Day After Day #158: Fools Gold

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Fools Gold (1989)

There's always a sense of excitement as you move into a new decade, even though it's just one year going into another. But somehow there's a sense of anticipation about what's to come, as well as some dread, I suppose. In 1989, a lot was happening in the world: the Tiananmen Square protests, the Berlin Wall was coming down. As for me, I graduated from college and joined the working world. And musically, there was a lot of cool stuff happening.

So-called alternative rock was flourishing and we were a few years away from the big tipping point, but there was some interesting stuff happening across the pond. One was the debut of a band called the Stone Roses, which essentially launched the Madchester scene (combining alternative rock, psychedelic rock and electronic dance music) and provided the impetus for Britpop.  

By the late '80s, many bands were looking back to the '60s and '70s for inspiration and the Stone Roses were no exception. There were a lot of nods to bands like the Beatles and the Byrds, but "Fools Gold" leaned into '70s funk, from John Squire's wah wah-drenched guitar parts to a drum loop swiped from James Brown's classic "Hot Pants." Meanwhile, singer Ian Brown tells a story that he said was inspired by the old movie "The Treasure of the Sierre Madre," in which three broke men put their money together to go looking for gold, but then they end up betraying each other.

"The gold road's sure a long road/Winds on through the hills for 15 days/The pack on my back is aching/The straps seem to cut me like a knife/I'm no clown, I won't back down/I don't need you to tell me what's going down."

The song was released as a double A-side single with "What the World is Waiting For" in November 1989, but immediately became popular in the U.K., entering the charts in the top 10. Eventually it was added to the U.S. release of the band's self-titled debut.

"I'm standing alone/I'm watching you all/I'm seeing you sinking/I'm standing alone/You're weighing the gold/I'm watching you sinking/Fool's gold."

The album version is almost 10 minutes long, while the single was pared down to 4:17. The single made it to #8 on the U.K. singles chart, #5 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and #27 on the Dance Club Songs chart.

The Stone Roses debut album was a huge success for the band in the U.K., also scoring hits with "I Wanna Be Adored" and "She Bangs the Drums." It was credited with launching the rave scene in Manchester. The band was riding high, but it ran into legal trouble when it tried to terminate its contract with its label Silvertone, displeased with how it was being paid. In 1991, the court released the band from its contract and the Stone Roses signed with Geffen, but Silvertone appealed the ruling and the album was delayed for another year. The band's follow-up Second Coming wasn't released until December 1994; it got mixed reviews. Drummer Alan "Reni" Wren left the band just before a tour was to start in March 1995. Squire left the band in April 1996 and eventually the band split up in October of that year. 

Squire and Brown both released solo albums and bassist Gary "Mani" Mounfield joined Primal Scream. The band reunited in 2012 and played festival gigs over the next few years. Two new singles were released in 2016. The Stone Roses played their last show in 2017. It was strange and sad to see the bad squander the momentum they built with their debut, but these things happen.