Fools Gold/What the World Is Waiting For and "What the World Is Waiting For" were recorded at Sawmills Studios in Cornwall during the late summer of 1989, with additional vocal and guitar parts recorded later at London's Battery Studios, during the autumn of 1989. The tracks had been worked on for four months, and the intention was to put "What the World Is Waiting For" as the A side; however, when Roddy Mckenna, Silvertone's A&R man, heard "Fools Gold" he urged the band to use that as the A-side. The band were not completely convinced, and it was agreed, instead, to release the two tracks as a
CB military symbol system. Military symbols evolved out of the First World War from the British in part for secrecy, and to simplify reference to chemicals by something other than a chemical name. These symbols were sometimes applied as marking on weapons to indicate the agent contents. Military symbols constantly changed and had transitory definitions. For example, mustard gas was assigned the military symbol originally HS for "Hun Stuff". Later in the First World War the S in HS signified mustard gas that had about 25% solvent added to it. This was only in England, as HS was adopted as the military symbol