"Nobody's Fool" by Cinderella

Song#:  2924
Date:  11/08/1986
Debut:  95
Peak:  13
Weeks:  21
Genre:  Hard Rock, Glam Metal



Pop Bits:  This Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania, band was formed in 1982 by musicians Tom Keifer and Eric Brittingham. Three years later, the band had a set lineup and thanks to some prodding by an established musician (see below), they got signed to Mercury. Work began on their debut album that would be titled Night Songs. The LP's first single, the raucous "Shake Me," didn't necessarily turn heads. It was only able to reach #41 on the Rock chart. For a follow-up, this power ballad was selected. It did better at Rock getting to #25, but exposure via a popular MTV video helped the song explode at Pop and it nearly cracked the Top 10. The hit boosted the album in a big way and it would reach #3 and go platinum by year's end. It would eventually sell over three million copies.

ReduxReview:  Like many of the glam/hair metal bands of the day, it would be a power ballad that would be their breakthrough. This dark, near-goth monster ballad was pretty hefty for pop radio, yet demand for the song helped it along and it did well enough in airplay and sales to push it into the Top 20. I didn't latch on to Cinderella at the time. Tom Keifer's vocals were quite similar to AC/DC's Brian Johnson and besides this song, I didn't think their material was all that great. I ended up liking them better with their next album, which started to move them closer to blues-rock. This track is still a good relic from the hair band era and it was lucky they had this in their back pocket. Otherwise, I don't think they would have broken through in such a big way and the label might have given them the boot.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  The band gained a lot of fans early on including a couple of famous musicians. Gene Simmons of Kiss saw the band and recognized their potential. He championed them at PolyGram Records, but the label just didn't have the same gut reaction as Simmons and declined to work with the band. A bit of time passed before another up-n-coming star caught one of their shows. Jon Bon Jovi heard them and like Simmons, became a fan. A big enough one to knock on the doors of PolyGram again to see if he could help get the band signed. The label still wasn't all that interested, but then finally offered the band a six-month development deal. That eventually led to a full contract with Mercury Records. It took two music stars and some prodding to get Cinderella a deal, but it finally happened and it paid off big time with their triple-platinum debut. The band would later spend eight months on the road opening up for Bon Jovi, which also raised their profile and popularity.

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