published on in celeb

Let's talk about the Bee Gees

Really now, how did they become so damn successful? Voices like The Chipmunks, the "hot one" with that silly Farrah Fawcet hair and the other two, well, quite less fortunate in the looks department.

What's their story?

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by Anonymousreply 126July 28, 2019 7:31 PM

The rode the Olivia Newton-John wave of popularity.

by Anonymousreply 1December 31, 2015 12:09 PM

The Bee Gees were always a "European Act," who stole black music and turned it into disco. They got lucky being in the right place at the right time. And of course the ON-J connection didn't hurt them.

by Anonymousreply 3December 31, 2015 12:26 PM

The Bee Gees have always been great songwriters long before they dabbled in Disco. ONJ - pah-look at the Gibbs back catalogue; from Al Green's How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, to Dolly n Kenny's Islands In The Stream. setting aside Babs and Dionne, the Gibbs deserve better than being consigned to the Disco Sucks Era. Robin Gibb's voice was quite something too - listen to Odessa or Masachusetts. To Love Somebody is a great song!

by Anonymousreply 4December 31, 2015 12:54 PM

Which is why the Bee Gees were a European act, destined to have a few American its, like ABBA was. It was only by appropriating black culture and turning it into disco via "Saturday Night Fever," were the Bee Gees able to foist themselves upon the mainstream and put Andy Gibb there as well.

by Anonymousreply 5December 31, 2015 1:00 PM

Bit more than a few American hits and the Gibbs themselves had long admired R n B. The Saturday Night Fever stuff was originally intended as their next album - prior to Stigwood's call and the Tribal Rites of A Saturday Night.

by Anonymousreply 6December 31, 2015 1:09 PM

They weren't always disco, OP. They had some great songs and even some hits before they did the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. He was ugly as hell, but I used to love to stare at Barry's obscene bulge (and furry chest) back in the day when they were on TV.

by Anonymousreply 7December 31, 2015 1:55 PM

They weren't just a European act. All of these singles charted before the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack: New York Mining Disaster - 1967 - Top 20 U.S. To Love Somebody - 1967 - Top 20 U.S. Holiday - 1967 - Top 20 U.S. Massachusetts - 1968 - Top 20 U.S. Words - 1968 - Top 20 U.S. I've Gotta Get a Message To You - 1968 - Top 10 U.S. I Started a Joke - 1968 - Top 10 U.S. Lonely Days - 1970 - Top 10 U.S. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart - 1971 - #1 U.S. My World - 1972 - Top 20 U.S. Run to Me - 1972 - Top 20 U.S. Jive Talkin' - 1975 - #1 U.S. Nights on Broadway - 1975 - Top 10 U.S.

by Anonymousreply 8December 31, 2015 2:08 PM

Robin was ugly but I thought fraternal twin Maurice was hot.

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by Anonymousreply 9December 31, 2015 2:46 PM

Wonder why Barry Gibb always comes across as so chippy? He's the most 'awarded' UK producer too. Sad when you can't enjoy your success. Mind you chums with M Jackson and J Savile, so mebbe he's looking over his shoulder...

by Anonymousreply 10December 31, 2015 3:26 PM

Barry Gibb's hairy chest was often an object of my childhood jerk-off fantasies

by Anonymousreply 11December 31, 2015 3:36 PM

Pretty amazing how their career transformed into a very successful songwriting/producing one after their own records fell out of favor

by Anonymousreply 12December 31, 2015 3:37 PM

ONJ and the Bee Gees have a long standing friendship. She has recorded several of their songs including Come On Over, Carried Away and most recently How Do You Mend A Broken Heart. They were stars long before she was. Barry recently performed at her annual benefit for her cancer hospital in Melbourne. I loved their duet Face to Face.

by Anonymousreply 13December 31, 2015 3:42 PM

"Really now, how did they become so damn successful? Voices like The Chipmunks"

I've Just Gotta Get a Message to You: Fuck Off!

by Anonymousreply 14December 31, 2015 3:51 PM

Fanny (Be Tender With My Love) from 1975.

