How Can You Poll a Broken Heart - the Robin Gibb Memorial BEE GEES TRACKS POLL RESULTS

19. Tragedy (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
145 points (8 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPcsMMEMbfw

Single from the 1979 Bee Gees album "Spirits Having Flown", reached #1 in both the US and the UK. For the explosion effect, Barry cupped his hands over a microphone and made an exploding sound. Several of these sounds were then mixed together creating the large boom heard on the record.

Barry Gibb, human beatbox

guitar on this is very proto-George Harrison to my ears

Some great footage of this song (specifically, the "explosion" overdubbing) being recorded in the In Our Own Time documentary (which is available on Netflix, for those who haven't seen it).

what is the most recent instance of this sort of squealing falsetto coming back into fashion...? It's such a strange vocal style that seems to periodically become popular (Four Seasons/Frankie Valli, Bee Gees, etc.) and then vanish.

Frankly I can only take so much of it, and Barry definitely over-did it imho (fucked up his back too, iirc)

18. You Win Again (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
149 points (8 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kses3SfG-lU

A single from the Bee Gees' 1987 album "ESP", it hit #1 n Britain, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Denmark and Norway, as well as making the top 10 in Italy, the Netherlands, Australia and Sweden. It also topped the Eurochart for 4 weeks. When this reached #1 on October 17, 1987 in the UK, it made the Bee Gees the first group to score a UK #1 hit in each of three decades: the 1960s, '70s, and '80s.

I had never heard of this song before this poll.

love!

17. You Should Be Dancing (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
152 points (8 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JoZS6LgqYI

A single by the Bee Gees, from the album "Children of the World" in 1976. The single hit number one for one week on the American Billboard Hot 100, number one for seven weeks on the US Hot Dance Club Play chart, and in July the same year, reached number five on the UK Singles Chart.[1] The song also peaked at number four on the Billboard R&B chart. It was this song that first launched the Bee Gees into disco stardom, and the first chart-topper in which Barry Gibb uses his now-trademark falsetto.

xoist it does have that slightly yuk mechanical 80's sound that I don't love, but it's just so goshdarn catchy I can't help loving it

You should be dancing? One word: HORNS

I guess the Scissor Sisters do the Barry falsetto... dunno how popular they are really. Does Timberlake ever do it, aside from the SNL parody? It's definitely in his range.

16. New York Mining Disaster 1941 (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
153 points (8 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z6_Ik7WrYY

The first Bee Gees song to be released in the United States, and their first song to hit the charts in the US[1] or UK. At the time, rumours circulated that the Bee Gees were The Beatles recording under a pseudonym (the Bee Gees' name was supposedly code for "Beatles Group"), in part because the record referenced NEMS Enterprises (Brian Epstein's management agency, which had just been joined by Bee Gees' manager Robert Stigwood).

According to the liner notes for their box-set Tales from the Brothers Gibb (1990), this song was inspired by the 1966 Aberfan mining disaster in Wales. In the second and third verses, the lyrical lines get slower and slower, as to indicate that life is about to expire for the miners.

Maurice Gibb recalled in an interview with Mojo magazine: "The opening chord doesn't sound like a conventional A minor. Barry was using the open D tuning he'd been taught when he was nine, and I was playing it in conventional tuning. It gives an unusual blend. People went crazy trying to figure out why they couldn't copy it."

In the movie Cucumber Castle – the movie that the Bee Gees starred in minus Robin Gibb – Maurice's character begins to sing this song while playing the banjo, only to end abruptly when a pie is thrown at his face.

15. I've Gotta Get a Message to You (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
154 points (8 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fAp2dJxycw

recorded by the Bee Gees in 1968, which became their second number-one single on the UK Singles Chart, and reached number eight on the US pop chart. In the UK the song was released as a single only. The song appeared on the US edition of the Bee Gees' third album "Idea".

Largely written by Robin, and intended originally for Percy Sledge (who did actually cover it later). Also covered by Swamp Dogg, Dusty Springfield, and Jose Feliciano.

