The late 70s song that John Lennon and Frank Sinatra loved

The 70s was really a golden age for Rock and Roll music, many different bands and music genres were evolving. The Beatles were over but their influence was still extremely present and John Lennon, for example was building a successful solo career.

He was always interested in new artists and different sounds, and he even praised once a song of an Australian band that he believed was one of the greatest ones released in the 70s. He was not the only one who praised that song, even Frank Sinatra said it was the greatest one released in the 70s.

The late 70s song that John Lennon and Frank Sinatra loved

The track is “Reminiscing”, the biggest hit of the Australian group Little River Band, released in 1978 on their fourth studio album “Sleeper Catcher”. In an interview with Guitar Player magazine in 2023, the band’s guitarist Graeham Goble and writer of the song recalled that Lennon’s former girlfriend and assistant May Pag revealed in her book that it was one of his favorite songs when they were together in the late 70s.

“She (May Pang) wrote in her book, Loving John, that they would lay in bed listening to ‘Reminiscing. He was asking her to play it again and again and again. That was pretty amazing. (…) “(It’s) our pinnacle song. It’s double any other song we’ve ever had in terms of listens. It’s been in a lot of movies, and a lot of soundtracks. Sinatra said he thought it was the best ’70s song in the world, though he never recorded it. But when John Lennon calls your song one of his favorites, does that really matter?” Graeham Goble said.

The track was their most succesful song in the United States, peaking at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and Cash Box charts. It was a number 1 hit in Canada but in Australia it peak at number 35 on th Kent Music Report. It also was honored by Broadcast Music International (BMI) for being played on American Radio more than five million times.

Main inspiration behind the song

Graeham Goble revealed over the years that his main inspiration for the song were old black and white movies. He also praised the music made by Glenn Miller and Cole Porter, saying the song was his attempt to “depict the romantic era”.

In an interview with Rova in 2022, he recalled they recorded the song in only 25 minutes. “We cross all genres with this one. When we recorded it the first time, we weren’t happy with the bandtrack.”

“And then we did a second time. And then we did a third time. The words and the music just came into my mind or into my soul, I guess,” Graeham Goble said.

“Reminiscing” is by far their most famous song but they also had other hits. Some of them are”Lonesome Loser”, “Cool Change”, “Lady” and “The Other Guy”.

Both musicians who loved the track sadly already passed away. John Lennon was tragically murdered on December 8, 1980 at the age of 40. Frank Sinatra passed away in 1998 at the age of 56, a victim of a heart attack.