Truly one of the finest songs of the seventies.

by Anonymousreply 15December 31, 2015 4:05 PM

They were singing together even before The Beatles arrived. Even before SNF, the Bee Gees songs had some funk to them, some R n B as well. And those ballads and harmonies. They were great songwriters too. Nobody predicted the Zeitgiest that the soundtrack was. Andy arrived on the scene in the summer of 77 and sound was complete saturation. To the fans it didn't matter because the songs were so great... Even "Spirits Having Flown"(their peak) had 3 #1 songs. It seemed to end when disco did. End of summer 1979. Then they became great producers.

by Anonymousreply 16December 31, 2015 4:06 PM

I remember one of their hits receiving MAJOR radio play in Canada in 1974. Flew to Jamaica with parents for a holiday and I couldn't help humming "How Can You Mend A Broken A Broken Heart?"

Great memories.

by Anonymousreply 18December 31, 2015 4:28 PM

I'm listening to they right now and won't have a word against them! 'Love So Right', 'Inside and Out', 'More than a Woman', Andy Gibb's records, the stuff with Barbara, 'All the Love In the World' with Dionne Warwick.... on and on. And great singers, too.

by Anonymousreply 19December 31, 2015 4:34 PM

[quote]The Bee Gees were always a "European Act," who stole black music and turned it into disco.

I don't get this statement. Disco had already been around for several years before SNF, and it was from the outset a mixed, multicultural genre. They weren't the first or only whites to be involved with disco. They 'stole' nothing.

by Anonymousreply 20December 31, 2015 4:35 PM

[quote]They weren't always disco, OP. They had some great songs and even some hits before they did the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever

Which is why they were a European act, like ABBA, which also had a #1 and a few other top ten hits. Without disco (Jive Talking was Disco), they would've been in the same situation as ABBA or Cliff Richard. Internationally famous all over except the USA. That doesn't mean ABBA and Cliff Richard are unknown here, but they are just a fraction, in the USA of what they are internationally.

ON-J kept getting Bee Gee rejects like "Carried Away" (Intended for Babs who called it garbage). She killed Andy Gibb's career by dueting with him, just like she killed John Denver's career after "Fly Away." I don't think "friends" would give you their garbage songs while writing good ones for people they don't know...Kenny Rogers and Dionne Warwick.

by Anonymousreply 21December 31, 2015 4:36 PM

I couldn't figure out what you guys were referring to with the acronym ONJ. In my field it means Osteonecrosis of the jaw. Then I figured it out.

by Anonymousreply 23December 31, 2015 4:50 PM

They had success long before 'Saturday Night Fever', which was what propelled them to (temporary) superstardom.

by Anonymousreply 24December 31, 2015 5:35 PM

The biggest tragedy in the Gibb lives is the mother seeing three of her children die. I always felt so sorry for her.

by Anonymousreply 25December 31, 2015 6:29 PM

I agree with you, r15, but the name of that song (Fanny Be Tender) still makes me giggle like a 3rd grader.

by Anonymousreply 26December 31, 2015 6:50 PM

The Bee Gees, whether their early ballads or later disco hits, had a distinctive sound that was unique and immediately identifiable. Even songs recorded by other artists (Islands in the Stream, for example) are immediately identifiable as Bee Gees songs.

by Anonymousreply 27December 31, 2015 7:41 PM

Dionne Warwick - Heartbreaker.

by Anonymousreply 28December 31, 2015 7:45 PM

They're one of my favourite singing groups. I love so many of their songs.

by Anonymousreply 29December 31, 2015 8:16 PM

R28 -

I love the song Heartbreaker by Miss Warwick!!

I guess she wasn't too crazy about it, though.

