I played a set of fool and stupid songs several months back, to ‘celebrate’ my own stupidity in falling victim to a scammer, but I collected a long list of fool songs which I couldn’t fit into that post so I thought I’d play some more, as a rather belated recognition that last Saturday was April Fools Day – I hope everyone came through unscathed! As usual, I’m taking a few liberties to fit songs into the theme, by stretching the word fool to include a couple of alternative versions of it, but the music is still good!

I played this opening song as the closer to a set over a year ago, but I like it so much I’m playing it again:

World Party released an updated video for Ship of Fools in late 2018, making the song’s political points in a very obvious way. On balance, I still prefer this earlier version, which concentrates more on the band and the song than the political leaders of our age – I’ve seen more than enough of Putin and Trump to last a lifetime! If you’d like to see the newer version you can find it here. World Party was the band started by Karl Wallinger after he left The Waterboys, and named by him after a song he wrote for them. There is a cover of that titular track on World Party’s debut album, Private Revolution, and this one also comes from that album, which was released in March 1987 and reached #56 in the UK and #39 in the US. Ship Of Fools had already been released as a single in January of that year, peaking at #27 in the US and #42 in the UK. The song, and in particular its opening lines, is perhaps even more prophetic and relevant now than 36 years ago.

This next one is probably an obvious choice if you know my taste in music:

Fool To Cry was a track on The Rolling Stones’ album Black And Blue, released in April 1976. It got to #1 in the US but only made #2 here in the UK – three successive albums shared those ratings! The song was released as a single just ahead of the album, and peaked at #6 in the UK and #10 in the US. They didn’t often release ballads as singles, so this was a little unusual for them but it was still a respectable outcome.

I played a John Mellencamp song last week but thought that if I played another – from his earlier days, when he went by another name – you might not notice:

He worked his way through the stage name John Cougar, via John Cougar Mellencamp, before finally settling on his real name, John Mellencamp. I’ve been a fan since the beginning, and have everything he has ever recorded in my collection. American Fool was the title track of his fifth album, which was released in April 1982 and gave him his big breakthrough: it spent nine weeks at #1 in the US and also gave him his first UK chart entry, at #37. This track wasn’t released as a single but two others from the album were massive US hits: Hurts So Good at #2 and Jack And Diane at #1. The latter was also his first UK hit single, reaching #25 – still his highest singles chart placing here.

I’m now embarking on a run of three songs I think might be unfamiliar to many. I like to do this occasionally! I’ve played the first of these before, but as that was nearly two years ago I think it is time for another play:

Foolish Heart was a track on the Grateful Dead’s ironically named final studio album, Built To Last, released in October 1989. They were known throughout their career for their rambling live performances, which led to them being dubbed the forerunners of ‘jam rock,’ which still lives on in the likes of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, who I recommend you check out. The Dead have a massive catalogue of live albums, mostly released after they broke up, which are testament to their appeal as a performing band. This album peaked at #27 in the US but didn’t chart in the UK, and this song was released as a single, reaching #8 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart, based on radio airplay. Needless to say, it wasn’t a hit here, but I rather like it, and it’s good to see what the band could do within the restrictions imposed by a record company wanting a music video from them.

Another favourite of mine, who I have played less often than I should, is up next:

As the clip shows, If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody was a track on Bonnie Raitt’s album Give It Up. This was her second record, released in September 1972, and was her first to make the album chart, reaching #138 in the US. The song was first recorded by James Ray, who had a #22 US hit with it in early 1962. George Harrison had a copy of that record and The Beatles played the song as part of their sets at the Cavern nightclub. Amongst those who heard it there was a chap called Freddie Garrity, whose group Freddie and the Dreamers recorded it and got to #3 with it in the UK. For me, they were a novelty act and their version is dire, so I’m doing you a favour by playing Bonnie’s much more soulful take on the song!

The third in my trio of ‘versions you won’t have heard before’ is this one:

Recognise the song? It was originally written by Buddy Holly, way back in 1954, and was recorded by The Crickets (without Buddy) in 1959, reaching #26 in the UK singles chart. It was also covered by the Bobby Fuller Four who had a 1966 US #26 with it. The Bunch was a collection of notable British folk-rock musicians, who came together in late 1971 and recorded an album, Rock On, of covers of old rock and roll classics, released in April 1972. Love’s Made A Fool Of You was included on that album which, unsurprisingly, wasn’t a chart success, as most folk music wasn’t in those days. As I’ve said before, I was a big fan of the bands that several of these guys were in, especially Fairport Convention and Fotheringay, and the wonderful vocals of the late Sandy Denny take the lead on this track. I bought the album just before I went to uni, loved it and played it to bits for anyone who would listen.

(PS – I’ve been told this one doesn’t work outside the UK. I guess it’s too obscure! As an alternative, try this link to The Crickets’ version: https://youtu.be/tE1IYU0_he4 )

After that sidetrack into relative obscurity, the two final songs today are from people you may have heard of. This next one is, I think, another obvious choice for me:

As if you didn’t know, The Beatles released Fool On The Hill as part of their mini movie Magical Mystery Tour. I couldn’t find a clip from that but rather than give you an audio-only one I thought I’d play this later version by the guy who wrote the song. The original was released as two 7 inch EP discs, presented in a lovely book format with loads of colour photos of the making of the film, which was first shown on the newly colourised BBC2 channel on Boxing Day 1967. I remember it well, though we were only watching in black and white: neither of my parents was willing to sell a limb to be able to afford a colour tv at that point. It received an audience of 15m, but was savaged by the critics: a good reason, if you needed one, to ignore those idiots. It was released here in that format in December 1967, reaching #2 on the singles chart. The American release was different: over there it came out as an album, the first side of which was the six tracks from the film, while side two was a collection of recent singles that hadn’t previously been included on albums. It made #1 over there and when it was finally released here in that format, in 1976, it got to #31.

I’m closing today with another familiar name, though this was just the title track of an album so may be less well-known than some of his others:

Rod Stewart’s Foolish Behaviour album was released in November 1980, peaking at #4 in the UK and #12 in the US. This was at the time that his records were tending to perform less well than in the early Seventies, when he enjoyed five straight #1 albums in the UK. It is in my view an underrated album, though, as I think this track shows.

That’s it for now for my belated nod towards April Fools Day. Maybe the joke is on me, then? Anyway, I’ll see you again soon. I’m going to be watching tv later to see how much a grifter can make out of being a criminal – he’s been doing it all his life and is pretty good at it by now. And just to show that it isn’t only American politics that can raise a smile…