No fooling. Here’s a unique way to celebrate on Thursday if you’re up to it — enough “foolish” songs to rock around the clock.
Here are 24 songs with some form of the word “fool” in their titles — plus a few “extras.” So, if you’re so inclined — and sleep-deprived — you’ve got at least one different song for each hour of April Fools’ Day.
Check out this diverse list of Fools’ gold — all hit songs, including three that went to the top of the charts.
Ricky/Rick Nelson leads the Fools’ parade with two hits: his first No. 1 song, “Poor Little Fool,” and his remake of the oft-recorded “Fools Rush In.” The list also includes two other chart-toppers: Connie Francis’ “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” and the Doobies’ “What a Fool Believes.”
If you have any additional “Fool”-ish nominees, please add them in the Comment section below.
Here’s the countdown, leading up to my favorite “Fool” song:
24. “I’m a Fool” by Dino, Desi & Billy (1965)
23. “Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You Baby)” by Lulu (1969-70)
22. “A Fool Never Learns” by Andy Williams (1964)
21. “Fool # One” by Brenda Lee (1961)
20. “Chain of Fools” by Aretha Franklin (1967-68)
19. “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers (1956). And by Diana Ross (1981).
18. “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” by Elvin Bishop (1976)
17. “She’s a Fool” by Lesley Gore (1963)
16. “The April Fools” by Dionne Warwick (1969)
15. “Foolish Heart” by Steve Perry (1985)
14. “Fool on the Hill” by the Beatles (1967). And by Sergio Mendes and Brasil ’66 (1968).
13. “My Foolish Heart” Billy Eckstine (1950)
12. “Foolish Little Girl” by the Shirelles (1963)
11. “What Kind of Fool Am I” by Sammy Davis Jr. (1962)
10. “Fools Rush In” by Rick Nelson (1963). And by Brook Benton (1960).
9. “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool” by Connie Francis (1960)
8. “Fool (If You Think It’s Over)” by Chris Rea (1978)
7. “What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)” by the Tams (1963-64). And the same title with different punctuation: “What Kind of Fool Do You Think I Am” by Bill Deal and the Rhondels (1969).
6. “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson (1958)
5. “A Fool Such As I” by Elvis (1959)
4. “What a Fool Believes” by the Doobie Brothers (1979)
3. “Everybody Plays the Fool” by the Main Ingredient (1972)
2. “If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody” by James Ray (1961-62)
1. “The Fool” by Sanford Clark (1956)
And one more bonus: a 2002 reworking of the oldest song (1936) on the list: “These Foolish Things” by Rod Stewart. It’s on the first of Stewart’s four well-received volumes of recordings from The Great American Songbook.
