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| Bee Gees Barry-Maurice-Robin Gibb |
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| Hugh and Barbara Gibb were living on the Isle Of Man when their first son, Barry, was born on September 1, 1947. Twin brothers Maurice and Robin were born on December 22, 1949, in Manchester, England.
Just after their youngest brother Andy was born, the family emigrated to Brisbane, Australia. Growing up, the brothers began playing and performing together. Barry, Robin and Maurice appeared at a local speedway, singing between races. Two men, both with the initials B.G. helped accelerate their careers. Speedway organizer Bill Goode heard one of their tapes and asked his friend Bill Gates, a disc jockey, to play their songs on the radio. After an 18-month run as the house band at a Queensland club, they won their own television series and were signed to Australia's Festival Records. They relocated to Sydney, and after a succession of Top Ten singles in Australia, the brothers told their parents they wanted to return to England. At first their father was furious and threatened to cancel their passports. He suddenly changed his mind and booked passage home, sending copies of the Bee Gees Australian album to management companies in England, including NEMS, which once handled the Beatles. In the London office of NEMS, Robert Stigwood received the album and liked what he heard. The Bee Gees were back on British soil for less than 24 hours when Stigwood arranged an audition for them at the Seville Theatre in London. He quickly signed them to a five-year contract. As they released their first album, 1966's "The Bee Gee's 1st," they were a quintet; the brothers plus drummer Colin Peterson and guitarist Vince Melouney, both of whom were Australian. In America, the singles "New York Mining Disaster 1941," "Holiday" and "To Love Somebody" all reached the Top 20. The second album cut in late 1967 was a bit more relaxed and less cohesive. It did produce two more Top 20 hits; "Massachusetts" and "Words," both helped "Horizontal" achieve a number 12 on Billboard's Top 40 albums chart. They finally broke through with "I've Gotta Get A Message To You" and "I Started A Joke" from their third album, 1968's "Idea." Both songs went Top Ten, but the album only hit number 17. A year of touring and extensive television appearances followed. In December 1968 Melouney left. It was the first sign of dissension. Along with success came family infighting, excessive drinking and a fast life style. By the time of their next release, 1969's "Odessa," which had only one minor hit, "First Of May," Robin and Maurice were not speaking to each other, and Robin split the group. He recorded his first solo album "Saved By The Bell" and refused his father's request to resolve the brotherly conflict. In the interim a "Best Of The Bee Gees" (number 9 on the Top 40), was released to assuage the public and give the brothers time to heal. The Bee Gees continued as a trio until August 1969, when Barry and Maurice announced Peterson's departure. The 1970 "Cucumber Castle" album featured the two remaining brothers, but no hits. Barry and Maurice were both planning solo projects when Robin reconciled with them and rejoined the group. The first product from the reunited brothers was 1971's "2 Years On," which included their biggest single yet. "Lonely Days" went to number three on Billboard's Hot 100. The album failed to deliver another hit though. By the time of their next release, "Trafalger," also recorded in 1971, the brothers were poised for stardom. The first single from the album was "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart," a song that Barry and Maurice had written for Andy Williams to record. When he passed on it, they decided to record it themselves. It became their first number one single, eight more would follow. The first half of the 1970's saw the Bee Gees musically lost. The albums continued: 1972's "To Whom It May Concern" 1973's "Life In A Tin Can" and 1974's "Mr. Natural" all had single releases, none of which hit the Top Ten. The lowest blow during this period was Atlantic Records' refusal to release their next album, "A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants." The album still remains unreleased. Some groups would have considered disbanding at this point, but the three brothers were not ready to call it quits. Their manager Robert Stigwood, introduced them to Arif Mardin, one of Atlantic's top producers. As RSO Records was distributed by Atlantic, Mardin was available to work with them. Mardin took them away from Los Angeles and set up shop in Miami at Criteria Studios, while he produced "Mr. Natural," which had no hits, he opened them up to a new sound. |
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| Guiding and influencing their musical style, Mardin had them concentrate on Top 40 Radio and disco. And having established a good working relationship with the group, he was asked to produce their next album, "Main Course."
