Reports are circulating that one of the 2 surviving Bee Gees, Robin Gibb—he of the most vibrato-laden voice in that trio—doesn’t have long to live. If, as expected, 3 of the 4 Gibb brothers will be dead at a young age, this puts the Bee Gees in contention with Lynyrd Skynyrd for rock’s equivalent of “Curse of the California Angels” status. Considering that the Gibb-related deaths are all in one family, this may put them “ahead” of Skynyrd. However, Andy Gibb was not a member of the singing group, so his inclusion in the Rock Band Tragedy count might not qualify, as would be expected if the Van Zandt brother from .38 Special had died young. Tell that to Momma Gibb, right? All horrible joking aside, Robin Gibb did some remarkable work in all phases of the band’s history, perhaps no better than kicking off the following song.
Few Townspeople beside shawnkilroy are likely to support me on the following, but I also feel this awkward disco track also showcased Robin’s unique talents.
The Bee Gees are so ingrained into my generation, both through their disco hits of my ’70s childhood and the revival of their ’60s works among rock nerds beginning in the ’80s. Please excuse my ridiculous set up; Robin Gibb will be missed. The Bee Gees were an amazing phenomenon.
Talk about nostalgia! I’m with you, Mod: the Bee Gees continue to be ingrained in my mind. My memories center primarily around the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack and that their outfits led to us convince my father to update his look by purchasing a matching Angel Flight ensemble of trousers and vest.
Bummer. I have done a 180 on the Bee Gees since my youth when they seemed like a plague that threatened us all. Their pre-disco work is occasionally great, often interesting. Their disco-era work which so long ago seemed to foretell the end of rock and roll, is mostly pretty great. And I take second place to no one in my love of “Nights on Broadway,” one of their greatest songs, esp. this performance, which I will boastfully assert, correctly, I hope, that I was the first to post on RTH some time ago. It is tremendous. Still, Robin’s vaguely flesh-colored outfit is awkward. But I wish him the best.
My apologies for forgetting your previously stated love of that song.
We shouldn’t forget the Wilsons of Beach Boys fame when we think of afflicted families. Dennis and Carl are dead, and Brian has been irreparably damaged for at least 45 years now.
I very much like the BeeGees as far as 1976. Few people managed tuneful schlock like “To Love Somebody”, “Lonely Days”, and “Gotta Get a Message to You” as well as they did. I lost interest in them after they embraced alien falsettos, silver jumpsuits, and disco.
That is terrible news, I am quite unashamedly a Bee Gees fan, I am fairly sure that “Run To Me” was the first single I bought with my own money.
I can live without the disco stuff, although I don’t mind it as much as I used to. I can’t, in any case, think of another band who haven’t had an iffy phase over a career spanning nearly forty years, and that can easily be forgiven in my eyes when weighed against the tunes they came up with before, and some pretty good ones since.
Robin’s Reign, his solo album, is pretty good too. I hope he makes it, but it ain’t looking good.
A member of the Stax-based Memphis horns has died:
http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=718216
What about Def Leppard?
Rhino put out a box set a few years back with expanded editions of the first three albums (1st, Idea, Horizontal) and they were later issued separately (which is when I got them for about $9 each thru the BMG CD club). I was surprised at just how good they were.
Saturday Night Fever is an all time classic with Night Fever sitting at the top.
One of the things I find most respectable about the Bee Gees is they recognized when they were too successful to remain cool. So they backed off and wrote hits for Barbra Streisand, Kenny Rogers and others. That’s deep. Best wishes for Robin.
However, people die. In my own history no less than 5 musicians I have worked extensively with have gone on to meet their reward. It’s just the way it goes.
I don’t thing the Bee Gees’ “backing off” was entirely voluntary. Remember, in 1978 they starred in the disastrous Sgt. Peppers movie, which was a career-killer if there ever was one – not only did it put the brakes on the Bee Gees’ success, it also brought Peter Frampton’s lucrative career to a screeching halt. Both artists later said that getting involved in the movie was their biggest career mistake.
Add me as another fan of the various eras, despite the fact that when I was about 8 years old I had a belt buckle that said “Disco sucks.”
Sad news…
so good.
Robin is a weird lookin/sounding dude, but so compelling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBHkW0XDS0A
I don’t mean to take away from Robin at a time like this but watching these videos made me realize that Maurice is always outshone by his more charismatic partners, yet I get the sense that his contribution, while not as obvious as the others, is crucial. He is the Larry Fine of the group; the mayonnaise that holds the whole thing together.
Levon Helm is in his final days.
http://www.levonhelm.com/