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1
00:00:58,853 --> 00:01:00,770
Okay, fellas, when you're ready.
2
00:01:00,853 --> 00:01:02,103
Okay, fellas, get back in line.
3
00:01:02,188 --> 00:01:03,329
How did you people get
back here?
4
00:01:03,353 --> 00:01:04,561
Come on. Come on.
Sorry.
5
00:01:04,644 --> 00:01:05,896
Excuse me.
Have you got a pen?
6
00:01:05,977 --> 00:01:07,246
I'm sorry,
you can't come in here.
7
00:01:07,271 --> 00:01:08,745
- Get him out of here.
- You can't come in here.
8
00:01:08,769 --> 00:01:10,852
What are you doing?
This is a private session!
9
00:01:12,644 --> 00:01:15,061
Thank you.
10
00:01:15,146 --> 00:01:18,603
Thank you very, very much.
Good evening to all of you.
11
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Thank you.
12
00:03:13,271 --> 00:03:15,687
I am beginning
to recognize the fact
13
00:03:15,770 --> 00:03:18,687
that nothing is true.
14
00:03:18,770 --> 00:03:20,520
Nothing.
15
00:03:20,603 --> 00:03:22,478
It's all down to perception.
16
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My immediate family is gone.
17
00:03:26,478 --> 00:03:28,562
But that's life.
18
00:03:28,645 --> 00:03:30,228
It's the same thing
with every family,
19
00:03:30,312 --> 00:03:32,312
that someone will be left
in the end.
20
00:03:34,978 --> 00:03:36,937
And this time of life,
21
00:03:37,021 --> 00:03:39,562
I have fantastic memories,
22
00:03:39,645 --> 00:03:41,896
but everybody's memory
is different,
23
00:03:41,978 --> 00:03:44,520
so they're just my memories,
you know?
24
00:03:46,312 --> 00:03:48,021
I know that Maurice
and Robin would've had
25
00:03:48,103 --> 00:03:50,562
a different kind of memory.
26
00:03:57,312 --> 00:03:59,228
I remember Barry saying
that one day,
27
00:03:59,312 --> 00:04:01,270
we're gonna be really famous.
28
00:04:01,354 --> 00:04:04,062
And we said, "Oh, yeah."
You know, "Whatever you say."
29
00:04:04,145 --> 00:04:06,562
He's the big brother, you know.
30
00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,103
We kind of saw ourselves
as triplets
31
00:04:10,187 --> 00:04:12,271
rather than me and Maurice
being twins,
32
00:04:12,353 --> 00:04:14,770
and we always had
the same goals growing up
33
00:04:14,853 --> 00:04:16,687
that it became impossible
to see each other
34
00:04:16,769 --> 00:04:19,271
as normal brothers.
35
00:04:19,353 --> 00:04:20,937
My ninth Christmas,
36
00:04:21,021 --> 00:04:22,980
there was an acoustic guitar
at the end of my bed,
37
00:04:23,062 --> 00:04:25,103
and Robin and Maurice started
to collaborate
38
00:04:25,187 --> 00:04:26,812
and pretend to sing with me,
39
00:04:26,896 --> 00:04:30,353
and we started doing gigs
as a teenage act.
40
00:04:31,603 --> 00:04:33,103
We emigrated as a whole family
41
00:04:33,187 --> 00:04:35,271
from England to Australia.
42
00:04:35,353 --> 00:04:37,103
All three of us had
the same understanding
43
00:04:37,187 --> 00:04:38,437
that we were going to be famous
44
00:04:38,519 --> 00:04:39,978
come hell or high water.
45
00:04:47,187 --> 00:04:48,978
Our father, he had his own band,
46
00:04:49,062 --> 00:04:52,228
but it didn't work out,
so he became our manager,
47
00:04:52,312 --> 00:04:53,312
and it was a team.
48
00:04:53,353 --> 00:04:54,769
There was us three and Dad.
49
00:04:54,853 --> 00:04:56,146
And Mum, of course.
50
00:04:56,228 --> 00:04:58,437
My mother,
she was always the person
51
00:04:58,519 --> 00:05:00,812
who kept the calm
between Dad and us.
52
00:05:00,896 --> 00:05:03,437
Very strong, very loyal.
53
00:05:05,519 --> 00:05:06,978
The Beatles have just arrived
54
00:05:07,062 --> 00:05:08,853
for the first time
in our country.
55
00:05:08,937 --> 00:05:10,396
When the Beatles came
on the scene,
56
00:05:10,478 --> 00:05:13,271
it was like, "That's what
we've been trying to do."
57
00:05:13,353 --> 00:05:14,954
They turned pop music
into an art form,
58
00:05:15,021 --> 00:05:16,538
and they were singing
three-part harmony
59
00:05:16,562 --> 00:05:17,687
like we did.
60
00:05:17,769 --> 00:05:19,103
So we made up our own minds
61
00:05:19,187 --> 00:05:22,146
that we were going back to be
part of the British Invasion.
62
00:05:22,228 --> 00:05:23,937
Making music was
what we wanted to do
63
00:05:24,021 --> 00:05:25,478
for the rest of our lives,
64
00:05:25,562 --> 00:05:27,579
so we thought, you know,
whatever's going to happen,
65
00:05:27,603 --> 00:05:29,978
we'll make happen.
66
00:05:35,312 --> 00:05:37,103
Before we left Australia,
67
00:05:37,187 --> 00:05:39,187
we did an album
called "Spicks and Specks,"
68
00:05:39,271 --> 00:05:41,228
and they became our best demos.
69
00:05:45,769 --> 00:05:47,728
Dad and I did the rounds,
70
00:05:47,812 --> 00:05:49,187
met with industry people,
71
00:05:49,271 --> 00:05:50,728
and as we sat
in everyone's office,
72
00:05:50,812 --> 00:05:52,312
they would say the same thing:
73
00:05:52,396 --> 00:05:55,021
"No, no, I'm sorry, lads.
We can't help you."
74
00:05:55,103 --> 00:05:57,728
My dad, he was very,
you know, "We gotta do this."
75
00:05:57,812 --> 00:06:00,021
Because my dad was really
the most ambitious man,
76
00:06:00,103 --> 00:06:02,021
I think, in the Gibb clan.
77
00:06:02,103 --> 00:06:03,271
We loved the Beatles,
78
00:06:03,353 --> 00:06:05,644
so Dad had sent this stuff
to NEMS,
79
00:06:05,728 --> 00:06:08,312
the Brian Epstein offices.
80
00:06:08,396 --> 00:06:10,519
Brian Epstein,
the man who built the Beatles
81
00:06:10,603 --> 00:06:11,853
into a cult,
82
00:06:11,937 --> 00:06:13,812
is now as well-known
as they are.
83
00:06:13,896 --> 00:06:17,187
I was doing Brian's mail
most of the time.
84
00:06:17,271 --> 00:06:18,896
There was a letter by the father
85
00:06:18,978 --> 00:06:22,687
of these three handsome,
cute guys
86
00:06:22,769 --> 00:06:26,271
who were very proactive
and who'd had some success.
87
00:06:26,353 --> 00:06:27,562
They came from Manchester,
88
00:06:27,644 --> 00:06:30,228
but they were writing
from Australia.
89
00:06:30,312 --> 00:06:31,728
I showed it to him.
90
00:06:31,812 --> 00:06:33,896
Brian said, "Yeah, yeah.
That's very nice. No, nice."
91
00:06:33,978 --> 00:06:35,853
He said,
"Well, give it to Robert."
92
00:06:36,978 --> 00:06:38,603
"He's Australian
93
00:06:38,687 --> 00:06:40,603
and he's good
at these kind of things."
94
00:06:40,687 --> 00:06:41,769
Somebody sent you a tape
95
00:06:41,853 --> 00:06:43,562
of these boys from Australia?
96
00:06:43,644 --> 00:06:44,687
Yes, they did.
97
00:06:44,769 --> 00:06:46,562
Oh.
98
00:06:46,644 --> 00:06:50,728
I heard it, and I was
absolutely astounded.
99
00:06:50,812 --> 00:06:52,728
It was the most brilliant
harmony singing
100
00:06:52,812 --> 00:06:54,896
and composing I'd ever heard.
101
00:07:14,353 --> 00:07:17,271
At the time,
Robert was my manager.
102
00:07:17,353 --> 00:07:20,146
Cream was signed to Robert
103
00:07:20,228 --> 00:07:22,437
on what I thought
was an exclusive deal.
104
00:07:22,519 --> 00:07:26,271
I was surprised that
other bands were coming in.
105
00:07:27,896 --> 00:07:29,853
Robert was so eccentric.
106
00:07:29,937 --> 00:07:32,437
I mean, absolutely bonkers.
107
00:07:32,519 --> 00:07:35,896
He was Australian, but he spoke
like an English gentleman,
108
00:07:35,978 --> 00:07:38,519
and he would wear
these really big, flashy ties,
109
00:07:38,603 --> 00:07:41,978
and he had a combover,
and it was all...
110
00:07:42,062 --> 00:07:43,644
Who is this guy?
111
00:07:43,728 --> 00:07:46,103
Whoever this man was,
he really believed in us.
112
00:07:46,187 --> 00:07:48,187
He was almost like a parent.
113
00:07:48,271 --> 00:07:50,687
You can't deny talent,
114
00:07:50,769 --> 00:07:53,478
and the talent was so obvious.
115
00:07:58,687 --> 00:08:01,478
Somebody mentioned that
the Bee Gees were in town.
116
00:08:01,562 --> 00:08:05,228
They were good friends of mine
from Australia.
117
00:08:05,312 --> 00:08:07,644
So I phoned them up.
118
00:08:07,728 --> 00:08:08,997
I said, "Is Maurice there, then?"
119
00:08:09,021 --> 00:08:10,146
Put Maurice on."
120
00:08:10,228 --> 00:08:11,978
He said, "We've being signed up"
121
00:08:12,062 --> 00:08:13,978
"by this guy
called Robert Stigwood.
122
00:08:14,062 --> 00:08:15,769
"We're doing this recording.
123
00:08:15,853 --> 00:08:18,103
Why don't you come
and play guitar?"
124
00:08:18,187 --> 00:08:22,146
Caught a train into London
and found IBC Studios.
125
00:08:22,228 --> 00:08:23,519
So there they were.
126
00:08:23,603 --> 00:08:25,312
There were Barry, Robin,
and Maurice
127
00:08:25,396 --> 00:08:28,021
and the drummer, Colin Petersen.
128
00:08:28,103 --> 00:08:29,103
That night,
129
00:08:29,146 --> 00:08:32,187
my life changed completely.
130
00:08:32,269 --> 00:08:34,104
Completely.
131
00:08:35,562 --> 00:08:36,580
The first evening
we were in there,
132
00:08:36,604 --> 00:08:38,187
there was a blackout.
133
00:08:38,269 --> 00:08:40,205
So while we were waiting
for the power to come back on,
134
00:08:40,229 --> 00:08:41,144
we just sat on the steps,
135
00:08:41,229 --> 00:08:43,019
and Barry was playing
his guitar.
136
00:08:43,104 --> 00:08:44,687
It was so echoey.
137
00:08:44,769 --> 00:08:47,187
I mean, it was a wonderful echo
in this place.
138
00:08:47,269 --> 00:08:48,687
There we were in the dark.
139
00:08:48,769 --> 00:08:50,120
The first thought was,
"In the event
140
00:08:50,144 --> 00:08:51,346
of something happening to me."
141
00:08:55,729 --> 00:08:57,769
And we thought, "Well,
what could come from that?"
142
00:09:01,812 --> 00:09:03,211
We made believe
we were in a mine.
143
00:09:26,644 --> 00:09:28,120
Because it was gonna be
our first single,
144
00:09:28,144 --> 00:09:29,955
we wanted a title
that captured the imagination,
145
00:09:29,979 --> 00:09:31,769
that got people's attention.
146
00:09:31,854 --> 00:09:34,019
And "New York Mining
Disaster" was born then.
147
00:09:34,104 --> 00:09:36,437
We had our first hit record
within the first five months
148
00:09:36,519 --> 00:09:37,687
of being in England.
149
00:09:37,769 --> 00:09:39,894
The thrill was that it did
the same thing in America.
150
00:09:39,979 --> 00:09:41,580
We thought that we might get
a hit in England,
151
00:09:41,604 --> 00:09:42,955
but we never dreamed
that we might get a hit
152
00:09:42,979 --> 00:09:44,479
in England and America as well.
153
00:09:49,479 --> 00:09:51,269
So I came over
to the United States
154
00:09:51,354 --> 00:09:53,437
to make a record deal for them.
155
00:09:53,519 --> 00:09:57,604
I made a decision to place
the group with Atlantic.
156
00:10:00,562 --> 00:10:02,442
He said, "I'm taking you
to meet Ahmet Ertegun"
157
00:10:02,519 --> 00:10:05,269
and to get you into
the American music scene."
158
00:10:05,354 --> 00:10:08,437
Otis Redding was playing
at the Apollo.
159
00:10:08,519 --> 00:10:09,812
Ahmet Ertegun
and Robert Stigwood
160
00:10:09,894 --> 00:10:11,729
took me down there to see Otis.
161
00:10:13,854 --> 00:10:15,394
And it was amazing.
162
00:10:15,479 --> 00:10:17,979
Soul has always had
a special place
163
00:10:18,062 --> 00:10:19,144
in the Bee Gees' music.
164
00:10:19,229 --> 00:10:20,995
We've always been influenced
by Black music.
165
00:10:21,019 --> 00:10:23,229
Smokey Robinson, Motown,
166
00:10:23,312 --> 00:10:25,269
all that was a big influence
on us.
167
00:10:25,354 --> 00:10:26,854
Robert introduced us.
168
00:10:26,937 --> 00:10:30,479
He said, "I want you to write
a song for Otis Redding."
169
00:10:30,562 --> 00:10:32,479
"To Love Somebody" was born
that night.
170
00:10:34,729 --> 00:10:36,604
But unfortunately,
171
00:10:36,687 --> 00:10:38,479
Otis never got to record
the song.
172
00:11:03,229 --> 00:11:05,312
I mean, I must have always known
173
00:11:05,394 --> 00:11:06,979
"To Love Somebody,"
174
00:11:07,062 --> 00:11:10,019
'cause that song is just,
like, in the ether.
175
00:11:10,104 --> 00:11:11,870
Those lyrics, "There's
a certain kind of light"
176
00:11:11,894 --> 00:11:13,019
that never shone on me,"
177
00:11:13,104 --> 00:11:14,745
like, I don't even know
if he's talking about himself,
178
00:11:14,769 --> 00:11:17,144
but there was some point
where I got obsessed,
179
00:11:17,229 --> 00:11:19,019
like, tracking down
every cover version,
180
00:11:19,104 --> 00:11:21,519
like Nina Simone, the Animals.
181
00:11:21,604 --> 00:11:23,854
Some great singers have sung
that song, obviously,
182
00:11:23,937 --> 00:11:26,229
but his vocal, when he sings it,
183
00:11:26,312 --> 00:11:28,519
I can still get chills
thinking about it.
184
00:11:54,479 --> 00:11:58,062
I just remember
this music being on,
185
00:11:58,144 --> 00:12:00,062
and I'm like, "Who's this?"
186
00:12:00,144 --> 00:12:03,394
And, "Why, it's the Bee Gees."
187
00:12:03,479 --> 00:12:04,854
And I was like, "The Bee Gees?"
188
00:12:06,937 --> 00:12:08,769
It actually blew my mind.
189
00:12:08,854 --> 00:12:12,229
Those early records sound like
the Beatles' early records.
190
00:12:15,937 --> 00:12:18,394
It's classic '60s guitar
pop sound,
191
00:12:18,479 --> 00:12:19,999
but then it had another thing
going on.
192
00:12:23,312 --> 00:12:25,187
You've got the brothers singing,
193
00:12:25,269 --> 00:12:27,187
and when you've got
brothers singing,
194
00:12:27,269 --> 00:12:29,562
it's like an instrument
that nobody else can buy.
195
00:12:40,894 --> 00:12:43,269
You can't go buy that sound
in a shop.
196
00:12:43,354 --> 00:12:44,580
You can buy
a Fender Stratocaster
197
00:12:44,604 --> 00:12:47,937
and put it through a VOX amp
and sound like Buddy Holly.
198
00:12:48,019 --> 00:12:49,437
You can't sing
like the Bee Gees,
199
00:12:49,519 --> 00:12:50,604
because when you've got
200
00:12:50,687 --> 00:12:52,144
family members singing together,
201
00:12:52,229 --> 00:12:53,729
it's unique.
202
00:12:53,812 --> 00:12:56,894
It's the blend of the tones
of each brother.
203
00:12:56,979 --> 00:13:00,269
And Robin had this wonderful,
tear-jerking voice.
204
00:13:04,562 --> 00:13:06,269
Robin was a joyous kid.
205
00:13:06,354 --> 00:13:08,104
Hysterically funny.
206
00:13:08,187 --> 00:13:10,769
He took great joy
in being on television.
207
00:13:10,854 --> 00:13:13,187
This was the funniest kid
you could ever meet.
208
00:13:13,269 --> 00:13:15,038
My father always used
to call him the nanny goat.
209
00:13:15,062 --> 00:13:16,812
'Cause Robin would go...