I also love Promises from Streisand's Guilty disc. It never was very successful even though it was the fourth (and last) song released from the disc.

by Anonymousreply 30January 1, 2016 3:35 AM

I just don't get the whole "stole" accusation.

It's entirely appropriate to credit your inspirations - and popular music owes an incalculable debt to black culture and music. But we live in a multicultural society. Surely it's positive that there's interaction and that we can share our traditions and build upon them and evolve together. This popular trope of everything being appropriation seems to require that we all ghettoise in the accomplishments of our ancestors for eternity.

Personally, I like a lot of the Bee Gees' music. I can't see how the world would have been a better place if they couldn't express and grow their talent based upon their own musical influences. That's true of all artists. I would similarly hate for any black artist or fan to think classical or operatic music wasn't for them because of its European lineage.

Acknowledge the debt and then do your thing. Society is fractured enough right now. Because unless one is advocating for separatist states, we should be moving towards understanding, sharing and appreciating what everyone's bringing to the party not being over-protective to it.

The Bee Gees, like most master musicians - and they were that - absorb and fuse influences. One might say the same of The Beatles. One might also say both, respectively, helped introduce black and Indian music to many who would come to appreciate the original artists they'd have otherwise never heard of.

by Anonymousreply 31January 2, 2016 7:02 AM

They were musically very talented, which is exactly how they became so successful. They earned it.

by Anonymousreply 32January 2, 2016 7:09 AM

They are NOT an European act.

And what is the ONJ connection someone mentioned ?

by Anonymousreply 33January 2, 2016 7:13 AM

R15:

I always preferred the flip side:

Love (Be Tender With My Fanny)

by Anonymousreply 34January 2, 2016 7:19 AM

How deep is your love, my favorite song.

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by Anonymousreply 35January 2, 2016 7:38 AM

Not European r33? They're British, isn't that European?

by Anonymousreply 36January 2, 2016 7:41 AM

R36 Bee Gees was an Australian act

by Anonymousreply 37January 2, 2016 7:50 AM

I didn't realise they'd lived in Australia for ten years r37, I just looked it up. Not sure that makes them an Australian act though, they seem to identify as English and they were all born and went to school in England.

by Anonymousreply 38January 2, 2016 7:57 AM

It was where they first found success.

by Anonymousreply 39January 2, 2016 7:59 AM

But they left Australia *because of their lack of success* and went back to England r39. I'm still not convinced that a few years spent in Australia before they became successful on returning to England makes them Australian. They are British by birth, they hold British passports, they described themselves as British, they are usually perceived as being British.

Jimmy Hendrix lived in London but he's not perceived as British. Jim Morrison lived in Paris but he's not French. I still think the Bee Gees are European, not Australian. Even though they wrote a nice song about Sydney.

by Anonymousreply 40January 2, 2016 8:14 AM

Dionne didn't care for "Heartbreaker", r30?

by Anonymousreply 41January 2, 2016 8:17 AM

R41 -

I've read this in a couple of places in the past. If you think about it does make sense. Heartbreaker is more pop/disco than most of her other stuff.

by Anonymousreply 42January 2, 2016 8:23 AM

Diana Ross Chain Reaction

by Anonymousreply 43January 2, 2016 8:25 AM

OP is probably a sixteen year old with an automatic hard on response at the mention of Justin Beiber.

by Anonymousreply 44January 2, 2016 8:37 AM

They also wrote Islands in the Stream.

by Anonymousreply 45January 2, 2016 8:42 AM

Of course, they wrote for Andy and sang back up for him too. This is my favorite of his, written by Barry, Robin and Maurice.

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by Anonymousreply 46January 2, 2016 8:51 AM

Would someone please give race-bait troll R3 R5's tonearm a nudge? He seems to have a locked groove.

The Bee Gees were successful long before the disco era. I enjoyed some of their stuff from that era, but by the end of the 70s, the falsetto gimmick in R&B music had gotten mighty tiresome. So one of OP's points is made, I guess.

