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

Can I just...

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/barry-gibb-talk-show/1329182

On Midnight Special?! Oh come on, now... Totally live, straight into the boards!

;-)

Can I just...

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/barry-gibb-talk-show/1329182

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, June 20, 2012 7:53 PM (2 minutes ago)

I thought this was funny when it first aired and it holds up well, but I gotta say, Timberlake clearly never studied Robin. He's dancing around WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much!

otm but the teeth are pretty spot on, lol

the 'Robin, do you have anything to add?' "Naw I don't" is classic

we should discuss their worst songs at some point too

looks pretty live to me. they brought a huge band with them!

Bee Gees tour in 1980 was my first concert ever. I was 8. It was magic. I had seats 10th row center. It was definitely a big band with a BIG sound.

omg that must have been amazing

He's feathered his hair ever since.

1. To Love Somebody (Writers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb)
369 points (13 votes, 3 first place votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx_R5ZMs4mo

The second single released by the Bee Gees from their third album, "Bee Gees 1st". It was written by Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb, Produced by Robert Stigwood.

At the request of Robert Stigwood, the band's manager, Barry and Robin Gibb wrote "To Love Somebody", a soulful ballad in the style of Sam & Dave or The Rascals, for Otis Redding. The Bee Gees recorded "To Love Somebody" at IBC Studios, London in March 1967 and released it as a single in mid-July 1967 in the U.S. Redding died in an aeroplane crash later that year, before having a chance to record the song.

The song enjoyed only modest chart success, reaching #41 in the UK and #17 in the US. It has been covered extensively over the years, with versions recorded by the Animals, P.P. Arnold, Leonard Cohen, Billy Corgan & Robert Smith, Janis Joplin, Gram Parsons, Nina Simone, Dusty Springfield, and Simply Red.

TOTALLY amazeballs, yes. I still remember the fireworks they set off during "tragedy" -- one of those idelible childhood memories.

Also: YESSSSSSSSSSS! That's my #1, right where it belongs! Whoooo!

Billy Corgan & Robert Smith

Say what?

Anyway, YAY #1!!!

please nobody post that cover please

aha, that's the one I was forgetting. And I voted for it! By this point I was assuming SNF era must come out on top.

Not gonna lie: I'm a little disappointed. Like this song (my #23), don't love it unconditionally.

OMG can totally hear Otis Redding singing "To Love Somebody" and killing it. If only.

well basically anything that got a first place vote was gonna place, this came out on top expressly because it had the most first place votes. I think it's definitely among the best of their early period material.

and yeah the Otis thing... man, what a loss.

songs that received at least 2 votes but didn't place:

When the Swallows Fly
Lamplight
Idea
Juliette
Dogs
Kathy's Gone
One
Down The Road
Love So Right
My Thing
The Worst Girl in This Town
Alone
Please Don't Turn Out the Lights
Boys Do Fall In Love
Morning of My Life

Thanks for running this poll, Shakey Mo.

Yeah, this was great fun...even if we had to bully people into participating!

I think it's definitely among the best of their early period material.

Regardless, Shakey, this was awesome. Thanks for pushing this thing through to the finish line.

my pleasure. I hope it makes some new fans, at least. it is very strange to me that such a huge/seminal act is so underappreciated by an (ostensible) community of music nerds.

whyyyyyyyyyyyy didn't I vote for To Love Somebody

oversight of the century holy shit

but yay it made #1 without me

So which song appeared on the most total ballots, regardless of placement?

Backtafunk

Also, Primal Scream covered "To Love Somebody" at the Cleveland gig on their Screamadelica tour back in the day. I got to meet/greet/etc. (ahem) with them afterwards and I gushed all over Bobby Gillespie about them playing a Bee Gees tune and he had no idea -- said that they learned it from Gram Parsons.

Perfect.

So which song appeared on the most total ballots, regardless of placement?

Looks like "Nights on Broadway" with 14.

yep

That's cool - I'm still baffled/impressed that there wasn't one single tune that made all the ballots. I would have thought at least one (maybe more like 5) of the big hits would have, considering there were only 17 voters. Speaks well to the depth of the catalog for sure.

yeah I think that's entirely down to them having four decades of material

...and only 17 people voting probably.

nah more voters would have meant even less ballot uniformity

Wait, right.

Naive Teen Idol, math major. :-)

Not enough of a Bee Gees fan to vote but enough of one to be enormously grateful to Shakey for this poll. I've put it all into a Spotify playlist and I'm looking forward to going through the non-hits.

You mind sharing it?

