Tag Archives: Robert Stigwood

♫ Stayin’ Alive ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I promised earlier this week that I would play one that wasn’t a redux, that I hadn’t played here before, and … {drumroll} here it is!!!  I wracked my brain (such as it is) and I thought I might like to do something by the Bee Gees.  So, I put on my blindfold, spun the wheel, and this is what came up!  I hope you like it!

This plays over the opening credits of the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever while John Travolta struts through the streets of New York City. The movie has come to represent the disco era, and has made Stayin’ Alive one of the songs most associated with disco.  Their contributions to Saturday Night Fever brought them huge success, but marked them as disco singers.

In a 1989 interview with Q magazine, they talked about this stigma and why they didn’t deserve it. Said Robin Gibb …

“We were not disco. People who emulated us were disco. All you heard on the radio was that dooo! dooo! syn-drum sound. We never had a syn-drum on one of our records!”

This was one of five songs the Bee Gees wrote specifically for Saturday Night Fever. Like the film, the song is about much more than dancing and having a good time. It deals with struggle and aspiration; making your way in the world even after you’ve been kicked around.

Robert Stigwood, who produced Saturday Night Fever, is the one who asked The Bee Gees to write music for the film.  Stigwood asked for a song called Saturday Night, but the Bee Gees wanted nothing to do with that title, since many other songs, including a very popular one by the Bay City Rollers, had that name.  Stigwood objected when he heard the song was called Stayin’ Alive, but the group told him that if he didn’t like it, they would just use the song on their own album!

Stayin’ Alive was released one day before the movie, but many theatergoers had already heard the song in trailers for the film. It quickly climbed the charts, reaching the top spot on February 4, 1978 and staying there for four weeks.

When they recorded Stayin’ Alive, The Bee Gees were more than just the Gibb brothers: guitarist Alan Kendall, keyboard player Blue Weaver, and drummer Dennis Bryon were key members, if not official. Byran, though, got called away when his mother fell ill, leaving them without a drummer. Their producer/engineers, Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson, kept work going by looping a bar of Bryon’s drumming on Night Fever and using that as the drum track. The built the song from there, adding the bass, then the guitar.  They planned to replace the drum loop with live drums when Bryon returned, but it sounded so good they left it in.

This song made it to #4 in the UK and #1 in the U.S.

♫ I Started A Joke ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under music

The only other time I played this song was in August 2020.  For some reason, as I was working through comments last night, I thought of the first line to this song … “I started a joke which started the whole world crying”.  I have no idea what triggered it, but it came and nearly brought me to tears.  And so, what better way to share whatever demons are bouncing inside my head than to share this song?

I Started a Joke is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album Idea, which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to content themselves with a Polydor version by Heath Hampstead. This is the last Bee Gees single to feature Vince Melouney’s guitar work, as he left the band in early December after this song was released as a single.

This song was written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, and produced by the Bee Gees with Robert Stigwood.  According to Robin Gibb …

“The melody to this one was heard aboard a British Airways Vickers Viscount about a hundred miles from Essen. It was one of those old four engine “prop” jobs, that seemed to drone the passenger into a sort of hypnotic trance, only with this it was different. The droning, after a while, appeared to take the form of a tune, which mysteriously sounded like a church choir. So it was decided! We accosted the pilot, forced him to land in the nearest village and there, in a small pub, we finished the lyrics [with Barry]. Actually, it wasn’t a village, it was the city, and it wasn’t a pub, it was a hotel, and we didn’t force the pilot to land in a field … but why ruin a perfectly good story?

There was a lot of psychedelia and the idea that if you wrote something, even if it sounded ridiculous, somebody would find the meaning for it, and that was the truth. This is a very spiritual song. The listeners have to interpret it themselves, trying to explain it would detract from the song.”

Robin Gibb’s son played I Started a Joke on his phone just after his father died from kidney failure on 20 May 2012. Robin-John Gibb told The Sun:

“When he passed away we went out, they took the equipment away and we came back in, I picked up my phone and found “I Started a Joke” on YouTube and played it. I put the phone on his chest and that was the first time I broke down. I knew that song and its lyrics were perfect for that moment. That song will always have new meaning to me now.”

This was famously covered by Faith No More and released as their last single, after the band already split up. They covered the song in 1995. It was released as a bonus track on the album King For A Day Fool For A Lifetime in Argentina in 1995 and as a B-side of the UK and European Limited edition versions of the “Digging The Grave” CD single, which came out February 28, 1995. London Records released it as a single after Faith No More split up in 1998.  

