The Foolish Thing to Do
| "The Foolish Thing to Do" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Cover photography by Peter Ashworth | ||||
| Single by Heaven 17 | ||||
| B-side | "My Sensitivity (Gets in the Way)" | |||
| Released | 21 April 1986 | |||
| Genre | Jazz, soul | |||
| Length | 3:38 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | British Electric Foundation | |||
| Heaven 17 singles chronology | ||||
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"The Foolish Thing to Do" is a song by the British synthpop band Heaven 17, featuring American singer Jimmy Ruffin. It was released by Virgin on 21 April 1986 as a non-album single. The song was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh, Martyn Ware and Nick Plytas, and produced by Marsh and Ware (as the British Electric Foundation).
"The Foolish Thing to Do" reached number 80 in the UK Singles Charts and remained in the top 100 for two weeks. A music video was filmed to promote the single. The B-side, "My Sensitivity (Gets in the Way), is a cover of the Luther Vandross song. Ruffin performed lead vocals on both tracks.
For the CD version of Heaven 17's fifth studio album Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho, released in 1988, a version of the song features Gregory performing the lead vocal.