At 62 years old, legendary Gibb brother and member of the Bee Gees, Robin Gibb, has lost his battle with cancer.
I am not completely comfortable with the obituary thing. I mean, what do I know? Except...
I never enjoyed being around those who liked to mock the Bee Gees. It's true that some of the post Saturday Night Fever disco and dance records were tough pills to swallow. But their first three LPs, "1st," "Horizontal" and "Idea" should be respected the way so many other great records by their contemporaries are respected.
As for "Saturday Night Fever," it's popularity speaks for itself. I think even the most ardent non-supporters of disco could appreciate the brilliance of that soundtrack.
This is a great loss and a sad loss.
9 comments:
The Bee Gees I love (and I'm of the age where I would have first heard of them via "Jive Talkin'") covered the late '60s thru the early '70s. They should take the blame for the production after that, but there's no denying the quality of the songs.
They're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and they belong there. Unlike Donna Summer.
This particular piece of news is sad becuase Robin was fading a few weeks ago, and then he bounced back, and now this.
Gotta agree with you wholeheartedly re Bee Gee's catalogue pre disco ;I also must say that Odessa was playing alot in my college days (there was something about that double LP(was it a double?) with that red velvet cover that i couldn't get enough of ! thinking Marley Purt Drive and some other tracks that were addictive!! In any case I do agree that they never got the respect for those records that they deserved! I was certainly saddened by the news that Robin Gibb is now gone!!
Amen. Lemons never do forget...
"Lonely Days", and "To Love Somebody" are as good as it gets.
I'm 55 and 62 is too damn young.
Well said, Sal. My singing in the shower song this morning was Massachusetts. It seems there have been quite a few lights going out lately.
The first song I thought of and posted on FB was "Massachusetts", not sure why except that of course it's Robin. I have to say I always loved "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart", and how Robin took the first verse and then it switched to Barry. I adore the early stuff and totally agree about SNF, they got a bad rap the BG's did. Anyway, thanks Robin hope you're at peace and singing with Maurice and Andy again. Interesting he died a few days after Donna, both had such unique voices- every headline was "disco, disco, disco". Robin was definitely so much more than that, but Donna could rock and pop too. Neither should be defined by that era alone, but I wish some detractors would remember there were good records made under the "disco" umbrella.
I found on You Tube a lovely "Blowing in the Wind" the brothers did on some show in 1963. Very sweet the sound of the young Brothers Gibb.
I can't say that I am a huge Bee Gees fan, but if you were in my house back in the 70's you couldn't escape the Best of The Bee Gees album...you know the yellow cover with all those great 60's singles. My dad was a huge fan and I guess it rubbed off on me...at least this record did.
30 odd years removed from Disco Sucks I do have to admit that was some pretty good pop music. Still not my thing but Saturday Night Fever is iconic for a generation.
RIP Robin.
Robin's Reign is one of the great unsung albums
I am such a Bee Gees fan - never understood the shame they got after we all decided we weren't going to buy millions of their albums anymore. :) One nice vindication was them being accepted into the Rock & Roll hall Of Fame a few years ago, and Brian Wilson delivering the speech that inducted them. He talked about their harmonies, how amazing they were. Nice to draw a line between the harmony prowess of Beach Boys and Bee Gees.
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