On the Radio: Fooled Around and Fell In Love

Just heard this Elvin Bishop classic on the radio today. I'd say it's a perfect song for driving around on a hot summer day (it's not technically summer, I know, but when it's 90s and humid, it's summer enough for me), but really any great song does the job in that situation. Well, maybe not "At Last" by Etta James, for one, but most great songs.

Paul Thomas Anderson used "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" to such excellent effect in "Boogie Nights" that the potential was there for the song to become forever intertwined with the hapless Little Bill and his marital woes (I won't describe the scenario any further, but certain images will come to mind if you saw the movie). Yet Bishop's wistful ballad is so good, it transcends that association, and now I can hear it without getting those images in my own mind.

I believe it's one of the best songs of the seventies and it maintains a special place on my list of "Yes! Radio Songs." Yes! Radio Songs are songs I love hearing on the FM dial because I don't own them. It's still a treat to hear them. I suppose in this day of music on demand and mp3 libraries, the concept has lost some of its power, but for me the Yes! Radio Song is still a potent force.
The Yes! Radio Song is not to be confused, of course, with Radio Songs by the Band Yes. I have my own special name for those: Dial Changers. Hmm. Maybe I should call the ones I like Right On! Radio Songs or Yippee! Radio Songs.


I could go on about the virtues of this tune, like the outstanding hook that gets you right off the top or the guitar break in the middle, but perhaps the most fascinating aspect of "Fooled Around" is the vocal performance. Many assume that Bishop sings it since his name is on the record, but it's actually Mickey Thomas who turns in this memorable vocal. It's a performance that, to my ear, can really be called "soulful."

Now, if there is ever an official list of the Top 50 Tools in Rock History (and I won't be surprised if this list shows up in "Blender" next month), Mickey Thomas will likely earn a high spot by virtue of his work in Starship. But I'm here to say that I love his effort on "Fooled Around and Fell in Love." I think he sings the hell out of it, and this record wouldn't be the same without his indelible vocals. Just listen to the cover version Rod Stewart released a few years ago. Now, there are more problems with the remake besides just the lead singer, but Stewart's take is just awful compared to the original.

So I say cut Mickey Thomas a break. Don't let "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" sully the man's whole career. Really, though, hearing him on this makes me wonder how great a career Thomas could have had had he followed a different path and recorded some better material.