I listened to the Faith No More version, fully expecting not to like it, but strangely I found it quite good, so I will include it, as well as the Bee Gees’ version here.

I Started a Joke
Bee Gees

I started a joke which started the whole world crying
But I didn’t see that the joke was on me oh no
I started to cry which started the whole world laughing
Oh If I’d only seen that the joke was on me

I looked at the skies running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed hurting my head from things that I said
‘Till I finally died which started the whole world living
Oh if I’d only seen that the joke was on me

I looked at the skies running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed hurting my head from things that I said
‘Till I finally died which started the whole world living
Oh if I’d only seen that the joke was on me
Oh no that the joke was on me

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Barry Gibb / Maurice Ernest Gibb / Robin Hugh Gibb
I Started a Joke lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ To Love Somebody ♫

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Last night, I said I was having a hard time finding a song I hadn’t already played, and as he sometimes does, our friend David came to the rescue with a few suggestions.  One of the suggestions was To Love Somebody by Michael Bolton.  I well remembered the song, but when I listened, it didn’t sound quite like I remembered it.  Still, I recognized it and it was one I’ve always liked, so I turned to my favourite resource for music trivia, SongFacts, and they had the song, but … by the Bee Gees, not Michael Bolton.  When I listened to the Bee Gees version, it was the one I remembered most.

So, I will offer both tonight, but first a bit of background …

Legend has it that this song was written for Otis Redding, who died before he had the chance to record it. While this is a chance Redding would have recorded the song, that’s not who the Bee Gees had in mind when they recorded it.  Barry and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees wrote the song for their manager, Australian-born impresario and entertainment entrepreneur Robert Stigwood, who was an influential part of London’s gay showbiz establishment.  According to Barry Gibb …

“It was for Robert. I say that unabashedly. He asked me to write a song for him, personally. It was written in New York and played to Otis but, personally, it was for Robert. He meant a great deal to me. I don’t think it was a homosexual affection but a tremendous admiration for this man’s abilities and gifts.”

The Animals, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Nina Simone (who had a big hit with it in the UK), Janis Joplin, Michael Bolton, Roberta Flack, Rod Stewart, Michael Bublé, and Tom Jones, among others, have recorded this song.  Wait … “The Flying Burrito Brothers”???  There’s really such a group?  Ay ay ay!

The Bee Gees version charted at #17 in the U.S., #9 in Canada, and #41 in the UK, and Michael Bolton’s version at #11 in the U.S., #2 in Canada, and #16 in the UK.

To Love Somebody
Michael Bolton/Bee Gees

There’s a light
A certain kind of light
That never shone on me
I want my life to be lived with you
Lived with you
There’s a way everybody say
To do each and every little thing
But what does it bring
If I ain’t got you, ain’t got?

You don’t know what it’s like, baby
You don’t know what it’s like

To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you

In my brain
I see your face again
I know my frame of mind
You ain’t got to be so blind
And I’m blind, so, so, so blind
I’m a man
Can’t you see what I am?
I live and I breathe for you
But what good does it do
If I ain’t got you, ain’t got?

You don’t know what it’s like, baby
You don’t know what it’s like

To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you

You don’t know what it’s like, baby
You don’t know what it’s like

To love somebody
To love somebody
The way I love you

You don’t know what it’s like, baby
You don’t know what it’s like
To love somebody

Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Robin Hugh Gibb / Barry Alan Gibb
To Love Somebody lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ I Started A Joke ♫

Posted on by under music

I Started a Joke is a song by the Bee Gees from their 1968 album Idea, which was released as a single in December of that year. It was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, where buyers who could not afford the album had to content themselves with a Polydor version by Heath Hampstead. This is the last Bee Gees single to feature Vince Melouney’s guitar work, as he left the band in early December after this song was released as a single.

This song was written by Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, and produced by the Bee Gees with Robert Stigwood.  According to Robin Gibb …

“The melody to this one was heard aboard a British Airways Vickers Viscount about a hundred miles from Essen. It was one of those old four engine “prop” jobs, that seemed to drone the passenger into a sort of hypnotic trance, only with this it was different. The droning, after a while, appeared to take the form of a tune, which mysteriously sounded like a church choir. So it was decided! We accosted the pilot, forced him to land in the nearest village and there, in a small pub, we finished the lyrics [with Barry]. Actually, it wasn’t a village, it was the city, and it wasn’t a pub, it was a hotel, and we didn’t force the pilot to land in a field … but why ruin a perfectly good story?

