This was Mitch Ryder's biggest hit in the USA, and very deservedly so. Sadly it was not a hit in the UK, where Mitch Ryder had only one minor Top 40 entry ("Jenny Take A Ride"). While I do like that one, I personally prefer this one. It includes a section from Little Richard's hit "Good Golly Miss Molly". One guy described this record as "rock and roll with a lot of soul". I think that is a very fitting description, don't you?
I used to hear this at a lot of parties.
I can well believe that, it has a great party sound. Since it wasn't a hit in the UK I don't remember hearing it as a child, and I first discovered it many years later in some movie soundtrack, after which I was fortunate to get the single at a record fair. Once I'd heard it I found it hard to believe that it was such a flop in the UK (it didn't even make the Top 50 here), especially since it did so well in the USA (it got to number four there). I know the British and American charts differed quite a lot, but even so, there were several other songs around at that time that were big hits in both countries (Good Vibrations, Reach Out I'll Be There, What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted, You Can't Hurry Love, Winchester Cathedral, No Milk Today, etc), so why couldn't "Devil With A Blue Dress On" have been a hit in the UK as well? Another unsolved mystery in the history of popular music.
