One of Michael McDonald’s most famous songs is the chart-topping 1979 Doobie Brothers classic “What A Fool Believes,” which he co-wrote with Kenny Loggins. In a recent interview with the Australian talk show Today Extra, the 73-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer recalled the almost-magical way the soulful soft-rock tune came together.
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“In a way, that’s the song that almost wasn’t,” McDonald said, explaining that he’d started writing the tune long before Loggins helped complete it.
“This is not a great habit of mine, but I’ll start an idea for a song and sit on it for the next two years without finishing it, Michael explained. “And I had played that idea for [Doobie Brothers] producer, Ted Templeman, early on, and he literally got to the point of begging me to finish that song. He goes, ‘I’m telling you, that’s a hit. You got to finish that song.’”
McDonald then shared that Doobie Brothers bassist Tiran Porter put him in touch with Loggins. He and Kenny subsequently made plans to meet and write together.
As he nervously waited for Loggins to arrive at his home for their first writing session, McDonald said he played some of the ideas he had for his sister, who was there cleaning his messy place.
“And I played her that little bit of ‘What A Fool Believes,’ a little piano riff and some words that I had,” he recalled. “And she goes, ‘I don’t know.’ She goes, ‘It’s okay. … He might think you’re trying to write a circus song or something.’ And then the doorbell rang.”
How Loggins Helped McDonald Finish the Song
McDonald explained that when he greeted Loggins and let him into his home, Kenny immediately said, “Before we say anything, … you were just playing something at the piano. Is that something new?”
Michael said he told Loggins it was new, noting that he was playing it for his sister and wondering if it was something worth showing Kenny.
As McDonald recalled, “He goes, ‘Fantastic … I want to work on that first.’” To Michael’s amazement, Loggins had already written the song’s soaring bridge “outside the door before we even met.”
Loggins actually recorded “What A Fool Believes” first, releasing his version on his 1978 solo album, Nightwatch. The Doobie Brothers’ rendition was released on the band’s 1979 album Minute By Minute. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for one week in April 1979.
McDonald Also Discussed His New Collaboration with Loggins and Charlie Puth
McDonald and Loggins went on to collaborate on quite a few other songs over the years. Most recently, Michael and Kenny lent their talents to “Love In Exile,” a new song by pop singer-songwriter Charlie Puth. The tune will appear on Puth’s forthcoming album, Whatever’s Clever, which is due out on March 27.
“Charlie, what a talented kid,” McDonald told the Today Extra co-hosts. “He’s amazing.”
He added, “[I]t’s amazing to [Kenny and me] that artists that are so contemporary in their own right and cutting edge … in a field of artists that we really appreciate have reached out over the years and talked about being fans of ours. And … that’s really flattering to us, ’cause these are the young artists that we look at and go, ‘Wow, I don’t think we could have done it that well in our day at our prime.’ … So, it’s great to be associated with and even better to get a chance to work with artists like that.”
Puth recently posted a video on his social media pages discussing his collaboration with McDonald and Loggins.
“I love yacht rock,” he says in the clip, then plays a snippet of “What A Fool Believes.” Puth continues, “And I thought to myself, ‘How am I gonna make a new album and not have Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins on it?’ The answer is you can’t. So, what did a music lover like myself do? I called up Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins, and they came over to my house.”
Puth then proceeded to share details about McDonald’s and Loggins’ musical and vocal contributions to the track. He also played isolated tracks and a clip of the finished recording.
(Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)
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