Friday November 27, 2009
Hit maker
Compiled by N. Rama Lohan
IT’S hard to note a band like Bee Gees’ many successes, seeing as it rivalled the Beatles and Elvis Presley in its hedonistic heyday in the 1960s, who themselves were record-breakers. And the trio of brothers also gave the 1970s music scene a run for its money, courtesy of its disco explorations. But there were certainly cornerstones in the Aussie trio’s career, points at which, combined with the right talent and a perfect sense of timing, took the Bee Gees to a higher plane.
> The band’s birth certainly counts for its first success. Early in the 1950s, the brothers were to lipsync to a record in a cinema in their then-home of Manchester (the brothers were born in the Isle of Man), but on their journey there, Maurice dropped the record and broke it. But the show went on with the brothers singing a capella, earning them a rousing reception in the process.
> Contrary to popular belief, Bee Gees doesn’t stand for “Brothers Gibb”, not entirely anyway. First called the Rattlesnakes, later Wee Johnny Hayes & the Bluecats, the brothers were introduced to radio DJ Bill Gates by racetrack promoter Bill Goode (who saw them perform at Brisbane’s Speedway Circuit) after they relocated to Queensland, Australia in 1958. Gates renamed them the “Bee Gees” after his and Goode’s initials.
> Barry’s songwriting prowess was recognised by Australia’s first rock ‘n’ roll singer Col Joye, who used his clout to gain the brothers their first record deal with Festival Records in 1963 under the now-renowned monicker Bee Gees. Following the release of a handful of singles a year and contributions to other Aussie artistes, the Bee Gees finally recorded its first album (LP, back then), The Bee Gees Sing And Play 14 Barry Gibb Songs in 1965.
> While travelling (sailing and not flying) to England in an attempt to take its career further, the Bee Gees learned that their single Spicks and Specks had reached No.1 in October 1966, earning itself the position of Single of The Year, voted by Australia’s most popular and influential music newspaper Go-Set.
> The band’s big break finally arrived when they were put through to The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein’s management company North End Music Store (NEMS), where Epstein himself handed the band’s demo tapes to producer Robert Stigwood. A five-year contract commenced with Polydor Records.
> Culled from the band’s first international album (the erroneously titled Bee Gees 1st), the single New York Mining Disaster 1941 was whisked out to DJs by Stigwood (who had described the band as the Most Significant New Talent of 1967) in a white sleeve only bearing the song’s name. With disc jockeys thinking it was The Beatles’ new single, they gave it heavy rotation, which helped the song climb into the Top 20 of the British and US charts. The follow-up To Love Somebody (which was originally written for soul legend Otis Redding) didn’t require any under-handed tactics, though, and has gone on to be covered by a varied group of artistes, ranging from Janis Joplin to Michael Bolton.
> The Bee Gees would go on to have great success towards the late-1960s, releasing classics like Massachusetts, Words and I Started A Joke, making its mark on the American music landscape and appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show in the process.
> The band ended the decade with cracks in the fold, though that was outweighed by what rock critics describe as the quintessential 1960s Bee Gees album, the sprawling progressive rock-influenced Odessa double album.
> Robin was the first to venture out on his own after being dissatisfied with Stigwood giving Barry a free-hand in the band’s musical direction. The other brothers plodded along into the 1970s with some degree of success but the wheels seemed to completely come off the cart when Maurice left shortly after. But as younger brother Andy later sang: “Love is higher than a mountain, love is thicker than water.” In the later part of 1970, the brothers reconvened and poured their hearts out, referencing songs about loneliness.
> While the band may have momentarily lost its grasp on the British music charts, the Bee Gees surprisingly notched its first No.1 in the US with How Can You Mend A Broken Heart from their reunion album 2 Years On in 1970.
> If leading up to the mid-1970s proved to be a difficult time for the Bee Gees commercially, then 1975 was the year the band laid the seeds to cement its all-encompassing stranglehold on the global music scene. Upon the urging of Eric Clapton, the band relocated to Miami, Florida, where they began crafting disco songs including the now-anthemic disco gems Jive Talking and Nights On Broadway. It was at this point that Barry – encouraged by producer Arif Mardin – discovered his famous falsetto. And with the public agreeing that this was the band’s best sound yet, the album Main Course shot up the charts.
> But nothing quite prepared the band for what happened next as the Saturday Night Fever movie and soundtrack registered on the music Richter scale as the quake of all quakes. Surprising, though, that the band wasn’t even involved in the project initially. And while the general consensus has it that the Bee Gees gave birth to disco, the brothers actually injected new life into it, as music supervisor Bill Oakes paraphrases: “Disco had run its course. These days, Fever is credited with kicking off the whole disco thing – it really didn’t. Truth is, it breathed new life into a genre that was actually dying.”
> Three No.1 US hits (which also topped music charts the world over) came out of the movie soundtrack – How Deep Is Your Love, Stayin’ Alive and Night Fever. The band took the disco phenomenon to its pinnacle. Saturday Night Fever was the highest selling album in its time and with more than 40 million copies sold to-date, the highest selling movie soundtrack of all time and the seventh all-time best-selling album.
> During this period, the Bee Gees would also lend their talents to Andy, sending three of his singles to the top of the US charts. It was on April 8, 1978, that the Gibbs songwriting team achieved only what the Beatles did in April 1964 – have five songs in the US Top 10 simultaneously. Barry Gibb became the only songwriter to have four consecutive No.1 songs in the United States, smashing the record set by the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team of 1964. The songs were Stayin’ Alive, (Andy’s) Love Is Thicker Than Water, Night Fever and If I Can’t Have You.
> Even working with a star-studded cast (Peter Frampton and Steve Martin) on the movie Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band could not save it from sinking like a rock despite heavy pre-publicity.
> No.1 hits continued to flow with Saturday Night Fever’s follow up, Spirits Having Flown, which provided Too Much Heaven, Tragedy and Love You Inside Out.
> 1987 proved to be a good year for the band with the single You Win Again (culled from the album E.S.P.) topping the charts in numerous countries, including Britain, though it reached a disappointing No.75 in the United States.
> Tragedy struck in 1988 with Andy’s demise due to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. Just before he died, the brothers had decided to include him as part of the Bee Gees, but Andy’s prolonged alcohol and drug abuse would end any hopes of the band augmenting its lineup.
> The title track from 1989’s One gave the band its first US Top 10 hit in a decade, an album which also contained Andy’s tribute song Wish You Were Here. A world tour – also the first in a decade – followed.
> The final curtain call beckoned, and the band’s last collaborative album was This Is Where I Came In (2001), which had the brothers writing collectively and individually. The Dodger Stadium played host to the band’s final show at the annual Wango Tango festival on June 1, 2001.
> Perhaps the final blow was Maurice’s sudden passing on Jan 12, 2003, at the age of 53 due to a heart attack. He was scheduled to be wheeled in for emergency surgery following the discovery of a strangulated intestine but the Bee Gees died with him. Though the band vowed to carry on, losing a sibling just seemed too much to overcome. The Bee Gees received the Grammy Legend Award, accepting the trophy with Maurice’s son in a tearful ceremony.
> Since then, Barry has dropped hints on the band reuniting to perform as the Bee Gees once again but the band’s label Warner/Rhino has yet to officially say so.
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