Here's my favorite. Love Barry's Lennonesque vocal at the close.

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by Anonymousreply 47January 2, 2016 9:00 AM

Barely.

What does he call himself now? The Bee Gee...???

by Anonymousreply 49January 2, 2016 9:25 AM

Stayin' Alive is such an overplayed, ubiquitous presence that it can be easy to forget how brilliantly produced that track was. Everything - the vocals, the crack rhythm section with that perfect 104 BPM driving, the seductive, but never schmaltzy strings. It's a perfect creation. Shame that - from what I can tell on YouTube - they were never able to truly replicate that magic in a live setting. The versions I've seen online from the 80s and 90s have been slightly updated to a very dated late 80s / early 90s sound that has not aged well. Some things don't need to be fixed.

by Anonymousreply 51January 2, 2016 9:54 AM

The funny thing about "Guilty" - it was Streisands biggest hit album, yet it now sounds incredibly dated. She almost never performs its songs in concert, and "Guilty Pleasures" was a disappointing follow-up.

by Anonymousreply 53January 2, 2016 11:04 AM

Barry has very bad arthritis I've read.

by Anonymousreply 54January 2, 2016 11:56 AM

Barry Gibb is 69 years old, and he's still got that great voice !

The Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack is a great feel good album. After all these years, it still makes me want to get up and dance.

by Anonymousreply 55January 2, 2016 1:52 PM

I couldn't believe how they stole "More Than a Woman" from Tavares!

by Anonymousreply 56January 2, 2016 2:46 PM

Do you remember their film debut in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?

by Anonymousreply 57January 2, 2016 3:20 PM

Perhaps it wasn't the first music video ever made but their video for Stayin' Alive shot on the old MGM back lot and train station was certainly memorable.

by Anonymousreply 58January 2, 2016 3:24 PM

I was hearing them played incessantly on American pop radio in the mid-1960s, so I don't know how some of you just dismiss them as a European act or a disco act.

by Anonymousreply 59January 2, 2016 3:46 PM

r51 search youtube for vinyl titles. The remixes and later versions are nowhere near the original vinyl. There used to be old Euro TV appearance performances floating around that they did live. They might be taken down, but worth a look.

by Anonymousreply 60January 2, 2016 3:54 PM

Poor old Barry. The last one standing. He and Robin were interviewed for a long doc about their career, and Barry broke down when they talked about Maurice. When Robin went I thought, poor Barry.

by Anonymousreply 61January 2, 2016 4:04 PM

He's the oldest, too. I wish he'd write a balls out, honest book about his life and career. They were in Miami for decades and Barry knows a lot of people. He was a casual acquaintence of Sinatra's. I saw a few interviews here (Canada) over the years and he had interesting anecdotes. He is one of those guys who knows everyone and probably where a lot of bodies are buried.

There are a lot of those guys in entertainment, who have weird connections to seemingly unrelated people and events. I wish more would write about it, not so much for the gossip as for the industry inner workings.

by Anonymousreply 62January 2, 2016 4:17 PM

R56, they did not steal the song from Tavares - they wrote it. I would imagine the reason they recorded the two versions was because back in the day, the r&b music charts and the mainstream pop charts usually looked very different, and the Tavares version could make it the soul/r&b world, whereas the Bee Gees version probably wouldn't. They were looking for crossover appeal.

R51, I think what you said about Stayin' Alive applies to all the Bee Gees tracks on the SNF soundtrack - when you hear those songs on a good sound system, it's amazing how clear and bracing the production is for each one.

by Anonymousreply 63January 2, 2016 4:18 PM

I still love Guilty.

Make It Like a Memory is fucking EPIC.

I wasn't wild about the collaborations with Dionne Warwick or Diana Ross, but the match with Streisand in 1980 was perfect. (Not a fan of Guilty Pleasures, though.)