Thanks from me too, Shakey. I hate it when people say they didn't vote because ... but that was me here - I'd've been voting for the SNF stuff and nothing else, and figured the poll didn't need me ignorantly boostering just their best-known hits.

I wasn't even going to open the thread, but I'm glad I did. The fun facts with entry were a great idea.

I'm looking forward to going through the non-hits.

that should cut the list down to about 6 songs :)

Final results

1. To Love Somebody
2. Nights on Broadway
3. More Than a Woman 
4. How Deep is Your Love
5. Jive Talkin'
6. How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
7. Stayin' Alive
8. If I Can’t Have You
9. I Started A Joke
10. Night Fever
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

Playlist here. I know almost the entire Top 20, then it gets a bit spotty. Never got around to Odessa, Trafalgar, etc.

spoti.fi/M6rCfH

Thanks!

*25. Emotion (Writers: Barry and Robin Gibb)
104 points (5 votes)*

"Spicks and Specks" would have made a great Spïnäl Tap song title

I saw them at Maple Leaf Gardens just prior to Saturday Night Fever, but I don't think I was ever that big a fan.

1. “More Than a Woman,” Tavares (40)
2. “Night Fever,” Bee Gees (36)
3. “If I Can’t Have You,” Yvonne Elliman (33)
4. “To Love Somebody,” Bee Gees (30)
5. “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” Al Green (28)
6. “Run to Me,” Bee Gees (26)

muh ballot

To Love Somebody - 40
Paradise - 36
Nights on Broadway - 33
World - 30
You Win Again - 28
Every Christian Lion Hearted Man Will Show You - 26
I Believe in Miracles (Robin Gibb) - 25
Spicks and Specks - 24
Stayin' Alive - 23
Suddenly - 22
Cryin' Every Day - 21
I Laugh in Your Face - 20
Nobody's Someone - 19
Bury Me Down by the River - 18
Tragedy - 17
One - 16
Lonely Days - 15
Kitty Can - 14
Holiday - 13
You Know It's for You - 12

Thanks for posting!Here's mine:

To Love Somebody
More Than a Woman
Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick)
Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)
Emotion (Samantha Sang)
I Started A Joke
I Just Wanna Be Your Everything (Andy Gibb)
New York Mining Disaster 1941
Love You Inside Out
I've Gotta Get a Message to You
Edge of the Universe
Run To Me
How Deep Is Your Love?
Jive Talkin'
Holiday
All This Making Love
Islands in the Stream
Nights on Broadway
I Can't See Nobody
Words
Night Fever
You Should Be Dancing
Spicks & Specks
Too Much Heaven
Massachusetts
Mr. Natural
Wildflower
Morning of My Life
If I Can't Have You (Yvonne Elliman)
Living Eyes

Just compared the final list to my ballot -- looks like 26 of my 30 made it. Would love to see some other folks' individual ballots if anyone feels like posting them...

great stuff! here's my ballot:

Love You Inside Out
More Than A Woman
To Love Somebody
Lonely Days
Words (Elvis Presley)
Tragedy
Hudson's Fallen Wind (Robin Gibb)
Paradise
Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)
Every Christian Lionhearted Man Will Show You
Spicks & Specks
I Just Want To be Your Everything (Andy Gibb)
Jive Talkin'
Heartbreaker (Dionne Warwick)
Nights On Broadway
An Everlasting Love
(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away (Andy Gibb)
Guilty (Barbra Streisand & Barry Gibb)
You Should Be Dancing
Alone
Give A Hand, Take A Hand (P P Arnold)
Shadow Dancing (Andy Gibb)
Stayin' Alive
Kathy's Gone (Robin Gibb)
I Started A Joke
Walking Back To Waterloo
Boys Do Fall In Love (Robin Gibb)
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
Night Fever
How Deep Is Your Love

Mine:
1. Nights on Broadway
2. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?
3. I Started a Joke
4. Mr. Natural
5. Lamplight
6. Odessa (City on the Black Sea)
7. Fannie (Be Tender With My Love)
8. The Flag I Flew
9. Run To Me
10. Massachusetts
11. For Whom the Bell Tolls
12. Islands in the Stream
13. Kathy's Gone
14. A Very Special Day
15. Heartbreaker
16. World
17. Melody Fair
18. I've Gotta Get a Message to You
19. I Can't See Nobody
20. Juliet
21. Method to My Madness
22. My Life Has Been a Song
23. To Love Somebody
24. Holiday
25. How Deep Is Your Love
26. Please Don't Turn Out the Lights
27. The Worst Girl In This Town
28. Indian Gin and Whisky Dry
29. He Can't Love You
30. First of May