Reminiscing Explained

Reminiscing
Cover:Reminiscing_-_Little_River_Band.jpg
Caption:International 7" cover art
Type:single
Artist:Little River Band
Album:Sleeper Catcher
B-Side:"Take Me Home"/"So Many Paths"
Released:June 1978
Recorded:1978
Genre:Soft rock[1]
Length:4:11 (album version)
3:29 (7" version)
Label:EMI Music
Producer:John Boylan, Little River Band
Prev Title:Shut Down Turn Off
Prev Year:1978
Next Title:Lady
Next Year:1978

"Reminiscing" is a song by Australian soft rock music group Little River Band, released in June 1978 as the second single from their fourth studio album Sleeper Catcher. The song was written by the band's rhythm guitarist Graeham Goble, and sung by their lead singer Glenn Shorrock. "Reminiscing" peaked at number 35 on the Australian Kent Music Report and at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.[2]

Background and recording

In 2005, Goble spoke of his inspiration and recording of the song, saying "I loved watching old black and white movies, and I always also loved the music of Glenn Miller and Cole Porter, that whole era of writing, and it was my attempt to write a song to depict the romantic era. It came out very quickly, I wrote it in about half an hour. Even though a lot of people think it sounds complicated, on the guitar it's very simple to play. It nearly never got recorded – when the time came to record it, the keyboard player I wanted to use, Peter Jones, was out of town, so we cut the band track with a different keyboard player. It didn't work. A few days later when we tried it again with a different keyboard player, again it didn't work, and the band was losing interest in the song. Just before the album was finished, Peter Jones came back into town, the band and I had an argument because I wanted to give Reminiscing a third chance. Peter played on it, we cut it, and finished it, and sent the album to Capitol. Capitol said that they couldn't hear any singles on the album, and didn't know what to release. Five weeks later, someone at Capitol's New York office said 'You're all crazy, Reminiscing is a smash.' Capitol put it out, and it just immediately caught on fire, and became our highest chart hit."[3] Goble added "It's quite staggering; you don't realise you've written something like that until it happens, until it's history."[4]

Reception

Record World called it "a highly danceable ballad" and praised the lead vocal performance.[5]

Impact and legacy

At the Australian 1978 King of Pop Awards, the song won Australian Record of the Year.[6]

"Reminiscing" was given a BMI Five Million-Air award for five million plays on US radio—the highest achievement ever for any Australian popular song.[7]

According to Albert Goldman's biography, John Lennon named "Reminiscing" as one of his favourite songs. May Pang, erstwhile girlfriend of Lennon, said "Oddly, with all the fantastic music he wrote, "our song" was 'Reminiscing' by the Little River Band."[8]

Track listings

Australian 7" (EMI 11738)
  • A. "Reminiscing" - 4:11
  • B. "Take Me Home" (Recorded Live at The Rainbow Theatre, London)
    New Zealand 7" (EMI 1043)
  • A. "Reminiscing" - 3:26
  • B. "So Many Paths" - 4:22
    North American 7" (Harvest 4605)
  • A. "Reminiscing" - 3:26
  • B. "So Many Paths" - 4:22

    Chart performance

    Weekly charts

    Chart (1978)Peak
    position
    Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] 35
    Canada (RPM Top Singles)[10] 7
    Canada (RPM Adult Contemporary)[11] 1
    U.S. (Billboard Hot 100)[12] 3
    U.S. (Easy Listening)10

    Year-end charts

    Chart (1978)Rank
    Canada (RPM Top Singles)[13] 34
    U.S. (Billboard Hot 100)[14] 65
    U.S. (Cash Box)[15] 30

    Madison Avenue version

    Reminiscing
    Cover:Reminiscing.jpg
    Type:single
    Artist:Madison Avenue
    Album:The Polyester Embassy
    Released:[16]
    Genre:Dance, house
    Length:3:35
    Label:EMI International
    Producer:Andy Van Dorsselaer
    Prev Title:Everything You Need
    Prev Year:2000

    Australian group Madison Avenue covered the song and released it as a single in March 2001. Their version was certified gold by the ARIA.

    Track listing

    Australian CD single

    1. "Reminiscing (Da Classic Remix - Edit)" – 3:31
    2. "Reminiscing (Original Mix - Edit)" – 3:24
    3. "Everything You Need (Olav Basoski Remix)" – 7:32
    4. "Reminiscing (Da Classic Remix)" – 5:06
    5. "It's Alright (Album Mix)" – 5:12

    Charts

    Year-end charts

    Certifications

    Other versions

    Samples

    Biz Markie sampled the song for his song "Throwback" on the album Weekend Warrior.

