A newly finished FOREIGNER song, “Fool If You Love Him”, featuring the band’s original singer Lou Gramm on vocals, can be streamed below. The track, which was written by FOREIGNER‘s founding guitarist Mick Jones and Gramm during the sessions for the group’s “4” album, will be included on extensive super deluxe editions of the 1981 smash multi-platinum LP, which will be released on September 12.
“Fool If You Love Him” was initially left unfinished and shelved during the “4” recording at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Decades later, Gramm returned to the mic, writing a new verse and recording fresh vocals to bring the song back to life. Now, for the first time ever, fans can hear the finished version of a track that almost never was.
In a recent interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro, FOREIGNER bassist Jeff Pilson stated about “Fool If You Love Him”: “We found an unfinished song in all the files. The song had one verse in it, and Lou had sung one verse and he sang the chorus. And it was great, but it was only one verse. He was mumbling the second verse. So we called Lou. We said, ‘What do you think about finishing and singing the song?’ So he said, ‘Absolutely.’ He wrote and finished two verses and sang them. He added cowbell. And we have now a new, old FOREIGNER song that will be on the FOREIGNER ‘4’ release coming out in September. The song is called ‘Fool If You Love Him’, and it came out great.”
Gramm talked about “Fool If You Love Him” during a recent interview with Billboard, saying: “For every FOREIGNER album, we always recorded three or four songs more than we needed, and we usually chose 10 songs and rest were either done or almost done but were excellent. They fall by the wayside on times like this. There doesn’t seem to ever be a lack of material.”
Last year, FOREIGNER released “Turning Back The Time”, an archived 1996 track featuring Gramm on vocals, as part of a new compilation of the same name.
Recorded at the famed Electric Lady Studios in New York City alongside respected music producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange (DEF LEPPARD, AC/DC),“Foreigner 4 Deluxe” will be available in black vinyl and various other formats via Rhino. The release will encompass newly remastered Stereo or Atmos versions, and a five-disc CD/Blu-ray package that includes a booklet containing over 60 exclusive photos, five previously unreleased songs, 14 early and alternate versions of various songs, 15 instrumentals, and 15 live performances from across the globe, spanning the band’s 1981 and 1982 “4” world tour. The digital deluxe release will also contain alternate versions, instrumentals, and live performances from the era.
Originally released July 2, 1981, “4” spent more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts than any artist in the history of Atlantic Records, including AC/DC, THE ROLLING STONES and LED ZEPPELIN, and went on to sell more than ten million albums worldwide. “4” is certified six times platinum in the U.S. (RIAA),four times platinum in Canada (Music Canada),platinum in Australia (ARIA) and Germany (BVMI),and gold in seven additional countries. It spawned three Billboard Hot 100 singles: “Waiting For A Girl Like You”, “Urgent” and “Juke Box Hero”. “Foreigner 4”, as it’s often referred to, is the fourth studio album by the legendary British-American rock band released during a time of transition as they famously went from six members to four.
Jones noted: “Recording our fourth album took the better part of two years. It was something that just had to be right and I truly believe that Mutt Lange, Lou, Rick [Willis], Dennis [Elliott] and I accomplished something very special. This package, and particularly the stunning Atmos mixes, present a spectacular culmination of one of the most exciting periods of my life.”
To coincide with the deluxe package release, FOREIGNER — Luis Maldonado (lead vocals/guitar),Jeff Pilson (bass),Michael Bluestein (keyboards),Bruce Watson (guitars),Chris Frazier (drums) — will celebrate half a century of music with a new round of headlining tour dates which will include original lead singer Lou Gramm guesting on some of the songs he helped create almost 45 years ago. The upcoming “Foreigner 4 Deluxe Tour” signals yet another important transition for the band as these new dates will be the first major U.S. shows featuring FOREIGNER‘s Luis Maldonado on lead vocals. On the season finale of “The Voice”, it was announced that this year’s summer tour would be the last for Kelly Hansen.
Of the transition, Maldonado had this to say: “Earlier this year, we toured Mexico and South America with the incredible Lou Gramm. We all had such a fantastic time performing and being together, and it’s with that same excitement I look forward to working with Lou again. He was an integral part of the writing and recording of the ‘Foreigner 4’ album and his presence will add a historic dimension to our forthcoming tour.”
Released in 1977, FOREIGNER‘s debut album produced the hits “Feels Like The First Time”, “Cold As Ice” and “Long, Long Way From Home”. The albums “Double Vision” and “Head Games” followed with more hits including “Hot Blooded”, “Blue Morning, Blue Day” and “Dirty White Boy”. Then came “Urgent”, “Juke Box Hero” and “Waiting For A Girl Like You”. Those songs helped give FOREIGNER‘s next album, “4”, its impressive 10-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. At the zenith of 1980s sound, FOREIGNER‘s fifth album, “Agent Provocateur”, gave the world the incredible No. 1 global hit “I Want To Know What Love Is”. This musical milestone followed the record-breaking song “Waiting For A Girl Like You”.
Check out the “Foreigner 4 Deluxe” show at any of the following tour stops:
December 03 – Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre
December 04 – Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre
December 06 – Staten Island, NY – St. George Theatre
December 07 – Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Event Theater
December 09 – Wallingford, CT – Oakdale Theatre
December 11 – Montclair, NJ – Wellmont Theater
December 12 – Montclair, NJ – Wellmont Theater
December 13 – Williamsport, PA – Community Arts Center
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