#Bee gees saturday night fever live movie#

Their biggest hit was вЂњHeartbreaker,вЂќ which Dionne Warwick took to the top of the charts.Д«ut its success further depressed Maurice. They came up with hits for Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton and others.

He persuaded his brothers that they should write songs and produce albums - for other artists. He said of вЂњStayinвЂ™ AliveвЂќ: вЂњWe would like to dress it in a white suit and gold chains and set it on fire.вЂќ Only Barry understood their era was over. Still, Maurice and Robin wanted to keep the Bee Gees going. Convinced she was having an affair with her divorce lawyer, Robin broke into his own home to collect evidence. The record was a bust, overshadowed by tabloid stories about RobinвЂ™s tumultuous relationship with his estranged wife. вЂњThe exhaustion of being the Bee Gees set in, and we couldnвЂ™t see what tomorrow was going to bring,вЂќ Barry admitted.Д«ut they made another album, вЂњLiving Eyes.вЂќ Burned by the backlash, they dropped the disco sound. Rumors swirled that the Bee Gees were going to break up. In 1981 he was thrown off the Concorde for drunk and disorderly behavior. Shortly after the tour ended, he checked into a private London clinic for alcohol abuse. HeвЂ™d battled drugs and alcohol for years and now upped the intake. Maurice, RobinвЂ™s twin, took it the hardest. Robin said simply: вЂњThe public had ODвЂ™d on us.вЂќ The Bee Gees, with their exposed hairy chests and high voices, were now the butt of вЂњendless comedy sketches,вЂќ Spence writes.Д«arry couldnвЂ™t understand what had happened: вЂњIt was almost like people were angry with us and it was more interesting to make fun of us than to actually try and understand or appreciate what we had done.вЂќ Barry called it вЂњevilвЂќ and вЂњcensorshipвЂќ - but nobody paid much attention. In February 1980, Billboard reported that American radio had adopted a вЂњvirtual banвЂќ on disco. вЂњThe phrase вЂdisco sucksвЂ™ was a clear pejorative term.вЂќ White men between the ages of 18 and 34 who loved rock вЂњfelt excluded, even threatened, by the disco scene,вЂќ Spence writes. Steve Dahl, a Chicago radio shock jock who hated disco, kicked it off with a demolition on July 12, 1978, at Comiskey Park: About 10,000 people showed up at the ballpark, many clutching Bee Gees records - which were tossed into a bonfire. вЂњWe all went a bit crazy,вЂќ eldest brother Barry Gibb recalled.ДЄ backlash was inevitable.

As a result, by 1978, 200 radio stations in America were devoted to disco. Between Christmas and New YearвЂ™s, 750,000 copies of the soundtrack sold. вЂњSaturday Night FeverвЂќ opened in theaters Dec. In fact, вЂњThey didnвЂ™t give the tracks much thought or care or attention,вЂќ says Spence. He effectively pillaged five of their new songs, including вЂњStayinвЂ™ AliveвЂќ and вЂњMore Than a Woman.вЂќ

The Bee Gees were working on a new album at the time, but Stigwood insisted they scrap it to work on the soundtrack. The Bee Gees, with their exposed hairy chests and high voices, were now the butt of вЂendless comedy sketches.вЂ™

#Bee gees saturday night fever live movie#

The movie - вЂњSaturday Night FeverвЂќ - was to star John Travolta, a popular TV actor from the sitcom вЂњWelcome Back, Kotter.вЂќ He had acquired the film rights to a New York Magazine story called вЂњTribal Rights of the New Saturday Night,вЂќ about working-class kids from Bay Ridge who become stars on the dance floor of 2001 Odyssey, a Brooklyn disco. But then Stigwood hit upon a bright idea. Their album sales were faltering by the mid-1970s.

Still, they werenвЂ™t exactly winning over America as the Beatles had. With their tight harmonies and telegenic looks, songs such as вЂњTo Love SomebodyвЂќ and вЂњHow Can You Mend a Broken HeartвЂќ cruised into the top 10. The Bee Gees had first come to prominence in 1967 when manager Robert Stigwood, whoвЂ™d had success overseeing Eric ClaptonвЂ™s career, positioned the siblings as the next Beatles. вЂњWhat happened to them was unprecedented in popular music.вЂќ вЂњNobody wanted to touch them,вЂќ said Simon Spence, whose new book вЂњ Staying Alive: The Disco Inferno of the Bee GeesвЂќ (Jawbone Press) chronicles the groupвЂ™s meteoric rise and spectacular fall. They hadnвЂ™t been shot, but they were as good as dead. The disco craze that had ruled the late вЂ™70s had come to a screeching halt, and the Bee Gees, lords of the airwaves for two years, found themselves banned from the countryвЂ™s most influential radio stations. Six months later, as the tour was winding down, nobody was laughing. And now the band was playing 60,000-seat arenas across America.Дisco was king, and the Bee Gees - brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, clad in white suits and flashing gold chains - were its ambassadors.ДЄt the start of the tour, Maurice got hold of a T-shirt that made everyone backstage laugh. The year before, it spent 24 weeks at No. Months before, their вЂњSaturday Night FeverвЂќ soundtrack, featuring songs written and/or performed by the Australian trio, had won a Grammy for album of the year. In June 1979, the Bee Gees were on top of the world.