    In popular culture

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Fontenot . Robert . Soft Rock Music and Songs - Oldies Music . Oldies.about.com . 2016-10-13 . 21 January 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120121101504/http://oldies.about.com/od/70spopandsoul/g/Oldies-Music-Encyclopedia-Soft-Rock.htm . live .
    2. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Joel Whitburn . 2002 . Record Research . 147.
    3. Miller, Chuck (2005) Born in the Sign of Water Goldmine, 4 February 2005. Retrieved on 14 January 2007.
    4. Kruger, Debbie (2005) Songwriters Speak, Limelight Press, .
    5. Record World. July 15, 1978. 2023-02-13. Hits of the Week. 1.
    6. Web site: Australian Music Awards . Ron Jeff . 16 December 2010 .
    7. Web site: 2014-02-15. Graeham Goble's BMI Award For His Little River Band Hit, 'Reminiscing'. 2021-07-18. Shorrock, Birtles & Goble. en-AU.
    8. Web site: Marvelous May.... ncf.ca. 19 January 2015. 23 September 2003. 19 January 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150119033310/http://web.ncf.ca/fl512/beatles/interviews/2003-09-23.htm. live.
    9. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 179.
    10. Web site: Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada . Bac-lac.gc.ca . 17 July 2013 . 13 October 2016.
    11. Web site: Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada . Bac-lac.gc.ca . 17 July 2013 . 2018-11-15 . 19 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200919022901/https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.0054&URLjpg=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2Fobj%2F028020%2Ff4%2Fnlc008388.0054.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.0054 . live .
    12. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 -
    13. Web site: Billboard Top 100 - 1978. 2010-12-31. 4 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161004010605/http://longboredsurfer.com/charts/1978. live.
    14. Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978 . Musicoutfitters.com . 2016-10-13 . 14 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160714034643/http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1978.htm . dead .
    15. Web site: Top 100 Year End Charts: 1978 . . 2014-10-29. 27 October 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20121027052253/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/70s_files/1978YESP.html . live .
    16. Web site: The ARIA Report: New Releases Singles – Week Commencing 5th March 2001. https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20020220130000/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20020221-0000/www.aria.com.au/issue575.PDF. dead. 2002-02-20. ARIA. 24. 5 March 2001. 1 October 2021.
    17. Web site: ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top Australian Singles 2001 . Aria.com.au . 2016-10-13 . 24 December 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081224201802/http://www.aria.com.au/pages/aria-charts-end-of-year-charts-top-australian-singles-2001.htm . live .
    18. Web site: Little River Band – Recordando . Shorrock Birtles Goble . 18 July 1978 . 19 September 2020.
    19. Web site: Thumbs Carllile special limited edition CDs . Thumbscarllile.com . 2004-06-22 . 2016-10-13 . 7 December 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081207024835/http://www.thumbscarllile.com/ . live .
    20. Web site: 'Glenn Shorrock Sings Little River Band' is Out Today. TV News. Desk. BroadwayWorld.com.
    21. Web site: American Idol - Ben Stiller singing. BenStillerTube. 4 March 2008. YouTube. 16 January 2018. 20 January 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160120110140/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFKFzUIVOTE. live.
    22. Web site: Freaks and Geeks - S1E4 "Kim Kelly is My Friend" Music and List of Songs. What-song. 16 January 2018. 16 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180116084911/https://www.what-song.com/Tvshow/27/Freaks-and-Geeks/e/661. live.
    23. Web site: Monsters vs Aliens Soundtrack (2009) & Complete List of Songs . 13 August 2018 . 13 August 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180813080256/https://www.what-song.com/Movies/Soundtrack/502/Monsters-vs-Aliens . live .
    24. Web site: Reminiscing (From. tidal.com. 16 January 2018. 16 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180116135319/https://tidal.com/browse/track/31940369. live.
    25. News: Review: 'The Other Guys' goofs on buddy-cop movie cliches, and it actually works. Lemire. Christie. 4 August 2010. The Canadian Press. 29 August 2010.
    26. Web site: HBO's Divorce skillfully captures the painful absurdities of a failed marriage. 2021-12-13. The Week. en.
    27. Web site: Reminiscing by Little River Band Songfacts. www.songfacts.com. 16 January 2018. 16 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180116081120/http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=17680. live.

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