"What a Fool Believes" took Doobie Brothers above the stratosphere as an instant hit of the late 1970's, a song perfect in possible ways,
music and lyrics (from the duo Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald), and becoming a classic yacht rock song. It's also kind of divisive moment for
the group as McDonald as the leading singer propeled them to become a more known band compared to the Tom Johnston era, and with his blye-eyed soul
vocal style Doobie's act became a completely different thing that the rock sounds of its origins - both great in their unique way, but gotta admit that
the groovy brought on with Mike made them a bigger act and later on he got a fantastic solo career. And it's such a big musical moment for them,
from the album "Minute by Minute" that they got a music video to promote the single.
Not much of a spectacular music video as it's just a performance from the band on stage, with many split screen bits and effects where McDonald's
face appears with the other band members as he sings and plays the keyboard. The unique thing about the video is that the song plays out in a different
manner than the version used in the album/played on the radio. It's not like a live act but there's some difference from the original version. Anyway,
always great to listen to it and that's why it gets a praise from me.
A little fun fact: this Grammy award-winning song was originally conceived for James Bridges' film "The China Syndrome" where it'd be the only
music to appear in the film, instead of Stephen Bishop's "Somewhere in Between" that memorably plays at the opening credits. The story says "What a Fool..." was rejected by producers (Michael Douglas was one of them) for reasons unknown and the rest is history as which played out more in 1979. But I'm a big fan of both. 7/10.