There was a lot of psychedelia and the idea that if you wrote something, even if it sounded ridiculous, somebody would find the meaning for it, and that was the truth. This is a very spiritual song. The listeners have to interpret it themselves, trying to explain it would detract from the song.”

Robin Gibb’s son played I Started a Joke on his phone just after his father died from kidney failure on 20 May 2012. Robin-John Gibb told The Sun:

“When he passed away we went out, they took the equipment away and we came back in, I picked up my phone and found “I Started a Joke” on YouTube and played it. I put the phone on his chest and that was the first time I broke down. I knew that song and its lyrics were perfect for that moment. That song will always have new meaning to me now.”

This was famously covered by Faith No More and released as their last single, after the band already split up. They covered the song in 1995. It was released as a bonus track on the album King For A Day Fool For A Lifetime in Argentina in 1995 and as a B-side of the UK and European Limited edition versions of the “Digging The Grave” CD single, which came out February 28, 1995. London Records released it as a single after Faith No More split up in 1998.  

I listened to the Faith No More version, fully expecting not to like it, but strangely I found it quite good, so I will include it, as well as the Bee Gees’ version here.

I Started a Joke
Bee Gees


I started a joke which started the whole world crying
But I didn’t see that the joke was on me oh no
I started to cry which started the whole world laughing
Oh If I’d only seen that the joke was on me


I looked at the skies running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed hurting my head from things that I said
‘Till I finally died which started the whole world living
Oh if I’d only seen that the joke was on me


I looked at the skies running my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed hurting my head from things that I said
‘Till I finally died which started the whole world living
Oh if I’d only seen that the joke was on me
Oh no that the joke was on me


Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Barry Gibb / Maurice Ernest Gibb / Robin Hugh Gibb
I Started a Joke lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

♫ How Deep Is Your Love ♫

Posted on by under music

It seemed that I had played every one of my favourite artists lately, and last night I was randomly searching my dusty memory banks for somebody I hadn’t played in the past month when I hit on the Bee Gees.  Odd, but I haven’t heard their music or thought about them for years.  So, then I had to try to remember which of their repertoire was my favourite, and I came up with this one, How Deep Is Your Love.

The track for this one was written mainly by the Gibb brothers — Barry, Robin and Maurice.  Barry worked out the melody with keyboard player Blue Weaver, though he is not credited officially as a songwriter.  The song was originally written for Amrican singer Yvonne Elliman, but Robert Stigwood, who produced the movie Saturday Night Fever, insisted the Bee Gees perform it themselves for the soundtrack.

The song won Best Pop Performance by a Group at the 20th Grammy Awards which were held on 23 February 1978.

An interesting bit of trivia … according to SongFacts …

A songwriter/antiques dealer in Illinois named Ronald Selle sued the Bee Gees, claiming a song he wrote in 1975 called “Let It End” was the basis for “How Deep Is Your Love.” The case went to a jury in 1983. The Bee Gees claimed that they had never heard “Let It End,” and there was no evidence that they did (that song was never released – Selle made a home recording that he had sent to music publishers). The case was based on the similarities between the songs, and an expert witness for Selle – a musicologist named Arrand Parsons – tried to convince the jury through technical analysis of the notes that the Bee Gees plagiarized the song. The jury bought it, and ruled that the Bee Gees did copy Selle’s song. The judge, however, nullified the verdict. Selle later appealed, and was once again rebuffed.

The case underscored the problem of juries making judgments on music, and it led to a landmark ruling that “striking similarities” between songs was not enough to prove plagiarism (something George Harrison would have appreciated). Henceforth, a songwriter had to prove that the infringing party actually heard the song before the case could move forward. This is one reason why music publishers and songwriters refuse to hear most unsolicited material.

How Deep Is Your Love
Bee Gees

I know your eyes in the morning sun
I feel you touch me in the pouring rain
And the moment that you wander far from me
I want to feel you in my arms again
And you come to me on a summer breeze
Keep me warm in your love, then you softly leave
And it’s me you need to show

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
How deep is your love?
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

I believe in you
You know the door to my very soul
You’re the light in my deepest, darkest hour
You’re my savior when I fall
And you may not think I care for you
When you know down inside that I really do
And it’s me you need to show

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
How deep is your love?
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

And you come to me on a summer breeze
Keep me warm in your love, then you softly leave
And it’s me you need to show

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
How deep is your love?
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

How deep is your love, how deep is your love
I really mean to learn
‘Cause we’re living in a world of fools
Breaking us down when they all should let us be
We belong to you and me

Songwriters: Barry Gibb / Maurice Ernest Gibb / Robin Hugh Gibb
How Deep Is Your Love lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.