# Turn It Up! - The Bee Gees - (1967 - 1972)



## Guest (Sep 17, 2018)

View attachment 107975


_"Turn it up, turn it up, little bit higher, radio
Turn it up, that's enough, so you know it's got soul
Radio, radio turn it up..."
_- Van Morrison

The average length of the 45 rpm single is 3 minutes and 30 seconds...

If you can't say what needs to be said in 3 minutes and 30 seconds then it probably isn't worth saying...

"Turn It Up!" is a series about those classic tunes played on radio stations the world over that still live on over the airwaves of our memories and the artists who created them...

*The Bee Gees - (1967 - 1972)*

The Bee Gees were a pop music group formed in 1958. Their lineup consisted of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Born on the Isle of Man to English parents, the Gibb brothers lived in Chorlton, Manchester, England, until the late 1950s. There, in 1955, they formed the Rattlesnakes. The family then moved to Redcliffe, in Queensland, Australia, and then to Cribb Island.

After achieving their first chart success in Australia as the Bee Gees with "****** and Specks" (their 12th single), they returned to the UK in January 1967, when producer Robert Stigwood began promoting them to a worldwide audience.

The Bee Gees have sold more than 220 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.

They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997; the presenter of the award to "Britain's first family of harmony" was Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys.

The Bee Gees' Hall of Fame citation says, "Only Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Paul McCartney have outsold the Bee Gees."

Following Maurice's death in January 2003, at the age of 53, Barry and Robin retired the group's name after 45 years of activity. In 2009, Robin announced that he and Barry had agreed the Bee Gees would re-form and perform again. Robin died in May 2012, aged 62, after a prolonged struggle with cancer and other health problems, leaving Barry as the only surviving member of the group's final line-up.

*Legacy -*

*Brian May* of *Queen* said: "Of course I was, and am a huge fan of the Bee Gees' creations in music. Undoubtedly at the pinnacle of song-writing considered over the last-30 years, is it?! My fondest recollections are not of the SNF days, which were really a re-birth in the Bee Gees' popularity, but the early ground-breaking songs ... I remember singing these [songs] with my pal Tim Staffell [of Smile] and *Freddie [Mercury]* in the real old days." May also praised the song "You Win Again" as one of the greatest songs of the '80s.

In his 1980 Playboy magazine interview, *John Lennon* praised the Bee Gees, "Try to tell the kids in the seventies who were screaming to the Bee Gees that their music was just the Beatles redone. There is nothing wrong with the Bee Gees. They do a damn good job. There was nothing else going on then".

*Michael Jackson*, who was also influenced by the Bee Gees, said, "I cried listening to their music. I knew every note, every instrument".

*Paul McCartney* recalled, "It was the 'Mining Disaster' song that Robert Stigwood played me, I said 'sign them, they're great'".

*Ringo Starr* said, "The Bee Gees from our era were quite important, especially the harmonies."

*Kevin Parker* of *Tame Impala* has said that listening to the Bee Gees after taking mushrooms inspired him to change the sound of the music he was making in his album Currents.

Barry Gibb once said: "When we first came out, *Jimi Hendrix* said we were two-year old Beatles. He was just giving an opinion at the time. People just like to have a go at other artists. But we are very good friends with Jimi now". Years later, Gibb recalled: "He was a great mate of mine. He came to my twenty-first birthday. He was an extremely polite bloke. I never knew about the drugs then. I thought he was acting a bit weird and saying kind of remote things, but I was too naive to even consider that it might be drugs, I never caught on with Jimi and the drugs. I saw him drunk a few times because I remember thinking he was always really quiet until he had a few drinks".

Following Robin's death on 20 May 2012, *Beyoncé* remarked: "The Bee Gees were an early inspiration for me, Kelly Rowland and Michelle. We loved their songwriting and beautiful harmonies."

At one point in 1978, the Gibb brothers were responsible for writing and/or performing nine of the songs in the Billboard Hot 100. In all, the Gibbs placed 13 singles onto the Hot 100 in 1978, with 12 making the Top 40. The Gibb brothers are fellows of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). At least 2,500 artists have recorded their songs.

All three brothers (including Maurice, posthumously) were invested as Commanders of the Order of the British Empire in December 2001 with the ceremony taking place at Buckingham Palace on 27 May 2004.

On 27 June 2018, Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of the Bee Gees, was knighted by Prince Charles after being named on the Queen's New Years Honours List.

Peak US or UK Chart position in parenthesis -

"*New York Mining Disaster 1941*" - 1967 - (# 12 - UK) -






"*I Can't See Nobody*" - 1967 - (B-Side) - (# 12 - UK) -






"*To Love Somebody*" - 1967 - (# 17 - US) -






"*Holiday*" - 1967 - (# 16 - US) -






"*Massachusetts*" - 1967 - (# 1 - UK) -






"*Words*" - 1967 - (# 8 - UK) -






"*I've Gotta Get A Message To You*" - 1968 - (# 1 - UK) -






"*I Started A Joke*" - 1968 - (# 6 - US) -






"*First of May*" - 1968 - (# 6 - UK) -






"*Don't Forget to Remember*" - 1969 - (# 2 - UK) -






"*Lonely Days*" - 1971 - (# 3 - US) -






"*How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?*" - 1971 - (# 1 - US) -






"*My World*" - 1972 - (# 16 - US & UK) -






"*Run To Me*" - 1972 - (# 9 - UK) -






Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee_Gees


----------



## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I was indifferent about the Bee Gees until I discovered they're from the Isle of Man. Part of my ancestry (grandfather's side) traces to there. Here's Robin Gibb singing about it.


----------



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The Bee Gees. A wonderful and distinctive ensemble offering fine emotive pop for decades. Three cool brothers excellently experienced in their _One Night Only_ concert video recorded at the Las Vegas MGM Grand in 1997. All the great hits. There's Maurice to the left, like Bob Dylan's Man in the Long Black Coat--plus the fixture hat. In the center the tall thin Robin, round blue shades and that trademark tremulous voice. And on the right there's Barry's gleaming, toothy grin, falsetto, and guitar. Back in the day there was talk of The Beatles v. The Four Seasons. There was also talk of The Beatles v. The Bee Gees. All nonsense, but we have the legacy of three great groups, each offering their own unique set of sounds and songs. Long Live The Bee Gees!


----------



## Guest (Sep 18, 2018)

Strange Magic said:


> The Bee Gees. A wonderful and distinctive ensemble offering fine emotive pop for decades. Three cool brothers excellently experienced in their _One Night Only_ concert video recorded at the Las Vegas MGM Grand in 1997. All the great hits. There's Maurice to the left, like Bob Dylan's Man in the Long Black Coat--plus the fixture hat. In the center the tall thin Robin, round blue shades and that trademark tremulous voice. And on the right there's Barry's gleaming, toothy grin, falsetto, and guitar. Back in the day there was talk of The Beatles v. The Four Seasons. There was also talk of The Beatles v. The Bee Gees. All nonsense, but we have the legacy of three great groups, each offering their own unique set of sounds and songs. Long Live The Bee Gees!


Here's a link to the entire concert






- and thank you for your continued commentary on and support of the threads that I create... although I noticed that you were conspicuously absent during the "Herman's Hermits" wars that were raging throughout the forum when I really could have used your genuine credibility to bolster mine which is mostly manufactured and/or completely imaginary... I came out victorious... bruised and bleeding... but victorious none the less.... no thanks to you.... Let me guess - you were "kayaking" that day... Every time I'm attempting to argue a point so weak that I need to rely heavily on fabricated facts to make my case you suddenly decide to go "kayaking"... how convenient... :lol:

- Syd


----------

