During his longstanding career in country music, George Strait has had 60 No. 1 hits.
It’s an astounding number and more than any other performer in history. He has sold over 100 million records worldwide, has won a Grammy, as well as multiple CMA and ACM Awards.
With so much achievement, it may be hard to remember the hit that started it all.
So, what was George Strait’s first No. 1 hit?
George Strait’s ‘Fool Hearted Memory’
In 1982, George Strait released the song “Fool Hearted Memory” on his second album, “Strait From the Heart.” The album featured other hits like “A Fire I Can’t Put Out” and “Amarillo by Morning.”
The song was written by Byron Hill and Blake Mevis. According to Songfacts, the song came while he was writing music for a film.
“I had written a song for a movie called ‘The Exterminator.’ The same company came to my publisher and wanted a song for ‘The Soldier.’ But there was more to it. The studio wanted a major label artist to record the song and perform it in the movie. And they would only commit to the song if it was released as a single,” Hill said.
The song is of typical country music style in that it tells a detailed and original story. It is reminiscent of many of George Strait’s classic Western-themed tunes.
This song in particular tells the story of a man who had a woman leave him. Now, he is haunted by her memory every night and gets fooled into thinking that one day she’s actually going to come back.
“He’s got a fool hearted memory / That won’t let him see / That she walked out the door / He’s got a fool hearted memory / He sits patiently / Here every night so it can fool him more.”
‘The Soldier’ Film
As Hill noted, the song was actually written to appear in a 1982 film called, “The Soldier.”
The movie is an American Cold War action-thriller. It is directed by James Glickenhaus and stars Ken Wahl, Alberta Watson, William Price, and Joaquim de Almeida. It’s about terrorists that take over a bomb and threaten to detonate it in a Saudi Arabian oil field. Then a group is assembled to help stop them from following through with their deadly plan.
While his song appears in the film, so does George Strait. He has a very short cameo in the action film where he is singing the song “Fool Hearted Memory.”
The song fit perfectly with the mood of the scene and the overall message of the film.
