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

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!

(oops, xpost)

ah right yeah I had meant to include that about the drum track, that story was linked in the noms thread iirc. they used a really short loop too, like 4 bars!

I've never heard the Bee Gees' own version of "IICHY". Unlike, say, "Emotion", which easily translates to falsetto (and the reality matches what I expected), I can't really hear in my head how they'd do the chorus.

I was ridiculed on some other thread about it. But something about the Bee Gees' version of "If I Can't Have You" has never worked for me. One of the chords in the chorus seems off somehow.

7. Stayin' Alive (Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
235 points (10 votes, 2 first place votes)

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

This is from some movie iirc

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.

I've read it's his mom who died. As a result, a looped section of the "Night Fever" drum track was used for "Stayin' Alive", but the unchanging beat, which anticipated the sound of drum machines, suited the song perfectly. Still, it's sadly ironic that the famed rhythm track to a song called "Stayin' Alive" resulted from the drummer's parent dying.

Yeah, I agree with NTI about "If I Can't Have You" - in most things, I prefer the Bee Gees version (like "More Than a Woman" which was my #2), but not this one. It just doesn't sound right to me somehow, can't put my finger on it. I might have to A-B the two of them soon and see if I can figure it out.

Also, "Stayin' Alive" didn't make my ballot and I thought I'd be the only one - looks like 5 others didn't vote for it either? Stand and be counted! (not a bad record at all, I don't dislike it, etc., just not one of my faves)

Didn't make my ballot either. Still, #7 seems about right to me for "Stayin' Alive." Feel like it's kind of like their "Stairway to Heaven" -- once uniformly regarded as their best work, then discarded as lesser known stuff came into favor and once again regarded as a high point (if no longer *the* high point).

High five, Matthew!

Boom!

Re. the drum track from "Night Fever" -- the story I read says "Drummer Dennis Bryon's father passed away in England just days into the sessions, and he flew across the Channel to be with his family.:

Found here: http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_bee_gees_stayin/index.html

<end quote>

You mean Wikipedia is wrong?

At least for mainstream America, "Stayin' Alive" was the disco song, and thus was banished from radio for 15 years

Maybe we can call every Byron in the English phone books to get to the bottom of this once and for all. "WHICH OF YOU PEOPLE IS DEAD?"

Again, I would note that the "Woman In Love" part of that story is clearly wrong, so...

I don't think I voted for it, there's other stuff on the SNF sdtk I like more and I knew it was gonna get a ton of votes anyway

In the '80s, they used to show these specials on NBC that were made up of hit songs set to music videos that were collages of footage from various Disney cartoons. I used to tape them and watch them over and over again. This was my first exposure to "Stayin' Alive", so my vote had heavy nostalgic vibes attached.

6. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (Writers: Barry and Robin Gibb)
267 points (12 votes, 1 first place vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOGODoE4qKc

Written by Barry and Robin Gibb in August 1970, when the Gibb brothers had reconvened following a period of break-up and alienation. They said that they originally offered it to Andy Williams, but ultimately the Bee Gees recorded it themselves and included it on their 1971 album, "Trafalgar". Maurice Gibb possibly had a hand in the writing of "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart" although the song is officially credited to Barry and Robin Gibb. In the US, the song became the Bee Gees' first #1 hit. Most famously covered by Al Green on his album "Let's Stay Together".

next up, the highest placing entry with zero first place votes...

My #2. Al Green has nothing on their version.

Not on my ballot. It was the very last song I cut from my list, primarily because I couldn't decide if I preferred the Al Green version to the original or not.

Al's version is great, but it's basically identical to the Bee Gees' version, just with a different singer.

My #1. Not necessarily their best song, and I'm not even sure it's my favorite, but it's the one I can most strongly relate to. I wish that weren't true....

Essay by the late Martin Skidmore of this parish on (mainly) Al Green's version:
http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2004/11/everything-they-say-about-soul-is-wrong/

5. Jive Talkin' (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
280 points (13 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W42rMjYWlk

Single from the Bee Gees' 1975 album "Main Course", it hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top-five on the UK singles chart in the summer of 1975. Largely recognised as the group's "comeback" song.

The song was originally called "Drive Talking". The song's rhythm was modelled after the sound their car made crossing the Julia Tuttle Causeway each day from Biscayne Bay to Criteria Studios in Miami.[1]

According to Maurice, while hearing this rhythmic sound, "Barry didn't notice that he's going "Ji-Ji Jive Talkin'", thinking of the dance, "You dance with your eyes"...that's all he had...exactly 35mph...that's what we got." He goes on to say "We played it to Arif (producer Arif Mardin), and he went "Do you know what "Jive Talkin'" means? And we said, well yeah, it's, ya know, you're dancing. He says NO...it's a black expression for bullshitting. And we went OH, REALLY?!?". Maurice goes on to describe how Arif gave them "the groove, the tempo, everything." Robin then goes on to mention that, because they were English, they were less self-conscious about going into the "no go areas", referring to musical styles that were more black in styles, etc. He then said "We didn't think that there was any "no go" areas, it's music!"