Each evening on the way to Criteria, the brothers would drive across the Sunny Isles Bridge, the tires of their car would make a "chunka-chunka" sound as they crossed some railroad tracks. One night Barry's wife, Linda, turned to her husband and said, "Hey, listen to that noise. It's the same every night. It's our drive talking." Barry looked at her and started to sing a song that evolved into their second number one single, "Jive Talkin'." But the Bee Gees were as cold as ice, and there was not much chance that radio stations would get excited about a new single from the Brothers Gibb. They repeated a trick they had used eight years earlier when their first single was released. |
| Promotional copies were issued on a white label with no identification of the artist. It worked! Debuting at 87 on May 31, 1975, "Jive Talkin" took 10 weeks to top the charts and begin the Bee Gees spectacular comeback. The "Main Course" album produced two more hits: "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)" (number 12), and "Nights On Broadway" (number 7). Riding high on the wide acceptance of "Main Course." the Bee Gees prepared to record a follow-up with the same producer, Arif Mardin. But Stigwood had shifted distribution of RSO Records from Atlantic to Polydor. Mardin was a "house producer" at Atlantic and was not allowed to work with artists recording for another label. The Bee Gees were thunderstruck, Mardin had been their ticket out of obscurity and now he was lost to them. The Gibbs turned to Richard Perry, but it was not a match made in heaven and within two days they parted company. |
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| Rudderless, the brothers decided to re-create the enviroment that Mardin provided for their previous album. Returning to Criteria and forming an alliance with Karl Richardson and Albhy Galuten, who were instrumental in their previous success, work began on 1976's "Children Of The World." If the Bee Gees were worried about their chart fortunes without Arif at the helm, their fears subsided when "You Should Be Dancing" was released as the first single. It entered the Hot 100 on July 3, 1976 at number 67. Nine weeks later it perched itself at the top becoming their third number one single. The album provided two more hits: "Boogie Child" (number 12) and "Love So Right" (number 3). In the summer of 1976 the Bee Gees were settled into the Chateau D'Herouville studios outside of Paris. Elton John had made the place famous with his 1972 "Honky Chateau" album and the Bee Gees wanted to record their follow-up there. |
| Unfortunately, the place had gone to seed. Determined to make the best of it, the brothers recorded the first song for the proposed album, "If I Can't Have You," when they received a phone call from Stigwood. He told them to forget the studio album, he wanted a live album to come out next. A few days later he telephoned again with a new directive. He needed four new songs for a film he was producing.
The first song written after Stigwood's call was "How Deep Is Your Love," but it was meant for Yvonne Elliman not the film. The Bee Gees weren't even aware of a love scene in the film, but when Stigwood heard the song he was adamant that they record it themselves. Stigwood arrived at the Chateau a couple of weeks later and gave the brothers a very rough outline of the film's story. He stressed it was about a young guy who lives for Saturday night, when he can spend his weekly wages and go out dancing. The only other fact was that John Travolta was playing the lead role. The brothers were inspired, disco songs were something they hadn't really delved into wholeheartedly. It took about two and a half weeks to write and record some demos. When Robert heard them, he said. "You hit the nail right on the head. That's perfect." The Bee Gees remained in France while the film, titled "Saturday Night Fever," was in production in the States. When Stigwood left the Chateau, he took with him the rough mixes of the songs that would be used in the picture as is. "How Deep Is Your Love" was the first single issued from the soundtrack, prior to the actual release of the film. It entered the Hot 100 on September 24, 1977 and moved into the number one spot 13 weeks later. It remained at number one for three weeks and in the top ten for 17 weeks, the longest run of any single release since the Hot 100 was initiated in August of 1958. Years earlier Stigwood had heard the Bee Gees sing a number called "Saturday Night, Saturday Night." When he telephoned them in France to request four songs for his film project, he asked that they record an eight-minute version of that song. When Stigwood heard the initial demo of "Stayin' Alive," he objected, asking why it wasn't "Saturday Night, Saturday Night." He was told either it's "Stayin' Alive" or that they would keep the song. |
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| "Stayin' Alive" it was, and it was the music heard in the electrifying opening of "Saturday Night Fever," as Travolta's character, Tony Manero, struts down a New York City sidewalk. One week prior to the film's release, a 30-second teaser of the opening sequence was seen in theatres around the country, the pounding beat of "Stayin' Alive" playing under it. This brief coming attraction was enough to create a demand for the song, even though the soundtrack had not yet been released. "Stayin' Alive" was issued before "How Deep Is Your Love" reached number one. It entered the Hot 100 at number 65 on December 10, 1977. Eight weeks later it became the second consecutive chart-topper from "Saturday Night Fever." The soundtrack went on to sell more than 25 million copies, making it not just the most successful soundtrack ever released, but the best-selling album of all-time, a record that would stand until Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1984. |
| The Bee Gees continued their domination of the Hot 100 with their third consecutive number one single from "Saturday Night Fever." "Night Fever" was the fastest-rising single yet from the film. Debuting at number 76 on February 4, 1978, while "Stayin' Alive" was still number one and "How Deep Is Your Love" was still in the top ten, "Night Fever" was burning up the chart, moving from 76-32-17-8-5-2 to number one. The week that "Night Fever" moved to number eight, the Bee Gees former two singles were still anchored in the top 10, making them the first group to have three songs in the top ten simultaneously since the Beatles. And the week that "Night Fever" took over the top spot, "Stayin' Alive" resurged, moving from number 6 back to number 2, where it remained for five weeks, turning Platinum in the process. That made the Bee Gees the first group to have the two top songs on the Hot 100 since the Beatles last did it in 1964. If those statistics weren't enough, the Bee Gees pulled off one more coup. For three consecutive weeks, they were responsible for writing and/or producing five records in the top 10. In addition to their own chart toppers of "Night Fever" and "Stayin' Alive," they had written and produced "Emotion" for Samantha Sang. Barry had co-written and co-produced his brother Andy's former number one single "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" and all three Gibbs had written Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You" which was on it's way to the top.