210
00:13:16,894 --> 00:13:18,536
He'd be rehearsing
in the back of the car,
211
00:13:18,562 --> 00:13:19,841
you know, doing all these phases
212
00:13:21,729 --> 00:13:22,979
And he'd go, "Shut up!"
213
00:13:23,062 --> 00:13:24,461
You sound like
a bloody nanny goat."
214
00:13:34,937 --> 00:13:37,479
Robin was always
a bit of a loner.
215
00:13:37,562 --> 00:13:39,687
I like being spontaneous.
216
00:13:39,769 --> 00:13:40,913
I like being funny with people,
217
00:13:40,937 --> 00:13:43,312
but you won't get that
right away with me, you see.
218
00:13:43,394 --> 00:13:46,144
Robin had a wit that
no one could compete with.
219
00:13:46,229 --> 00:13:47,854
And he could be very dark too.
220
00:13:51,394 --> 00:13:52,875
Robin is not a person
who would say,
221
00:13:52,937 --> 00:13:54,187
"Oh, I love my brothers,"
222
00:13:54,269 --> 00:13:56,312
or, "Group hug."
223
00:13:56,394 --> 00:13:57,604
You know, none of that stuff.
224
00:13:57,687 --> 00:13:59,394
I'm basically a very shy person.
225
00:13:59,479 --> 00:14:01,187
I'm very hard to get to know.
226
00:14:01,269 --> 00:14:05,019
I have to really know somebody
before I reveal myself.
227
00:14:18,269 --> 00:14:19,580
You know, I mean,
that's the voice.
228
00:14:19,604 --> 00:14:22,354
That's the voice
that reaches your heart.
229
00:14:27,604 --> 00:14:29,354
We did a show
at the Saville Theatre,
230
00:14:29,437 --> 00:14:32,187
and Paul McCartney was there
with Jane Asher,
231
00:14:32,269 --> 00:14:33,479
because Robert had said,
232
00:14:33,562 --> 00:14:35,729
"Would you come
and see the boys?"
233
00:14:35,812 --> 00:14:36,729
When you think that
234
00:14:36,812 --> 00:14:39,354
five months before all this
was going on,
235
00:14:39,437 --> 00:14:42,519
I was in Pitt Street buying up
the Beatle fan club book,
236
00:14:42,604 --> 00:14:45,269
and now here I am
partying with these guys.
237
00:14:45,354 --> 00:14:47,354
We felt like we'd arrived.
238
00:14:47,437 --> 00:14:49,687
Now I'm living out in Highgate
outside London.
239
00:14:49,769 --> 00:14:51,894
Barry's got a place
in Eaton Square.
240
00:14:51,979 --> 00:14:53,894
Robin's got a house
in St. George's Hill,
241
00:14:53,979 --> 00:14:55,062
beautiful area.
242
00:14:55,144 --> 00:14:57,562
And Mum and Dad
had their own place,
243
00:14:57,644 --> 00:15:00,104
and, of course, Andy lived
with them.
244
00:15:00,187 --> 00:15:01,729
He was just like us,
245
00:15:01,812 --> 00:15:03,562
and he was always tagging along,
246
00:15:03,644 --> 00:15:06,062
hoping that one day,
he would do this too.
247
00:15:06,144 --> 00:15:07,562
He would like to sing.
248
00:15:07,644 --> 00:15:09,687
There was a lot of hits
in that short time,
249
00:15:09,769 --> 00:15:11,104
you know, and after all the work
250
00:15:11,187 --> 00:15:13,019
we had done through clubs
and everything,
251
00:15:13,104 --> 00:15:14,687
I felt grown up, you know,
252
00:15:14,769 --> 00:15:16,229
so we made the most of it.
253
00:15:16,312 --> 00:15:18,312
Very talented group of men,
the Bee Gees.
254
00:15:18,394 --> 00:15:20,479
Once again,
the fabulous Bee Gees.
255
00:15:20,562 --> 00:15:22,205
Here they are, and get
involved with the Bee Gees.
256
00:15:22,229 --> 00:15:23,229
Here they are.
257
00:15:29,394 --> 00:15:30,519
By then, we were flying,
258
00:15:30,604 --> 00:15:33,562
you know, just the most
amazing experience.
259
00:15:42,687 --> 00:15:43,729
As a pop group,
260
00:15:43,812 --> 00:15:45,769
this was the biggest moment
of our lives.
261
00:15:45,854 --> 00:15:47,269
Never expected.
262
00:15:47,354 --> 00:15:50,104
Hoped for
but never really expected.
263
00:16:04,269 --> 00:16:06,479
Then came "Massachusetts."
264
00:16:06,562 --> 00:16:08,812
Robin said, "I've got
this idea for a song."
265
00:16:08,894 --> 00:16:10,687
He sang the melody,
266
00:16:10,769 --> 00:16:13,562
and I just remember
our jaws dropping.
267
00:16:51,937 --> 00:16:55,019
For me, they connected
from very early on.
268
00:16:55,104 --> 00:16:57,644
"Massachusetts" is probably
the first song,
269
00:16:57,729 --> 00:16:59,562
I think, that really resonates.
270
00:16:59,644 --> 00:17:03,979
There is a gospel quality to it.
271
00:17:04,060 --> 00:17:06,685
There is a folk quality to it.
272
00:17:06,769 --> 00:17:09,644
I didn't know where the hell
Massachusetts was,
273
00:17:09,729 --> 00:17:11,060
but I found myself singing that
274
00:17:11,144 --> 00:17:15,188
and translating it
to where I was from.
275
00:17:15,269 --> 00:17:16,438
Robert runs up and he goes,
276
00:17:16,519 --> 00:17:18,854
"'Massachusetts' has just gone
to number one."
277
00:17:18,935 --> 00:17:20,019
We went, "What?"
278
00:17:20,104 --> 00:17:22,019
To have a number one in England,
279
00:17:22,104 --> 00:17:23,894
you have no idea
how much we dreamed of this
280
00:17:23,979 --> 00:17:24,979
back in Australia.
281
00:17:36,313 --> 00:17:38,894
"Massachusetts"
from the Bee Gees.
282
00:17:38,979 --> 00:17:41,060
I met the Bee Gees
at "Top of the Pops."
283
00:17:41,144 --> 00:17:42,560
I was young.
284
00:17:42,644 --> 00:17:45,188
Was I 16?
Maybe I was even 17.
285
00:17:45,269 --> 00:17:48,060
Top pop girl in America,
top pop girl in Britain,
286
00:17:48,144 --> 00:17:49,604
the one and only Lulu.
287
00:17:58,644 --> 00:18:02,104
The Bee Gees were always
in the studio.
288
00:18:02,188 --> 00:18:03,729
They were always recording.
289
00:18:05,229 --> 00:18:06,662
They would literally go
into the studio
290
00:18:06,685 --> 00:18:08,229
and start writing.
291
00:18:08,313 --> 00:18:11,438
I had never known
anything like that before.
292
00:18:11,519 --> 00:18:12,979
We don't usually write
our lyrics
293
00:18:13,060 --> 00:18:14,810
till the day we sing them.
294
00:18:14,894 --> 00:18:17,269
We usually write our lyrics
in the studio itself.
295
00:18:17,354 --> 00:18:19,438
That seems to work
through thick and thin.
296
00:18:19,519 --> 00:18:21,269
It always works for us.
297
00:18:21,354 --> 00:18:23,810
It's very hard to describe
how we write,
298
00:18:23,894 --> 00:18:25,313
but the only way I can describe
299
00:18:25,394 --> 00:18:28,060
how we work at it
is by becoming one mind.
300
00:18:28,144 --> 00:18:30,229
Maurice had unique insight
301
00:18:30,313 --> 00:18:32,104
into the way
Robin and I thought.
302
00:18:33,810 --> 00:18:35,979
He would just be
fiddling around on the piano.
303
00:18:36,060 --> 00:18:38,438
He'd suddenly
play something, and,
304
00:18:38,519 --> 00:18:39,560
"What was that?"
305
00:18:39,644 --> 00:18:41,644
He was trying to please us
306
00:18:41,729 --> 00:18:44,188
and the way that we would all
try to please each other,
307
00:18:44,269 --> 00:18:46,854
and that sometimes was
the birth of a song.
308
00:18:46,935 --> 00:18:48,079
All of a sudden,
we'll wake each other's
309
00:18:48,104 --> 00:18:49,979
little instincts up
and the melodies come.
310
00:18:50,060 --> 00:18:52,519
It's wonderful
when you hear it taking shape.
311
00:18:52,604 --> 00:18:53,810
Then it all blossoms.
312
00:18:53,894 --> 00:18:55,479
The third verse is four bars.
313
00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:56,979
It's rolling.
314
00:18:57,060 --> 00:18:58,912
They'd say, "Okay,
we're ready to roll," right?
315
00:18:58,935 --> 00:19:00,871
And they'd play the song,
and I'd work the chords out.
316
00:19:00,894 --> 00:19:02,144
Colin would figure out
317
00:19:02,229 --> 00:19:03,935
what he's gonna do on the drums.
318
00:19:04,019 --> 00:19:05,604
They'd say, "Right, here we go."
319
00:19:05,685 --> 00:19:07,144
Let's go. Bang, bang, bang."
320
00:19:07,229 --> 00:19:08,229
Down it went.
321
00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,810
And that spontaneity
came out in the songs.
322
00:19:14,894 --> 00:19:17,935
In those days, you knocked
an album out in three weeks.
323
00:19:18,019 --> 00:19:20,188
I think we had
three albums out in one year.
324
00:19:32,229 --> 00:19:33,854
When we went to Europe,
325
00:19:33,935 --> 00:19:36,519
there'd always be
a big bunch of kids outside
326
00:19:36,604 --> 00:19:38,188
waiting for us to arrive.
327
00:19:38,269 --> 00:19:39,854
It was a frightening time,
328
00:19:39,935 --> 00:19:42,394
because they crawled
all over the Mercedes.
329
00:19:42,479 --> 00:19:45,313
They were on the roof.
They were at the window.
330
00:19:45,394 --> 00:19:47,229
It was crazy.
331
00:19:47,313 --> 00:19:48,604
"Hey, guys.
332
00:19:48,685 --> 00:19:50,979
Do you think we're famous?
Could be."
333
00:19:54,144 --> 00:19:55,394
The Bee Gees,
334
00:19:55,479 --> 00:19:58,354
the most exciting sound
in the world.
335
00:20:09,935 --> 00:20:12,188
If you've never been famous,
336
00:20:12,269 --> 00:20:13,604
the first time it happens,
337
00:20:13,685 --> 00:20:15,894
it's a very difficult thing
to handle.
338
00:20:15,979 --> 00:20:17,560
You don't know how to behave.
339
00:20:17,644 --> 00:20:19,188
You don't know
how to experience it.
340
00:20:19,269 --> 00:20:22,394
And that affected all of us
in its own way.
341
00:20:24,144 --> 00:20:26,438
I had six Rolls-Royces
before I was 21.
342
00:20:26,519 --> 00:20:27,798
I don't know where they are now.
343
00:20:28,854 --> 00:20:30,394
But I mean,
that's how crazy it was.
344
00:20:30,479 --> 00:20:33,144
We were all very selfish
at that point.
345
00:20:33,229 --> 00:20:35,854
The testosterone kicked in,
346
00:20:35,935 --> 00:20:38,060
and the competition
of life began.
347
00:20:50,604 --> 00:20:54,104
There was always a conflict
between Barry and Robin
348
00:20:54,188 --> 00:20:56,769
'cause they both had
fantastic voices
349
00:20:56,854 --> 00:20:58,729
and Robin wanted
to sing the song
350
00:20:58,810 --> 00:21:00,060
and Barry wanted to sing it.
351
00:21:10,019 --> 00:21:12,644
Both of us wanted to be
individual performers.
352
00:21:12,729 --> 00:21:14,935
We all wanted
individual recognition.
353
00:21:15,019 --> 00:21:18,604
And therein lies the issue.
354
00:21:22,438 --> 00:21:26,104
I'm speaking to you
from a club in Hamburg,
355
00:21:26,188 --> 00:21:27,810
and I'm Barry Gibb
of the Bee Gees.
356
00:21:27,894 --> 00:21:29,104
Robin here.
357
00:21:29,188 --> 00:21:31,037
Robin, we've heard rumors
that the group is splitting up.
358
00:21:31,060 --> 00:21:32,537
Would you like to verify
those rumors?
359
00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:33,829
If I was to say that was true,
360
00:21:33,854 --> 00:21:35,769
then I would be
the premier of Russia.
361
00:21:35,854 --> 00:21:37,144
I don't know.
362
00:21:37,229 --> 00:21:38,329
Thank you very much,
Mr. Petersen.
363
00:21:38,354 --> 00:21:39,413
How about you, Mr. Melouney?
364
00:21:39,438 --> 00:21:40,810
- Oh, no.
I don't think it is.
365
00:21:40,894 --> 00:21:43,269
No. No. No.
366
00:21:46,229 --> 00:21:50,144
I always say that making music
367
00:21:50,229 --> 00:21:52,685
with your family
368
00:21:52,769 --> 00:21:55,935
is equally the greatest strength
369
00:21:56,019 --> 00:21:57,810
and the greatest weakness
you could ever have
370
00:21:57,894 --> 00:21:59,854
in a musical partnership.
371
00:22:01,729 --> 00:22:03,979
To get to the top
or near the top,
372
00:22:04,060 --> 00:22:06,269
you've gotta be
incredibly driven,
373
00:22:06,354 --> 00:22:09,188
and what drives you is your ego.
374
00:22:09,269 --> 00:22:10,685
And when you get there
375
00:22:10,769 --> 00:22:12,979
and everybody's got an ego
about it,
376
00:22:13,060 --> 00:22:15,394
it can be tricky to stay there.
377
00:22:28,269 --> 00:22:30,121
The three of us stopped
looking inwards to each other
378
00:22:30,144 --> 00:22:31,979
and all started looking outwards
379
00:22:32,060 --> 00:22:34,685
to what we could be
individually.
380
00:22:34,769 --> 00:22:36,854
"To hell
with what my brothers think."
381
00:22:36,935 --> 00:22:39,519
And each one of us
was thinking that.
382
00:22:46,104 --> 00:22:47,371
To travel the world
when you're young
383
00:22:47,394 --> 00:22:48,479
with a family member
384
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:50,894
gives you a certain sense
of who you are
385
00:22:50,979 --> 00:22:52,979
and where you've come from
and all that.
386
00:22:53,060 --> 00:22:56,188
So you kind of walk
that tightrope.
387
00:22:56,269 --> 00:22:58,229
We'd been together
all our lives, don't forget.
388
00:22:58,313 --> 00:22:59,954
We'd been together
since Robin and I were five,
389
00:22:59,979 --> 00:23:01,438
singing professionally.
390
00:23:01,519 --> 00:23:02,769
You know, it's a lot of years.
391
00:23:02,854 --> 00:23:05,060
We'd been kids living
together with each other
392
00:23:05,144 --> 00:23:06,729
right up until
the time we arrived
393
00:23:06,810 --> 00:23:09,394
and even after we arrived
in England.
394
00:23:14,479 --> 00:23:15,729
Robin was first to say,
395
00:23:15,810 --> 00:23:18,560
"Well, I'm quitting
the group."
396
00:23:18,644 --> 00:23:22,519
I stopped really knowing Robin
397
00:23:22,604 --> 00:23:26,269
and his personal life
once we became famous.
398
00:23:26,354 --> 00:23:27,729
And the same with Mo.
399
00:23:27,810 --> 00:23:31,394
Our three lives were
three different lives.
400
00:23:31,479 --> 00:23:33,685
We were no longer living
the same life.
401
00:23:40,810 --> 00:23:42,229
Brothers...
402
00:23:42,313 --> 00:23:44,769
in general,
it's a very complicated thing,
403
00:23:44,854 --> 00:23:46,894
you know?
404
00:23:46,979 --> 00:23:48,229
Emotions are heightened,
405
00:23:48,313 --> 00:23:52,188
and there's things that go back
to childhood about, you know,
406
00:23:52,269 --> 00:23:54,854
if one kid got more attention
than the other,
407
00:23:54,935 --> 00:23:56,729
and all these things play out
408
00:23:56,810 --> 00:23:58,560
in front of just a small group
of friends,
409
00:23:58,644 --> 00:24:00,894
but when you magnify that
with the whole world,
410
00:24:00,979 --> 00:24:02,810
it changes the game
a little bit.
411
00:24:02,894 --> 00:24:04,894
Robin, that's a good picture.
412
00:24:04,979 --> 00:24:07,604
That's you, Barry, Colin, Vince.
413
00:24:07,685 --> 00:24:09,769
- That's correct, yes.
- Do you miss 'em?
414
00:24:09,854 --> 00:24:11,144
Well, it's not really a matter
415
00:24:11,229 --> 00:24:12,479
of missing them, really.
416
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:14,163
But I still see them
on and off, you know,
417
00:24:14,188 --> 00:24:16,144
so that's the way things go.
418
00:24:16,229 --> 00:24:18,019
I'll show you the studio anyway.
419
00:24:21,438 --> 00:24:24,644
It was really me and Robin
that were in conflict,
420
00:24:24,729 --> 00:24:26,644
and I think
Maurice was in the middle.
421
00:24:26,729 --> 00:24:28,479
Story of my life, really.
