In 1965, John Lennon bought a Swiss-Made KB Discomatic and created a personal, portable playlist, filling the antediluvian music box with 40 of his favorite 45s to keep him “company” on tour with the Beatles. Lennon’s selection of singles highlighted his diverse musical tastes, spanning rock, R&B, folk, pop, Motown, and blues.
His analog playlist featured Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and The Lovin’ Spoonful, among many more, including the Beatles 1962 tourmate Gary U.S. Bonds’ 1960 song “New Orleans” and No. 1 “Quarter to Three,” from 1961, R&B singer Fontella Bass’s 1965 hit “Rescue Me,” the Animals’ “Bring It On Home to Me,” and even opens on Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour.”
The old jukebox resurfaced at a Christie’s auction in 1989 and was sold to the Bristol music producer John Midwinter for £2,500 (approximately $2,770). Midwinter spent years restoring and researching the 45s that Lennon personally placed inside. Before he died in 2004, Midwinter shared the playlist, along with Lennon’s handwritten notes about some of his favorite songs.
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Along with its release, the project was also the subject of a British documentary, John Lennon’s Jukebox, which features interviews with some of the artists influenced by Lennon and featured on his Discomatic.
The Miracles’ three-part harmonies and songwriting had a significant influence on all four of The Beatles, who also covered their “You Really Got a Hold on Me” on their 1963 album With the Beatles.
“That’s me trying to be Smokey Robinson again,” said Lennon in his Jukebox notes, likening The Beatles’ 1963 hit “All My Loving” to something Robinson would have composed. Robinson and the Miracles appear five times, more than any other artist on Lennon’s Discomatic.
Here’s a look behind the five songs by the Miracles Lennon had on his playlist back in ’65.
[RELATED: 7 of John Lennon’s Favorite Songs and All 40 on His ‘Jukebox’]
“Shop Around” (1960)
Released on the group’s 1960 debut Hi… We’re the Miracles, “Shop Around,” written by Smokey Robinson and Motown founder Berry Gordy, became the group’s first No. 1 hit on the R&B chart. The song also became Motown’s first million-selling single.
“Who’s Lovin’ You” (1960)
The opening track on the Miracles’ debut, “Who’s Lovin’ You” was written by Robinson and ended up being one of the group’s most covered songs in the 1960s and in the decades that followed with renditions by the Supremes, the Jackson 5, the Temptations, Terence Trent D’arby, En Vogue, Michael Bublé, and many more.
“I’ve Been Good to You” (1961)
The Miracles originally released “I’ve Been Good to You” as the B-side to their hit “What’s So Good About Goodbye” in 1961 and included it on their album, I’ll Try Something New, a year later. Though it only made it to No. 103 on the pop chart, “I’ve Been Good to You” was Lennon’s favorite song by the Miracles, which he said inspired the Beatles’ songs “Sexy Sadie” and “This Boy.”
“What’s So Good About Goodbye” (1962)
Also on the Miracles’ third album, I’ll Try Something New, “What’s So Good About Goodbye” gave the group another Top 20 hit, peaking at No. 16 on the R&B chart. “What’s So Good About Goodbye” also inspired the Beatles’ Please, Please Me single, “Ask Me Why,” particularly in the opening guitar work.
“The Tracks of My Tears” (1965)
Going to No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100, the Miracles’ “The Tracks of My Tears” has been dubbed “The Greatest Motown Song of All Time” and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007.
Written by Robinson and the Miracles’ bassist, Pete Moore, and guitarist Marv Tarplin, “The Tracks o My Tears” appeared on the group’s 1965 album Going to a Go-Go, which features three more of their Top 20 hits, including the title track, “Ooo Baby Baby,” and “My Girl Has Gone.”
Photo: John Lennon riding his Triumph Herald, February 18, 1965. (Evening Standard/Getty Images)
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