Fools Gold
- Dec 19, 2024
- 4 min read
"Fools Gold" was released as a double A-side single alongside "What the World Is Waiting For" on 13 November 1989 by Silvertone Records. This track was later included in some international versions of their self-titled debut studio album (1989). It marked the band's first entry into the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, maintaining a position in the top 75 for fourteen weeks and reaching a peak at number eight.
Recording and composition
"Fools Gold" and "What the World Is Waiting For" were recorded at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall in mid-1989, with additional vocal and guitar elements added later at London's Battery Studios in late 1989. The tracks underwent four months of development, initially with the intention of featuring "What the World Is Waiting For" as the A-side. However, upon hearing "Fools Gold," Roddy McKenna, Silvertone's A&R representative, recommended it be the A-side. The band, not entirely convinced, ultimately decided to release both tracks as a double A-side.
"Fools Gold" is characterized as a Madchester, dance-rock, funk rock, breakbeat, and psychedelic funk composition. This dance-oriented track highlights the rhythm section with Mani on bass and Reni on percussion. Ian Brown mentioned that the song was composed over "The Funky Drummer" by James Brown, from which Reni learned the beat. However, the actual source of the beat is "Hot Pants" by Bobby Byrd. John Squire contributes guitar with various wah-wah pedal effects, while Ian Brown delivers the vocals in a whispered style, a technique he also employed in the track "Something's Burning."
The bassline was adapted from Kevin O'Neal's composition in "Know How" by Young MC, which Mani discovered after visiting clubs in search of something to blag. The lyrics make references to Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and the Marquis de Sade. According to Brown, the song's verses draw inspiration from John Huston's 1948 film adaptation of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and narrate the story of "three men who are broke and pool their resources to acquire equipment for gold prospecting, only to eventually betray one another..."
Release
The single, released in 1989, reached the top ten in the UK charts. Its promotion included a music video featuring the Stone Roses performing outdoors and traversing the volcanic landscape of Lanzarote, Canary Islands. The cover art, a painting by John Squire titled "Double Dorsal Doppelgänger," was later showcased at Squire's 2004 art exhibition.
The band's gig on the November Top of the Pops, sharing the stage with the Happy Mondays who belted out "Hallelujah" from their Madchester Rave On EP, is like the moment when your favorite underground band suddenly becomes everyone's favorite. It's hailed as a "cultural high-water mark," because it splashed the Madchester scene onto a much bigger canvas, turning the spotlight on this groovy new dance genre called baggy. Who knew baggy wasn't just for pants?
Despite being a non-album double A-sided single, both tracks have been featured on the compilation albums "Turns into Stone," "The Complete Stone Roses," and "The Very Best of The Stone Roses." Additionally, both tracks have been included in some reissued editions of their debut album, "The Stone Roses," with "Fools Gold" appearing more frequently than "What the World Is Waiting For.".
Legacy
In May 2007, NME magazine placed "Fools Gold" at number 32 in its list of the 50 Greatest Indie Anthems Ever.[19] The same magazine later placed the song at number 31 in their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2014.
In 2009, listeners of the Australian radio station Triple J voted "Fool's Gold" number 76 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time.
In popular culture
"Fools Gold" was featured on the in-game soundtrack of the 2003 soccer simulation video game FIFA Football 2004, as well as the fictional radio station Radio X from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
In 2025, the song was featured in episode five of British science fiction anthology television series Black Mirror's seventh season, titled Eulogy.
1989 UK release
7-inch vinyl (Silvertone ORE 13)
"Fools Gold 4.15" (4:15)
"What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
12-inch vinyl (Silvertone ORE T 13)
"Fools Gold 9.53" (9:53)
"What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
CD (Silvertone ORE CD 13)
"Fools Gold 9.53" (9:53)
"What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
"Fools Gold 4.15" (4:15)
1990 US release
12-inch gold vinyl (Silvertone 1315-1-JD)
"Fools Gold 9.53" (9:53)
"What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
"Fools Gold 4.15" (4:15)
1989 Japanese release
CD (Silvertone/Alfa 18B2-103)
"What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
"Fools Gold" (4:17)
"She Bangs the Drums" (12-inch mix) (3:43)
"Elephant Stone" (12-inch mix) (4:51)
"Guernica" (4:23)
"Going Down" (2:26)
Fools Gold 1992 UK reissue
12-inch vinyl, cassette and CD are the same as 1989 releases
CD2 (Silvertone ORE CD Z 13)
"Fools Gold" (The Top Won Mix!) (10:03)
"Fools Gold" (The Bottom Won Mix!) (7:00)
Both remixes by A Guy Called Gerald
Fools Gold '95
12-inch vinyl (Silvertone ORE T 71)
"Fools Gold" (The Tall Paul Remix) (7:21)
"Fools Gold" 9.53 (9:53)
"Fools Gold" (Cricklewood Ballroom Mix) (4:16)
Cassette (Silvertone ORE C 71)
"Fools Gold" 4.15 (4:15)
"Fools Gold" (The Tall Paul Remix) (7:21)
CD (Silvertone ORE CD 71)
"Fools Gold" 4.15 (4:15)
"Fools Gold" 9.53 (9:53)
"Fools Gold" (The Tall Paul Remix) (7:21)
"Fools Gold" (Cricklewood Ballroom Mix) (4:16)
Fools Gold (1999 remix) UK release
12-inch vinyl (Jive Electro 0523090)
"Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix) (6:36)
"She Bangs the Drums" (Kiss My Arse Mix) (4:02)
"Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors) (8:24)
Cassette (Jive Electro 0523094)
"Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix – Edit) (4:30)
"She Bangs the Drums" (Kiss My Arse Mix) (4:02)
CD (Jive Electro 0523092)
"Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix – Edit) (4:30)
"Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors) (8:24)
"She Bangs the Drums" (Kiss My Arse Mix) (4:02)
Fools Gold (1999 remix) German release
CD (Jive Electro 0523362)
"Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors – Edit) (4:43)
"Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix – Edit) (4:30)
"Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors) (8:24)
"She Bangs the Drums" (Kiss My Arse Mix) (4:02)
Fools Gold (1999 remix) US release
12-inch vinyl (Jive Electro 01241-42579-1)
"Fools Gold" (Grooverider's Mix) (6:37)
"Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Straight Beat Pyrite Dub) (7:35)
"Fools Gold" (Rabbit in the Moon's Message to the Majors – Extended) (9:42)
Fools Gold (UK 2009 remaster)
7-inch vinyl (Silvertone 88697535907)
CD (Silvertone 886975631124)
"Fools Gold" (4:15)
"What the World Is Waiting For" (3:55)
