woody Guthrie. Woody Guthrie, who wrote it for his children, instructs the listener to ‘dance a goofy dance’ among other silly suggestions. |
| (You’re The) Devil In Disguise | Elvis Presley | “(You’re the) Devil in Disguise” by Elvis Presley was released in 1963 and written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye, recorded at RCA Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. |
| That Ole Devil Called Love | Alison Moyet | “That Ole Devil Called Love”, released in 1985 by Alison Moyet, is a song written in 1944 by Allan Roberts and Doris Fisher and first recorded by Billie Holiday in 1945. |
| Devil Woman | Cliff Richard | “Devil Woman” by British singer Cliff Richard, written by Terry Britten and Christine Authors, was released in 1976 and his biggest hit single in the US. The chorus vocal line was mimicked on Black Sabbath’s “Lady Evil”. |
| Gudbuy T’Jane | Slade | “Gudbuy T’Jane” was Slade’s most successful single of the 1970s in the United States. Jane was the co-host of a TV chat show in San Francisco whom Slade met on their US tour. |
| Dyna-mite | Mud | “Dyna-mite” is a 1973 single, written by the songwriting team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. It was originally written for the Sweet, who rejected it, and later inherited by the English glam rock band Mud. Chapman and Chinn produced the song as well. |
| Hell Raiser | Sweet | “Hell Raiser” by The Sweet is written by the songwriting team of Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn and produced by Philip Neil Wainman, released in 1973. From mid 1973 to early 1974, Sweet were growing increasingly tired of the management team of Chinn and Chapman, who had written the group’s major hits and who had cultivated the band’s glam rock image, with Sweet rejecting the song Dyna-mite, which instead went on to become a hit for Mud. The Sweet in 1974 recorded the album Sweet Fanny Adams without the assistance of Chinn and Chapman. |
| Killer Queen | Queen | “Killer Queen” by Queen, released in 1974, is written by Freddie Mercury, who stated: “It’s about a high class call girl. I’m trying to say that classy people can be whores as well. This was one of the first songs recorded at The Quadrangle, a studio opened at the Rockfield Studios complex in Wales in 1973. |
| Annie Get Your Gun | Squeeze | “Annie Get Your Gun” by Squeeze, written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, released in 1982, borrows its title from a popular musical. |
| I Put a Spell On You | Jay Hawkins | Screamin’ Jay Hawkins wrote the ballad “I Put a Spell On You”, lamenting the loss of a girlfriend he wanted back in 1956. It was covered by The Animals in 1966, Creedence Clearwater revival in 1968 and Nina Simone, who’s 1991 autobiography is titled I Put A Spell On You. |
| The Wizard | Black Sabbath | “The Wizard” by the English heavy metal rock band Black Sabbath, released in 1970, inspired by the wizard Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings. Rumor had it this was an ode to the band’s drug dealer. It was their debut single in France but also the B-side to the 1970 single “Paranoid”. Ozzy Osbourne played the harmonica part. |
| Gypsy | Uriah Heep | “Gypsy” the debut single by British progressive rock/hard rock band Uriah Heep, released in 1970, is about a young man who falls in love with a 1970 gypsy woman. To differentiate themselves from other Rock bands at the time, Heep replaced the almost obligatory guitar solo with a wild organ solo in this song. David Byron can be heard playing percussion on teacups is this song. |
| Gypsy Rhythm | Jocelyn Brown | “Gypsy Rhythm” by Raúl Orellana featuring vocals by Arthur Skeet and Jocelyn Brown, was released in 1991. Raúl Orellana is a Spanish DJ and producer from Barcelona. |
| Long Time Woman | Pam Grier | Pam Grier as Jackie Brown, features on the Quentin Tarantino movie Soundtrack with a cover of “Long Time Woman”, written by Lee Hazlewood. The soulful ballad symbolizes liberation for women of all backgrounds. Grier said she is of black, Hispanic, Chinese, Italian, Filipino, and Cheyenne heritage. |
| Gypsy | Shakira | “Gypsy” or “Gitana” in the Spanish version, is a song by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. Written in a ballad-like form, the lyrics of the song describe life travelling on the road as a “gypsy”. Musically, “Gypsy” is heavily influenced by Indian bhangra music, and features instrumentation from the mandolin, banjo, sitar and tabla. The music video showed the chemistry between Shakira and Nadal, however, in 2011 Shakira entered a relationship with the Spanish football player Gerard Piqué, who is exactly ten years her junior, and Shakira met in spring 2010 after he appeared in the music video for Shakira’s song “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”, the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In GQ, and International Men’s magazine, Shakira directed a few words to Sarkozy, “We are all gypsies”. |
| Bitch | Meredith Brooks | “Bitch” was Meredith Brooks’ debut single at age 38, released in 1997, claiming how one label cannot define her: a bitch, lover, child, mother, sinner, saint. This song played a part in re-claiming the word “bitch” as a term of endearment for women. Brooks did all the guitar work including glass slide, some e-bow and wah-wah. |
| Leave the light on | Beth Hart | Beth Hart’s “I leave the light on”, released in 2003, refers to the struggle with her bipolar disorder (Bipolar 1 Rapid Cycling) since childhood. Being a devout Christian, she admitted her belief in God has been instrumental in her recovery from alcoholism and mood disorder. |
| Because of you | Kelly Clarkson | Clarkson originally wrote “Because of You” when she was 16 years old to cope with the emotional distress caused by her parents’ divorce. “Because of You” explores the pain of Clarkson’s deteriorating relationship with her father. |
| Cry Baby | Full Tilt Boogie Band | Written in 1963 for Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, Janis Joplin put her own blues rock spin on ‘Cry Baby’ when she covered it in 1970. It’s the ultimate song of forgiveness. When Joplin’s management convinced her to discard Big Brother and the Holding Company as her backing band, her record label put together a new group: the Kozmic Blues Band, consisting of Canadian musician John Till and several other Full Tillt Boogie Band (the two “Ls” being a play on the spelling of Till’s last name) members. Till soon convinced Joplin to hire his Full Tillt Boogie band in its entirety, and he agreed to drop one of the “L’s” from its name, thus creating Joplin’s Full Tilt Boogie backing band. |
Sources
The information sources of the song facts include, but are not limited to, Wikipedia, songfacts.com, discogs.com, secondhandsongs.com, YouTube and artists’ related websites.