422
00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:29,579
Barry would call me up and say,
423
00:24:29,604 --> 00:24:30,744
"Well, can you call Robin
and tell him
424
00:24:30,769 --> 00:24:31,810
if he wants to do this?"
425
00:24:31,894 --> 00:24:33,204
And Robin would go,
"Well, give Barry a call
426
00:24:33,229 --> 00:24:34,371
and let him know
that I'm gonna be over."
427
00:24:34,394 --> 00:24:35,644
I said,
"Robin, you call Barry."
428
00:24:35,729 --> 00:24:36,979
"Barry, you call Robin."
429
00:24:37,060 --> 00:24:39,144
And they both said,
"No, we won't."
430
00:24:39,229 --> 00:24:41,019
And for 18 months,
they never did.
431
00:24:41,104 --> 00:24:42,854
We had this fascination
432
00:24:42,935 --> 00:24:46,269
with calling the newspapers up.
433
00:24:46,354 --> 00:24:49,438
You called "NME" or you called
"Disc" or "Music Echo"
434
00:24:49,519 --> 00:24:50,810
and you'd say...
435
00:24:50,894 --> 00:24:52,662
"Robin said this about me,
and I just wanna be able
436
00:24:52,685 --> 00:24:55,188
to correct the record,"
and all that stuff.
437
00:24:55,269 --> 00:24:57,604
It was a whole
strange episode of our lives,
438
00:24:57,685 --> 00:25:00,313
but a lot of things
had gone down at that time,
439
00:25:00,394 --> 00:25:04,019
and we needed time apart
to think about them.
440
00:25:04,104 --> 00:25:06,560
At Caxton Hall, VIP transport
441
00:25:06,644 --> 00:25:09,229
for very important pop star
Barry Gibb.
442
00:25:09,313 --> 00:25:10,354
He's getting married
443
00:25:10,438 --> 00:25:12,188
to 20-year-old
former Miss Edinburgh
444
00:25:12,269 --> 00:25:13,854
Linda Gray.
445
00:25:16,438 --> 00:25:18,729
Their world was crazy
at that time.
446
00:25:18,810 --> 00:25:20,854
You know, at one time,
there was three brothers,
447
00:25:20,935 --> 00:25:24,188
and then all of a sudden,
it was three wives.
448
00:25:24,269 --> 00:25:27,019
Maurice Gibb and Lulu
became Mr. and Mrs.
449
00:25:27,104 --> 00:25:28,810
At St. James' Parish Church
450
00:25:28,894 --> 00:25:31,354
at Gerrards Cross
in Buckinghamshire.
451
00:25:31,438 --> 00:25:34,560
You think, by marrying someone
452
00:25:34,644 --> 00:25:37,394
that you absolutely adore,
453
00:25:37,479 --> 00:25:39,729
you think it's gonna solve
all your problems,
454
00:25:39,810 --> 00:25:41,269
but really...
455
00:25:41,354 --> 00:25:42,519
At Caxton Hall,
456
00:25:42,604 --> 00:25:45,104
Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees
marries Molly Hullis.
457
00:25:46,479 --> 00:25:48,560
Molly was my first real love.
458
00:25:48,644 --> 00:25:50,438
The first serious one.
459
00:25:50,519 --> 00:25:52,394
But it was
a very traumatic time for me.
460
00:25:55,479 --> 00:25:57,604
I went with my manager.
461
00:25:57,685 --> 00:25:59,019
He said, "Look, Robin",
462
00:25:59,104 --> 00:26:00,604
I'm gonna send you
to New Zealand."
463
00:26:00,685 --> 00:26:03,685
He says, "You're doing
the Redwood Park Festival."
464
00:26:03,769 --> 00:26:04,912
So I went there, and of course,
465
00:26:04,935 --> 00:26:06,662
it was advertised
that the Bee Gees were coming,
466
00:26:06,685 --> 00:26:08,060
not just Robin Gibb, you see.
467
00:26:11,810 --> 00:26:13,854
All right.
Okay.
468
00:26:13,935 --> 00:26:16,229
How'd you feel last night?
469
00:26:16,313 --> 00:26:17,662
I have an obligation
to my audience
470
00:26:17,685 --> 00:26:19,060
not to look scared, and...
471
00:26:19,144 --> 00:26:22,269
I can't say
I really felt scared.
472
00:26:22,354 --> 00:26:23,479
I was terrified.
473
00:26:37,810 --> 00:26:40,060
All three of us became isolated,
474
00:26:40,144 --> 00:26:44,104
and all three of us
did things to each other
475
00:26:44,188 --> 00:26:46,104
that I think
we're all sorry for.
476
00:26:49,019 --> 00:26:50,104
We loved each other.
477
00:26:50,188 --> 00:26:52,644
There was an enormous amount
of love between us.
478
00:26:52,729 --> 00:26:54,769
Growing up,
we did everything together.
479
00:26:54,854 --> 00:26:57,394
We often thought
we were triplets.
480
00:26:57,479 --> 00:27:00,144
Because we all had
the same love.
481
00:27:00,229 --> 00:27:01,288
We had the same sense of humor.
482
00:27:01,313 --> 00:27:03,394
We had the same love
of the same kind of music.
483
00:27:03,479 --> 00:27:05,479
Just typical kids, you know?
484
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,979
But the one thing
that no one else was doing
485
00:27:08,060 --> 00:27:09,479
was that we were singing
in harmony,
486
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,269
and beyond anything else,
that's all we cared about.
487
00:27:14,604 --> 00:27:16,935
We fell in love
with the Mills Brothers.
488
00:27:17,019 --> 00:27:19,979
They all did something unique
in their own way.
489
00:27:20,060 --> 00:27:20,979
And at the same time,
490
00:27:21,060 --> 00:27:23,019
Robin and I did
two different leads,
491
00:27:23,104 --> 00:27:25,685
and Maurice would always know
where to put that other melody
492
00:27:25,769 --> 00:27:27,019
to make a three-part harmony.
493
00:27:27,104 --> 00:27:29,810
They mirrored
what we wanted to be.
494
00:27:29,894 --> 00:27:32,479
Do you find you miss
Robin and Maurice musically?
495
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:33,644
Yeah.
496
00:27:33,729 --> 00:27:35,769
Not musically.
497
00:27:35,854 --> 00:27:38,313
I miss them both as brothers.
498
00:27:38,394 --> 00:27:40,769
Something
about entering the world
499
00:27:40,854 --> 00:27:43,144
from the same place,
I think, has an effect
500
00:27:43,229 --> 00:27:44,935
on your ability
to sing together,
501
00:27:45,019 --> 00:27:49,560
your creative awareness,
and your artistic voice.
502
00:27:49,644 --> 00:27:52,894
Could we see the Bee Gees
back together again?
503
00:27:52,979 --> 00:27:56,188
That's a very strong point
that it could be.
504
00:27:56,269 --> 00:27:57,354
I can't say definitely,
505
00:27:57,438 --> 00:27:59,894
but I'd like to see
the Bee Gees again.
506
00:28:02,479 --> 00:28:05,394
Mr. Epstein has been
unwell now for some months.
507
00:28:05,479 --> 00:28:07,479
And he's been in the habit
of taking tablets
508
00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:09,229
to help him sleep at night.
509
00:28:09,313 --> 00:28:11,313
He was found
in his second-floor bedroom
510
00:28:11,394 --> 00:28:14,188
just after 2:00 this afternoon
by his housekeeper.
511
00:28:14,269 --> 00:28:17,685
When Brian died
and we restructured NEMS,
512
00:28:17,769 --> 00:28:19,354
Robert asked to become
513
00:28:19,438 --> 00:28:21,019
a more important
senior executive
514
00:28:21,104 --> 00:28:22,854
for the Beatles,
515
00:28:22,935 --> 00:28:24,729
and that wasn't acceptable
to them,
516
00:28:24,810 --> 00:28:28,269
so he then left the company
517
00:28:28,354 --> 00:28:31,894
and took with him Eric Clapton
and Bee Gees
518
00:28:31,979 --> 00:28:33,854
so he could start off
on his own.
519
00:28:33,935 --> 00:28:35,229
We were an asset.
520
00:28:35,313 --> 00:28:37,060
We were one of those people
Robert needed
521
00:28:37,144 --> 00:28:39,060
as an element of going public.
522
00:28:40,810 --> 00:28:42,394
It was at the launching
of the company
523
00:28:42,479 --> 00:28:43,979
where we started
to communicate again.
524
00:28:45,979 --> 00:28:47,935
And once we came back
together again,
525
00:28:48,019 --> 00:28:49,685
we wrote "Lonely Days,"
526
00:28:49,769 --> 00:28:52,894
which reflected the idea
that we'd been broken up.
527
00:28:52,979 --> 00:28:56,729
We'd always been boys
going up together,
528
00:28:56,810 --> 00:28:59,229
and I think
we came back together as men.
529
00:28:59,313 --> 00:29:01,313
We respected
each other's opinions,
530
00:29:01,394 --> 00:29:02,894
which we didn't before that.
531
00:29:05,104 --> 00:29:06,288
If anything,
that was the good thing
532
00:29:06,313 --> 00:29:07,685
about the breakup.
533
00:29:12,894 --> 00:29:14,894
I had already started
a first verse and chorus.
534
00:29:14,979 --> 00:29:17,269
I knew what "How Can You Mend
a Broken Heart?" was,
535
00:29:17,354 --> 00:29:19,144
but then Robin walks in.
536
00:29:19,229 --> 00:29:21,269
I said, "I'm just working
on this song."
537
00:29:21,354 --> 00:29:22,644
Do you wanna do it with me?"
538
00:29:22,729 --> 00:29:23,979
And he went,
"Yeah, of course."
539
00:29:29,519 --> 00:29:31,479
We'd been apart for two years.
540
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:32,644
If we hadn't been brothers,
541
00:29:32,729 --> 00:29:34,229
we wouldn't have lasted
half an hour.
542
00:29:34,313 --> 00:29:36,269
It just wouldn't have happened.
543
00:29:44,979 --> 00:29:48,604
Things started to just improve
over time, you know?
544
00:29:52,354 --> 00:29:54,313
We became the Bee Gees again.
545
00:30:07,269 --> 00:30:08,769
We came back together,
and we made
546
00:30:08,854 --> 00:30:10,438
two number one records
in America,
547
00:30:10,519 --> 00:30:12,104
so we were on a bit of a high.
548
00:30:14,729 --> 00:30:17,313
But we were not really that good
549
00:30:17,394 --> 00:30:20,979
when it came to just doing
anything without a pill,
550
00:30:21,060 --> 00:30:22,810
you know, or without a drink.
551
00:30:22,894 --> 00:30:24,144
It was destroying us.
552
00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:29,354
And that became the battle,
553
00:30:29,438 --> 00:30:31,854
the fight to survive
being a pop group.
554
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,313
Thank you very, very much
on behalf of my brothers,
555
00:30:50,394 --> 00:30:52,854
Robin
556
00:30:52,935 --> 00:30:56,104
and Maurice,
557
00:30:56,188 --> 00:30:59,438
and this beautiful orchestra,
558
00:30:59,519 --> 00:31:03,229
our lead guitarist,
Alan Kendall...
559
00:31:03,313 --> 00:31:04,354
Robert Stigwood said,
560
00:31:04,438 --> 00:31:06,354
"The Bee Gees are gonna go
on a tour,
561
00:31:06,438 --> 00:31:08,685
and they want a guitar player
who can play bass as well,"
562
00:31:08,769 --> 00:31:10,685
'cause in those days,
563
00:31:10,769 --> 00:31:14,810
Maurice played bass, but he
would go on piano sometimes.
564
00:31:14,894 --> 00:31:18,519
And so I called him and I said,
"Well, I can't play bass,"
565
00:31:18,604 --> 00:31:21,019
and he said,
"Just say you can play bass,"
566
00:31:21,104 --> 00:31:23,104
so I said, "Okay,
I can play bass."
567
00:31:25,979 --> 00:31:29,269
I'll be honest, I was
very much into the lifestyle.
568
00:31:29,354 --> 00:31:30,594
I just loved being on the road.
569
00:31:30,644 --> 00:31:33,104
I loved playing music,
chasing women.
570
00:31:34,854 --> 00:31:36,019
Maurice is so funny,
571
00:31:36,104 --> 00:31:38,060
'cause he was good
at magic tricks,
572
00:31:38,144 --> 00:31:41,229
and he'd like
to drink a little, as I did.
573
00:31:41,313 --> 00:31:43,269
Robin, I never really knew.
574
00:31:43,354 --> 00:31:46,604
I mean, I'd converse with him
but not as much as the others.
575
00:31:46,685 --> 00:31:48,935
And I would bump into him
every now and then
576
00:31:49,019 --> 00:31:51,894
wandering the corridors
of the hotel.
577
00:31:51,979 --> 00:31:55,060
And there's Barry
with his glamorous wife
578
00:31:55,144 --> 00:31:57,104
smoking a bowl, you know?
579
00:31:58,479 --> 00:32:00,935
My early days with the Bee Gees
580
00:32:01,019 --> 00:32:03,810
were, for me, thrilling,
581
00:32:03,894 --> 00:32:06,394
even though I can understand
why it wasn't for them,
582
00:32:06,479 --> 00:32:08,979
'cause they weren't
necessarily selling out.
583
00:32:11,729 --> 00:32:12,935
When we were broken up,
584
00:32:13,019 --> 00:32:15,979
the world changed radically
very quickly.
585
00:32:16,060 --> 00:32:17,769
And that was the beginning
of the period
586
00:32:17,854 --> 00:32:20,604
when there was just
no interest in us at all.
587
00:32:20,685 --> 00:32:22,313
Remember, we were on tour.
588
00:32:22,394 --> 00:32:23,894
They'd try to keep Robin
589
00:32:23,979 --> 00:32:25,729
from looking out
into the audience,
590
00:32:25,810 --> 00:32:27,935
in case it was only half full.
591
00:32:28,019 --> 00:32:30,560
When we got back home,
I turned to more drinking.
592
00:32:30,644 --> 00:32:33,604
I'd go to the pubs.
The police knew my car.
593
00:32:33,685 --> 00:32:36,604
I was becoming the town drunk.
594
00:32:36,685 --> 00:32:38,644
I mean, I think I had
about 2 grand in the bank
595
00:32:38,729 --> 00:32:40,854
and lived next order
to a fish and chips shop.
596
00:32:40,935 --> 00:32:42,935
So by '74,
597
00:32:43,019 --> 00:32:46,313
we didn't think there was
gonna be much of a future.
598
00:32:46,394 --> 00:32:48,979
When you become famous,
you think everyone loves you
599
00:32:49,060 --> 00:32:50,329
and they're gonna love you
forever,
600
00:32:50,354 --> 00:32:51,644
and it's not true.
601
00:32:55,729 --> 00:32:57,371
All of a sudden now,
we had to work the clubs
602
00:32:57,394 --> 00:32:59,229
at the north of England
to pay the taxman,
603
00:32:59,313 --> 00:33:01,104
so we had the Sheffield Fiesta,
604
00:33:01,188 --> 00:33:02,479
the Golden Garter in Manchester,
605
00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:04,313
Batley Variety Club,
606
00:33:04,394 --> 00:33:06,104
great clubs of our time.
607
00:33:06,188 --> 00:33:07,769
The Batley thing,
608
00:33:07,854 --> 00:33:10,144
it's where all the has-beens
went to play,
609
00:33:10,229 --> 00:33:11,704
and not saying
that they were has-beens,
610
00:33:11,729 --> 00:33:14,313
but it was like, "Oh, God,
not Batley," you know?
611
00:33:16,438 --> 00:33:19,394
I was a waitress
at the Batley Variety Club.
612
00:33:19,479 --> 00:33:23,519
I really wasn't a fan
of the Bee Gees.
613
00:33:23,604 --> 00:33:25,729
The only thing I knew
about them was,
614
00:33:25,810 --> 00:33:26,871
you know, Maurice was mar...
615
00:33:26,894 --> 00:33:29,560
Well, he was going through
a divorce with Lulu.
616
00:33:29,644 --> 00:33:33,060
Yvonne came in,
and I saw her eyes.
617
00:33:33,144 --> 00:33:34,371
I don't know
about the rest of her.
618
00:33:34,394 --> 00:33:36,019
I just saw her eyes.
619
00:33:36,104 --> 00:33:39,019
And I said,
"I'm gonna marry her."
620
00:33:39,104 --> 00:33:41,604
And I knew
I was gonna marry her.
621
00:33:41,685 --> 00:33:43,144
He was so cute.
622
00:33:43,229 --> 00:33:45,854
His personality was amazing.
623
00:33:45,935 --> 00:33:47,644
Maurice had
this childlike quality,
624
00:33:47,729 --> 00:33:50,354
which is something
very special in men.
625
00:33:50,438 --> 00:33:53,729
He loved dressing up
in police uniforms.
626
00:33:53,810 --> 00:33:55,894
Wherever we went on tour,
627
00:33:55,979 --> 00:33:57,729
they'd give him a hat,
give him a badge.
628
00:33:57,810 --> 00:33:58,871
- Is that his wallet?
- It's a badge.
629
00:33:58,894 --> 00:34:00,354
Whoa!
630
00:34:00,438 --> 00:34:02,685
- What was that?
- I'm not showing you now.
631
00:34:02,769 --> 00:34:04,060
People loved him.
