Song:How Deep Is Your Love
Album:The Ultimate Bee Gees
How Deep Is Your Love is one of three number one hits from the 1977 soundtrack of the film Saturday Night Fever which is the biggest selling movie soundtrack of all time. And though this was the peak of the Bee Gees career, they had been around for a long time before that. Barry Gibb and his twin brothers Robin and Maurice Gibb were born in the Isle Of Man and grew up in England. The family moved to Australia in 1958. The brothers started performing together as The Rattlesnakes and then Wee Johnny Hayes & The Bluecats. Racetrack owner Bill Goode introduced them to DJ Bill Gates who named them Bee Gees after themselves, not the Gibb brothers. They recorded a couple of albums in Australia but weren't successful and they moved to England in 1966. They sent a demo to Beatles manager Brian Epstein and he gave it to his partner Robert Stigwood. Stigwood signed the Bee Gees to Polydor Records in England and the Atlantic Records label Atco in the US. If you listen to early Bee Gees recordings, the Beatles influence was so obvious that people thought they were The Beatles. They had hits in those days. I Started A Joke was the biggest. It reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. But they started to fade. Robin Gibb thought Stigwood was favouring Barry as lead vocalist and left in 1969. He recorded a solo album that didn't do well and the Bee Gees were still recording but going nowhere. Robin returned in 1970 and How Can You Mend A Broken Heart was their first number one hit in 1971. But they were still in a rut and Atlantic Records owner Neshui Ertegun suggested the Bee Gees work with legendary producer Arif Mardin. Then Eric Clapton suggested they go to Miami to record as he was very happy with the experience. The result was that Jive Talkin' was their second number one hit. Obviously it was a big change from their 60s recordings. A key addition was former Strawbs keyboard player Blue Weaver who created the synthesizer licks. So now they're doing these upbeat dance songs and this led to Saturday Night Fever. The end result was three number one singles including How Deep Is Your Love and Saturday Night Fever sold 40 million copies worldwide. The film was credited with popularizing the disco craze. At the time, I think disco had run its course but Saturday Night Fever just prolonged it for a few years. The Bee Gees faded in the early 80s because of the rise of New Wave and the disco backlash though they still had success producing other artists. In 1983, they were sued for plagiarism for How Deep Is Your Love but they won the case. In 1988, they were going to add younger brother Andy Gibb to the group but he died. The Bee Gees continued to record and tour but split up when Maurice died in 2001. This 2CD comp was released in 2009 and for a few extra bucks you can get a bonus DVD. Barry and Robin Gibb perform occasionally but I would describe them as semi-retired. Supposedly Steven Speilberg is turning the Bee Gees story into a biopic. Here's the video for How Deep Is Your Love by the Bee Gees.
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