View source for What Kind of Fool Am I (Rick Springfield song)

{{Infobox song
| name       = What Kind of Fool Am I
| cover      = What Kind of Fool Am I cover.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Rick Springfield]]
| album      = [[Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet]]
| B-side     = How Do You Talk to Girls
| released   = May 1982
| recorded   =
| studio     =
| venue      =
| genre      = [[Power pop]]<ref name="AllMusic">{{AllMusic |class=album |id= mw0000191950|title= Rick Springfield - ''Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet'' (1982): Review |last= Erlewine|first= Stephen Thomas|access-date= January 3, 2024}}</ref>
| length     = 3:20
| label      = [[RCA Records|RCA]]
| writer     = Rick Springfield
| producer   = [[Keith Olsen]]
| prev_title = [[Don't Talk to Strangers (Rick Springfield song)|Don't Talk to Strangers]]
| prev_year  = 1982
| next_title = [[I Get Excited (song)|I Get Excited]]
| next_year  = 1982
}}
'''"What Kind of Fool Am I"''' is a song written by [[Rick Springfield]] that was released on his 1982 album ''[[Success Hasn't Spoiled Me Yet]]''.  It was also released as the 2nd single from the album, following up on "[[Don't Talk to Strangers (Rick Springfield song)|Don't Talk to Strangers]]", which reached #2 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]].  "What Kind of Fool Am I" did not repeat the success of its predecessor, peaking at #21.
According to Springfield, the lyrics of "What Kind of Fool Am I" are about his then-girlfriend Barbara Porter, who he married in 1984.<ref>{{cite book|title=Late, Late at Night|page=192|author=Springfield, Rick|year=2010|publisher=Touchstone|isbn=9781439191156}}</ref> ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' described the song as starting "as a ballad but kicks in soon enough to the punchy power pop" that had generated previous hits for Springfield.<ref name=bb/>  But ''Billboard'' also said that the song is not "as cohesive and irresistable" as "Don't Talk to Strangers".<ref name=bb>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Top Single Picks|date=May 29, 1982|page=65|accessdate=2023-01-27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=byQEAAAAMBAJ}}</ref>  ''[[Cash Box]]'' similarly said that "Following an [[Middle of the road (music)|MOR-ish]] intro that begins to sound suspiciously like a bit from [[Gordon Lightfoot]]’s '[[If You Could Read My Mind]],' Springfield cracks into his by now familiar hook-laden pop/rock."<ref name=cb>{{cite magazine|magazine=Cash Box|title=News & Reviews|date=June 5, 1982|page=8|accessdate=2023-01-27|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1982/CB-1982-06-05.pdf}}</ref> ''Cash Box'' characterized the song as "adult [[power pop]]".<ref name=cb/>  Music journalist John Borack described the song as "superb" and "regret-tinged".<ref>{{cite book|title=Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Guide to Power Pop|author=Borack, John M.|page=89|year=2007|publisher=Not Lame|isbn=9780979771408}}</ref>
Released as a single, "What Kind of Fool Am I" reached #21 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US.<ref name=kasem/><ref name=chart>{{cite web|title=Rick Springfield: Billboard Hot 100|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/rick-springfield/chart-history/hsi/#|publisher=Billboard|accessdate=2023-01-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Music of the 1980s|page=78|author=Harrison, Thomas|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313365997}}</ref>  It reached that spot on July 3, 1982, and remained there for six consecutive weeks.<ref name=kasem>{{cite book|title=American Top 40 with Casey Kasem: The 1980s|page=154|author=Battistini, Pete|year=2010|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=9781452050386}}</ref><ref name=chart/><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Billboard Hot 100|date=July 10, 1982|page=66|accessdate=2023-01-27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCQEAAAAMBAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Billboard Hot 100|date=July 24, 1982|page=64|accessdate=2023-01-27|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gCQEAAAAMBAJ}}</ref>  The single also reached #41 in Canada.<ref>{{cite web|title=RPM 50 Singles|date=August 14, 1982|accessdate=2023-01-27|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/item.aspx?IdNumber=4707&|publisher=Library and Archives Canada}}</ref>
"What Kind of Fool Am I" was later released on several of Rick Springfield's [[compilation album]]s, including ''[[Greatest Hits (Rick Springfield album)|Greatest Hits]]'' in 1989, ''[[We Are the '80s]]'' in 2006 and ''[[The Essential Rick Springfield]]'' in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=Greatest Hits|author=DeGagne, Mike|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/greatest-hits-mw0000653743|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=2023-01-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=We Are the '80s|author=Erlewine, Stephen Thomas|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-are-the-80s-mw0000442744|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=2023-01-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Essential Rick Springfield|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/we-are-the-80s-mw0000442744|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=2023-01-27}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Rick Springfield}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:1982 singles]]
[[Category:1982 songs]]
[[Category:Rick Springfield songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Rick Springfield]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Keith Olsen]]
[[Category:RCA Records singles]]