632
00:34:04,144 --> 00:34:05,894
He had the best smile ever.
633
00:34:05,979 --> 00:34:09,396
I remember him teaching me
the showbiz smile,
634
00:34:09,478 --> 00:34:10,896
and he said,
"Well, the trick is,
635
00:34:10,978 --> 00:34:13,271
"you don't move your eyes
636
00:34:13,353 --> 00:34:15,603
and you just go like this."
637
00:34:17,478 --> 00:34:19,021
And I'll be honest with you,
638
00:34:19,103 --> 00:34:22,228
I think Maurice was the glue
that held it all together.
639
00:34:22,313 --> 00:34:24,021
Oh, I'm Mr. Fix-It.
640
00:34:24,103 --> 00:34:27,103
Either some discrepancy
between Barry and Robin,
641
00:34:27,188 --> 00:34:28,996
or if we're gonna make
a decision about something,
642
00:34:29,021 --> 00:34:30,396
"Well, what does
Maurice think?"
643
00:34:30,478 --> 00:34:33,728
But most of the time,
I'm like my mum.
644
00:34:33,811 --> 00:34:34,936
I'm the peacemaker.
645
00:34:35,021 --> 00:34:36,728
You know,
if they'd not been brothers,
646
00:34:36,811 --> 00:34:38,896
they would not be together.
647
00:34:38,978 --> 00:34:41,271
No doubt in my mind.
648
00:34:46,146 --> 00:34:48,271
I met the Gibbs
when they were on a bit of a...
649
00:34:48,353 --> 00:34:50,146
Shall we say, a downturn
in their career.
650
00:34:50,228 --> 00:34:51,643
Robert Stigwood made me,
651
00:34:51,728 --> 00:34:53,643
unaccountably,
the head of his record label.
652
00:34:53,728 --> 00:34:55,936
I was only 21 years old.
653
00:34:56,021 --> 00:34:57,460
I truly believed
it was because I was
654
00:34:57,518 --> 00:34:59,811
the only guy in the room
that I got the job.
655
00:34:59,896 --> 00:35:00,996
It was odd to me
because I thought,
656
00:35:01,021 --> 00:35:02,121
"If they can write those songs,
657
00:35:02,146 --> 00:35:03,811
how come they can't
be consistent?"
658
00:35:03,896 --> 00:35:05,135
If you got the ability to write
659
00:35:05,188 --> 00:35:06,329
"How Can You Mend
a Broken Heart?"
660
00:35:06,353 --> 00:35:07,561
and "To Love Somebody,"
661
00:35:07,643 --> 00:35:09,603
where does that talent go?
662
00:35:09,686 --> 00:35:13,228
I mean, there was two albums
in a row that were dismal.
663
00:35:13,313 --> 00:35:15,313
Ahmet Ertegun said to Robert,
664
00:35:15,396 --> 00:35:17,271
"You know,
maybe their time has gone,"
665
00:35:17,353 --> 00:35:18,829
'cause it was Atlantic
who were paying
666
00:35:18,853 --> 00:35:19,978
for these recordings,
667
00:35:20,061 --> 00:35:22,271
and Robert wouldn't hear of it,
of course.
668
00:35:22,353 --> 00:35:24,146
He would never let
the Bee Gees go.
669
00:35:24,228 --> 00:35:27,853
There was this thing
about Stigwood...
670
00:35:27,936 --> 00:35:31,438
Stigwood and his loyalties.
671
00:35:31,518 --> 00:35:33,686
I had a kind
of deep-seated resentment
672
00:35:33,768 --> 00:35:37,478
about the fact that,
you know, they were still
673
00:35:37,561 --> 00:35:38,561
his favorite.
674
00:35:42,438 --> 00:35:44,853
I had come out of a long period
675
00:35:44,936 --> 00:35:46,643
of addiction and alcoholism,
676
00:35:46,728 --> 00:35:49,603
and I went into
the sort of recovery period.
677
00:35:51,271 --> 00:35:54,313
All these musical ambitions
came to the surface,
678
00:35:54,396 --> 00:35:57,686
so I went to Miami to record.
679
00:36:00,978 --> 00:36:02,204
We had a conversation with Eric
680
00:36:02,228 --> 00:36:03,978
about making a comeback.
681
00:36:04,061 --> 00:36:05,246
Eric said, "Well,
I've just made this album"
682
00:36:05,271 --> 00:36:07,768
"called '461 Ocean Boulevard'
in Miami.
683
00:36:07,853 --> 00:36:09,414
"Why don't you guys
make an album in America
684
00:36:09,438 --> 00:36:11,518
"instead of always
making an album in England,
685
00:36:11,603 --> 00:36:13,438
"and maybe the change
of environment
686
00:36:13,518 --> 00:36:15,686
will do something for you?"
687
00:36:15,768 --> 00:36:18,061
The studio there
was unbelievable,
688
00:36:18,146 --> 00:36:21,686
and I think that's what
689
00:36:21,768 --> 00:36:23,853
the suggestion was about,
really.
690
00:36:23,936 --> 00:36:27,853
I thought those guys
were actually an R&B band
691
00:36:27,936 --> 00:36:30,561
that hadn't really
worked that out yet.
692
00:36:30,643 --> 00:36:32,853
And I thought,
"Man, this would be so good
693
00:36:32,936 --> 00:36:36,021
if they could pick up
on what's going on in America."
694
00:36:36,103 --> 00:36:39,643
I do know that they had
to change something.
695
00:36:39,728 --> 00:36:40,853
That's when the whole idea
696
00:36:40,936 --> 00:36:43,978
of actually being
more of a band together
697
00:36:44,061 --> 00:36:45,146
rather than, you know,
698
00:36:45,228 --> 00:36:47,518
musicians and orchestras
and all that stuff.
699
00:36:49,396 --> 00:36:51,396
Alan Kendall,
who was a friend of mine,
700
00:36:51,478 --> 00:36:54,643
said, "The Bee Gees
are looking for a drummer."
701
00:36:54,728 --> 00:36:56,936
You know, are you interested?"
702
00:36:57,021 --> 00:36:59,728
And I went, "Yes."
703
00:36:59,811 --> 00:37:02,643
"I think I'm interested.
Yeah. I am interested."
704
00:37:02,728 --> 00:37:05,228
We needed to get more energized
705
00:37:05,313 --> 00:37:06,728
and don't rely so much
706
00:37:06,811 --> 00:37:09,103
on the ballads
that we had been doing.
707
00:37:09,188 --> 00:37:12,061
We wanted to be a band so bad,
708
00:37:12,146 --> 00:37:14,061
and that was basically
the birth of it.
709
00:37:14,146 --> 00:37:16,896
We had a great bass player,
Maurice.
710
00:37:16,978 --> 00:37:19,061
We had a great guitar player,
Alan.
711
00:37:19,146 --> 00:37:20,561
So really,
the only thing we needed
712
00:37:20,643 --> 00:37:22,396
was a keyboard player,
713
00:37:22,478 --> 00:37:24,396
and I thought, "Blue."
714
00:37:31,021 --> 00:37:32,728
Dennis called and said,
715
00:37:32,811 --> 00:37:34,454
"Look, you know,
I'm putting a band together
716
00:37:34,478 --> 00:37:35,643
"with the Bee Gees,
717
00:37:35,728 --> 00:37:39,188
"and I've spoken to Barry,
and everybody's in agreement.
718
00:37:39,271 --> 00:37:40,936
Are you interested?"
719
00:37:41,021 --> 00:37:42,768
I said, "No. No."
720
00:37:42,853 --> 00:37:45,936
I'm having great fun.
I'm in a rock and roll band."
721
00:37:46,021 --> 00:37:47,728
Queen was our support act.
722
00:37:47,811 --> 00:37:50,768
I'm touring America and living
the rock and roll life.
723
00:37:57,978 --> 00:38:01,061
We'd grown up together
playing in bands in Cardiff.
724
00:38:01,146 --> 00:38:02,438
I said, "We've known each other"
725
00:38:02,518 --> 00:38:03,561
for a long time, right?"
726
00:38:03,643 --> 00:38:06,353
He said,
"Den, don't do this to me."
727
00:38:06,438 --> 00:38:08,438
And I said,
"I am doing it to you."
728
00:38:08,518 --> 00:38:10,561
I said, "Just do me one favor:"
729
00:38:10,643 --> 00:38:12,438
"meet Barry.
730
00:38:12,518 --> 00:38:15,811
"And after you've met Barry,
if you don't wanna do it,
731
00:38:15,896 --> 00:38:17,643
I'll leave you alone."
732
00:38:19,228 --> 00:38:21,313
Maurice and I had moved
to the Isle of Man,
733
00:38:21,396 --> 00:38:22,978
which is where we were born.
734
00:38:23,061 --> 00:38:25,936
Blue was the guy who was gonna
come to the Isle of Man
735
00:38:26,021 --> 00:38:28,188
and audition for us on piano.
736
00:38:32,896 --> 00:38:34,603
We were staying
in Barry's house,
737
00:38:34,686 --> 00:38:37,643
and it was Linda,
and then Maurice came over
738
00:38:37,728 --> 00:38:40,313
and Huey, the father.
739
00:38:40,396 --> 00:38:43,021
Instantly, you feel
comfortable with them.
740
00:38:43,103 --> 00:38:45,438
They started talking
about synthesizers
741
00:38:45,518 --> 00:38:47,936
and Moogs,
742
00:38:48,021 --> 00:38:49,768
and Blue had them all.
743
00:38:49,853 --> 00:38:51,603
There's the Sunday evening
I was leaving,
744
00:38:51,686 --> 00:38:55,103
and Huey said, "Hey,
we haven't heard you play."
745
00:38:56,271 --> 00:38:58,853
But my piano was so bad
746
00:38:58,936 --> 00:39:02,021
that he played something
and it just sounded awful.
747
00:39:02,103 --> 00:39:04,643
It was just, like,
totally embarrassing.
748
00:39:04,728 --> 00:39:07,021
I said, "Sounds fine
to me, man."
749
00:39:07,103 --> 00:39:08,313
"Let's do it," you know?
750
00:39:08,396 --> 00:39:10,021
Barry offered him the job.
751
00:39:10,103 --> 00:39:12,228
I'd always loved the music,
752
00:39:12,313 --> 00:39:14,686
but the first time
you ever hear the Bee Gees
753
00:39:14,768 --> 00:39:16,518
just when they're in a room
like this,
754
00:39:16,603 --> 00:39:18,188
you know, it's just magic.
755
00:39:18,271 --> 00:39:20,853
I think that's
what won me over with them.
756
00:39:20,936 --> 00:39:22,103
I said yes,
757
00:39:22,188 --> 00:39:25,188
and January the 1st, we left.
758
00:39:51,603 --> 00:39:53,271
Miami's a gateway city,
759
00:39:53,353 --> 00:39:56,061
but in those days,
it was kind of sleepy.
760
00:39:56,146 --> 00:39:59,353
You know, a little off
the beaten path.
761
00:39:59,438 --> 00:40:01,936
But in the winter,
that was the place to be,
762
00:40:02,021 --> 00:40:04,896
so Atlantic Records
would always book their acts
763
00:40:04,978 --> 00:40:06,561
down at Criteria.
764
00:40:08,686 --> 00:40:10,271
I was about
the number three engineer
765
00:40:10,353 --> 00:40:11,396
at the studio.
766
00:40:11,478 --> 00:40:12,518
I worked my way up,
767
00:40:12,603 --> 00:40:14,853
and I was at that point
in my career
768
00:40:14,936 --> 00:40:17,188
where I was ready for anything.
769
00:40:24,853 --> 00:40:26,813
When we got to Miami,
all of a sudden, sunshine,
770
00:40:26,896 --> 00:40:28,728
and, oh, you know?
771
00:40:28,811 --> 00:40:30,478
This is paradise.
772
00:40:30,561 --> 00:40:31,561
We'd come from England,
773
00:40:31,643 --> 00:40:34,103
and so there was nothing
sleepy about America.
774
00:40:34,188 --> 00:40:36,329
Put them in the same house
I'd rented for Eric Clapton,
775
00:40:36,353 --> 00:40:38,438
461 Ocean Boulevard.
776
00:40:38,518 --> 00:40:40,036
I think the first thing
all of us did was
777
00:40:40,061 --> 00:40:41,978
take pictures against
that palm tree, you know,
778
00:40:42,061 --> 00:40:44,271
doing the Eric Clapton pose.
779
00:40:47,188 --> 00:40:48,561
Being in that house together,
780
00:40:48,643 --> 00:40:50,313
you know, we were creative,
781
00:40:50,396 --> 00:40:51,313
and we were a family.
782
00:40:51,396 --> 00:40:53,103
I mean, I felt like that.
783
00:40:53,188 --> 00:40:55,061
It did make us close.
784
00:40:55,146 --> 00:40:58,061
I mean, you had to be.
And we'd all watch TV at night.
785
00:40:58,146 --> 00:41:00,103
The chemistry was very exciting.
786
00:41:00,188 --> 00:41:01,371
When you got up in the morning,
787
00:41:01,396 --> 00:41:03,036
you went to breakfast;
you had a cup of tea.
788
00:41:03,061 --> 00:41:05,853
It was all very relaxed.
789
00:41:11,271 --> 00:41:13,643
It was strange, considering
the amount of pressure
790
00:41:13,728 --> 00:41:16,103
that was really on the Bee Gees
at that time.
791
00:41:16,188 --> 00:41:17,561
They were about to drop us.
792
00:41:17,643 --> 00:41:19,438
We had to adopt a new sound.
793
00:41:19,518 --> 00:41:21,188
We had to adopt a new attitude.
794
00:41:21,271 --> 00:41:23,643
So the next step was,
we brought Arif Mardin in
795
00:41:23,728 --> 00:41:24,811
to produce them.
796
00:41:28,896 --> 00:41:30,204
We'd often work
with other people,
797
00:41:30,228 --> 00:41:31,518
but they weren't producers,
798
00:41:31,603 --> 00:41:34,021
and this man
was a literal producer.
799
00:41:34,103 --> 00:41:36,438
They had expressed
how much they wanted to do
800
00:41:36,518 --> 00:41:38,271
American R&B kind of stuff,
801
00:41:38,353 --> 00:41:41,021
and Arif was, you know,
top of the heap for that.
802
00:41:41,103 --> 00:41:44,228
Arif was so instrumental
in producing Black artists,
803
00:41:44,313 --> 00:41:45,686
and we wanted that input.
804
00:41:51,396 --> 00:41:54,353
We actually did an album
with Arif before that,
805
00:41:54,438 --> 00:41:57,021
but Arif said, "We've gotta go
more into R&B,"
806
00:41:57,103 --> 00:41:58,811
and we started working together
807
00:41:58,896 --> 00:42:02,103
right here in Miami,
down at Criteria.
808
00:42:03,103 --> 00:42:05,021
Well, I was in Studio B,
809
00:42:05,103 --> 00:42:06,896
and Arif says to me,
810
00:42:06,978 --> 00:42:09,896
"Carl, have I got a group
for you."
811
00:42:09,978 --> 00:42:12,686
And of course, everybody knew
the Bee Gees.
812
00:42:12,768 --> 00:42:14,853
It was a surprise
out of nowhere.
813
00:42:14,936 --> 00:42:16,021
I was excited.
814
00:42:16,103 --> 00:42:17,329
You know, they sing like angels.
815
00:42:17,353 --> 00:42:20,146
And they were as excited
as I was.
816
00:42:20,228 --> 00:42:22,353
And Arif was right in there
with them.
817
00:42:22,438 --> 00:42:23,518
He said, "Look",
818
00:42:23,603 --> 00:42:25,936
"if you're ever going
to break out brand-new,
819
00:42:26,021 --> 00:42:27,103
"you gotta start now.
820
00:42:27,188 --> 00:42:28,494
"You gotta shock the pants
off these people
821
00:42:28,518 --> 00:42:29,728
who don't believe in you."
822
00:42:29,811 --> 00:42:32,561
Robert came and saw us
when we were making the album,
823
00:42:32,643 --> 00:42:35,518
sat down with us on the beach,
and said, "Right."
824
00:42:35,603 --> 00:42:37,271
"We're gonna start from scratch.
825
00:42:37,353 --> 00:42:38,811
"This is gonna be it.
826
00:42:38,896 --> 00:42:40,103
Let's make it big."
827
00:42:42,146 --> 00:42:44,271
If you said to me or anyone,
828
00:42:44,353 --> 00:42:46,896
"Just go and write a hit song
right now,"
829
00:42:46,978 --> 00:42:48,728
they would be able to craft
something good,
830
00:42:48,811 --> 00:42:51,021
but it would probably be
missing this magic
831
00:42:51,103 --> 00:42:53,228
that, if you work in music
long enough,
832
00:42:53,313 --> 00:42:56,811
you understand
is running everything.
833
00:42:56,896 --> 00:42:59,728
Like surfers with waves.
Surfers don't make the waves.
834
00:42:59,811 --> 00:43:01,853
Fishermen don't make the fish.
835
00:43:01,936 --> 00:43:03,376
Songwriters don't really
write songs.
836
00:43:03,438 --> 00:43:04,768
You receive songs.
837
00:43:06,518 --> 00:43:08,936
Driving backwards
and forwards to Criteria,
838
00:43:09,021 --> 00:43:11,438
this clickity-click thing
was going on in this bridge
839
00:43:11,518 --> 00:43:13,313
every time we crossed over it.
