Listen to Duran Duran’s Cover of ELO Classic ‘Evil Woman’
Duran Duran has released a cover of the Electric Light Orchestra hit “Evil Woman.”
The song comes from the band's Danse Macabre - De Luxe set, which arrives Friday. The album is an expansion of the band's 2023 record, Danse Macabre, in which it covered other artists' songs and remade a few of its own to reflect the Halloween season.
The updated version of the album features three tracks not included in the 2023 edition, including the ELO cover and a redo of Duran Duran's 1984 hit "New Moon on Monday" called "New Moon (Dark Phase)."
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The rendition of "Evil Woman" arrives weeks before Duran Duran’s Halloween concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. The annual event, The Danse Macabre Halloween Party, sees the ‘80s legends mixing new music, covers and “darkly reimagined versions” of their classic material.
You can hear it below.
How ‘Evil Woman’ Became an ELO Classic
Originally released in 1975, “Evil Woman” became one of ELO’s signature hits. The track, penned by frontman Jeff Lynne, was one of the last songs written for their fifth album, Face the Music.
“I wrote this in a matter of minutes,” Lynne admitted to Rolling Stone in 2016. “The rest of the album was done. I listened to it and thought, 'There’s not a good single.' So I sent the band out to a game of football and made up 'Evil Woman' on the spot. The first three chords came right to me. It was the quickest thing I’d ever done. We kept it slick and cool, kind of like an R&B song. It was kind of a posh one for me, with all the big piano solos and the string arrangement. It was inspired by a certain woman, but I can’t say who. She’s appeared a few times in my songs.”
“Evil Woman” has remained a mainstay in ELO’s set lists, regularly appearing early in their concerts. Jeff Lynne’s ELO – as the band has been called since 2014 – is currently out on a farewell tour, with a final show scheduled for Oct. 26 in Los Angeles.
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso