Bee Gees: Disco Era

Absolute Disco Music

During the 1970s the Bee Gees couldn’t get much more popular. The disco craze had hit and their signature high-pitched harmony remains one of the most distinctive sounds in music.

The Brothers Gibb, Maurice, Barry and Robin, began their very early singing career in Australia. They all contributed lyrics even though Maurice remained the most prolific in the songwriting aspect. By the mid to late 60s the Bee Gees had a couple of very popular singles that performed remarkably well in Australia. Relocation to England put them in close association with Robert Stigwood. Stigwood, producer and manager of RSO Records, was a well-connected and influential figure in music. He immediately snapped up the act and remained a critical figure throughout most of their career.

Mainstream America

American audiences first heard the Bee Gees when their single “Massachusetts” hit the U.S. airwaves. The track was off their album Horizontal. Following this their success was rapid. Follow-up album Idea launched their hit single, “I Started a Joke.” Following a brief foray into progressive rock the Bee Gees concentrated their efforts on the growing disco/dance craze. Hits “Jive Talkin’”” and “You Should Be Dancing” clearly put them on the mainstream disco map among international audiences.

Many fans now recognize the Bee Gees for their work on the soundtracks to signature disco-era films, Saturday Night Fever and Stayin’ Alive. The movies, starring John Travolta, defined the era and the Bee Gees. Both soundtracks broke sales records and continue to sell today. #1 hits included “More Than A Woman” and “Night Fever,” among a handful of others.

When disco died the musically typecast Bee Gees’ popularity waned. They produced a few more hits following their film fame: “Too Much Heaven” and “Tragedy.” Beyond this the brothers continued recording and venturing into various collaborations with artists such as Dolly Parton and Barbra Streisand. Their album, This is Where I Came In, released in 2001, predated the sudden death of Maurice.

Bee Gees 1st (1967):

1. Turn of the Century
2. Holiday
3. Red Chair, Fade Away
4. One Minute Woman
5. In My Own Time
6. Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show
7. Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts
8. Cucumber Castle
9. To Love Somebody
10. I Close My Eyes
11. I Can’t See Nobody
12. Please Read Me
13. Close Another Door

Horizontal (1968):

1. World
2. And the Sun Will Shine
3. Lemons Never Forget
4. Really and Sincerely
5. Birdie Told Me
6. With the Sun in My Eyes
7. Massachusetts
8. Harry Braff
9. Daytime Girl
10. The Earnest of Being George
11. The Change is Made
12. Horizontal

Idea (1968):

1. Let There Be Love
2. Kitty Can
3. In the Summer of His Years
4. Indian Gin and Whisky Dry
5. Down To Earth
6. Such a Shame
7. I’ve Gotta Get a Message To You
8. Idea
9. When the Swallows Fly
10. I’ve Decided to Join the Air Force
11. I Started a Joke
12. Kilburn Towers
13. Swan Song

Odessa (1969):

1. Odessa
2. You’ll Never See My Face Again
3. Black Diamond
4. Marley Purt Drive
5. Edison
6. Melody Fair
7. Suddenly
8. Whisper Whisper
9. Lamplight
10. Sound of Love
11. Give Your Best
12. Seven Seas Symphony
13. With All Nations
14. I Laugh in Your Face
15. Never Say Never Again
16. First of May
17. The British Opera

Cucumber Castle (1970):

1. If I Only Had My Mind On Something Else
2. I.O.I.O.
3. Then You Left Me
4. The Lord
5. I Was the Child
6. I Lay Down and Die
7. Sweetheart
8. Bury Me Down by the River
9. My Thing
10. The Chance of Love
11. Turning Tide
12. Don’t Forget to Remember

Two Years On (1970):

1. 2 Years On
2. Portrait of Louise
3. Man for All Seasons
4. Sincere Relation
5. Back Home
6. The First Mistake I Made
7. Lonely Days
8. Alone Again
9. Tell Me Why
10. Lay It On Me
11. Every Second, Every Minute
12. I’m Weeping

Trafalgar (1971):

1. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
2. Israel
3. The Greatest Man In the World
4. It’s Just the Way
5. Remembering
6. Somebody Stop the Music
7. Trafalgar
8. Don’t Wanna Live Inside Myself
9. When Do I
10. Dearest
11. Lion In Winter
12. Walking Back to Waterloo

To Whom It May Concern (1972):

1. Run To Me
2. We Lost the Road
3. Never Been Alone
4. Paper Mache, Cabbages and Kings
5. I Can Bring Love
6. I Held a Party
7. Please Don’t Turn Out the Lights
8. Sea of Smiling Faces
9. Bad Bad Dreams
10. You Know It’s For You
11. Alive
12. Road to Alaska
13. Sweet Song of Summer

Life In a Tin Can (1973):

1. Saw A New Morning
2. I Don’t Wanna Be the One
3. South Dakota Morning
4. Living In Chicago
5. While I Play
6. My Life Has Been a Song
7. Come Home Johnny Bride
8. Method To My Madness

Mr. Natural (1974):

1. Charade
2. Throw a Penny
3. Down the Road
4. Voices
5. Give a Hand, Take a Hand
6. Dogs
7. Mr. Natural
8. Lost in Your Love
9. I Can’t Let You Go
10. Heavy Breathing
11. Had a Lot of Love Last Night

Main Course (1975):

1. Nights on Broadway
2. Jive Talkin’
3. Wind of Change
4. Songbird
5. Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)
6. All This Making Love
7. Country Lanes
8. Come On Over
9. Edge of the Universe
10. Baby As You Turn Away

Children of the World (1976):

1. You Should Be Dancing
2. You Stepped Into My Life
3. Love So Right
4. Lovers
5. Can’t Keep a Good Man Down
6. Boogie Child
7. Love Me
8. Subway
9. The Way it Was
10. Children of the World

Spirits Having Flown (1979):

1. Tragedy
2. Too Much Heaven
3. Love You Inside Out
4. Reaching Out
5. Spirits (Having Flown)
6. Search, Find
7. Stop (Think Again)
8. Living Together
9. I’m Satisfied
10. Until

Living Eyes (1981):

1. Living Eyes
2. He’s A Liar
3. Paradise
4. Don’t Fall In Love With Me
5. Soldiers
6. I Still Love You
7. Wildflower
8. Nothing Could Be Good
9. Cryin’ Everyday
10. Be Who You Are

E.S.P. (1987):

1. E.S.P.
2. You Win Again
3. Live or Die
4. Giving Up the Ghost
5. The Longest Night
6. This is Your Life
7. Angela
8. Overnight
9. Crazy for Your Love
10. Backtafunk
11. E.S.P. (reprise)

One (1989):

1. Ordinary Lives
2. One
3. Bodyguard
4. It’s My Neighborhood
5. Tears
6. Tokyo Nights
7. Flesh and Blood
8. Wish You Were Here
9. House of Shame
10. Will You Ever Let Me
11. Wing and a Prayer

High Civilization (1991):

High Civilization

Secret Love

When He’s Gone

Happy Ever After

Party With No Name

Ghost Train

Dimensions

The Only Love

Human Sacrifice

True Confessions

Evolution

Size Isn’t Everything (1993):

1. Paying the Price of Love
2. Kiss of Life
3. How To Fall In Love (Part 1)
4. Omega Man
5. Haunted House
6. Heart Like Mine
7. Anything for You
8. Blue Island
9. Above and Beyond
10. For Whom the Bell Tolls
11. Fallen Angel
12. Decadence

Still Waters (1997):

1. Alone
2. I Surrender
3. I Could Not Love You More
4. Still Waters Run Deep
5. My Lover’s Prayer
6. With My Eyes Closed
7. Irresistible Force
8. Closer Than Close
9. I Will
10. Obsessions
11. Miracles Happen
12. Smoke and Mirrors

This Is Where I Came In (2001):

1. This Is Where I Came In
2. She Keeps On Coming
3. Sacred Trust
4. Wedding Day
5. Man In the Middle
6. Déjà vu
7. Technicolor Dreams
8. Walking on Air
9. Loose Talk Costs Lives
10. Embrace
11. The Extra Mile
12. Voice In the Wilderness
13. Just In Case
14. Promise the Earth