BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART

I finally got around to watching the HBO documentary on the Gibb brothers, "Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" and it's truly wonderful. The film by director Frank Marshall explores this Australian musical family trio from their early beginning singing tight harmonies as children before venturing to Britain to become considered the second coming of The Beatles and then making a name for themselves in the 1970's with their unique falsetto driven dance music.

There is a new interview with Barry, the last surviving member of the group that was made-up with the twins, Maurice (who died in 2003) and Robin (who passed away in 2012), who discusses in the film how they struggled with their fame and success which also put a great strain on their relationships with each other.

With archival footage and vintage interviews, the documentary covers the young brothers initially singing for pocket money before attracting enough attention to become professional. A planned move to Britain lead to Brian Epstein, who managed the Beatles, passing their demos on to Robert Stigwood in 1967. The flamboyant, Australian-born manager/producer took on Bee Gees as clients and helped guide them to charting success in the UK and America with the songs, "New York Mining Disaster 1941", "Holiday", "Massachusetts", "Words" and "To Love Somebody" which had been originally written by the brothers for Otis Redding.

In 1975, Stigwood encouraged Bee Gees to move towards the hot new sound in music, disco. During recording in Miami, Barry discovered his falsetto which would create the distinctive sound heard on the songs, "Jive Talkin'", "Nights on Broadway" and "You Should Be Dancing". Stigwood, who had moved in to film production, got Bee Gees to do work on the soundtrack for an upcoming John Travolta movie, "Saturday Night Fever". Although they were only supposed to do one song, Bee Gees ended up working on the entire album. The soundtrack became one of the best-selling albums of all-time with forty million copies sold and the singles written by the Gibb brothers, "Stayin' Alive", "Night Fever", "How Deep Is Your Love" and "If I Can't Have You" (performed by Yvonne Elliman) all reaching number one in the US. And while Bee Gees became one of the major performers riding the disco wave, finding incredible acclaim and pop chart success, they were stunned by the extreme backlash to their music and rapid decline in popularity near the beginning of the 1980's. 

"How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" is a fascinating film (which also touches on the brief yet substantial music career of their younger brother, Andy who died in 1988 at the age of thirty after years of substance abuse) that covers the brilliant highs and tragic lows of a group that I don't believe has ever been fully appreciated for their contributions to popular music. While watching the doc, you listen to one amazing song after another that highlights the astonishing songwriting craft of the Gibb brothers, leaving no doubt about the importance and enduring legacy of the Bee Gees.



And the now seventy-four year old, Barry Gibb has released a new album, "Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers Songbook, Vol. 1". This first collection features eleven classic Bee Gees songs that have been reimagined as country numbers. Gibb has recruited several musicians to join him for duets of these tunes like Dolly Parton, Sheryl Crow, Little Big Town, Jason Isbell and fellow Aussies, Keith Urban and Olivia Newton-John. Have a listen to a few of the tracks:

NUMBER ONE FLASHBACK

"Shadow Dancing" was Andy Gibb's third consecutive number one single on the U.S. pop chart during this week back in 1978. The youngest of the famous Gibb brothers (who were Barry, Maurice and Robin but you may know them better as the Bee Gees) who together wrote this classic dance song.

Robert Stigwood, who was the Bee Gees' manager at the time, signed an eighteen year old Gibb to his label, RSO Records in 1976 after hearing his demos. His debut album, "Flowing Rivers" was released the following year and was an immediate success with his first two singles, "I Just Want To Be Your Everything" and "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water" reaching the top of the pop charts. And his good looks caught the attention of young girls around the world and made Gibb a teen idol.

"Shadow Dancing", which was also the title of his second album, spent a total of seven weeks at number one, sold over a million copies and became Billboard's number one song of the year.

Success continued for Gibb with another hit studio album, stage performances on Broadway, a two-year hosting gig on the television music program, "Solid Gold" and a high profile romance with actress, Victoria Principal. But the intense pressures of fame at such a young age may have contributed to his serious substance abuse problem which lead to his career and relationships to crumble apart.

Gibb had attended several drug rehabilitation programs over the years and by 1987, he thought he had finally won the battle. With his brothers' help, he was attempting a music comeback and recorded several tracks for an upcoming album. But six days after his 30th birthday on March 10th 1988, he complained of chest pains while in London and would later pass away from complications of an inflammation of the heart muscle which was probably damaged by his years of severe drug abuse.

Let's enjoy Andy Gibb at the height of his powers with this performance of his number one hit tune:

ROBIN GIBB (1949 - 2012)

Another great loss in the world of music as Robin Gibb, one third of the pop/rock act, The Bee Gees, has passed away on May 20th at the age of sixty-two. He had been struggling with colon and liver cancer over the past few years and died from complications.

Much like Donna Summer, Robin, with his brothers, Barry and his late twin, Maurice achieved their greatest success during the disco era as their music helped shape and define the sound. Their contributions to the soundtrack of the 1977 film, "Saturday Night Fever" created a frenzy that put people on the dance floor with such songs as "Stayin' Alive", "You Should be Dancing" and "Night Fever" The album would stay at number one on the U.S. chart for twenty-four straight weeks, five hit singles were released (with four making it to number one) and the soundtrack ultimately sold well over fifteen million copies across the globe.

Robin Gibb also released seven solo albums during his career and had several hit singles in Europe and Asia with his first in 1969, "Saved By The Bell" making it to number two on the U.K. pop chart. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Here are two classic Bee Gees songs which featured Robin singing lead vocals:

"I Gotta Get A Message To You" - Bee Gees (1968)

"I Started A Joke" - Bee Gees (1968)

This a video clip of the brothers performing one of favorite songs from the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, "How Deep Is Your Love":

 

MUSIC AND THE MOVIES: PART ONE

I heard the theme song from "Flashdance...What A Feeling" on the radio a little while ago and it made me wonder:

"When was the last time a song from a film became a hit and made it on the pop charts?"

I was struggling to come up with something and I think it might have been Eminem and his rap song, "Lose Yourself" from his film, "8 Mile" (which actually won the Oscar for Best Original Song) but that was eight years ago.

The right piece of music could be an important part of a film that helped create the perfect mood or feeling as well as being just a great song you want to listen to. There is an obvious hunger for this type of music considering the success of the television shows like, "High School Musical" and "Glee" and their multiple soundtracks.

Unfortunately, there is no longer much thought put into creating a distinguishable song for a movie anymore and the songs that are used today tend to be something you would never want to listen to again. It's too bad but maybe this will make a comeback.

For this post, I'm going to focus on movie songs from the 1960's and 1970's. I think this was the golden age of songs created specifically for a film and a time when people actually loved the music enough to buy the movie's soundtrack. These songs were played regularly on the radio and became pop hits.

Let's go back and enjoy a few of the tunes that became just as memorable as the films they were used in:

Alfie - Dionne Warwick (1966)

Theme From "Valley Of The Dolls" -  Dionne Warwick (1967)

Mrs. Robinson - Simon & Garfunkel (1967)

Theme From "Mahogany" (Do You Know Where You're Going To?) - Diana Ross (1975)

Night Fever - Bee Gees (1977)

"You're The One That I Want" - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John (1978)

And here is a selection of the theme songs from the James Bond, agent 007 films:

Diamonds Are Forever - Shirley Bassey (1971)

Live And Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings (1973)

Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon (1977)