14. Massachusetts (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
165 points (10 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCQIXK0-FVU

Written and recorded in 1967, and originally intended to be recorded by the Seekers, this song eventually appeared on the Bee Gees' 1968 album "Horizontal". It was their first Number 1 hit in Australia and the UK and eventually became one of the best-selling singles of all time, selling over 5 million copies worldwide. Strangely, even though "Massachusetts" was a worldwide number one single, it only reached #11 in the United States in... the state of Massachusetts.

er that last part should have been struck

in the state of Massachusetts

13. Islands in the Stream (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
166 points (7 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lixDK_tMEhE

written by the Bee Gees and sung by American country music artists Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. It was released in August 1983 as the first single from Rogers' album "Eyes That See in the Dark" and the second pop number-one for both Rogers and Parton (Rogers having been there with 1980's "Lady" and Parton with 1981's "9 to 5").

Islands in the Stream is, to me, one of the most perfect duets. The lyrics, the phrasing, everything is just so well crafted. I know it was originally written as a solo (right?)...I can't even imagine it as a solo thing now.

the Barry demo version is him singing solo with harmony vocals on the choruses iirc

but yeah this is really some beautiful alchemical combo, the perfect intersection of a bunch of different styles

Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)(Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
182 points (9 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgDbE6WOyws

Written and performed by the Bee Gees for their Main Course album in 1975. It was the third single release from the album and peaked at number 12 on the United States Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. This song was the debut of Barry's high falsetto/disco voice.

seems like an absolutely filthy songtitle in retrospect.

er that's no. 12. sorry.

and the last one for today, an unfairly overlooked gem imho

11. Mr. Natural (Writers: Barry and Robin and Maurice)
188 points (7 votes, 1 first place vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wufvuw9WQ0

written by Barry and Robin Gibb recorded and released in 1974 by the Bee Gees. Released during a period in which The Bee Gees just had an album (A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight In The Pants) rejected by their manager Robert Stigwood, Mr. Natural barely scraped the lower end of the Billboard Hot 100 climbing to #93 despite promotional appearances on The Mike Douglas Show and The Merv Griffin Show.

results so far

11. Mr. Natural
12. Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)
13. Islands In The Stream
14. Massachusetts
15. I've Gotta Get A Message To You
16. New York Mining Disaster 1941
17. You Should Be Dancing
18. You Win Again
19. Tragedy
20. Heartbreaker
21. Melody Fair
22. Every Christian Lionhearted Man Will Show You
23. Spicks & Specks
24. Run To Me
25. Emotion
26. Lonely Days
27. Holiday
27. Spirits Having Flown
28. Love You Inside Out
29. World
30. Lemons Never Forget
31. I Just Want To Be Your Everything
32. Words
33. Grease
34. Trafalgar
35. Odessa (City on the Black Sea)
36. Too Much Heaven
37. **TIE** I Can't See Nobody, Sweet Song of Summer, Guilty
38. Paradise
39. Don't Wanna Live Inside Myself
40. For Whom the Bell Tolls
41. The Flag I Flew
42. Shadow Dancing
43. **TIE** Kilburn Towers, Edge of the Universe, Nobody's Someone,
Please Read Me
44. I Laugh in Your Face
45. **TIE** Indian Gin And Whisky Dry, (Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away, Seven Seas Symphony
46. Black Diamond
47. An Everlasting Love
48. **TIE** Throw a Penny, Chain Reaction
49. **TIE** A Very Special Day, (Love is) Thicker Than Water
50. Woman in Love

the Barry demo version is him singing solo with harmony vocals on the choruses iirc

and the last one for today, an unfairly overlooked gem imho

yeah I was bummed when it slipped out of the top 10.

That was my #1...can't believe it didn't make the top 10! Oh well...

I shortlisted "Mr. Natural" but ultimately it missed the cut, instead opting for a couple of other tracks from the album I like better. Mr. Natural is one of these transitional albums that catches a band halfway between their old sound they've grown tired of and a new sound they're striving for but haven't quite yet found.

I have no idea whether the top 10 will be deep-cut fan faves or the big hits. There are several of the latter I didn't vote for.

Mr. Natural is one of these transitional albums that catches a band halfway between their old sound they've grown tired of and a new sound they're striving for but haven't quite yet found.

