Aired on Treasure Island Oldies – August 2024
In August 1971, the Bee Gees were sitting on top of the Billboard pop charts with “How Do You Mend A Broken Heart.”
The group appeared to be well on their way to establishing themselves in North America. However, their next six charted releases were less than stellar with only two of them making it into the Top 20.
At the start of 1975, the group moved to Miami to work on their Main Course album at Criteria Studios. By August of that year they were back on top of the charts with their second #1 hit single, a record that was a catalyst in making them the most successful group in the 70s, accumulating a total of nine #1 releases before the end of the decade.
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Sensitive that many music fans deemed the Bee Gees to be passé, the group used an old gimmick to get airplay for their new 1975 single. Taking a page from the way they marketed their 1967 debut record, “New York Mining Disaster 1941,” they issued promotional copies of their new single on a white label with no identification of the artist. This approach worked for them again as Top 40 radio stations added it to their daily rotation.
Following a successful live album, Here at Last… Bee Gees… Live, the Bee Gees agreed with producer Robert Stigwood to participate in the creation of the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It was the turning point in their career.
According to John Travolta, the star of Saturday Night Fever, “The Bee Gees weren’t even involved in the movie in the beginning…I was dancing to Stevie Wonder and Boz Scaggs.”
Commissioned to write songs for the movie, the Bee Gees put pen to paper and wrote them in a single weekend at Château d’Hérouville studio in France.
Prior to the release of Thriller by Michael Jackson, Saturday Night Fever was the best-selling album in music history, with the album staying atop the Billboard charts for 24 straight weeks from January to July 1978.
“How Deep Is Your Love,” “Stayin’ Alive,” and “Night Fever” were specifically written and performed for the movie by the Bee Gees. They all went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 along with two other Bee Gees compositions, which had been previously written but included on the soundtrack: “You Should Be Dancing,” and that 1975 record that started it all.
That #1 record from 1975 was originally titled “Drive Talking,” with its rhythm being modelled after the sound their car made crossing a causeway each day on their way to record at Criteria Studios in Miami.
The original studio version was included on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, as it was used in a scene that was cut from the final film. We know the song better as “Jive Talkin’.”
YouTube video of this song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBw25CrUS-o
This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.