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by Anonymousreply 64January 2, 2016 4:33 PM

I realize that they were born in the UK but most people consider them an Australian act, right?

by Anonymousreply 65January 2, 2016 4:50 PM

I thought they were Australian until I first read this thread earlier today.

by Anonymousreply 66January 2, 2016 5:14 PM

Bravo, R31! Agree with every word.

The Bee Gees were never like Led Zeppelin (who I also like), who outright stole from black artists without attribution until they were forced to give credit and royalties. The Gibb brothers always discussed their love for black music and artists, and never ever stole even a line from anyone.

Growing up in a Southern black town the 60s and 70s, all my friends and siblings' friends loved the Bee Gees. They were always played on our black radio stations here, even before Saturday Night Fever. My big sister and her Madrigal Choir friends would sing "How Do You Mend a Broken Heart, "Massachusetts"" and "Run to Me" on the schoolbus after school; that's one of my favorite memories of that time. We'd have debates over the Al Green vs original Bee Gees version of "How do You Mend ..." and Tavares v. Bee Gees "More Than a Woman." All the black girls in my sister's circle had enormous crushes on Barry. I was the weird one who preferred Robin.

And damn Barry had a voice! He never needed Autotune or backup help, even live.

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by Anonymousreply 67January 2, 2016 5:15 PM

They also stole "Jive Talkin'" from Chaka/Rufus!

by Anonymousreply 68January 2, 2016 5:30 PM

Barry wasn't much taller than his brothers but in the music video for Stayin' Alive he towers over them.

by Anonymousreply 69January 2, 2016 5:56 PM

To R53 -

As much as I want to smack you, I have to admit you're right.

"Guilty" does sound like a product of its time (1979/80) and "Guilty Pleasures" wasn't all that great.

by Anonymousreply 70January 2, 2016 6:49 PM

How did they "steal" a song that they wrote r68? Or do you mean they sang it so much better than Chaka Rufus that they "stole" their thunder?

by Anonymousreply 71January 2, 2016 6:50 PM

I don't know r65, I've never known them be referred to as Australian and I don't know anyone who does. I guess because I've never heard anyone refer to them like that I'd assume that most people who have ever heard them speak know they're English, they have very clearly English accents. I just thought it was common knowledge to anyone who likes music that they were English.

by Anonymousreply 72January 2, 2016 8:29 PM

Egads the actress dancing in that clip with JT is terrible. I'd forgotten how bad she was.

by Anonymousreply 73January 2, 2016 8:43 PM

I was very young at the time (born in '74), but I feel like in the late '70s/early '80s, they, as well as their brother, and Newton-John were all thrown together as being from Down Under. I also might have got that idea because I think Andy's girlfriend/the mother of his child was Australian and she's always carted out on any sort of "Behind the Music" sort of retrospective on him.

by Anonymousreply 74January 2, 2016 8:56 PM

What music doesn't sound of its time besides acoustic/piano-vocal type stuff?

by Anonymousreply 75January 2, 2016 10:26 PM

[quote]Stayin' Alive is such an overplayed, ubiquitous presence that it can be easy to forget how brilliantly produced that track was. Everything - the vocals, the crack rhythm section with that perfect 104 BPM driving

I agree, it's a great song - it was one of those songs that I didn't consider to be true disco - could've just been a pop/R&B song. I love this song's relentless driving beat.

by Anonymousreply 76January 2, 2016 10:36 PM

[quote] I was the weird one who preferred Robin.

He was my crush too and then Andy.

Black folks loved the Bee Gees, especially back in the 70's when they did "Love So Right".

by Anonymousreply 77January 2, 2016 10:47 PM

"Charade" is one of their underrated ballads, I put it up there with the great "How Deep Is Your Love".

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by Anonymousreply 78January 2, 2016 10:52 PM

Introduced as the falsetto voices from Australia in this clip. Not a tribute act, obviously.