While the Bee Gees were writing the songs for the film in France, John Travolta was in training, working on dance routines back in the States. The song he used was an older Bee Gees number from their "Main Course" album, "You Should Be Dancing" and when it came time to film his dance number for the movie he didn't want to change songs. His stubborness made the song part of the movie and soundtrack and breathed new life into it. Under tremendous pressure to equal or better the track record set by "Saturday Night Fever," which resulted in three consecutive number one singles, the Bee Gees entrenched themselves at Criteria Studios in Miami for 10 months. |
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| When they emerged, they had completed 1979's "Spirits Having Flown." The first single featured vocal layerings and lush strings reminiscent of their earlier 1970's material. "Too Much Heaven" was originally a more soulful ballad, but the final mix was slowed down half a step so that the bass is almost out of tune. It was the highest new entry on the Hot 100 the week of November 18, 1978. A lucky seven weeks later it became their seventh number one single. "Tragedy" was the second consecutive number one single from "Spirits Having Flown," stretching the total of chart-toppers for the Bee Gees to eight. It was also their fifth consecutive number one, tying them with the Supremes and placing them within striking distance of the Beatles' six consecutive number one singles. "Love You Inside Out" was a statistically important single for the Bee Gees, helping them to re-write the pop history books. |
| It entered the Hot 100 at number 37 on April 21, 1979, and when it went to number one seven weeks later it left four accomplishments in it's wake:
1. It was the ninth number one single for the Bee Gees, tying them with Paul McCartney for fourth place on the list of artists with the most number ones. The top three: Beatles (20), Elvis Presley (17) and Diana Ross & the Supremes (12). 2. It was the Bee Gees sixth chart-topper in a row. The only other group to have six consecutive number one singles was the Beatles. 3. It was the third consecutive number one pulled from the "Spirits Having Flown" album, following three consecutive number one singles from "Saturday Night Fever." No other artist had ever had three consecutive number one singles from each of two successive albums. 4. It brought the Bee Gees total number of weeks spent at the top of the chart to 27, ranking them behind Elvis Presley (79), the Beatles (59) and Paul McCartney (30). It also brought a surprising end to the good chart fortunes of the Gibb brothers. The most successful group of the second half of the 1970's, they became yesterday's heroes in the 1980's. Their first two singles of the new decade, "He's A Liar" and "Living Eyes," ranked 30 and 45 respectively on the Hot 100. Their work on the sequel to "Saturday Night Fever," "Stayin' Alive," fared just slightly better. "The Woman In You" peaked at 24 while "Someone Belonging To Someone" petered out at 49. Between 1983-1987 the Bee Gees took a hiatus, realizing that their group was suffering from the "disco backlash" of the early 1980's, they chose to pursue solo ventures. Writing, and producing for other artists and releasing solo albums, all with varying degrees of success. A label change to Warner Brothers in 1987 brought them back to the Top 40 with "E.S.P" and it's successor "You Win Again." Their next release, 1989's "One" proved even better, taking them to the Top Ten for the first time in nearly a decade. However 1991's "High Civilization," with it's stab at techno, sank quicker than the Titanic. 1993's "Size Isn't Everything" brought them back to the dancefloors for the first time in over a decade with club smash "Paying The Price Of Love." The 12" single included a reworking on "You Should Be Dancing" entitled: "DecaDance." This album marked a return to Polydor Records (proper). Ironically as 1997's "Still Waters," one of their most adult contemporary albums yet, tanked. They were about to enjoy a resurgence in popularity with Celion Dion and the duet, "Immortality." The brothers wrote, produced and sang on the superstar's third hit from her Platinum album "Let's Talk About Love." In the new millenium one can only guess when the Bee Gees will bound back to the top, for with their talent and persistence, it's only a matter of time, not if. |
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