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The Bee Gees made whiney falsetto hip, wide polyester collars the height of high-rolling fashion, and defined cool for an entire generation. A '70s supergroup who actually began as a brothers act in 1959, the Bee Gees have proven remarkably versatile throughout their long career, unafraid to experiment with everything from country to R&B to straight pop balladry. They scored a number of hits during the 1960s and early '70s with shimmering hits like "I've Got to Get a Message to You" and "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart." Some of the Bee Gees' most memorable tracks stemmed from the height of the disco era, culminating in 1977's Saturday Night Fever soundtrack with tunes like "Night Fever," "How Deep is Your Love," and of course, "Stayin' Alive." Lush harmonies, symphonic arrangements, and a tendency to reinvent themselves when the going gets tough have made this band one of the longest-running pop acts around.
The Bee Gees: The Saga of a Not-So-Average White Band
Photo credit: Francesco Scavullo
RollingStone 243 (July 14, 1977)
Stayin' Alive
Appears on: Saturday Night Fever (Polygram)
The Bee Gees
Written by: Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb
Produced by: Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Karl Richardson, Albhy Galuten
Released: Nov. '77 on RSO
Charts: 27 weeks
Top spot: No. 1
How Deep Is Your Love
Appears on: Saturday Night Fever (Polygram)
The Bee Gees
Written by: Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb
Produced by: Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, Karl Richardson, Albhy Galuten
Released: Sept. '77 on RSO
Charts: 33 weeks
Top spot: No. 1
Bee Gees Retire Name
Surviving brothers will continue making music together
In the wake of the January 12th death of keyboardist and bassist Maurice Gibb, the Bee Gees will effectively be retired. Despite a claim by guitarist and singer Barry Gibb that the group would continue in honor of his late brother, Maurice's twin (and Bee Gees singer) Robin Gibb told a British television station this week that they could not continue with the name, short for Brothers Gibb, which the band took on in the mid-Sixties.
Robin said that he and Barry will continue to record and perform together without Maurice. "Anything we do, we will do together," Gibb told GMTV television, "but it'll be as brothers and not under the name of the Bee Gees. We don't want to be the Bee Gees again."
Maurice Gibb collapsed on January 9th at his Miami home and was operated on for intestinal blockage. Prior to surgery, he suffered cardiac arrest and died three days later. A medical examiner's report last week cited ischemic enteropathy, a twisted intestine, as the cause of death. Gibb, 53, was laid to rest on January 15th in Miami.
In other Bee Gees news, Gibb's death prompted thousands of fans to visit record stores and pick up the band's 2002 anthology, Their Greatest Hits: The Record, which bounced onto the charts at Number Fifty-five this week.
ANDREW DANSBY
RollingStone
January 22, 2003
Please visit the Bee Gees official site. |