Upon its release to radio stations, the single was delivered in a plain white cover, with no immediate indication of what the song's name was or who sang it. The DJs would only find out what the song was and who played it when it was placed on the turntable; RSO did provide the song with a label on the record itself. It was the second time in the band's career that this strategy had been employed to get airplay for their music, after a similar tactic had popularised their debut US single New York Mining Disaster 1941 in 1967.

On Iron Maiden's song "More Tea Vicar", towards the end, Bruce Dickinson sings a bit of the song in a voice imitating The Bee Gees as a joke, then follows it up with "No, no no! You got the wrong track, you have to go in the studio next door." Then sings "Okay" in a Bee Gees voice.

Wow, that's hilarious that they didn't even know what the phrase meant. I love it.

Yeah I'd heard that before. I don't really get the "dancing with your eyes" thing or how anyone would interpret "jive talking" as a dance...

IIRC that song was the first time I'd ever heard the word "jive". Didn't know what it meant back then either

you jive turkey

I was ridiculed on some other thread about it. But something about the Bee Gees' version of "If I Can't Have You" has never worked for me. One of the chords in the chorus seems off somehow.

― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, June 20, 2012 10:07 AM (1 hour ago)

I think the chords are the same, but the Bee Gees version has an embellishment on the chord after the "Go crazy is what I will do" line. Is that the part you're talking about?

Key centers are so far apart in the two versions. Bee Gees did it in E, Elliman version is in B.

lol Shakey. It always makes me think of Airplane

4. How Deep Is Your Love? (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
286 points (13 votes, 1 first place vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpqqjU7u5Yc

Written and recorded by the Bee Gees in 1977 and released as a single in September. Originally intended for Yvonne Elliman, it was ultimately used as part of the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever. It was a number three hit in the United Kingdom and Australia. In the United States, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed in the Top 10 for a then-record 17 weeks. The single spent six weeks atop the US adult contemporary chart. It is listed at # 20 on Billboard's All Time Top 100. Alongside "Stayin' Alive", it is one of the group's two tracks on the list. Covered by bajillion people.

It's impossible for me to be impartial or objective when ranking the SNF songs, especially "How Deep Is Your Love" which is so inextricably linked to my first-ever middle-school slow dances.

The main thing I remember about that video is just how much taller Barry is than his brothers. Gotta be a solid 4 or 5 inches there.

One of my earliest home tapes is a cover of "How Deep Is Your Love", with me on backing vocals, keyboards, and maybe guitar, can't remember, with an excellent vibraphone player I haven't seen since. Not bad considering how young I was and the limitations of overdubbing with only a 2-track reel-to-reel. I need to digitize this stuff someday.

Interestingly, given that he isn't really featured on it, this is the song Robin wanted played at his funeral.

Re. "How Can You Mend..." to me, the Al Green version is...what you'd expect: soulful, melismatic, heartfelt. The Brothers' version, OTOH, is pure melodrama with a hit of country heartbreak. The ensemble vocal on "Please/Help me mend my/Broken heart" at the end of the chorus is among the most powerful moments in their catalog.

OK baffled now as to what at least one of the top 3 is. All the 'big hitters' seem to have gone(?)

NB - this is not an invitation to post guesses.

*Excitement* = what I'm trying to say, basically.

Re. "How Can You Mend..." to me, the Al Green version is...what you'd expect: soulful, melismatic, heartfelt. The Brothers' version, OTOH, is pure melodrama with a hit of country heartbreak. The ensemble vocal on "Please/Help me mend my/Broken heart" at the end of the chorus is among the most powerful moments in their catalog.

― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, June 20, 2012 6:57 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, that harmony on the lines quoted above is heavenly, as is the "da-da-da-DA-da" ad-lib part at the end.

OK baffled now as to what at least one of the top 3 is. All the 'big hitters' seem to have gone(?)

NB - this is not an invitation to post guesses.

*Excitement* = what I'm trying to say, basically.

― Jeff W, Wednesday, June 20, 2012 6:57 PM (7 minutes ago)

Just so you know, we are all totally guessing in our heads.

But yeah, I don't want to see a bunch of guesses posted either -- looking forward to the surprises!

(but I will say that my #1 hasn't been posted yet, so I have to hope that's up here...)

3. More Than a Woman (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
306 points (11 votes, 1 first place vote)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjZmSkUL6Ws&feature=fvwrel

Written and recorded by the Bee Gees for the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack. Not released as a single.