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

This thread was boss. Mad props to the Shakey Mo!

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.

Lending some credence to that theory about 'AH' (I think you know who I mean) perhaps...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrg1UAixGaM

lol

49. (Love is) Thicker Than Water (writers: Barry and Andy Gibb) -- 36 points (1 vote)

this song is lame-o and awesome in equal measure.

missed deep cuts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apkDuq54SeQ

For venal reasons, I didn't participate, but here's my list.

no Bee Gees list without "Mr. Natural" can be considered complete. the perfect midpoint between their phases.

also the complete absence of even a MENTION of "Stop (Think Again)" on this entire thread hurts me deeply in my heart

the hbo doc was just ok, typical useless talking head segments from chris martin, justin, gallagher dude etc. disappointing about how they glossed over the breakup as if they all went their separate ways vs robin leaving and the other 2 continuing as the bee gees (there were other shortcuts and misleading parts as well). some nice footage tho

the sideman interviews were a lot more rewarding

the nicky siano bits were great. vince lawrence, too. a mini disco doc within the bee gees doc.

I did come away thinking that Barry really does miss his brothers. The other thing is that it does catch me that the Gibbs were a bit of why Miami became such a bling bling town, in a way. It would have been something to see Miami circa 76-78. Probably on real estate alone, those guys crushed some serious cash. The clip with them making the drum loop was some cool music geek stuff.

I really enjoyed the doc - most of the “talking heads” were the brothers or the band or ppl working close with them, so the odd naff chris martin or noel gallagher was tolerable. the studio stuff was so great, and the demo tapes add so much apprecication for the raw talent.

and yeah the disco sucks section was handled really well, i loved the way they told that.

Barry having had that amazing creative bond with his brothers & to be now left alone, the melancholy of that feeling must be so difficult to endure.

as the oldest of three siblings who are very close I think how utterly bereft I would feel if they died before me, it breaks my heart to think about.

I sometimes think about examples of musicians who went into a funk when their creative partner died, namely Bill Evans after Scott LaFaro died in a car accident and Buck Owens after Don Rich died in a motorcycle accident. There is still a naive part of me that will think "couldn't you just go on with the show?" but another part of me knows "nuh-uh."

I mean I guess Buck still showed up for Hee-Haw tapings, but still.

I actually kind of adored that documentary, which has to be the third or fourth I’ve seen by this point. The contemporary talking heads were minimized and used well (Noel Gallagher talking about sibling dynamics and how you don’t just buy family members’ vocal harmonies at a store was surprisingly relevant and well put).

Beyond that tho, they did a fabulous job on the early years and the tensions that built up between them. Notwithstanding no mention of Cucumber Castle, I hadn’t really seen that articulated very well elsewhere. The footage of Robin playing to that crowd in NZ angry that it was just him was incredible.

Iand yeah the disco sucks section was handled really well, i loved the way they told that.

Barry having had that amazing creative bond with his brothers & to be now left alone, the melancholy of that feeling must be so difficult to endure.

as the oldest of three siblings who are very close I think how utterly bereft I would feel if they died before me, it breaks my heart to think about.

There is also a similarity in how the whole family was involved in this big adventure, not dissimilar to what you see in that Australian TV documentary on AC/DC. Very similar history in some ways between those two bands.

I'm not sure if Barry Gibb still lives in here, but in the early '00s when I worked at a Miami Beach bookstore he was a regular -- you could easily spot him his tall, hunched form in the history section. Like NYC, nobody bothers stars here.

I ordered The Corrections for Iggy Pop a few months later (asked by the employee at the other store transferring a copy for a name, I said, "Osterberg, James." Iggy winked at me).

Ha! That’s a great story.

All the anecdotes I've read about Iggy being hyper-literate are true. He'd buy piles of books, a genuine miscellany: Nietzsche, art books, Bellow, Tolstoy.

Anyway, back to thread.

Yeah, him and Bowie.

I think I’m actually just starting to realize what an incredible song Stayin’ Alive is. Like, in addition to the opening groove and that great drum loop story, I’m not sure I ever fully appreciated how fucking boss and weird the chorus is on this song. I mean, we all know the “ha ha ha” part but that slurry syncopated line that leads into the ha ha ha’s is subtly strange and amazing (and not that it matters but I still have zero idea what they’re singing there). This realization is just another reminder that whole thing is just perfect from top to bottom.

Maybe it is their best song? I’m willing to be convinced here.

Or the way the strings kick in for the bleak-as-fuck "I'm goin' nowhere."

Hey now, there was a thread for that sort of thing but it was only Shakey and me on it most days!

The song by song rundown?

Sorry, couldn’t keep up.

Shakey did tend to press on regardless somewhat.

Oh right! I couldn’t keep up either. Which bummed me out. Was it before quarantine? I feel like it must’ve been because I imagine I would’ve looked forward to every next entry like my life depended on it.

Pretty sure it was. Could have done with some more contributors in the Bee Gees' imperial stage because I found I couldn't think of as many things to say about something like "Staying Alive" as opposed to, er, "I Have Decided to Join the Air Force".

Lol, check out the current last post on that thread

Ha, exactly. It’s good to know my self-hatred pre-dated COVID, I guess.

the Tropical Fuck Storm version of "Stayin' Alive" almost approximates the swagger level of the original, albeit from a scuzzier angle

Where we talking about the Barry Gibb duets record? So good.

i cant remember which thread but I LOVE IT SO MUCH OMG

play "Mr. Natural" at my funeral

Is there some bad news you're keeping from us?

no I'm remaining conscious for now

Literally everything is great about the duets album. The artists, the band, the sound — they recorded at RCA studios in Nashville with a live band in the room & it really shows, just has such a beautiful warmth & depth, i cant get enough

Didn't realize that about the live band but it totally makes sense.