840
00:43:13,396 --> 00:43:14,728
And in my head, it sounded like,
841
00:43:14,811 --> 00:43:15,811
"ch, ch-ch, ch-ch."
842
00:43:19,228 --> 00:43:20,728
And it was gone.
843
00:43:20,811 --> 00:43:23,768
And eventually, I started
singing to it in my head.
844
00:43:26,768 --> 00:43:28,103
I remember going to the studio.
845
00:43:28,188 --> 00:43:30,643
Barry said, "Can you do
chicken picking, Alan?"
846
00:43:30,728 --> 00:43:33,603
I didn't really know
what it was.
847
00:43:33,686 --> 00:43:35,728
So I just played this one note
and muted it.
848
00:43:35,811 --> 00:43:37,132
Thought it sounded
like a chicken.
849
00:43:39,978 --> 00:43:41,329
And mixed
with Barry's rhythm part,
850
00:43:41,353 --> 00:43:43,228
it really worked, you know?
851
00:44:01,103 --> 00:44:02,146
At that time, you know,
852
00:44:02,228 --> 00:44:04,518
a handful of R&B artists
were using synthesizers,
853
00:44:04,603 --> 00:44:08,146
so we went into this field
854
00:44:08,228 --> 00:44:10,518
pioneering, in a way.
855
00:44:14,768 --> 00:44:18,518
Music is this huge energy
flying around everywhere,
856
00:44:18,603 --> 00:44:20,811
and if you're lucky,
you get little slices of it
857
00:44:20,896 --> 00:44:21,936
that turn into songs.
858
00:44:22,021 --> 00:44:23,103
There is a sort of...
859
00:44:23,188 --> 00:44:25,246
- Like a radio transmitter.
- It's exactly like that.
860
00:44:25,271 --> 00:44:26,871
It's almost as if
somebody's already written
861
00:44:26,896 --> 00:44:28,936
the songs in the air
and they're giving them to us.
862
00:44:35,936 --> 00:44:37,121
It was Robert who really pressed
863
00:44:37,146 --> 00:44:39,353
for "Jive Talkin'" to come out
as the first single,
864
00:44:39,438 --> 00:44:41,896
because it was something
totally unexpected from us.
865
00:44:41,978 --> 00:44:43,146
We sent the record out
866
00:44:43,228 --> 00:44:44,708
but without naming
the Bee Gees on it,
867
00:44:44,768 --> 00:44:48,188
because by then,
their stock had fallen so low
868
00:44:48,271 --> 00:44:49,896
with radio stations in America,
869
00:44:49,978 --> 00:44:52,188
and within hours
870
00:44:52,271 --> 00:44:53,704
of the record landing
at all the radio stations,
871
00:44:53,728 --> 00:44:55,079
they were calling in, saying,
"Who is this?
872
00:44:55,103 --> 00:44:56,478
This is amazing."
873
00:44:59,396 --> 00:45:01,853
The British group who move
into number one this week
874
00:45:01,936 --> 00:45:02,853
hit number one
875
00:45:02,936 --> 00:45:05,313
exactly four years ago
to the week.
876
00:45:06,478 --> 00:45:09,188
The brand-new number one song
in the USA,
877
00:45:09,271 --> 00:45:12,061
the Bee Gees
and "Jive Talkin'."
878
00:45:16,896 --> 00:45:18,396
When "Jive Talkin'" came out,
879
00:45:18,478 --> 00:45:19,643
everybody went, "Who?"
880
00:45:19,728 --> 00:45:21,561
"The Bee Gees?
'Broken Heart' Bee Gees?
881
00:45:21,643 --> 00:45:22,936
Are you kidding?"
882
00:45:23,021 --> 00:45:24,561
Something different
was happening,
883
00:45:24,643 --> 00:45:26,188
and the brothers felt it too.
884
00:45:26,271 --> 00:45:27,438
Miami, Miami Beach,
885
00:45:27,518 --> 00:45:29,518
that whole vibe turned them on.
886
00:45:29,603 --> 00:45:31,896
I just fell in love
with the atmosphere here.
887
00:45:31,978 --> 00:45:34,768
It reminded me so much
of growing up in Australia.
888
00:45:35,643 --> 00:45:36,853
That's great, Rob.
889
00:45:36,936 --> 00:45:38,896
And from "Jive Talkin'" onwards,
890
00:45:38,978 --> 00:45:40,896
we kicked it up.
891
00:45:40,978 --> 00:45:43,188
The songwriting was
just very unique.
892
00:45:43,271 --> 00:45:44,353
Nothing like it.
893
00:45:44,438 --> 00:45:45,728
They would write on the spot,
894
00:45:45,811 --> 00:45:47,896
and they would bounce
off each other.
895
00:45:47,978 --> 00:45:50,438
Okay, you let us know
when you're ready.
896
00:45:50,518 --> 00:45:52,228
"Nights on Broadway"
was one of those.
897
00:45:52,313 --> 00:45:54,371
The guys had been to New York,
and they go, "Oh, this is..."
898
00:45:54,396 --> 00:45:56,271
We gotta write
a New York kind of song."
899
00:45:56,353 --> 00:45:57,853
- Here we go.
Take ten.
900
00:45:57,936 --> 00:45:59,936
They just did it naturally
in the studio,
901
00:46:00,021 --> 00:46:01,438
and everybody chipped in.
902
00:46:01,518 --> 00:46:02,518
Three, four.
903
00:46:13,643 --> 00:46:15,603
Ahmet Ertegun came to Miami.
904
00:46:15,686 --> 00:46:18,103
He was there when we were
cutting "Nights on Broadway."
905
00:46:18,188 --> 00:46:20,478
At the time,
it was "Lights on Broadway."
906
00:46:25,978 --> 00:46:28,478
And Ahmet went, "No."
907
00:46:28,561 --> 00:46:30,811
He said, "You know,
you've got to get more adult"
908
00:46:30,896 --> 00:46:32,396
about the song."
909
00:46:32,478 --> 00:46:34,768
So "Lights on Broadway"
became "Nights on Broadway."
910
00:47:04,811 --> 00:47:06,329
We were completing
"Nights on Broadway."
911
00:47:06,353 --> 00:47:08,188
We'd just done
most of the vocal tracks.
912
00:47:08,271 --> 00:47:09,579
Usually, you know,
at the end, you know,
913
00:47:09,603 --> 00:47:11,246
you have some ad-libs
or some kind of thing
914
00:47:11,271 --> 00:47:12,744
to take us away
from the original melody
915
00:47:12,768 --> 00:47:13,978
and have some fun.
916
00:47:14,061 --> 00:47:15,686
Arif suggested to the band,
917
00:47:15,768 --> 00:47:18,188
"Hey, you know, we really need
some kind of background parts
918
00:47:18,271 --> 00:47:21,396
that come in and express
the meaning of the song."
919
00:47:21,478 --> 00:47:23,853
He was looking for one of us
to scream,
920
00:47:23,936 --> 00:47:25,896
in tune, if possible.
921
00:47:25,978 --> 00:47:28,228
I said, "I'll go out
and give it a shot."
922
00:47:28,313 --> 00:47:30,643
- Are we almost ready?
Let's do it.
923
00:47:30,728 --> 00:47:32,021
So he went out there and he did
924
00:47:32,103 --> 00:47:35,686
the "blaming it alls."
925
00:47:41,103 --> 00:47:42,896
Everybody in the control room
woke up,
926
00:47:42,978 --> 00:47:45,686
and it was like,
"Oh, this is a new sound."
927
00:47:50,021 --> 00:47:51,380
I was thinking,
"My God, I don't...
928
00:47:51,438 --> 00:47:52,518
"where is this coming from?
929
00:47:52,561 --> 00:47:53,561
I can do this."
930
00:47:53,603 --> 00:47:55,978
My whole life, I didn't know
I could do this.
931
00:47:56,061 --> 00:47:57,353
Everybody's giving me credit.
932
00:47:57,478 --> 00:47:59,603
No, he was singing it.
I said, "Keep on doing it."
933
00:48:07,271 --> 00:48:09,103
Arif brought it out of us,
all that.
934
00:48:09,188 --> 00:48:10,987
I mean, we weren't the first
to sing falsetto.
935
00:48:14,643 --> 00:48:15,728
We loved the Stylistics.
936
00:48:15,811 --> 00:48:18,728
We loved the Spinners,
the Delfonics.
937
00:48:18,811 --> 00:48:21,353
They were all
falsetto lead singers.
938
00:48:29,313 --> 00:48:31,271
There's something to be said
about all music
939
00:48:31,353 --> 00:48:33,561
is that it doesn't happen
in a vacuum.
940
00:48:33,643 --> 00:48:37,228
The falsetto is very much
a Black tradition,
941
00:48:37,313 --> 00:48:38,561
but they've translated it
942
00:48:38,643 --> 00:48:42,643
into this interesting
interpretation of soul.
943
00:48:42,728 --> 00:48:44,478
But I guess
more importantly for me,
944
00:48:44,561 --> 00:48:45,561
it's emotional.
945
00:48:51,021 --> 00:48:52,494
Because we were so excited
about this,
946
00:48:52,518 --> 00:48:54,811
we started writing songs
for this voice.
947
00:48:54,896 --> 00:48:57,271
It created another dimension
of sound...
948
00:48:57,353 --> 00:48:59,438
That's what we thought...
You know, emotionally.
949
00:48:59,518 --> 00:49:02,896
It became another icon
of the Gibbs.
950
00:49:02,978 --> 00:49:05,438
Everybody knew,
when you heard that falsetto,
951
00:49:05,518 --> 00:49:07,061
that's the Bee Gees.
952
00:49:16,518 --> 00:49:17,768
When we sing songs like...
953
00:49:21,728 --> 00:49:23,518
It's Barry and Robin
singing in unison.
954
00:49:23,603 --> 00:49:27,021
But they mesh together so well
that it sounds like one voice.
955
00:49:27,103 --> 00:49:30,146
But it's a different voice
from them separately.
956
00:49:38,896 --> 00:49:40,936
It's delivered
with such delicacy,
957
00:49:41,021 --> 00:49:45,643
and the message in the lyrics
958
00:49:45,728 --> 00:49:49,643
was what guys should say,
didn't say, couldn't say,
959
00:49:49,728 --> 00:49:50,811
for whatever reasons.
960
00:49:50,896 --> 00:49:52,643
It's the kind of music
you might've bought
961
00:49:52,728 --> 00:49:53,889
and given to your girlfriend.
962
00:49:55,103 --> 00:49:57,353
But that's what was special
about them.
963
00:50:04,643 --> 00:50:07,188
"Main Course" became
a turning point for us.
964
00:50:07,271 --> 00:50:08,978
Dennis Bryon on drums
965
00:50:09,061 --> 00:50:12,021
and Blue Weaver
and Alan Kendall,
966
00:50:12,103 --> 00:50:13,728
that became our band.
967
00:50:23,396 --> 00:50:26,728
One of their best qualities
was adaptability.
968
00:50:26,811 --> 00:50:30,853
In many ways,
they were chameleons of pop.
969
00:50:30,936 --> 00:50:32,353
The way they changed
970
00:50:32,438 --> 00:50:34,478
and the groove
they got into there
971
00:50:34,561 --> 00:50:36,518
was so profound.
972
00:50:36,603 --> 00:50:40,021
If that was something
that was initiated by me,
973
00:50:40,103 --> 00:50:41,103
I can't think of any...
974
00:50:41,188 --> 00:50:43,853
One of the great things
I've done in my life.
975
00:50:43,936 --> 00:50:45,603
I'll take full credit.
976
00:50:54,188 --> 00:50:57,603
We're getting ready
to record the next album,
977
00:50:57,686 --> 00:50:58,726
and we get this phone call
978
00:50:58,768 --> 00:51:01,686
that Arif can't be involved
in this album.
979
00:51:04,103 --> 00:51:06,396
Robert chose to take
980
00:51:06,478 --> 00:51:08,438
the organization away
from Atlantic Records
981
00:51:08,518 --> 00:51:11,061
and go private.
982
00:51:11,146 --> 00:51:13,353
Atlantic, who were not happy
about that, said,
983
00:51:13,438 --> 00:51:14,786
"Well, you're not using
Arif anymore
984
00:51:14,811 --> 00:51:16,396
as a house producer."
985
00:51:16,478 --> 00:51:18,061
I said,
"What about the next album?"
986
00:51:18,146 --> 00:51:19,603
Arif... you know, I said,
987
00:51:19,686 --> 00:51:21,936
"Who do you think can continue
where you left off?"
988
00:51:24,021 --> 00:51:25,768
I got a call from Barry,
989
00:51:25,853 --> 00:51:27,811
and he said,
"I want my studio time back
990
00:51:27,896 --> 00:51:28,978
and I wanna work with you."
991
00:51:33,353 --> 00:51:35,021
And I'm in the control room.
992
00:51:35,103 --> 00:51:36,786
I said to Dennis, the drummer,
I says, you know,
993
00:51:36,811 --> 00:51:37,954
"That pattern you're playing
right now
994
00:51:37,978 --> 00:51:39,603
is just a little too busy."
995
00:51:41,853 --> 00:51:43,438
He said,
"Well, what do you mean?"
996
00:51:43,518 --> 00:51:45,478
I said, "I can't get
into specifics"
997
00:51:45,561 --> 00:51:47,271
about the note values."
998
00:51:47,353 --> 00:51:50,271
I didn't have a technical term
for the open and closed hi-hat
999
00:51:50,353 --> 00:51:51,603
or any of that stuff.
1000
00:51:51,686 --> 00:51:55,271
So apparently, you know,
I needed a communicator.
1001
00:51:58,313 --> 00:51:59,744
I was working
as an independent producer
1002
00:51:59,768 --> 00:52:01,978
on some pub band in London.
1003
00:52:02,061 --> 00:52:04,438
Carl called and he said,
"What are you doing?"
1004
00:52:04,518 --> 00:52:05,996
And I said,
"Well, I just finished the mix.
1005
00:52:06,021 --> 00:52:07,021
I'm on a plane tomorrow."
1006
00:52:07,061 --> 00:52:08,936
Albhy went
to Berklee School of Music
1007
00:52:09,021 --> 00:52:10,021
in New England,
1008
00:52:10,061 --> 00:52:12,478
and he was
one of my best friends.
1009
00:52:12,561 --> 00:52:14,768
And he says, "I'll be
on the next flight to Florida."
1010
00:52:17,313 --> 00:52:19,978
- I got off the plane.
I went straight to the studio.
1011
00:52:20,061 --> 00:52:21,146
I walked in.
1012
00:52:21,228 --> 00:52:23,188
They were working
on "You Should Be Dancing."
1013
00:52:23,271 --> 00:52:24,371
They came in the control room,
1014
00:52:24,396 --> 00:52:25,936
and Barry said,
"What did you think?"
1015
00:52:26,021 --> 00:52:27,478
And I said,
"Well, I just got in,
1016
00:52:27,561 --> 00:52:29,643
but sounds awfully good."
1017
00:52:29,728 --> 00:52:32,146
We seemed to hit it off,
so I came back the next day.
1018
00:52:32,228 --> 00:52:34,313
Now, what you have
to remember at the time,
1019
00:52:34,396 --> 00:52:35,518
Albhy was a hippie.
1020
00:52:35,603 --> 00:52:37,146
I mean, he was just different.
1021
00:52:39,936 --> 00:52:42,146
Albhy used to hang
around the studio,
1022
00:52:42,228 --> 00:52:43,643
and I got on really well
with him.
1023
00:52:43,728 --> 00:52:46,811
I found out he played
on "I Shot the Sheriff"
1024
00:52:46,896 --> 00:52:47,978
with Eric.
1025
00:52:48,061 --> 00:52:51,518
Albhy had an inroad
into technology,
1026
00:52:51,603 --> 00:52:52,768
and he had a great ear.
1027
00:52:52,853 --> 00:52:55,643
Everybody just seemed to be,
I think, relieved
1028
00:52:55,728 --> 00:52:59,021
to have another ear
in the control room
1029
00:52:59,103 --> 00:53:01,271
to hear what they were doing
as a whole.
1030
00:53:10,271 --> 00:53:12,188
In the beginning, when I came,
1031
00:53:12,271 --> 00:53:14,686
the three brothers
were clearly a unit.
1032
00:53:14,768 --> 00:53:16,530
Each of them knew
the way their brothers sang
1033
00:53:16,603 --> 00:53:18,061
and would be on the same mic
1034
00:53:18,146 --> 00:53:19,853
and they would lean in
or lean out
1035
00:53:19,936 --> 00:53:22,146
or complement
each other's voices.
1036
00:53:22,228 --> 00:53:24,021
They were in perfect synchrony.
1037
00:53:31,978 --> 00:53:34,518
- We found another sound.
We found a new sound.
1038
00:53:34,603 --> 00:53:36,686
I came up
with a lot of new ideas
1039
00:53:36,768 --> 00:53:38,353
to suit the falsetto.
1040
00:53:38,438 --> 00:53:40,228
Everybody was saying
the same thing:
1041
00:53:40,313 --> 00:53:42,561
"Do that falsetto again.
Do that falsetto again."
1042
00:53:42,643 --> 00:53:45,061
And so that was fine for me.
I was having a ball.
