Why Do Fools Fall in Love | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 14, 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1980–1981 | |||
Studio | Power Station, New York City | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 35:46 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Diana Ross | |||
Diana Ross chronology | ||||
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Singles from Why Do Fools Fall in Love | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Why Do Fools Fall in Love is the twelfth studio album by American R&B singer Diana Ross, released on September 14, 1981, by RCA Records. It was Ross' first of six albums released by the label during the decade. It peaked at No. 15 in the United States (No. 4 R&B), No. 17 in the United Kingdom and the top ten in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands.
Why Do Fools Fall in Love was the first album Ross recorded after leaving the Motown label, when she signed a $20 million deal with RCA. Originally, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards were slated to produce the follow-up to the platinum Diana (1980) album. However, their schedules were filled with commitments to also produce Debbie Harry's solo debut album KooKoo (1981), Johnny Mathis and another Chic album. Ross had given her word to RCA president Robert Summers to deliver an album for the 1981 holiday selling season.
The album was the first to be produced by Ross herself, and it became her second RIAA-certified platinum album. [lower-alpha 1] It was also certified gold in the UK and Canada.
After Ross returned "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" to the Top Ten in 1981, a major controversy concerning Frankie Lymon's estate ensued. Three women each were involved in lawsuits and counter-lawsuits over Lymon's copyrights and royalties, claiming to be Lymon's rightful widow. The string of court cases led to the making of the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love .
Ross embarked on a world tour in support of the album.
The album was remastered and re-released on September 2, 2014, by Funky Town Grooves, with bonus material. [4]
The album includes the US top 10 hits "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" - a cover of the 1950s Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers classic - and the rock-flavoured "Mirror Mirror".
It also includes "Work That Body", co-written by Ross with Paul Jabara and Ray Chew which was a top 10 hit in the UK and top 15 in the Netherlands. "It's Never Too Late" was also released as a single in some international territories.
Also included on the album is a solo version of "Endless Love", which was a number one duet with Lionel Richie from earlier that year, as well as a version of another 1950s rock & roll classic, "Sweet Nothings" originally recorded by Brenda Lee.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" | 2:53 | |
2. | "Sweet Surrender" |
| 4:09 |
3. | "Mirror, Mirror" |
| 6:08 |
4. | "Endless Love" | Lionel Richie | 4:56 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
5. | "It's Never Too Late" | Dan Hartman | 3:19 |
6. | "Think I'm in Love" | L. Cheryl Taylor | 4:15 |
7. | "Sweet Nothings" |
| 3:00 |
8. | "Two Can Make It" | 3:24 | |
9. | "Work That Body" |
| 5:01 |
Total length: | 35:46 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
10. | "Mirror Mirror" (7" Mix) | 3:59 |
11. | "Mirror Mirror" (7" Alternate Version) | 4:06 |
12. | "Work That Body" (7" Mix) | 3:34 |
13. | "Work That Body" (12" Mix) | 6:31 |
14. | "Work That Body" (Extended Remix) | 6:22 |
15. | "Endless Love" (Edited Version) | 3:46 |
Total length: | 1:05:24 |
Credits are adapted from the Why Do Fools Fall in Love liner notes. [5]
Musicians
Chart (1981/82) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [6] | 47 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [7] | 33 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [8] | 3 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [9] | 3 |
Japan Albums Chart | 28 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [10] | 5 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [11] | 6 |
UK Albums (OCC) [12] | 17 |
US Billboard 200 [13] | 15 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [14] | 4 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada) [15] | Gold | 50,000^ |
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [16] | Gold | 25,000 [16] |
United Kingdom (BPI) [17] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [18] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Franklin Joseph Lymon was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group The Teenagers. The group was composed of five boys, all in their early to mid-teens. The original lineup of the Teenagers, an integrated group, included three African-American members, Lymon, Jimmy Merchant, and Sherman Garnes; and two Puerto Rican members, Joe Negroni and Herman Santiago. The Teenagers' first single, 1956's "Why Do Fools Fall in Love", was also their biggest hit. After Lymon went solo in mid-1957, both his career and that of the Teenagers fell into decline. In 1968, Lymon was found dead at the age of 25 on the floor of his grandmother's bathroom from a heroin overdose. Lymon was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993 as a member of the Teenagers. His life was dramatized in the 1998 film Why Do Fools Fall in Love.
Unguarded is the seventh studio album by Christian and Pop singer Amy Grant, released in 1985 on A&M Records. It is Grant's first album released by A&M.
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"Endless Love" is a song written by Lionel Richie and originally recorded as a duet between Richie and singer/actress Diana Ross. In this ballad, the singers declare their "endless love" for one another. It was covered by Luther Vandross with R&B-pop singer Mariah Carey, and also by country music singer Shania Twain. Richie's friend Kenny Rogers also recorded the song. Billboard has named the original version as the greatest song duet of all time.
"Why Do Fools Fall in Love" is a debut single by American rock and roll band Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers that was released on January 10, 1956. It reached No. 1 on the R&B chart, No. 6 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, and No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in July. Many renditions of the song by other artists have also been hit records in the U.S., including versions by the Diamonds, the Beach Boys, and Diana Ross.
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