by Gary Bennett
Love them or hate them, the Bee Gees were one of the most culturally significant pop music acts ever — possibly second only to the Beatles.
When you look back over their extraordinary career, there’s really no other way to describe them. Their music and place in pop culture make them more than worthy of tributes.
If you’d like to relive their remarkable music or are simply curious, you can catch the tribute show Stayin’ Alive at the Weinberg Center for the Arts on April 24 at 7:30 pm.
The show is billed as a “full-on celebration of the Bee Gee’s unforgettable sound and style.” Three musical actors take on the Bee Gee’s personas and provide the look and sound that made them famous.
The real Bee Gees have a secure place in music history.
They ushered in the phenomenal but short-lived disco craze of the mid-to late-1970s. By 1980, disco music was waning, but for about five years, it was pervasive and universally loved or hated. The Bee Gees led the way.
They became the most successful disco artists of all time thanks to the 1977 movie “Saturday Night Fever.”
Even though they didn’t set out to be disco stars, once they realized what was happening, they leaned hard into it. Intoxicating as it was, it most certainly shortened their career.
Barry Gibb once said about this period: “Saturday Night Fever (the soundtrack) wasn’t just like a hit album. It was number one every single week for 25 weeks. It was just an amazing, crazy, extraordinary time. I remember not being able to answer the phone, and I remember people climbing over my walls. I was quite grateful when it stopped. It was too unreal.”
Along with picking the right artistic vehicle, the Bee Gees’ gift for melody, great songwriting (often done on the fly) and lush, three-part harmony made them stand out.
They certainly looked the part of disco stars. Their white, flowery shirts showing off plenty of chest hair, white bell bottoms, chains galore and gobs of perfectly quaffed, blow-dried hair screamed disco.
The oldest, Barry, was even blessed with movie-star good looks that made him a ‘70s heartthrob.
Up until the release of “Saturday Night Fever” in late 1977, the Bee Gees were a moderately successful act delivering harmonious ballads and what is now called “blue-eyed soul” music.
From 1966 to 1976, they produced pleasing pop tunes and well-regarded albums. From 1977 until about 1982, they became a cultural phenomenon and the most successful recording act in all the music business.
Their rise to stardom began with an oddly titled original song called “Spicks and Specs,” which was named Best Single of the Year in Australia for 1966.
At this point in their young lives — they were only 20 and 17 years old — the brothers were men of the world.
In 1958, they emigrated with their parents to Australia to escape a tough life in post-World War II England. In 1967, they were on their way to back to England to stay when their song hit it big.
From 1966 to 1974, they came up with enough charting singles to issue a greatest hits album. Had they never discovered disco, they would have had a perfectly fine, above average career.
In 1971, they scored their first number-one hit with “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” a lovesick account of lost love set to a beautiful melody.
The song helped them score a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group in 1972.
Later that year, they had a few other charting singles, but then the hits dried up. In 1973 and 1974, the Bee Gees had no charting singles and found themselves in a rut. They seemed to be nearly finished in the business.
Looking for a change, they moved to Miami in 1975 and decided to try more upbeat, dance-oriented songs. They were successful, coming up with their second number-one hit, “Jive Talkin’,” and a number-seven smash, “Nights on Broadway.”
The new album, “Main Course,” featured those songs and others with Barry using a high-pitched “falsetto” voice that he stumbled onto accidentally. It would become a trademark of the band from then on.
The band liked the new sound and fans agreed, sending “Main Course” to the top of the album chart.
In 1976, they followed up with another very good album, “Children of the World,” which spawned the hits “You Should be Dancing,” “Love So Right” and “Boogie Child.” The Bee Gees were on a clear upswing.
Later that year, they would make a decision that would supercharge their already positive trajectory.
They agreed to make the soundtrack to a modest, low-budget, disco-themed movie called “Saturday Night Fever,” starring a young TV heartthrob, John Travolta. It was a simple decision meant to continue the dance-oriented songs they were already doing. Little did they know what was about to happen.
The movie got off to a slow start. Critics panned it. But the soundtrack and resulting album propelled the movie, making it a cultural phenomenon.
The movie and music were everywhere in 1978. The public could not get enough. Largely because of the soundtrack, the movie ended up as the top grossing movie of 1978.
Astonishingly, the brothers wrote just about the entire soundtrack and all of the songs in a single weekend. This “Beatle-esque” burst of creativity in such a short period of time became legendary in music circles.
Barry Gibb remembered the reaction when producer Robert Stigwood and music supervisor Bill Oakes arrived and listened to the demos: “They flipped out and said these songs will be great. We still had no concept of the movie, except some kind of rough script that they’d brought with them.”
Three Bee Gees singles from the movie — “How Deep is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive” and “Night Fever” — all hit number one in the U.S. In March 1978, the brothers held the top two positions with “Night Fever” and “Stayin’ Alive,” the first time that had happened since the Beatles.
They even penned hits for others during this time, including “If I Can’t Have You” for Yvonne Elliman, “Grease” for Frankie Valli and “Love is Thicker Than Water” for little brother Andy Gibb.
During this heady nine-month period beginning at Christmas 1977, seven songs written by the brothers held the number-one position in the charts for 27 consecutive weeks — a feat not even the Beatles achieved.
Five songs written by the Gibb brothers were in the U.S. top 10 at the same time. Barry Gibb became the only songwriter to have four consecutive number-one hits in the U.S., breaking a tie with John Lennon and Paul McCartney from 1964.
The movie soundtrack broke multiple industry records. With more than 40 million copies sold, “Saturday Night Fever” became the top selling movie soundtrack album of all time.
As of 2025, it is calculated to be the fourth highest selling album of any genre in music history. The Bee Gees won five Grammy Awards for “Saturday Night Fever” over two years.
But shortly after the awards were given, it all began to fade. Like a red-hot candle burning out quickly, perhaps it was inevitable.
They came up with one more critically acclaimed album in 1979, “Spirits Having Flown,” which spawned one big hit, “Too Much Heaven.”
But with disco on the way out, the Bee Gees’ success faded, too. The backlash against disco became so great in the 1980s that radio stations had Bee Gees-free weekends. Fans were even invited to come in and smash their disco albums with a hammer.
One last top 10 single came with the song “One,” but not until 1989.
After the Bee Gees settled into retirement, basking in their incredible career, disaster struck.
Maurice Gibb died unexpectedly in 2003, at age 53, from a heart attack. Robin Gibb died in 2012 from liver and kidney failure caused by liver cancer.
There would be no more Bee Gees reunions or valedictory tours. Seventy-nine-year-old Sir Barry Gibb is still with us, living quietly with his wife, Linda, in their Miami Beach waterfront mansion.
The Bee Gees legacy is more than secure.
They have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1994), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1997) and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame (2001).
In 2002, all three brothers were appointed as Commanders of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), conferring the title “Sir” to each one.
In 2023, Barry Gibb became a Kennedy Center honoree for contributions to American culture. It is estimated that the Bee Gees have sold around 250 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling musical acts of all time.
Gary Bennett is a longtime Frederick resident who spends his time hiking, biking, volunteering and providing childcare for grandchildren. He is married and retired from his career as a nonprofit marketing executive.