1043
00:53:50,811 --> 00:53:54,396
A lot of new music has been
coming out of Miami lately,
1044
00:53:54,478 --> 00:53:56,561
enough so
that we've even heard mentioned
1045
00:53:56,643 --> 00:53:59,061
the term "Miami Sound."
1046
00:54:06,811 --> 00:54:08,728
This is actually
a really important period
1047
00:54:08,811 --> 00:54:11,853
for musicianship and production
and songwriting
1048
00:54:11,936 --> 00:54:13,811
that targets the dance floor.
1049
00:54:17,353 --> 00:54:18,661
It's a different
emotional energy,
1050
00:54:18,686 --> 00:54:21,103
which is about,
can you make the body move?
1051
00:54:21,188 --> 00:54:22,978
Can you make the body happy?
1052
00:54:29,686 --> 00:54:31,103
And certain songs sounded like
1053
00:54:31,188 --> 00:54:34,811
the human embodiment
of a brass section.
1054
00:54:34,896 --> 00:54:36,936
The same way
a horn just punches...
1055
00:54:37,021 --> 00:54:38,271
Yeah.
1056
00:54:38,353 --> 00:54:39,994
That's what Barry's voice
reminds me of.
1057
00:54:45,728 --> 00:54:49,438
I was always into arrangement
of instruments.
1058
00:54:49,518 --> 00:54:50,728
"You Should Be Dancing,"
1059
00:54:50,811 --> 00:54:54,228
their voices together
sound like trumpets to me.
1060
00:54:58,103 --> 00:54:59,643
I am not high, for the record.
1061
00:54:59,728 --> 00:55:02,978
I just wanna...
1062
00:55:07,021 --> 00:55:07,936
It was a discovery.
1063
00:55:08,021 --> 00:55:09,936
We've discovered a new audience.
1064
00:55:10,021 --> 00:55:10,936
At the clubs,
1065
00:55:11,021 --> 00:55:13,518
"You Should Be Dancing"
exploded.
1066
00:55:13,603 --> 00:55:15,686
Not just, "Oh, well,
I heard that record"
1067
00:55:15,768 --> 00:55:16,936
and I really liked it."
1068
00:55:17,021 --> 00:55:21,438
It was three times a night
at any club that you went to.
1069
00:55:21,518 --> 00:55:23,313
There was a whole industry
1070
00:55:23,396 --> 00:55:26,228
that was built
around this clubbing thing.
1071
00:55:26,313 --> 00:55:30,478
"Billboard" started a chart
that was dance music chart.
1072
00:55:30,561 --> 00:55:34,518
This billion-dollar industry
was being built
1073
00:55:34,603 --> 00:55:36,518
way before the Bee Gees.
1074
00:55:36,603 --> 00:55:38,643
A lot of people don't realize
1075
00:55:38,728 --> 00:55:42,728
disco started in the gay
and the Black community.
1076
00:55:42,811 --> 00:55:44,188
People don't understand
1077
00:55:44,271 --> 00:55:46,811
what it was like back then
for gay people.
1078
00:55:46,896 --> 00:55:48,396
There was a law in New York
1079
00:55:48,478 --> 00:55:51,853
that did not allow
people of the same sex
1080
00:55:51,936 --> 00:55:53,353
to dance together
1081
00:55:53,438 --> 00:55:57,021
in a place
that had a liquor license.
1082
00:55:57,103 --> 00:55:59,061
And then the law changed,
1083
00:55:59,146 --> 00:56:01,896
and that allowed me
to open my club.
1084
00:56:03,478 --> 00:56:06,313
A new era of dance music started
1085
00:56:06,396 --> 00:56:09,061
in the gay underground clubs.
1086
00:56:13,768 --> 00:56:18,353
So the record industry wants
to name it,
1087
00:56:18,478 --> 00:56:20,768
package it, sell it.
1088
00:56:20,853 --> 00:56:23,561
That was the explosion
1089
00:56:23,643 --> 00:56:26,021
of the disco sound.
1090
00:56:32,811 --> 00:56:35,561
We're down
at Criteria Sound Studios,
1091
00:56:35,643 --> 00:56:37,896
and currently, it's the studio
1092
00:56:37,978 --> 00:56:40,313
that's being used
by the Bee Gees.
1093
00:56:40,396 --> 00:56:43,061
What particular thing
about the studio
1094
00:56:43,146 --> 00:56:44,353
makes it so attractive?
1095
00:56:44,438 --> 00:56:46,353
- It's cheap.
- It's cheap, yeah.
1096
00:56:46,438 --> 00:56:50,228
- No.
Cheap it isn't, but...
1097
00:56:50,313 --> 00:56:53,021
But the actual atmosphere
of the place is very relaxing.
1098
00:56:53,103 --> 00:56:54,661
We create better here
than we do anywhere else.
1099
00:56:54,686 --> 00:56:55,728
Yeah.
1100
00:56:55,811 --> 00:56:57,452
That's my story,
and I'm sticking to it.
1101
00:57:02,478 --> 00:57:04,936
America was the ultimate dream.
1102
00:57:05,021 --> 00:57:07,271
As three kids, we said,
1103
00:57:07,353 --> 00:57:09,271
"One day, we're gonna have
houses in America
1104
00:57:09,353 --> 00:57:11,603
all next door to each other
with swimming pools."
1105
00:57:12,896 --> 00:57:14,416
And we thought,
"Oh, that'll be great."
1106
00:57:19,518 --> 00:57:21,811
It was a huge uprooting.
1107
00:57:23,561 --> 00:57:25,561
It's a very large family,
1108
00:57:25,643 --> 00:57:28,438
and it just kept getting
bigger and bigger over time.
1109
00:57:30,353 --> 00:57:33,603
Mum and Dad came to Miami
as quickly as we did.
1110
00:57:33,686 --> 00:57:35,829
I think they were probably
the happiest they'd ever been
1111
00:57:35,853 --> 00:57:36,978
in their lives.
1112
00:57:37,061 --> 00:57:40,396
And of course,
Andy came here with them.
1113
00:57:42,561 --> 00:57:45,853
Andy was a gift
out of left field.
1114
00:57:45,936 --> 00:57:50,021
But I never knew he existed
until one day, he shows up
1115
00:57:50,103 --> 00:57:52,978
fresh from Australia.
1116
00:57:53,061 --> 00:57:55,103
Andy was a great kid.
1117
00:57:55,188 --> 00:57:57,478
He could do anything
he set his mind to.
1118
00:57:57,561 --> 00:58:00,146
Barry was Andy's idol.
1119
00:58:00,228 --> 00:58:02,271
They were almost like twins.
1120
00:58:02,353 --> 00:58:03,603
We were very much alike.
1121
00:58:03,686 --> 00:58:05,853
We looked alike.
We had the same birthmarks.
1122
00:58:05,936 --> 00:58:07,643
I would say that we were
as much like twins
1123
00:58:07,728 --> 00:58:09,643
as Maurice and Robin.
1124
00:58:09,728 --> 00:58:11,603
"Main Course"
and "Children of the World,"
1125
00:58:11,686 --> 00:58:12,686
which followed that,
1126
00:58:12,728 --> 00:58:13,829
they were, like,
triple platinum.
1127
00:58:13,853 --> 00:58:16,643
I think he really wanted
to be a part of that.
1128
00:58:16,728 --> 00:58:18,478
They suggested
that I go to Australia,
1129
00:58:18,561 --> 00:58:20,146
as my brothers first did in 1958
1130
00:58:20,228 --> 00:58:21,811
when I was only five months old,
1131
00:58:21,896 --> 00:58:25,021
and start working there
and get some records released.
1132
00:58:25,103 --> 00:58:27,188
Andy was very young then.
1133
00:58:27,271 --> 00:58:29,146
He had his little band.
1134
00:58:29,228 --> 00:58:30,728
It was a process
of building him up,
1135
00:58:30,811 --> 00:58:34,103
getting him to play live,
getting him to be an artist.
1136
00:58:34,188 --> 00:58:35,518
I was there for two years.
1137
00:58:35,603 --> 00:58:36,911
Out of the blue,
a phone call came
1138
00:58:36,936 --> 00:58:37,811
from my brother Barry
1139
00:58:37,896 --> 00:58:39,561
and said, "I wanna produce you,"
1140
00:58:39,643 --> 00:58:41,454
and I think it was, like,
two weeks or something,
1141
00:58:41,478 --> 00:58:44,518
I was in the studio
to do a new album in Miami.
1142
00:58:44,603 --> 00:58:46,188
I didn't think I was ready.
1143
00:58:46,271 --> 00:58:47,271
The first few times
1144
00:58:47,313 --> 00:58:49,396
on a real professional
studio microphone,
1145
00:58:49,478 --> 00:58:51,518
Andy was, like, petrified,
1146
00:58:51,603 --> 00:58:54,061
but, you know, Barry was there
1147
00:58:54,146 --> 00:58:56,896
and guided him through
and helped him with lyrics.
1148
00:58:56,978 --> 00:58:59,686
He was very receptive
to new ideas.
1149
00:59:02,896 --> 00:59:05,103
And it didn't take him long,
you know,
1150
00:59:05,188 --> 00:59:08,228
to find, like, you know,
another groove.
1151
00:59:21,313 --> 00:59:23,728
The Bee Gees' point of view
was about having hit records
1152
00:59:23,811 --> 00:59:24,728
and being on the radio,
1153
00:59:24,811 --> 00:59:27,228
and so the greatest gift
that you could give
1154
00:59:27,313 --> 00:59:28,603
to your younger brother
1155
00:59:28,686 --> 00:59:30,438
would be to give him
that success,
1156
00:59:30,518 --> 00:59:33,353
to write songs with him,
to teach him to be a star.
1157
00:59:40,021 --> 00:59:41,561
And then suddenly,
out of nowhere,
1158
00:59:41,643 --> 00:59:43,936
Andy had about three
number ones in a row.
1159
00:59:44,021 --> 00:59:45,896
He was a teen idol.
1160
00:59:45,978 --> 00:59:47,978
There was talk about him
becoming a Bee Gee.
1161
00:59:48,061 --> 00:59:50,228
I think Robert saw
he had a younger audience.
1162
00:59:50,313 --> 00:59:52,228
Smart to keep him on his own.
1163
01:00:00,811 --> 01:00:02,768
All of a sudden,
he was the big thing.
1164
01:00:02,853 --> 01:00:05,061
There was a period
when we lived in the shadow
1165
01:00:05,146 --> 01:00:07,768
of Andy's band.
1166
01:00:16,853 --> 01:00:18,561
After
"Children of the World" album,
1167
01:00:18,643 --> 01:00:19,768
the next project,
1168
01:00:19,853 --> 01:00:22,021
we were booked
to record in France
1169
01:00:22,103 --> 01:00:24,936
'cause of the Elton John album
"Honky Château."
1170
01:00:25,021 --> 01:00:26,146
It sounded great.
1171
01:00:30,853 --> 01:00:33,021
Robert sent us there...
1172
01:00:33,103 --> 01:00:34,686
I think it was
some kind of tax thing.
1173
01:00:34,768 --> 01:00:37,478
We thought, "Well, if this
studio sounds that good",
1174
01:00:37,561 --> 01:00:39,313
"hell yeah, let's go off
to France."
1175
01:00:39,396 --> 01:00:40,396
Why not?
1176
01:00:44,936 --> 01:00:48,603
It wasn't the honky château
that Elton John had used.
1177
01:00:51,768 --> 01:00:53,643
Now, château sounds
absolutely gorgeous,
1178
01:00:53,728 --> 01:00:54,811
doesn't it?
1179
01:00:54,896 --> 01:00:56,978
Beautiful building,
great grounds and gardens
1180
01:00:57,061 --> 01:00:58,478
and ponds and fountains.
1181
01:00:58,561 --> 01:00:59,478
No.
1182
01:00:59,561 --> 01:01:01,478
It's nothing like that.
1183
01:01:01,561 --> 01:01:05,353
It was a half-built castle,
no central heating, nothing,
1184
01:01:05,438 --> 01:01:06,478
and it was a dump.
1185
01:01:06,561 --> 01:01:08,978
We seemed to be
in the middle of nowhere.
1186
01:01:09,061 --> 01:01:11,103
Not a happy place to be.
1187
01:01:11,188 --> 01:01:12,853
It was really kind of decrepit.
1188
01:01:12,936 --> 01:01:15,313
I think it'd been used
to make porn movies.
1189
01:01:15,396 --> 01:01:17,188
This was not right.
1190
01:01:17,271 --> 01:01:19,188
But because there was
a contract,
1191
01:01:19,271 --> 01:01:22,438
we just decided to, you know,
plow on through.
1192
01:01:22,518 --> 01:01:24,146
We were going there
to mix a live album
1193
01:01:24,228 --> 01:01:26,396
called "Here At Last... Live."
1194
01:01:26,478 --> 01:01:28,353
But also,
we were getting songs ready
1195
01:01:28,438 --> 01:01:29,603
for our new studio album,
1196
01:01:29,686 --> 01:01:32,021
which would be the follow-up
to "Children of the World."
1197
01:01:32,103 --> 01:01:35,353
And we got a call
from Robert Stigwood.
1198
01:01:41,643 --> 01:01:43,021
A friend of mine, Nik Cohn,
1199
01:01:43,103 --> 01:01:45,061
wrote this piece
for "New York" magazine,
1200
01:01:45,146 --> 01:01:46,853
"Tribal Rites
of the New Saturday Night."
1201
01:01:46,936 --> 01:01:50,396
Disco was really underway,
in Manhattan, anyway,
1202
01:01:50,478 --> 01:01:52,061
but Nik Cohn's point was that
1203
01:01:52,146 --> 01:01:54,021
rather than just being
underground gay clubs,
1204
01:01:54,103 --> 01:01:56,396
straight couples are now going
to do the hustle
1205
01:01:56,478 --> 01:01:58,561
on a Saturday night
in the suburbs.
1206
01:01:58,643 --> 01:01:59,954
So I got Robert to buy
the film rights
1207
01:01:59,978 --> 01:02:02,728
to a magazine article,
of which there was no story.
1208
01:02:02,811 --> 01:02:04,438
But it caught Robert's attention
1209
01:02:04,518 --> 01:02:06,313
because he saw
1210
01:02:06,396 --> 01:02:08,103
that that's a lead role
for an actor
1211
01:02:08,188 --> 01:02:09,728
if it was a movie.
1212
01:02:09,811 --> 01:02:10,811
He announced
1213
01:02:10,853 --> 01:02:12,289
at the Beverly Hills Hotel
at breakfast,
1214
01:02:12,313 --> 01:02:14,518
"I'm signing John Travolta
to a three-picture deal,"
1215
01:02:14,603 --> 01:02:15,853
and people thought he was mad.
1216
01:02:15,936 --> 01:02:17,518
He was a TV actor.
1217
01:02:17,603 --> 01:02:19,853
No one gets a million dollars
for three pictures.
1218
01:02:19,936 --> 01:02:21,786
Turned out to be the bargain
of the century, of course,
1219
01:02:21,811 --> 01:02:23,438
because he got him for "Grease"
1220
01:02:23,518 --> 01:02:25,061
and the movie
we don't talk about,
1221
01:02:25,146 --> 01:02:26,728
"Moment by Moment,"
1222
01:02:26,811 --> 01:02:28,228
but two out of three's not bad.
1223
01:02:30,478 --> 01:02:31,896
I was still running RSO Records,
1224
01:02:31,978 --> 01:02:34,518
so my job was
to do the soundtrack,
1225
01:02:34,603 --> 01:02:35,896
and my brief was,
1226
01:02:35,978 --> 01:02:37,936
"Put all of your favorite
disco tracks
1227
01:02:38,021 --> 01:02:39,204
"and everyone will play it
at a party
1228
01:02:39,228 --> 01:02:40,469
and they'll
never stop dancing."
1229
01:02:45,686 --> 01:02:47,438
These were comparatively easy,
1230
01:02:47,518 --> 01:02:50,936
but we needed the Bee Gees
to write a few songs.
1231
01:02:51,021 --> 01:02:52,561
Phone call came through
from Robert,
1232
01:02:52,643 --> 01:02:54,438
saying, "I wanna make
this film."
1233
01:02:54,518 --> 01:02:56,768
He said, "But I'm gonna need
two or three songs."
1234
01:02:56,853 --> 01:02:59,103
It wasn't the idea that they
would do the soundtrack.
1235
01:02:59,188 --> 01:03:00,313
We knew they were busy.
1236
01:03:00,396 --> 01:03:02,228
"But have you got some songs?"
Robert said,
1237
01:03:02,313 --> 01:03:05,271
and they said, "Yeah, sure."
1238
01:03:05,353 --> 01:03:07,768
Robert said,
"I'm sending you a script."
1239
01:03:07,853 --> 01:03:10,438
But we decided
not to read the script.
1240
01:03:10,518 --> 01:03:12,643
We weren't writing
the "Fever" music.
1241
01:03:12,728 --> 01:03:16,438
We were writing our new album
and just having fun doing it.
1242
01:03:16,518 --> 01:03:17,744
They already had
a couple of tunes
1243
01:03:17,768 --> 01:03:19,188
or some titles, anyway.
1244
01:03:19,271 --> 01:03:20,704
We thought,
"Let's leave it with them."
1245
01:03:20,728 --> 01:03:25,478
What we ended up doing
was the demos of these songs.
