The song was written by
Denise Rich (under the pseudonym "Joy Denny") after dreaming while on a flight from the
United States to
Switzerland.[2] According to the Now 5 album (on which the song appears), the song was written about
Frank Sinatra.
The song was produced by
Chic's
Nile Rodgers, who had co-produced the sisters' earlier hits such as "
He's the Greatest Dancer" and "
We Are Family". The sisters suggested the song to him, but he hated it on first hearing. A week later, he went back to them saying he could not stop singing it, and so he insisted that the band recorded it.[3]
A marked contrast to the
disco cuts which had made them internationally famous in the late 1970s, this girl-pop number became a hit in the
UK Singles Chart, spending four weeks at number one in June and July 1985.[4] It fared much less well in the US where it peaked at number 75 on the
Billboard Hot 100, No. 32
R&B[5] and No. 15 Adult Contemporary.[6]
"Frankie" was fifth best selling single of 1985 with 698,000 sold copies in the United Kingdom.[7]