The Bee Gees are (L-R) : Robin, Barry and Maurice Gibb. Brothers Gibb - Bee Gees.
Bee Gees Career Fortunes
One year ago today, the Bee Gees were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, adding to the Lifetime Achievement Awards given at both the British and American Music Awards. The Bee Gees moved from being "mere" industry icons to pop landscape milestones...
The Pre-Disco Bee Gees
Getting started in music for the Bee Gees meant TV show appearances in Australia where they grew up -- as novelty items. 3 elementary school aged brothers harmonizing in the early 60s.
In 1967, the Bee Gees returned to their homeland - UK where they became part of what is known as the "Second British Invasion" that included Cream, the Who, Van Morrison, the Moody Blues, Procol Harum and Traffic.
For the next 5 years, The Bee Gees had a string of chart hits like "Massachusetts," "To Love Somebody," "Holiday," "I've Gotta Get A Message To You," "I Started A Joke," "Lonely Days," "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart."
The proverbial wind change struck in the early 70s as the industry moved away from the Beatles-era sound of the 60s and the Bee Gees had to adjust accordingly. Rock and blues had emerged as major genres in their own right and were commanding the spotlight at that time...
Moving to Florida from England was the break the Bee Gees needed and in 1975, they released the "Main Course" album which sparked a second run of chart success. The move to Florida allowed the Bee Gees to tap into a melting pot of musical styles in Miami best reflected in the single "Jive Talkin". Note the stylistic "ringing" guitar riffs and think about U2's The Edge and you'll see the way musical styles get passed on to great effect. The Bee Gees had ridden the first wave of change and were now poised to take their place in the next one...
The Disco Years
The hippie years were over and hippie culture music led by Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton were giving way to the new wave of Disco-mania in the 2nd half of the 70s. The Bee Gees tapped into the club music scene in Florida and came up with a sound that was adopted as the standard for the disco scene. Fashionable suits and club dancing raged all over America.
The 1976's smash album -- Children Of The World included the #1 hit "You Should Be Dancing" and #3 "Love So Right". Those records set the stage for what was to come next---1977's Saturday Night Fever, which sparked not only a cultural phenomenon but became the biggest selling soundtrack record in history (around 40 million copies to date) and began a miraculous string of #1 hit singles with "How Deep Is Your Love," "Stayin' Alive," and "Night Fever."
How To Make Six Consecutive No. 1 Singles...
In 1978, the Bee Gees were at a pinnacle they had often dreamed of. But they would only barely pause to enjoy the view before they set a new challenge for themselves--How do you top what was then the biggest-selling album of all time? With that question mark hanging over their heads, the brothers returned to the studio and the result was the falsetto-dominated SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN, which sold an unbelievable 20 million copies and yielded three more million-selling, number one singles -- "Too Much Heaven," "Tragedy" and "Love You Inside Out".
That album, and the wildly-successful SPIRITS tour firmly and finally placed them in the pop pantheon with their one-time idols, the Beatles. From 1977-1980, the Bee Gees were, very simply, the biggest group in the world. (By the way, as one example of a lifetime of charitable activity, the Bee Gees donated all the royalties from "Too Much Heaven" to UNICEF)
Songwriters. The Bee Gees showcased their songwriting talent for other singers during the early 80s. For Barbra Streisand -- the #1 "Woman In Love" and at 15 million sold, the biggest album of her career.
A giant, UK #1 for Diana Ross ("Chain Reaction"), Dionne Warwick's 1982 return to the top ten ("Heartbreaker") and Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' duet, "Islands In The Stream," a 1983 #1 hit and the most successful single in the history of RCA Records. Every one of those collaborations yielded a career milestone for each artist.
1997 marked the 30th anniversary of Bee Gees. Hall of Fame Induction, Lifetime Achievement Awards, a new album "Still Waters".
Pop legends don't just "Stay Alive".
They get better with time...
May 1998 VW