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by Anonymousreply 79January 2, 2016 11:31 PM

R73 - I think Karen Lynn Gorney is fine in the More Than a Woman number. The stupid choices for coverage don't help and I hate filmed dance numbers when our view is blocked by the cheering crowd who watch. We don't need to see them!

by Anonymousreply 80January 2, 2016 11:43 PM

If they ended their careers with Odessa they'd still be legendary imo. They were already lauded singer-songwriters just out of their teens during the Brit Invasion years in the late 60s. The later forays into rock-pop-disco, R&B and top-of-the-line 70s MOR ballads were icing on the cake.

Main Course is my favorite. Brilliant from start to finish. Any fan of good live contemporary music -must- listento Here at Last...The Bee Gees Live. Outstanding live performances (LA Forum I think?) from '75-'76 just before SNF blew up.

by Anonymousreply 82January 3, 2016 12:29 AM

Their singing voices were laughable.

by Anonymousreply 83January 3, 2016 12:34 AM

R83, this is a "laughable" singing voice?

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by Anonymousreply 84January 3, 2016 12:57 AM

My mom always told me about them when I was growing up. She had a hatred for Victoria Principal and blamed her for Andy Gibb's death. I have no idea where my mom got that idea from but her hate for Victoria is still strong to this day.

by Anonymousreply 85January 3, 2016 1:06 AM

The Bee Gees were around long before their disco success. I love their early 70's ballads. Here is an early clip of them when the twins were around 10. WARNING!! Fucked up teefs ahead.

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by Anonymousreply 86January 3, 2016 1:13 AM

Your mom isn't wrong. It was generally believed at the time of his death that Principal aided Andy's drug use and treated him ice coldly when she dumped him which made him go deeper into drugs to assuage his grief.

by Anonymousreply 87January 3, 2016 1:30 AM

On the odd occasion when Principal's name has come up for any reason - usually regarding cosmetic surgery rather than her dead career - I've noticed most people have a very negative reaction to her. This would explain it. Any more dirt to dish? I've never paid much attention to her before but this has piqued my interest.

by Anonymousreply 88January 3, 2016 2:44 AM

"Lonely Days"

"Jive Talkin'"

"Stayin' Alive"

Those 3 alone are enough to justify their status and fame.

by Anonymousreply 89January 3, 2016 2:49 AM

r87 other way around. Gibb was out of control and she left just in time. Principal says she took the fall for him, and he was always an addict. She was probably self-serving, but I don't think that was too exaggerated.

by Anonymousreply 90January 5, 2016 5:41 AM

Victoria Principal tried to jerk off Steven Spielberg under the table at some party. She hoped to be cast in some part in Close Encounters. This was in Julia Phillips book. Principle was hated by Joan Rivers, who gave her phone number out over the air after Andy Gibb died, saying for a good time call Victoria. Principle sued.

Sexy ass Al Green's version of How Can You Mend a Broken Heart is one of my favorite songs. My mother used to play it all the damn day.

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by Anonymousreply 91January 5, 2016 6:32 AM

Barry is around 6'1, the twins were 5'8 and Andy was 5'6. They moved to Australia right after Andy was born in 1958 mostly so that their dad could a better paying job as the family was dirt poor. Once they became successful in Australia the brothers moved back to England to launch their careers there. Their mother Andy, and older sister Lesley stayed in Australia. Lesley had a baby at 19 and her mother ended up raising her. I think Otis Redding was supposed to record To Love Somebody but died before he could do so but it may have been another Gibb Brothers song. Arif Mardin was the one who got them to sing falsetto when they were recording the Main Course album, he asked Barry if he could scream in tune and the falsetto came into play. Barry's voice does sound great for 69 and considering he smoked for most of his life.