Agreed, but that doesn't apply to the title cut. There's nothing "old Bee Gees" or "semi-disco" about it -- if anything, it's a very rare dip into blue eyed soul. But even there, the chorus is so elongated, it's not like anything in the genre.

One other thing I think "Mr. Natural" has going for it: the lyrics appear to be an extraordinary metaphor for the band's quest to regain artistic and commercial momentum at the time:

Burning embers.
I still remember all of those little things.
But I can't feel it so much 'cause I am so out of touch
with my heart and it won't sing.
Rusty rainbows.
That's how the pain goes, turning me inside out.
Well, I come home at night and you are out of my sight.
Yes. I'm dying and there ain't no doubt.
Well, I'm dying and there's no way out.

Well I try try try try try....
Mr. Natural (come on baby)
When I walk in the rain you won't know that I'm crying.
A smile on my face and I'm trying.
I'm trying to understand that a love that is lost can never be found again.
And you can see me dance, I look like a happy man.

Just when I think I'm getting it over, an old friend I should see.
He said he knew you well, and baby I could tell.
You know he knew you more then me.
I went home laughing and inside I'm crying.
We had a special thing.
You know I loved you so much, but girl I'm so out of touch
with my heart and it won't sing.
You know my heart just won't sing.

Well I try try try try try.....
Mr. Natural (come on baby)
When I walk in the rain you won't know that I'm crying.
A smile on my face and I'm trying.
I'm trying to understand that a love that is lost can never be found again.
And you can see me dance, I look like a happy man.

Still I try try try try try.....
Mr. Natural (come on baby)
Well I try try try try try
Mr. Natural (come on baby)
(repeat verse and fade out)

I really wanted to vote for this song, but ultimately there were 30 I liked better

It's ok -- not everyone can be right 100% of the time.

Very nicely done cover of "Emotion" by Beyonce and company worth posting here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWKdMmH0B-E

I voted for Mr Natural but I can't remember where I placed it. But it's great

I think "Mr. Natural" might be the most emotionally vivid song in their catalog. They have plenty of other songs that successfully convey powerful emotions, but they usually seem to be done in much broader strokes. Like, just to pick examples off the top of my head, I know the guy in "I Started a Joke" is bummed out, and I FEEL it, very powerfully, through the words and the music, but in the end I still don't really know precisely what his deal is. The dude in "New York Mining Disaster 1941" is PROBABLY GOING TO DIE REALLY SOON, but he doesn't connect with me the same way the narrator in "Mr. Natural" does. And the way the song is constructed, the way that chorus just keeps going and going, winding up and getting so tense, that the resignation in "And you can see me dance, I look like a happy man" hits me so hard...I mean, it's not often that I legitimately empathize with the narrator of a song, and I guess, subconsciously, that's really important to me?

I don't know, I had more to say, but I'm only semi-articulate as is, so I don't want to overdo it. Anyway: best Bee Gees song.

There's about 10 songs here I strongly considered but didn't vote for

I'm gonna have to listen to "Mr. Natural" some more. Maybe it will grow on me.

I'm glad this song has found some champions - NTI otm about the lyrics and the structure of the chorus.

and now the top 10...

10. Night Fever (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
197 points (10 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FECFb1_YdII

First appeared on the soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever". Producer Robert Stigwood wanted to call the film Saturday Night, but singer Robin Gibb expressed hesitation at the title. Stigwood liked the title Night Fever but was wary of marketing a movie with that name.

"Night Fever" remained the number one Billboard Hot 100 single for over two months in 1978. It also replaced Andy Gibb's "Love Is Thicker Than Water" at number one, and was in turn replaced by Yvonne Elliman's "If I Can't Have You" - all of which were written and produced by the Gibb brothers.

wow @ the chart facts

I can't help but love every single track from the SNF soundtrack -- I mean the movie on its own kills me, but goddamn so many good Bee Gees songs on there (not to mention the others).

I get a good feeling from this song.

yeah, no other songwriting team has done that.

xp

Sorry, can we just backtrack a bit and talk about the sheer levels of awesome in Barry's outfit in that "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" video posted above?

