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Fool (If You Think It's Over)

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"Fool (If You Think It's Over)"
Single by Chris Rea
from the album Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?
B-side"Midnight Love"
Released24 March 1978[1]
Recorded1977
StudioThe Mill
GenreSoft rock[2]
Length3:39 (single version)
4:47 (album version)
LabelMagnet (UK)
United Artists (US)
Songwriter(s)Chris Rea
Producer(s)Gus Dudgeon
Chris Rea singles chronology
"So Much Love"
(1974) 		"Fool (If You Think It's Over)"
(1978) 		"Whatever Happened to Benny Santini?"
(1978)
Music video
"Fool If You Think Its Over (Official Music Video)" on YouTube
"Fool (If You Think It's Over)"
Single by Chris Rea
from the album New Light Through Old Windows
B-side"Loving You Again (live)"
ReleasedOctober 1988
GenrePop rock, soft rock
Length4:03
LabelMagnet
Songwriter(s)Chris Rea
Producer(s)Chris Rea, Jon Kelly
Chris Rea Dutch singles chronology
"On The Beach (Summer '88)"
(1988) 		"Fool (If You Think It's Over)"
(1988) 		"Driving Home for Christmas - The Christmas EP"
(1988)
"Fool If You Think It's Over"
Single by Elkie Brooks
from the album Pearls
B-side"Givin' It Up for Your Love"
ReleasedDecember 1981
Recorded1980
StudioThe Mill
GenrePop rock, soft rock
Length3:55 (single version)
4:58 (album version)
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Chris Rea
Producer(s)Gus Dudgeon
Elkie Brooks singles chronology
"Warm & Tender Lover"
(1981) 		"Fool If You Think It's Over"
(1981) 		"Our Love"
(1982)

"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

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"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.

The song, written in the key of G major, uses the ii–V–I turnaround, common in jazz and R&B.[7]

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 Billboard Easy 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)

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Chart performance for "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" by Chris Rea
Weekly charts (1978 if not otherwise indicated) Year-end charts (1978)
Regional chart Peak # Regional chart Peak # Regional chart Yr.-end #
Australia[15] 39 New Zealand[16] 31 Australia[15] —
Canada RPM Top Singles[17] 15 UK[11] 30 Canada[18] 101
RPM Adult
Oriented Playlist[19] 		1 US Billboard
Hot 100[9] 		12 US Billboard
Hot 100[20] 		84
France 52
Nether-
lands 		Dutch Top 40[21] 25 Cash Box
Top 100[22] 		10 Cash Box
Top 100[23] 		86
Single Top 100
('88 remake) 1988 		90 Billboard
Easy Listening[9] 		1 Billboard
Easy Listening[24] 		7

Covers

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Elkie Brooks version

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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

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Chart performance for "Fool If You Think It's Over" by Elkie Brooks
Chart (1982) Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA)[27] 6
South Africa (Springbok Radio)[29] 18
UK Singles (OCC)[26] 17

Other versions

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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]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Music Week" (PDF). p. 88.
  2. ^ Fletcher, Rebecca (28 September 2002). "Interview: Chris Rea - MY ROAD FROM HELL; How a near-death experience made singer Chris Rea realise what he really wanted out of life". Daily Mirror. TheFreeLibrary.com. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Bee Gees Head Lists For 6 Grammy Awards". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. The News-Journal Corporation. 9 January 1979. Retrieved 23 April 2010.
  4. ^ a b c "Fool If you Think It's Over (Chris Rea)". JonKutner.com. June 21, 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  5. ^ "How I got started... Chris Rea". Guitar,com. 18 March 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
  6. ^ Yates, Henry (1 December 2015). "An Interview with the Straight-Talking, No-F**ks-Given Chris Rea". Classic Rock.
  7. ^ "Fool (If You Think It's Over)". sheetmusicplus.com. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  8. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1996). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (6th ed.). Billboard Publications.
  9. ^ a b c d "Chris Rea > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  10. ^ Hyatt, Wesley (1999). The Billboard Book of #1 Adult Contemporary Hits. Billboard Publications.
  11. ^ a b "The Official Charts Company - Chris Rea - Fool (If You Think It's Over)". Official Charts. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  12. ^ Stancu, Henry (22 December 2015). "Christmas Drive: Festive tune for the road home | Toronto Star". Thestar.com. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  13. ^ Ahuja, Kieran (28 May 2020). "Art-omotive pieces by musicians Chris Rea and Bryan Ferry up for sale". Driving.co.uk from The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Rea buying himself a Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 after his single Fool (If You Think It's Over) became a hit.
  14. ^ Wayne Jancik (1998). The Billboard Book of One-hit Wonders. Billboard Books. p. 380. ISBN 978-0-8230-7622-2.
  15. ^ a b Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  16. ^ "Chris Rea - Fool (If You Think It's Over)". charts.nz. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  17. ^ "RPM Volume 29 No. 26, September 23, 1978 - RPM". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  18. ^ "RPM Top Singles - Volume 30, No. 14, December 30 1978". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  19. ^ "RPM Volume 29 No. 25, September 16, 1978 - RPM". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  20. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  21. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 - Week 40, 1978". Top40.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 17 December 2009.
  22. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 9/16/78". cashboxmagazine.com. 1978-09-16. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  23. ^ "Cash Box YE Pop Singles - 1978". cashboxmagazine.com. 1978-12-30. Archived from the original on 2012-08-26. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  24. ^ Billboard volume 90 #51 (23 December 1978) p.110
  25. ^ a b Brooks, Elkie (2012). Finding My Voice: my autobiography. London: Robson Press. ISBN 978-1-8495-4299-9.
  26. ^ a b "The Official Charts Company - Elkie Brooks - Fool If You Think It's Over". Official Charts. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  27. ^ a b "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Fool If You Think It's Over". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  28. ^ Roberts, Jo (17 December 2014). "'British Queen of Blues' Elkie Brooks is coming to the Britannia Theatre, Chatham". Kentonline.co.uk. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  29. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  30. ^ "Joking Apart: The Composers". Retrieved 17 December 2009.
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