1246
01:03:25,561 --> 01:03:26,579
And I was really surprised
1247
01:03:26,603 --> 01:03:28,036
that, you know, it was
only a few weeks later
1248
01:03:28,061 --> 01:03:30,103
we got the songs.
1249
01:03:30,188 --> 01:03:34,768
We got a cassette,
and to this day, it's amazing.
1250
01:03:47,896 --> 01:03:49,036
It was just one after the other.
1251
01:03:49,061 --> 01:03:51,353
You know, "Stayin' Alive,"
"More Than a Woman,"
1252
01:03:51,438 --> 01:03:53,853
"How Deep Is Your Love,"
"If I Can't Have You,"
1253
01:03:53,936 --> 01:03:54,978
"Night Fever"
1254
01:03:55,061 --> 01:03:56,313
on one cassette.
1255
01:03:56,396 --> 01:03:58,353
And I thought, "Yes."
1256
01:03:58,438 --> 01:03:59,896
We've got a soundtrack."
1257
01:03:59,978 --> 01:04:01,811
You know,
you listen to that tape,
1258
01:04:01,896 --> 01:04:03,518
whoever was playing
on those records,
1259
01:04:03,603 --> 01:04:04,603
they would've been hits.
1260
01:04:04,643 --> 01:04:05,811
Those songs are so good.
1261
01:04:05,896 --> 01:04:07,978
You think, "Shit," you know?
1262
01:04:08,061 --> 01:04:10,188
"That's so cool."
1263
01:04:10,271 --> 01:04:11,478
We had the demos,
1264
01:04:11,561 --> 01:04:12,786
and then we went
into the process
1265
01:04:12,811 --> 01:04:14,643
of making real records.
1266
01:04:14,728 --> 01:04:17,643
Barry and Carl and I lived
in that control room,
1267
01:04:17,728 --> 01:04:19,188
I don't know, 16 hours a day.
1268
01:04:19,271 --> 01:04:21,561
- Yeah.
That was the only thing to do.
1269
01:04:24,021 --> 01:04:25,853
We recorded "Night Fever" first.
1270
01:04:25,936 --> 01:04:27,478
We actually had that in the can.
1271
01:04:29,603 --> 01:04:32,518
Robert called and said,
"I need a title for the film."
1272
01:04:32,603 --> 01:04:35,313
"What I've got at the moment,"
I said, "is two titles:
1273
01:04:35,396 --> 01:04:37,518
'Stayin' Alive'
and 'Night Fever.'"
1274
01:04:37,603 --> 01:04:40,518
And he said, "'Night Fever.'"
1275
01:04:40,603 --> 01:04:42,228
Hmm," he said, "sounds okay,"
he said,
1276
01:04:42,313 --> 01:04:45,103
"but it sounds
a bit too pornographic.
1277
01:04:45,188 --> 01:04:47,768
"It'd need to be called
'Saturday Night, '" he said.
1278
01:04:47,853 --> 01:04:49,936
So it turned
into "Saturday Night Fever."
1279
01:04:55,146 --> 01:04:57,896
We were editing "Fever"
on the lot at Paramount.
1280
01:04:57,978 --> 01:05:00,353
I was deluged
by Paramount people saying,
1281
01:05:00,438 --> 01:05:02,396
"How's your little disco movie
coming along?"
1282
01:05:02,478 --> 01:05:03,936
So that was a bit patronizing.
1283
01:05:04,021 --> 01:05:05,396
But the inspiring thing was
1284
01:05:05,478 --> 01:05:07,353
that Stigwood,
during postproduction, said,
1285
01:05:07,438 --> 01:05:08,829
"Why do we wait
for the release of the film?
1286
01:05:08,853 --> 01:05:09,978
Let's put out a single now."
1287
01:05:10,061 --> 01:05:12,271
And then he started
with the heads of Paramount,
1288
01:05:12,353 --> 01:05:13,396
like, "How many theaters?"
1289
01:05:13,478 --> 01:05:15,188
And they told him
something like 200.
1290
01:05:15,271 --> 01:05:17,728
He said, "I'm releasing
the record in every city."
1291
01:05:17,811 --> 01:05:19,896
Why can't it be
in every single city?"
1292
01:05:19,978 --> 01:05:21,228
So they made a deal
1293
01:05:21,313 --> 01:05:23,271
whereby if the record got
to the top 20,
1294
01:05:23,353 --> 01:05:25,103
they would increase
the number of screens.
1295
01:05:25,188 --> 01:05:27,228
If it got top ten,
they'd go more.
1296
01:05:27,313 --> 01:05:28,768
He said,
"I need the first record
1297
01:05:28,853 --> 01:05:29,853
to be number one."
1298
01:05:34,478 --> 01:05:37,603
Stigwood phoned up
and said to Barry,
1299
01:05:37,686 --> 01:05:39,103
"I need the best love song
1300
01:05:39,188 --> 01:05:42,103
you've ever written
for the movie."
1301
01:05:42,188 --> 01:05:44,936
So we went into a room
in the château.
1302
01:05:45,021 --> 01:05:46,936
Chopin had stayed there.
1303
01:05:47,021 --> 01:05:48,561
So every time I looked
at this piano,
1304
01:05:48,643 --> 01:05:51,228
I envisaged Chopin
sitting down and playing.
1305
01:05:52,853 --> 01:05:53,896
I sat down at the piano
1306
01:05:53,978 --> 01:05:56,438
and thought
of his Prelude in E Flat,
1307
01:05:56,518 --> 01:05:59,896
and I knew Barry could sing
in E flat.
1308
01:05:59,978 --> 01:06:01,271
When we were working like that,
1309
01:06:01,353 --> 01:06:03,103
I had a cassette player.
1310
01:06:19,561 --> 01:06:21,978
And I'm sure it happened
at that point.
1311
01:06:22,061 --> 01:06:24,228
Through the stained glass window
1312
01:06:24,313 --> 01:06:27,021
came a beam of sunlight,
you know?
1313
01:06:40,768 --> 01:06:44,021
And that's a memory...
That'll last me all my life.
1314
01:06:44,103 --> 01:06:46,228
Never forget it.
1315
01:06:46,313 --> 01:06:47,353
Never forget it.
1316
01:06:50,728 --> 01:06:51,744
You know, all the feelings,
1317
01:06:51,768 --> 01:06:53,228
all the emotions
are still there.
1318
01:06:53,313 --> 01:06:55,896
When you talk about it,
it all comes back, you know?
1319
01:06:58,188 --> 01:07:01,396
I have a...
1320
01:07:01,478 --> 01:07:04,686
My heart is in that song.
1321
01:08:03,146 --> 01:08:05,561
Everything came together.
1322
01:08:05,643 --> 01:08:08,438
But sadly,
Dennis had had some bad news.
1323
01:08:08,518 --> 01:08:11,643
- My mother was in hospital.
She had Alzheimer's.
1324
01:08:11,728 --> 01:08:14,896
So, you know, I told Barry
what was going on.
1325
01:08:14,978 --> 01:08:18,313
He said, you know, "Get Dick
to book you a flight now."
1326
01:08:18,395 --> 01:08:22,395
He had to fly back to the UK,
and we had no drummer.
1327
01:08:22,479 --> 01:08:24,438
We thought, "Well, we gotta
carry on writing"
1328
01:08:24,520 --> 01:08:26,935
and getting
these tracks together."
1329
01:08:29,354 --> 01:08:30,895
Okay, I know now.
1330
01:08:35,104 --> 01:08:37,395
When I was at Berklee,
I had studied things
1331
01:08:37,479 --> 01:08:39,060
where they were
moving tapes around
1332
01:08:39,145 --> 01:08:41,560
and make sort of these
interesting sonic loops.
1333
01:08:41,645 --> 01:08:43,770
And when Dennis was not there,
1334
01:08:43,854 --> 01:08:46,145
I said, "Well, why don't we just"
1335
01:08:46,229 --> 01:08:47,509
"take a bar
out of 'Night Fever'?
1336
01:08:47,560 --> 01:08:48,912
"I think
it's a little slower tempo.
1337
01:08:48,935 --> 01:08:50,354
"We'll slow it down a little bit
1338
01:08:50,438 --> 01:08:52,037
and see if we can make a loop
out of it."
1339
01:08:57,770 --> 01:09:00,854
We found a bar that we thought
had a really nice feel to it.
1340
01:09:00,935 --> 01:09:02,479
We copied it over to a...
1341
01:09:02,560 --> 01:09:05,354
- 1/2 inch four-track.
- 1/2 inch four-track.
1342
01:09:05,438 --> 01:09:08,770
And spliced the tape
into a loop.
1343
01:09:08,854 --> 01:09:09,854
Tape dump.
1344
01:09:13,560 --> 01:09:15,020
I was pretty good at imagining
1345
01:09:15,104 --> 01:09:16,645
what you might be able to do,
1346
01:09:16,729 --> 01:09:18,770
but Carl was able
to make it happen.
1347
01:09:18,854 --> 01:09:22,645
It was just necessity
being the mother of invention.
1348
01:09:22,729 --> 01:09:24,979
No one had taken
a drumbeat before
1349
01:09:25,060 --> 01:09:27,560
and created a two-bar phrase.
1350
01:09:27,645 --> 01:09:29,810
We were breaking new ground.
1351
01:09:29,895 --> 01:09:30,979
Perfect. Good.
1352
01:09:31,060 --> 01:09:34,560
This is the first time
we had ever taken the song
1353
01:09:34,645 --> 01:09:36,895
and built it piece by piece
from the ground up,
1354
01:09:36,979 --> 01:09:38,479
and we started
with this drum loop.
1355
01:09:40,104 --> 01:09:41,810
And then we did a bass line.
1356
01:09:43,770 --> 01:09:44,854
And then a guitar part.
1357
01:09:49,935 --> 01:09:53,270
Never again would we rely
as much on the liveness.
1358
01:09:53,354 --> 01:09:54,229
We would always know
1359
01:09:54,313 --> 01:09:55,592
that we could construct the song
1360
01:09:55,645 --> 01:09:56,854
and put the pieces together
1361
01:09:56,935 --> 01:09:59,520
based on the original vision
of the song
1362
01:09:59,604 --> 01:10:01,020
and how we imagined it.
1363
01:10:04,104 --> 01:10:07,645
I got back to the sessions,
and there was just a buzz.
1364
01:10:07,729 --> 01:10:08,645
When we did it, we thought,
1365
01:10:08,729 --> 01:10:10,188
"We're just doing this
temporarily,"
1366
01:10:10,270 --> 01:10:11,520
and when Dennis comes back,
1367
01:10:11,604 --> 01:10:13,188
"we'll replace it
with real drums,"
1368
01:10:13,270 --> 01:10:15,895
but what happened is,
the feel was so amazing
1369
01:10:15,979 --> 01:10:17,121
that we couldn't get rid of it.
1370
01:10:17,145 --> 01:10:19,395
He played it for me,
and I could tell
1371
01:10:19,479 --> 01:10:21,020
from the first listen.
1372
01:10:21,104 --> 01:10:24,560
I said, "Man, that is amazing."
1373
01:10:24,645 --> 01:10:26,438
When you listen
to the drum track
1374
01:10:26,520 --> 01:10:29,020
on "Stayin' Alive,"
like, by itself,
1375
01:10:29,104 --> 01:10:31,729
it's really this super rugged,
like, tough thing.
1376
01:10:31,810 --> 01:10:35,895
It's like...
1377
01:10:35,979 --> 01:10:37,578
It's not pretty or pop
like you remember.
1378
01:10:37,604 --> 01:10:38,604
It's pretty tough.
1379
01:10:41,810 --> 01:10:43,520
"Stayin' Alive"
was the influence
1380
01:10:43,604 --> 01:10:45,560
that New York gave to us.
1381
01:10:45,645 --> 01:10:47,060
And the energy level
at that point
1382
01:10:47,145 --> 01:10:50,354
in the late '70s
was really that, you know?
1383
01:10:50,438 --> 01:10:51,895
It's survival. It's survival.
1384
01:10:51,979 --> 01:10:52,895
This is '77.
1385
01:10:52,979 --> 01:10:54,770
Everybody know
that time is hard now.
1386
01:10:54,854 --> 01:10:56,270
You know,
if I was out there myself,
1387
01:10:56,354 --> 01:10:57,810
I would've got
what I wanted too.
1388
01:10:57,895 --> 01:10:58,996
You were not among the looters?
1389
01:10:59,020 --> 01:11:00,770
- No, I wasn't.
Unfortunate.
1390
01:11:00,854 --> 01:11:02,037
Do you feel
personally threatened
1391
01:11:02,060 --> 01:11:03,270
by the .44 Caliber Killer?
1392
01:11:03,354 --> 01:11:04,438
Yes, I do.
1393
01:11:04,520 --> 01:11:05,640
I don't feel free to go out,
1394
01:11:05,685 --> 01:11:08,104
to walk the streets
or go out at all.
1395
01:11:08,188 --> 01:11:10,229
Very few people realize
1396
01:11:10,313 --> 01:11:11,662
it's to do with anything
but dance,
1397
01:11:11,685 --> 01:11:14,145
but the lyrics don't talk
about dance at all,
1398
01:11:14,229 --> 01:11:16,604
and the lyrics
very obviously state
1399
01:11:16,685 --> 01:11:18,145
the scenario of survival.
1400
01:11:34,520 --> 01:11:37,645
I mean, that could very easily
have just been a horn line,
1401
01:11:37,729 --> 01:11:39,645
but instead,
their voices are so sick,
1402
01:11:39,729 --> 01:11:42,270
they're like,
"Nah, we're gonna sing it."
1403
01:11:46,479 --> 01:11:49,060
The general fever at the time
1404
01:11:49,145 --> 01:11:51,645
was, "You must see this film."
1405
01:11:51,729 --> 01:11:55,313
The songs precipitated
the interest.
1406
01:11:55,395 --> 01:11:57,979
It was this cultural phenomenon.
1407
01:12:00,895 --> 01:12:02,145
In the first week of release,
1408
01:12:02,229 --> 01:12:05,188
they were having to hire
extra staff in some cinemas
1409
01:12:05,270 --> 01:12:06,645
to stop them dancing
in the aisles.
1410
01:12:10,438 --> 01:12:11,770
Other movies were being put back
1411
01:12:11,854 --> 01:12:14,229
or taken out of other screens
to make room for "Fever."
1412
01:12:14,313 --> 01:12:16,685
I mean, it was really
quite a phenomenon.
1413
01:12:16,770 --> 01:12:19,354
John took me aside
at one point and said,
1414
01:12:19,438 --> 01:12:20,479
"Hey, what do you think?
1415
01:12:20,560 --> 01:12:23,313
You think maybe
an Academy Award nomination?"
1416
01:12:23,395 --> 01:12:24,836
And I'm thinking,
"Jesus Christ, no."
1417
01:12:24,895 --> 01:12:26,313
I mean, this is ridiculous.
1418
01:12:26,395 --> 01:12:28,354
It's a dance movie, you know?
1419
01:12:28,438 --> 01:12:29,479
He had the last laugh.
1420
01:12:29,560 --> 01:12:31,854
And John Travolta
in "Saturday Night Fever."
1421
01:12:34,729 --> 01:12:35,746
The "Fever" thing happened.
1422
01:12:35,770 --> 01:12:37,188
That's when everything exploded.
1423
01:12:37,270 --> 01:12:39,020
Other record companies
were printing it.
1424
01:12:39,104 --> 01:12:41,037
Then our record company
couldn't keep up the pace.
1425
01:12:41,060 --> 01:12:42,079
We didn't know what was going on
1426
01:12:42,104 --> 01:12:44,979
because this was
just a soundtrack.
1427
01:12:45,060 --> 01:12:46,121
Could I ask, for example,
1428
01:12:46,145 --> 01:12:48,560
what "Saturday Night Fever"
has grossed thus far?
1429
01:12:48,645 --> 01:12:50,854
Around 110 million.
1430
01:12:50,935 --> 01:12:53,685
At the moment.
In America.
1431
01:12:53,770 --> 01:12:55,520
- In America?
- In America, yeah.
1432
01:12:55,604 --> 01:12:56,854
And the album?
1433
01:12:56,935 --> 01:12:58,979
The album, I think, is nearing
1434
01:12:59,060 --> 01:13:02,313
18 million
double albums worldwide.
1435
01:13:02,395 --> 01:13:04,288
But I mean, that would be
the record-breaker of all time.
1436
01:13:04,313 --> 01:13:07,395
Yes, it's already
the biggest-grossing album
1437
01:13:07,479 --> 01:13:09,060
in the history of music.
1438
01:13:09,145 --> 01:13:11,560
The statistics
are just incredible.
1439
01:13:11,645 --> 01:13:14,270
Four singles
from "Saturday Night Fever"
1440
01:13:14,354 --> 01:13:17,229
have hit number one
since the album was released,
1441
01:13:17,313 --> 01:13:20,354
more than from any other
new album in history.
1442
01:13:20,438 --> 01:13:22,229
That's just a few
of the statistics
1443
01:13:22,313 --> 01:13:25,060
that lead to gold records
like this.
1444
01:13:25,145 --> 01:13:27,145
And so it's my privilege to say,
1445
01:13:27,229 --> 01:13:29,438
ladies and gentlemen,
will you welcome
1446
01:13:29,520 --> 01:13:31,060
the Bee Gees!