That's some inspirational bizness there.

Oh, and hi everyone. I never post here, but I voted in this thanks to Naive Teen Idol pestering me into it. Great list so far.

there is a similar, even better video coming up imho

also NY Mining Disaster had one first place vote, sorry for the omission

9. I Started A Joke (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
209 points (11 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Ye-3aop7A

From the Bee Gees' 1968 album "Idea". Curiously, not released as a single in the UK, but hit #6 in the US. According to Robin Gibb, the melancholic melody of the song was inspired by the sounds on board an aeroplane:

“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. 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?"

I have a friend who grew up thinking this song was written from the perspective of Adolf Hitler, an interpretation which has always stuck with me.

I love that plane story!

Wow, that Hitler thing is crazy, but I totally can see it.

Long-ish story: so when I was a little kid (we're talking like 6 or 7), I "inherited" my mother's old collection of 60s 45s, which included a healthy number of old ATCO Bee Gees singles from the era -- "I Started a Joke" was one of them, "Holiday" was one of them... this is where my love of the Bee Gees began, and I would spend HOURS sitting in my room playing these things on my little portable Winnie-the-Pooh turntable, analyzing both sides, sorting into piles (pile 1: both sides are good songs; pile 2: only the A side is good; pile 3: only the B side is good; pile 4: both sides stink) but THIS single took me a LOOOOONG time to process.

I mean, I was a happy little kid, and the "starting a joke" part didn't make sense to me with the very sad tone of the lyrics. Why was he crying if everyone else was laughing at his awesome joke? As I played it over and over, I finally "got" it and it has been a favorite ever since. It definitely introduced little Hutlock to the concept that songs could be SAD SAD SAD and not just happy or lovey-dovey or whatever. Compare it to "Holiday" for instance, which has a similar tone, but a "you're so great and I love you" message to it.

Anyway, a formative record in my life.

8. If I Can't Have You (Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
233 points (10 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf1QLjXmoHk

Released as the B-side of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" single in 1977 and subsequently covered by Yvonne Ellimann for the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack.

Although Yvonne Elliman had cut her 1976 album "Love Me" with producer Freddie Perren, who was a major force in the disco movement, "Love Me" had showcased Elliman not as a disco artist but rather as a pop ballad singer, notably on the title cut, a Barry Gibb composition which had provided Elliman with an international hit. It was originally intended that Elliman's contribution to the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack would be another ballad written by the Gibb brothers, "How Deep Is Your Love".

Meanwhile, the Bee Gees produced their own version of "If I Can't Have You" for the film. However, RSO Records chairman and Bee Gees manager Robert Stigwood, who was executive-producing the "Saturday Night Fever" album, dictated that the Bee Gees themselves record "How Deep Is Your Love" with Elliman being given a shot at the disco-style "If I Can't Have You".

The decision proved a success, as the soundtrack's first single, the Bee Gees' version of the ballad "How Deep Is Your Love", shot to number one, followed to the top spot by the soundtrack's second and third singles, also by the brothers Gibb, "Stayin' Alive" and "Night Fever". Elliman's "If I Can't Have You", produced by Perren, was released as the fourth single off the "Saturday Night Fever" album in February 1978. The first single off the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack not performed by the Bee Gees, "If I Can't Have You" would become the fourth #1 hit from the film, reaching the top spot on the Hot 100, ending an eight-week #1 tenure by "Night Fever".

Wow, every one of the eight Bee Gees-penned songs from the SNL soundtrack except "More Than A Woman" was a US #1 hit. (the Bee Gees version of that song wasn't released as a single, despite frequent radio airplay).

Hutlock!

Fun fact about "Night Fever": looped sections of its rhythm track are the basis for "More Than a Woman" and "Stayin' Alive" (and according to the engineer, "Woman In Love" on the Streisand record, but I'm not sure I believe that). Less fun fact: it's because the drummer's dad died and he had to leave the sessions for a few days.

Wow, that is a fun fact!

The Bee Gees' version is so much better than Yvonne Ellimann's imo. Those harmonies are so crucial!