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John Lennon and Yoko Ono wrote some out-there music, but John said they could have been the next Captain & Tennille. John revealed he and Yoko discussed going in a career direction similar to the “Love Will Keep Us Together” stars. As a solo singer, John wasn’t much more successful than Captain & Tennille.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono talked about having a Captain & Tennille-style TV show

During a 1980 interview with Rolling Stone, John was asked if he and Yoko could have a late-night television show like Captain & Tennille. “Yeah, of course we could,” he said. “John and Yoko might do it one day. We often talk about that. It might be fun. But there’s time, right? Plenty of time.” Captain & Tennille had a variety show that lasted 20 episodes.

“Right now, here we are in the Record Plant [studio], talking to Jonathan Cott again for Rolling Stone … and it will be fun to be on the cover of Rolling Stone,” he said. “It will be fun, won’t it, to start 1981 like 1968?”

The ‘Give Peace a Chance’ singer imagined going on tour with Yoko Ono

During the same interview, John discussed the possibility of touring with Yoko. “Can you imagine the two of us now with these new songs … and if we did some of Yoko’s early stuff, like ‘Don’t Worry, Kyoko’ or ‘Open Your Box’ or ‘Why’ from the Plastic Ono album — it’s just her voice and my guitar and one bass and drums, and I hear all those licks coming out now from some of today’s groups,” he said. 

“So we just might do it,” he added. “But there will be no smoke bombs, no lipstick, no flashing lights. It has to be just comfy. But we could have a laugh.”

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John Lennon only had 1 more top 10 single than Captain & Tennille did

While they might not be as well remembered as John is today, Captain & Tennille were a tremendous success in the United States during the 1970s. Two of their singles topped the Billboard Hot 100: “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “Do That to Me One More Time.” Another five of their singles reached the top 10: “Muskrat Love,” an embarrassing single about muskrats in love, “You Never Done It Like That,” “Lonely Night (Angel Face),” “The Way I Want to Touch You,” and a cover of Smokey Robinson’s “Shop Around.” The group is most remembered for typifying the kitschy soft-rock of their era.

Interestingly, Captain & Tenille performed about as well as John did as solo artist. Like Captain & Tennille, John released two Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles: “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” and “(Just Like) Starting Over.” Six more of his singles reached the top 10: “Imagine,” “Woman,” “Watching the Wheels,” “Instant Karma!,” “Nobody Told Me,” and “#9 Dream.” While John isn’t associated with the soft-rock subgenre as much as Captain & Tennille are, several of his biggest hits were soft-rock ballads.

John and Yoko seemed pretty different from Captain & Tennille but maybe they had a little more in common than meets the eye.

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