Bee Gees playlist: 10 songs to get your teeth into
With a back catalogue to drool over, the oft-ridiculed giants of Seventies disco were always going to have the last laugh. Graeme Ross sparks an ‘Ah, ha, ha, ha’ with his favourite tracks
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Your support makes all the difference.Exactly 50 years ago the Bee Gees were riding high in the singles charts with the first of their five UK number ones, “(The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts”. The ensuing decades witnessed a rollercoaster ride for the three Gibb brothers that encompassed triumph and despair in equal measure. For a while, after their initial Sixties success, they were resolutely unhip, but proved to be the masters of the musical comeback time and again.
Yet, even at their creative and commercial zenith in the 1970s disco era, the Bee Gees were subject to (not completely undeserved) caricature and critical mauling. But credit where it’s due. This was a group who composed and recorded some of the most-loved classics in popular music, always with a firm grasp of changing musical styles, even if they did take themselves a little too seriously at times.
So put all thoughts of their “Les Tosseurs” walkout on Clive Anderson All Talk and Kenny Everett’s hilarious send-ups aside and celebrate true legends with just ten of the Bee Gees greatest songs from their massive and venerable back catalogue.
10 Children of the World (1976)
A neglected classic from the second coming of the brothers Gibb boasting a gorgeous a capella intro and outro. Club DJs, spoiled by the glorious dance grooves of “Jive Talkin’” and “You Should Be Dancing” refused to play “Children of the World” however, claiming punters wouldn’t dance to it. Surely the last time for many years that could be said of a Bee Gees record as they and disco went stratospheric.
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9 To Love Somebody (1967)
Written for Otis Redding who was killed before he could record it, “To Love Somebody” was later given a definitive treatment by Nina Simone; however the Bee Gees original is pretty terrific too, with a great vocal from Barry. The early Bee Gees strengths – beautiful melodies, signature harmonies and emotive lyrics are all present and correct on a song that has become an enduring standard.
8 You Win Again (1987)
The Bee Gees became easy targets for the inevitable disco backlash, but once again displayed their amazing bouncebackability and their enduring gift for melody with their final number one, with nary a hint of a falsetto.
7 Nights on Broadway (1975)
Candi Staton’s remake is great but the brothers’ original still knocks spots off it thanks to its urgent sense of drama, terrific vocal interplay and funky groove. It was at this point that Barry Gibb really began to exploit his new-found ability to sing falsetto with The Main Course album which contained “Jive Talkin’” and “Nights on Broadway” and marked the beginning of the Bee Gees comeback after some fallow years.
6 Night Fever (1978)
James Watt didn’t invent the steam engine, but significantly improved the original concept. So too, the Bee Gees didn’t invent disco music but they sure as hell streamlined it, allowing the craze to strut its stuff in the mainstream, thanks in no small part to their soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever. “Night Fever”, the movie’s centrepiece, resonates like no other song of the era and as a microcosm of the disco phenomenon, has no equal.
5 Lonely Days (1970)
A late period Beatles record in everything but name with unusual piano and orchestral time changes, Barry doing his best John Lennon vocal, and lustrous Abbey Road-style harmonies. Fab.
4 Jive Talkin’ (1975)
The rebirth of the Bee Gees. Disco music was beginning to emerge from the underground and with this one record the Bee Gees anticipated the coming trend. Under the stewardship of crack producer Arif Mardin who encouraged the brothers to go back to their R&B roots the Bee Gees came up with a dramatic change of direction with this funk-driven comeback single, their first UK hit for three years, with Barry Gibb displaying what would would become his trademark falsetto for the first time.
3 How Deep Is Your Love (1977)
The late 1970s belonged to the Bee Gees as they enjoyed unprecedented chart domination in singles and albums, almost as if punk and new wave hadn’t happened. This tender ballad from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack topped a poll of the nation’s favourite Bee Gees song a few years back and no evening down at the discotheque in 1977 was complete without a slow dance and a smooch to a classic love song that even the pogoing punks couldn’t resist.
2 (The Lights Went Out In) Massachusetts (1967)
The Bee Gees had already displayed their narrative gifts with the stark and compelling “New York Mining Disaster 1941”, their first hit in the UK. They followed it up with “Massachusetts”, a riposte of sorts to the fascination with San Francisco during the Summer of Love. In other hands “Massachusetts” could have been a bit of a dirge but with sumptuous harmonies and Robin’s masterly vocal it’s just the right side of maudlin and was a UK number one for six weeks. Twins Maurice and Robin were not yet 18, and Barry barely 21, but “Massachusetts” exemplified their timeless gifts as storytellers and performers.The Bee Gees first golden age that would witness other classics such as “Words” and “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You” had arrived.
1 Stayin’ Alive (1977)
Memorably used in the opening sequence of Saturday Night Fever, “Stayin’ Alive” is full of macho posturing and launched a generation of shirt-split-to-the-navel medallion men, but behind the swagger lies a lyric reflecting the gritty reality of surviving in the urban jungle. And I defy you not to be swept along by the irresistible groove, the relentless beat, the shrieking falsettos and the much-derided “Ah, ha, ha, ha” chorus. “Stayin’ Alive” is the classic born-again Bee Gees anthem and fully deserves its iconic status as the Bee Gees’ greatest song.
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