Andy was into drugs long before Victoria came into the picture. He got married at 18 much to the chagrin of the Gibb family. Barry was getting ready to start producing Andy's first full album which would require Andy to move from Australia to Miami. Andy thought it would be a great idea to get married so they could stay together. They moved first to Miami then to LA where Andy got heavily into cocaine and quaaludes. His wife left him about 9 months and went back to Australia and she was pregnant. Andy didn't show up for the birth of his daughter and only saw her one time when she was 2. His ex wife took a lump sum payment during the divorce and Andy didn't pay child support. After his death, the Gibbs signed all of their rights to Andy's songs over to his daughter. Andy's last studio album After Dark was a disaster. Barry had to cover for him and a lot of the tracks are Barry, not Andy singing. Desire was a rejected track from the Spirits Having Flown album and Andy's voice was starting to go and he wouldn't show up for sessions or was wasted. He didn't show up to the studio for his duets with Olivia and Barry had to sing with her with Andy adding his vocal track in later. The album was supposed to come out around summer of 79 but got delayed until early 80 and Olivia wasn't happy about it because she thought the tracks she recorded were stale by then.

Victoria did do coke but not at the level Andy did. He was actually supposed to do the Grease sequel, but failed his screen test he was so messed up on drugs.

by Anonymousreply 92January 5, 2016 7:12 AM

Thanks for that r92. Seriously. I wonder what happened to the daughter. I hope she's not too fucked up and is doing well.

by Anonymousreply 93January 5, 2016 7:16 AM

Andy's daughter Peta is married and has two young sons. She looks a lot like Andy and the grandsons look like Andy as a little boy.

by Anonymousreply 94January 5, 2016 10:39 PM

Good info r92. A real Gibb fan I see.

Peta I believe is also a pedigree dog rearer/trainer in Australia, as was her mother and her paternal aunt Lesley Gibb

by Anonymousreply 95January 6, 2016 3:12 AM

So Barry Gibb has puppies?

by Anonymousreply 96January 19, 2016 1:59 PM

[quote]Barry Gibb is 69 years old,

uh oh.

by Anonymousreply 97January 19, 2016 2:10 PM

I still remember the heady excitement of being in the movie theatre watching John Travolta strut down the street to the funky beat of "Stayin' Alive."

by Anonymousreply 98January 19, 2016 2:15 PM

The singing could be screechy, but they were good songwriters. It also helped that the normally discophobic babyboomers remembered them from the 60s, so they could approve of them. And always in a smug, narrow-mined "the only disco I like" way. I hate discophobes, you don't have to love it, but the best of it was quite good and hardly deserves all the vitriol.

by Anonymousreply 99January 19, 2016 2:53 PM

Always adored Robin Gibb's voice.

by Anonymousreply 100January 19, 2016 6:02 PM

I won't speak about them It's about time you did a new poll, lazy bones. No more comment, otherwise. This kitty had enough, dude.

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by Anonymousreply 101January 19, 2016 6:11 PM

Songs were really fun to dance to.

by Anonymousreply 102January 19, 2016 6:13 PM

[quote]Songs were really fun to dance to.

Yeah...I know.

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by Anonymousreply 103January 19, 2016 6:26 PM

They are my favorite band ever but I was really disheartened to read in a recent Rolling Stone profile that Barry watches FOX news all day.

by Anonymousreply 104January 19, 2016 6:43 PM

Yes, r96 - his white satin pants in the late 70s barely concealed them.

by Anonymousreply 105January 19, 2016 6:49 PM

How could "You Win Again" not have been a hit in the US? I get that by 1987, people associated the Bee Gees with (still hated) disco and the 70s revival was years away and blah blah. But it was a great song, current, and gorgeous, and deservedly a big hit almost worldwide except in America.

So many try, but if anybody can, we can

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by Anonymousreply 106January 19, 2016 8:58 PM

"You Win Again" is a good song but is just one in an infinite number of good songs that never made it to hit status because of no push by radio and the record company.

by Anonymousreply 107January 20, 2016 9:13 PM

Anyone remember Cucumber Castle?

