Recorded London, England Length 3:44 | Genre Dance-pop | |
B-side "Things Can Only Get Better" Released 10 August 1992 (1992-August-10) Format CD single
vinyl single
cassette single | ||
"What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)" is a song recorded by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, released as the lead single from her first greatest hits album Greatest Hits (1992). The song was written by Mike Stock, Minogue and Pete Waterman, and produced by Stock and Waterman.
Contents
- Background
- Critical response
- Chart performance
- Music video
- Formats and track listings
- Live performances
- References
It was Minogue's last original single to be released from the record label PWL, as although "Celebration" was released as the last single, it was a cover version, not an original single. The single was released on 10 August 1992 as a CD single and had received positive reception from music critics, many praising it as a good last single from PWL. The song peaked at number seventeen and fourteen in Australia and the United Kingdom, respectively.
What Kind of Fool, along with Celebration and Where in the World remain the only Kylie tracks from her PWL years to remain unreleased in a remastered form.
Background
The song was taken from Minogue's first compilation album Greatest Hits as the first single and last original single to be released by her label PWL, but her second single from the album, "Celebration", was taken as the last single. The song was written by Stock and Waterman, as well as Minogue contributing in the lyrics and was produced by Stock and Waterman.
The cover featured Minogue photographed by close friend Katrina Jebb whilst on holiday in early 1992.
Critical response
The song received generally mixed reviews from music critics. Some compared the song with "I Should Be So Lucky" and "Better the Devil You Know", but many suggested the song was regressive in comparison to Minogue's more mature work from the previous two years. The song was released on 10 August 1992 worldwide.
Minogue admitted in an interview with the Australian Sunday Telegraph in October 2008, that she was not fond of the song: "There's plenty I've cringed about," she says. "There's one track I really didn't like called 'What Kind of Fool'. But I realised you can run, but you can't hide, so I embraced 'I Should Be So Lucky' and the rest of them." It also became one of Minogue's least performed tracks. It made its debut, as a short sample only on her 2005 tour Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour, and again in sample form on her North American Tour 2009. Minogue has also performed a chorus of the song on impromptu occasions during her 2012 Anti Tour and 2014's Kiss Me Once Tour.
Chart performance
The song did not receive great commercial attention, although became a moderate hit in the UK and Australia where it debuted at number thirty-seven (after five weeks it climbed and peaked at number seventeen.) The song debuted at number sixteen on the UK Singles Chart. later climbing to number fourteen where it peaked, staying in the charts for five weeks. The song debuted at number twenty-two on the Irish Singles Chart, but became unsuccessful, falling off the charts after two weeks.
Music video
The music video features Minogue sunbathing in front of a blanket, while a male actor is behind it with a rose. It later showed the male and Minogue having an argument in a bedroom. In the bridge, it shows Minogue in a blue plaid dress dancing under a spotlight. She later teases her lover and dances atop a table. The music video later ends with Minogue kissing him and she walks out the room, while the man sits on a chair left alone. The song's reception itself became one of Minogue's least successful singles to date. The single's video recreated scenes made famous by Brigitte Bardot in the 1956 film And God Created Woman. The song was featured on MTV Classics channel in 2011 and was listed at number thirty-four on Evolution of... Kylie Minogue.
Formats and track listings
These are the formats and track listings of major single releases of "What Kind of Fool (Heard All That Before)".
Live performances
Minogue performed the song on the following concert tours: