The Foolish Thing to Do

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"The Foolish Thing To Do"
Single by Heaven 17
B-side My Sensitivity (Gets In The Way)
Released 1986
Format 7" single, 12" single
Genre Jazz, soul
Length 3:38
Label Virgin Records
Writer(s) Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware, Nick Plytas
Producer(s) British Electric Foundation
Heaven 17 singles chronology
"...(And That's No Lie)"
(1985)		 "The Foolish Thing To Do"
(1986)		 "Contenders"
(1986)

"The Foolish Thing To Do" is a single from Heaven 17 which featured Jimmy Ruffin. The track was written by all three members along with Nick Plytas. The track did not feature on any album. The B-side titled "My Sensitivity (Gets In The Way) was originally performed and written by Luther Vandross. Ruffin performed lead vocals on both tracks whilst Heaven 17 performed backing vocals and instruments.

The single was released in mid-1988 and peaked at #80 in the UK, spending 2 weeks on the chart.[1] The single would continue the band's decline in commercial success.

The track moved away from the trio's usual synthpop sound and instead featured classical instruments and a jazz influence. A promotional video was created for the single.

For the CD version of the 1988 studio album Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho, the group re-recorded the song with vocalist Glenn Gregory performing the lead vocal.[2]

Background

Record Mirror released an article based on the single titled "The Right Thing To Do".

Gregory explained "We wrote the song for a French film that we were doing Some music for, and they wanted it in a certain mood. Ware knew Ruffin from the Council Collective, the Soul Deep thing, so he cheekily phoned him up, and asked him if he'd do a guide vocal for us. It turned out that the girl who was supposed to sing it in the film couldn't cut the cheese in the Studio, and the vocal that Jimmy did was just so brilliant, anyway."

Ruffin stated "When I got the song from Martyn, I knew it was a better song than he realised. I thought right, I will sing this sang so well, that this girl won't be able to do it. It was like, OK, I don't mind doing a guide vocal, but it'll be so good that they'll have to use it."

The track was eventually released as a single due to the film no longer wanting the track. Ware stated "After a six months wait, during which time the film project feil through, "The Foolish Thing..." was a little too good to waste, and a little too, er, smouldering for Mr Gregory's voice. It's obviously not in the Heaven 17 style, and we couldn't really envisage putting Glenn's voice an it. It would have been pointless, especially after Jimmy had done what appeared to be the definitive version."[3]

Formats

7" Single
  1. "The Foolish Thing To Do (Version 1)" - 3:38
  2. "My Sensitivity (Gets In The Way)" - 3:33
12" Single
  1. "The Foolish Thing To Do (Version 1)" - 3:37
  2. "My Sensitivity (Gets In The Way)" - 3:32
  3. "The Foolish Thing I Do (Instrumental)" - 3:37
  4. "The Foolish Thing To Do (Version 2)" - 3:37

Chart performance

Chart (1986) Peak
position		 Total
weeks
UK Singles Chart[1] 80 2

Personnel

  • Sleeve artwork By - Assorted Images
  • Backing Vocals - Glenn Gregory, Martyn Ware
  • Bass - Camelle Hinds
  • Drums - Preston Heyman
  • Guitar - Tim Cansfield
  • Photography - Peter Ashworth
  • Piano - Nick Plytas
  • Producer - British Electric Foundation
  • Synthesizer (Emulator Ii) - Martyn Ware, Nick Plytas
  • Backing vocals – Carol Kenyon

Strings arranged by – Richard Nile Strings – UK Orchestras

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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