"Fool (If You Think It's Over)" is a song written and originally released in 1978 by English singer-songwriter Chris Rea. It appears on his debut album, Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?, and peaked at number 12 in the US, becoming his highest charting single there. The single's charting success in the US earned him a Grammy nomination as Best New Artist in 1979.[3]
Background
"Fool (If You Think It's Over)" was the lead single from Rea's debut album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini? which was recorded at producer Gus Dudgeon's Thames Valley recording studio The Mill. The song's inspiration was the experience Rea's younger sister Paula had had some years previously of being devastated at losing her first boyfriend.[4] Rea wrote "Fool" intending that it be recorded by Al Green.[5] He intended it to be a Memphis blues song,[4] but according to Rea, "It ended up being this huge California thing. It’s the only track I never played guitar on which tells you something about the spirit of it. On top of that, it was just a huge hit. So there was nothing I could do. It was like: 'This is not me!'"[6] Rea played keyboards on "Fool" with the track's background vocals provided by Rea and the Mill's assistant engineer Stuart Epps.
Unsuccessful in its initial UK single release in March 1978, "Fool" was afforded a June 1978 release in the US where it entered the Top 40 of the Hot 100 singles chart in Billboard magazine in July 1978 to reach a #12 peak on the Hot 100 dated 16 September 1978,[8][9] then being in the second week of a three-week tenure at #1 on the BillboardEasy Listening chart.[10] On the strength of its US success Rea was invited to perform "Fool" on the 28 September 1978 TOTP broadcast which evidently facilitated a belated UK chart run for the single with a 28 October 1978 peak of #30.[9][11]
Rea recalled, during the 1978 Yuletide overnight drive home from London, considering abandoning what he saw as his failing singing career to fall back on his family's established business of running a restaurant. However, when Rea and his wife Joan reached their Middlesbrough home in the early morning "we opened the door of the house we were just about to lose the mortgage on, and the snow fell into the hall and it didn’t melt – it was that cold – and there was one letter on the floor." The letter was accompanied by a substantial royalty cheque generated by "Fool",[12] enabling Rea to buy a Ferrari 308 GT4.[13] The journey inspired his later hit "Driving Home for Christmas".
Rea would remake "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" for his 1988 self-produced album New Light Through Old Windows. This version of "Fool" had a Dutch single release charting at #90. In 2007 Rea would again remake "Fool" in a session at The Mill – now known as Sol Studios – where the original had been recorded. Rea produced and played all instruments on the track, which was included on his 2008 European CD release Fool If You Think It's Over (The Definitive Greatest Hits).
The music journalist Wayne Jacik mentioned the single in his work Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders.[14]
Chart performance (Chris Rea)
Chart performance for "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Chris Rea
In 1982 Elkie Brooks had a Top 20 hit in the UK and South Africa with her remake, titled "Fool If You Think It's Over", which like the Chris Rea original was produced by Gus Dudgeon and recorded at the Mill. Brooks' version was one of eight tracks recorded with Dudgeon in 1980 for her 1981 twelve-track album release Pearls, which also includes four of Brooks' previous hit singles. Brooks said, "Most of [Pearl's new] material had been chosen by [A&M exec] Derek Green or Gus Dudgeon. I had insisted that we did [sic] 'Fool'. Chris Rea has always been one of my favourite musicians and writers and I thought the song was pure class."[25]
Brooks' version of "Fool" was issued as a single in December 1981 when Pearls, issued the previous month, was in the Top Ten of the UK album chart. Three advance singles had been issued off the album since July 1980 without charting. "Fool" rose to a number 17 peak on the UK chart dated 27 February 1982,[26] assisted by two TOTP performances by Brooks, one of which was re-run. After taping her 11 February 1982 TOTP performance of "Fool", Brooks was approached backstage by a fan, who Brooks soon realised was in fact Chris Rea incognito, asking for her autograph.[25] In Ireland, "Fool" became Brooks' highest-charting single with a number six chart peak.[27]
In a 2014 pre-concert interview Brooks, when asked what "big numbers" she looked forward to singing, replied: "I still really like 'Don't Cry Out Loud', 'Sunshine After the Rain' and of course 'Fool If You Think It's Over': that is a terrific song."[28]
"Fool If You Think It's Over" by Elkie Brooks was the first track played on Radio Caroline when the station resumed broadcasting at 10 a.m. 20 August 1983 after a down period of 41 months.[4]
Chart history
Chart performance for "Fool If You Think It's Over" by Elkie Brooks
Thomas Anders remade "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" for his 1989 album release Different. This version was the third produced by Gus Dudgeon. The song served as the theme to the 1990s British sitcom Joking Apart. Kenny Craddock arranged and performed this version.[30]
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