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by Anonymousreply 108January 20, 2016 9:33 PM

"Songbird" from Main Course just came up on my iPod random play. Beautiful song!

by Anonymousreply 109January 22, 2016 4:35 PM

Best song from the pre-disco era: Run To Me

Best song of the disco era: How Deep Is Your Love

Best song of the post-disco era: This Is Where I Came In (see link)

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by Anonymousreply 110January 22, 2016 5:02 PM

Robin has always been my favorite. He and Barry wrote the vast majority of the songs. Love his European hit "Juliet". Barry's demos for Barbra's album are fantastic, ie : "Promises", youtube them. Barry's hairy chest is very scarred from when as a young child he upset the tea kettle on him.

by Anonymousreply 111January 22, 2016 5:11 PM

Oh, that hairy chest, gorgeous hair and those tight white satin pants that looked so darn good on his butt. Sigh. Mmmmmm.....

by Anonymousreply 112January 22, 2016 5:37 PM

How a Deep Is Your Love is definitely a classic, but so are Jive Talkin', Tragedy, and One.

And there may never be a movie song more appropriate for its film and era than Night Fever

by Anonymousreply 113January 22, 2016 8:49 PM

They were brilliant songwriters and true musicians. I don't think there has ever been a more prolific songwriting trio than Barry, Morris and Robin.

They had multiple careers, first in Australia, then in England where they wrote hit after hit after hit, Massachusetts, I started a Joke, New York Mining Disaster, Words .... it's really amazing the amount of absolutely beautiful songs they came up with.

Then they went to Miami and worked with Arif Mardin on what is known their RnB and disco years.

And then they wrote hits for Diana Ross, Streisand, Dolly Parton, Dionne Warwick and brother Andy.

Too bad Barry is an asshole, he voted for Trump.

by Anonymousreply 114October 28, 2018 9:18 AM

I love The Bee Gees. Did not know Barry's a trumper

by Anonymousreply 115October 28, 2018 9:48 AM

I just heart You Win Again when buying coffee this morning. What a great fucking song.

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by Anonymousreply 117July 28, 2019 6:18 AM

They had their first big hit sounding a lot like the Abbey Road-era Beatles, right after The Beatles broke up. That might have helped.

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by Anonymousreply 118July 28, 2019 6:24 AM

They are so damn talented.

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by Anonymousreply 119July 28, 2019 6:46 AM

I totally disagree, OP. I love The Bee Gees and I'm of a younger generation from when they were huge. They are so much more than disco and they have/had great vocal range. Real talent.

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by Anonymousreply 120July 28, 2019 7:02 AM

120 posts and nary a mention of Lulu?

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by Anonymousreply 121July 28, 2019 7:17 AM

The Bee Gees, Peter Allen, Olivia Newton John and Helen Reddy were all regular tween performers on Australian Bandstand.

by Anonymousreply 122July 28, 2019 4:39 PM

Jive Talkin’ will always be a fave - such a slick yet funky tune.

by Anonymousreply 123July 28, 2019 5:08 PM

Here's the proof that the Bee Gees were a thing in the US long before SNF: I remember being a little kid and seeing ads on weekday TV for a K-Tel style "Greatest Hits (of a has-been)" album of the Bee Gees -- the kind of ads they ran for other has-beens like Neil Sedaka or Bobby Vinton. (Yes, I know it's sad that I can remember that far back.)

This must have been in 1977, right before SNF put them back on the charts.

by Anonymousreply 124July 28, 2019 5:09 PM

Never liked them, even in the 60s.

What is their appeal? Do disco maniacs like 'em?

Never have seen a minute of SNF and will die happy having not done so.

by Anonymousreply 125July 28, 2019 5:26 PM

Saw them live in concert during the disco era. Amazing performance!

by Anonymousreply 126July 28, 2019 7:31 PM

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