1447
01:13:33,854 --> 01:13:37,270
Has it changed your lives,
the enormous success of it?
1448
01:13:38,935 --> 01:13:41,810
Yes, I can safely say
it's changed our lives.
1449
01:13:44,354 --> 01:13:46,810
The Bee Gees, I think,
were stunned by their success.
1450
01:13:49,354 --> 01:13:51,895
We were aware we were
creating a specific sound,
1451
01:13:51,979 --> 01:13:53,538
but we didn't know
what it was gonna do.
1452
01:13:55,229 --> 01:13:57,270
It did end up with them
having half the top ten
1453
01:13:57,354 --> 01:13:59,145
with these songs.
1454
01:13:59,229 --> 01:14:00,354
It was extraordinary.
1455
01:14:00,438 --> 01:14:01,829
Kind of the same domination
the Beatles had
1456
01:14:01,854 --> 01:14:03,313
in the '60s in America.
1457
01:14:05,895 --> 01:14:08,313
They were just everywhere.
1458
01:14:08,395 --> 01:14:10,329
But our own friends
don't treat us the same way.
1459
01:14:10,354 --> 01:14:11,829
What, from a distance,
they treat you?
1460
01:14:11,854 --> 01:14:14,135
Well, I was speaking to one
of my friends the other day,
1461
01:14:14,188 --> 01:14:16,148
and as he was cleaning
my shoes, I said, "Listen."
1462
01:14:17,395 --> 01:14:18,935
Stigwood said,
1463
01:14:19,020 --> 01:14:20,662
"Let's give the band
half a point or a quarter."
1464
01:14:20,685 --> 01:14:23,810
Now, that's not a percentage.
That's a tiny amount of money.
1465
01:14:23,895 --> 01:14:25,204
But when you sell as many copies
1466
01:14:25,229 --> 01:14:27,729
as "Saturday Night Fever" sold,
1467
01:14:27,810 --> 01:14:29,854
it turns out to be big money.
1468
01:14:31,935 --> 01:14:32,935
What are you doing
1469
01:14:33,020 --> 01:14:34,560
with these millions of dollars?
1470
01:14:34,645 --> 01:14:36,371
What are you doing
with your millions of dollars?
1471
01:14:36,395 --> 01:14:38,685
Oh, no.
1472
01:14:38,770 --> 01:14:40,479
It is the biggest night
of the year
1473
01:14:40,560 --> 01:14:41,912
for people
in the recording industry,
1474
01:14:41,935 --> 01:14:42,935
the Grammy Awards.
1475
01:14:43,020 --> 01:14:45,479
And the winner is
"Saturday Night Fever."
1476
01:14:45,560 --> 01:14:48,270
Whoo!
1477
01:14:48,354 --> 01:14:51,313
For a soundtrack to win
Best Album was amazing.
1478
01:14:51,395 --> 01:14:52,871
It went on to be
one of the best-selling albums
1479
01:14:52,895 --> 01:14:54,188
in history.
1480
01:14:56,895 --> 01:14:59,145
We didn't know we were
defining the culture.
1481
01:14:59,229 --> 01:15:01,270
We were just still
Barry, Maurice, and Robin
1482
01:15:01,354 --> 01:15:02,770
wondering what the hell's
going on.
1483
01:15:11,104 --> 01:15:13,229
The fever has been contagious.
1484
01:15:13,313 --> 01:15:16,020
Discos, the places in which
to dance away the night
1485
01:15:16,104 --> 01:15:18,188
and the morning hours,
are thriving.
1486
01:15:18,270 --> 01:15:19,810
What the fever has done is made
1487
01:15:19,895 --> 01:15:22,935
just about anything
related to disco profitable.
1488
01:15:23,020 --> 01:15:24,520
Where there's money to be made,
1489
01:15:24,604 --> 01:15:26,313
disco is the business.
1490
01:15:26,395 --> 01:15:29,520
We didn't categorize
our songs as disco,
1491
01:15:29,604 --> 01:15:31,935
but then we weren't thinking
that way at all.
1492
01:15:32,020 --> 01:15:33,413
We were just thinking
about writing songs
1493
01:15:33,438 --> 01:15:35,645
based on this discovery
of this falsetto voice
1494
01:15:35,729 --> 01:15:37,854
and how well
that seemed to work.
1495
01:15:37,935 --> 01:15:39,060
What the Bee Gees brought,
1496
01:15:39,145 --> 01:15:41,854
I always felt
they brought melody to disco.
1497
01:15:41,935 --> 01:15:45,188
Most disco at that point
was melody-free, you know?
1498
01:15:45,270 --> 01:15:47,604
This was a different take
on disco.
1499
01:15:47,685 --> 01:15:49,479
It was completely for...
1500
01:15:49,560 --> 01:15:51,560
For the broadest
possible audience.
1501
01:15:51,645 --> 01:15:52,770
- You got the lyrics?
- Yes.
1502
01:15:52,854 --> 01:15:53,854
- Great.
- Right here.
1503
01:15:53,895 --> 01:15:55,336
- Okay. Let's go.
- Straight into it.
1504
01:15:56,854 --> 01:15:58,729
One, two, three, four.
1505
01:16:02,313 --> 01:16:03,854
Right.
Okay.
1506
01:16:12,979 --> 01:16:15,395
- Hey, guys.
- It's too slow.
1507
01:16:15,479 --> 01:16:16,662
It would be nice
if we could find a bigger sound
1508
01:16:16,685 --> 01:16:17,685
for that solo.
1509
01:16:17,770 --> 01:16:18,685
Great.
1510
01:16:18,770 --> 01:16:19,685
The way we rehearsed it
last night.
1511
01:16:19,770 --> 01:16:21,935
All right.
1512
01:16:22,020 --> 01:16:23,060
- Yeah.
Just like that.
1513
01:16:23,145 --> 01:16:24,060
Yeah. Beautiful.
1514
01:16:24,145 --> 01:16:25,454
Bring that sound in.
That's great.
1515
01:16:25,479 --> 01:16:26,810
Yeah.
1516
01:16:26,895 --> 01:16:28,395
- Okay, let's try it again.
- Okay.
1517
01:16:28,479 --> 01:16:30,604
One, two, three, four.
1518
01:16:47,313 --> 01:16:49,073
When we brought out
"Spirits Having Flown,"
1519
01:16:49,145 --> 01:16:51,104
it did phenomenally well.
1520
01:16:51,188 --> 01:16:54,270
At the same time, "Fever" was
still in the top ten.
1521
01:16:54,354 --> 01:16:56,770
You know, we could've left it
another year,
1522
01:16:56,854 --> 01:16:59,354
and it still probably would've
been a little too soon
1523
01:16:59,438 --> 01:17:01,479
with what was going on
with "Fever."
1524
01:17:10,685 --> 01:17:11,854
Good morning, everybody.
1525
01:17:11,935 --> 01:17:13,810
Charley Steiner, 99X.
1526
01:17:13,895 --> 01:17:15,645
As is per usual for Monday,
1527
01:17:15,729 --> 01:17:19,145
a very busy day
coming into town.
1528
01:17:19,229 --> 01:17:21,854
I'm working at a top 40 station
1529
01:17:21,935 --> 01:17:23,810
in New York, big one,
1530
01:17:23,895 --> 01:17:26,604
WXLO, but it was known as 99X.
1531
01:17:26,685 --> 01:17:29,560
And I was the morning news guy.
1532
01:17:29,645 --> 01:17:33,520
Most radio stations
had a very small playlist,
1533
01:17:33,604 --> 01:17:37,810
and the Bee Gees probably had
the top four, top five hits
1534
01:17:37,895 --> 01:17:38,895
any given week.
1535
01:17:38,979 --> 01:17:40,979
13 CFRW.
1536
01:17:41,060 --> 01:17:42,329
Music of the Bee Gees
and "Tragedy."
1537
01:17:42,354 --> 01:17:43,371
Get out on the dance floor
1538
01:17:43,395 --> 01:17:45,145
and do one more
with the Bee Gees.
1539
01:17:45,229 --> 01:17:46,871
All the Gibb brothers
together, the Bee Gees,
1540
01:17:46,895 --> 01:17:47,979
"You Should Be Dancing."
1541
01:17:48,060 --> 01:17:49,579
You should be shaking
that thing one time.
1542
01:17:49,604 --> 01:17:52,354
And for those of us
at the radio station,
1543
01:17:52,438 --> 01:17:53,520
we're...
1544
01:17:53,604 --> 01:17:55,145
We're gonna take hostages.
1545
01:17:56,979 --> 01:17:59,188
And if you haven't had
enough Bee Gees music yet,
1546
01:17:59,270 --> 01:18:01,354
well, we've got more.
1547
01:18:01,438 --> 01:18:04,188
Guess you could kind of
call it over-giving.
1548
01:18:04,270 --> 01:18:05,685
And then Andy Gibb too.
1549
01:18:05,770 --> 01:18:09,145
He was like the caboose
on this musical train.
1550
01:18:09,229 --> 01:18:12,979
It was like waves in the sea.
1551
01:18:17,313 --> 01:18:19,395
You're right on the top
of the world.
1552
01:18:19,479 --> 01:18:22,685
What is it that drives you
back on the road?
1553
01:18:22,770 --> 01:18:25,395
When we make records
and when we're in the studio,
1554
01:18:25,479 --> 01:18:28,354
we never really see
who buys those records.
1555
01:18:28,438 --> 01:18:30,313
I think getting on the road
means that to us.
1556
01:18:30,395 --> 01:18:33,229
It means that we come
face-to-face with people
1557
01:18:33,313 --> 01:18:34,854
to whom our records mean a lot.
1558
01:18:34,935 --> 01:18:38,229
But to be sure, doing a tour
is an enormous amount of work.
1559
01:18:38,313 --> 01:18:40,560
The only thing that I noticed
that's not right is,
1560
01:18:40,645 --> 01:18:41,954
it doesn't actually say
the Bee Gees,
1561
01:18:41,979 --> 01:18:43,121
and I think it should actually...
1562
01:18:43,145 --> 01:18:44,204
The Bee Gees' name should be...
1563
01:18:44,229 --> 01:18:46,604
It should be "Bee Gees,
Spirits Having Flown."
1564
01:18:49,313 --> 01:18:52,020
The '79 tour
was a complete sellout.
1565
01:18:52,104 --> 01:18:55,020
The Bee Gees hadn't toured
since 1976,
1566
01:18:55,104 --> 01:18:56,645
and that tour was a promotion
1567
01:18:56,729 --> 01:18:58,163
for the "Spirits Having Flown"
album,
1568
01:18:58,188 --> 01:18:59,438
but it was celebrating
1569
01:18:59,520 --> 01:19:01,560
"Saturday Night Fever"
as well, you know.
1570
01:19:01,645 --> 01:19:03,560
25,000 people
are supposed to be here.
1571
01:19:03,645 --> 01:19:04,810
It's gonna be great.
1572
01:19:04,895 --> 01:19:06,454
You don't mind the Bee Gees
in the rain?
1573
01:19:06,479 --> 01:19:07,935
- No.
- No, not at all.
1574
01:19:08,020 --> 01:19:09,935
We've been here
since 9:00 this morning.
1575
01:19:10,020 --> 01:19:12,060
They're worth waiting
in the rain for.
1576
01:19:12,145 --> 01:19:14,604
I mean, it was huge.
1577
01:19:14,685 --> 01:19:16,770
Dodger Stadium,
places like that.
1578
01:19:16,854 --> 01:19:18,895
We used to dream of this.
1579
01:19:18,979 --> 01:19:20,979
Having people in the audience
like Barbra Streisand
1580
01:19:21,060 --> 01:19:22,770
watching your show
and loving it, you know,
1581
01:19:22,854 --> 01:19:25,313
I mean, these are fantasies.
1582
01:19:25,395 --> 01:19:27,104
You're in a sort
of goldfish bowl on tour.
1583
01:19:27,188 --> 01:19:28,496
You know, it's like,
you don't see much
1584
01:19:28,520 --> 01:19:29,438
of what's going on out there.
1585
01:19:29,520 --> 01:19:31,104
Anyway, the most
important thing is
1586
01:19:31,188 --> 01:19:32,371
what we're gonna do
after the show.
1587
01:19:32,395 --> 01:19:33,729
What do you wanna do?
1588
01:19:33,810 --> 01:19:35,163
That's what we're here
to talk about.
1589
01:19:35,188 --> 01:19:36,604
It's here.
1590
01:19:36,685 --> 01:19:38,438
The Disco Body Shaper,
1591
01:19:38,520 --> 01:19:40,685
the brand-new
exerciser sensation
1592
01:19:40,770 --> 01:19:42,270
that's sweeping the country.
1593
01:19:42,354 --> 01:19:44,104
Send for yours today.
1594
01:19:44,188 --> 01:19:47,520
Buy it today,
be a disco star tonight.
1595
01:19:47,604 --> 01:19:49,604
Let's disco to Burger King.
1596
01:19:49,685 --> 01:19:51,770
It all goes back to one thing
1597
01:19:51,854 --> 01:19:53,438
and the same thing
that's happening now:
1598
01:19:53,520 --> 01:19:54,604
greed.
1599
01:19:56,395 --> 01:20:00,313
Greed is the thing
that happens in people
1600
01:20:00,395 --> 01:20:03,354
that really ruins a lot of shit.
1601
01:20:05,060 --> 01:20:06,060
In the beginning,
1602
01:20:06,104 --> 01:20:07,979
you would buy
a disco-bannered record
1603
01:20:08,060 --> 01:20:09,810
and it would be a great song,
1604
01:20:09,895 --> 01:20:11,685
no matter which one
you picked out.
1605
01:20:14,604 --> 01:20:18,854
But then some executive
in diapers decided,
1606
01:20:18,935 --> 01:20:21,020
"Let's put 'disco'
1607
01:20:21,104 --> 01:20:23,770
on all these records
we wanna sell,"
1608
01:20:23,854 --> 01:20:26,145
and it wasn't
good music anymore.
1609
01:20:26,229 --> 01:20:27,979
It was garbage.
1610
01:20:33,229 --> 01:20:35,770
Ah, get down, mama.
1611
01:20:35,854 --> 01:20:37,079
So that was, I think, the straw
1612
01:20:37,104 --> 01:20:38,229
that broke the camel's back.
1613
01:20:40,810 --> 01:20:42,935
Disco as a purely musical form
1614
01:20:43,020 --> 01:20:45,020
is, you know, dead.
1615
01:20:45,104 --> 01:20:46,020
I hated it.
1616
01:20:46,104 --> 01:20:47,503
Couldn't think
of anything redeem...
1617
01:20:47,560 --> 01:20:48,685
It was old people's music.
1618
01:20:48,770 --> 01:20:51,354
It was a very easy thing
1619
01:20:51,438 --> 01:20:54,854
to get involved with
for commercial reasons.
1620
01:20:58,479 --> 01:20:59,854
I'd like to show you
1621
01:20:59,935 --> 01:21:02,229
how we destroy
the disco records.
1622
01:21:02,313 --> 01:21:04,520
This is how I do it.
1623
01:21:04,604 --> 01:21:06,854
Have to kind of get worked up
a little bit.
1624
01:21:06,935 --> 01:21:08,145
- It's like...
- Yeah.
1625
01:21:08,229 --> 01:21:10,020
And then I just...
1626
01:21:12,060 --> 01:21:13,354
Oof.
That felt good.
1627
01:21:14,560 --> 01:21:16,354
Our next guest tonight
is Steve Dahl.
1628
01:21:16,438 --> 01:21:19,229
And he is a disc jockey
for station WLUP-FM
1629
01:21:19,313 --> 01:21:20,895
out in Chicago, Illinois,
1630
01:21:20,979 --> 01:21:22,560
and he hates disco music.
1631
01:21:22,645 --> 01:21:25,395
Steve Dahl was kind of hard
to avoid in Chicago.
1632
01:21:34,145 --> 01:21:36,560
Steve Dahl was on the radio
saying, "Disco sucks."
1633
01:21:36,645 --> 01:21:38,560
Disco sucks."
1634
01:21:38,645 --> 01:21:40,560
I was 14.
1635
01:21:40,645 --> 01:21:42,560
I listened to the Loop,
1636
01:21:42,645 --> 01:21:45,685
the radio station that this
kind of centered around.
1637
01:21:45,770 --> 01:21:47,729
He brings helium to the studio,
1638
01:21:47,810 --> 01:21:50,438
inhales it and imitates
the Bee Gees on the air,
1639
01:21:50,520 --> 01:21:52,229
and then breaks up
their records.
1640
01:22:01,354 --> 01:22:04,935
You know, when you do
all those things,
1641
01:22:05,020 --> 01:22:06,479
like put out garbage,
1642
01:22:06,560 --> 01:22:10,270
you know, have radio
being... feeling ostracized
1643
01:22:10,354 --> 01:22:13,270
and a lot of straight people
feeling threatened,
1644
01:22:13,354 --> 01:22:17,270
it creates a real poison.
1645
01:22:19,729 --> 01:22:21,060
Hello again, everybody.
1646
01:22:21,145 --> 01:22:23,935
Harry Caray and Jimmy Piersall
from Comiskey Park,
1647
01:22:24,020 --> 01:22:27,438
where we're gonna have
a wild night tonight,
1648
01:22:27,520 --> 01:22:29,060
a twilight doubleheader.
1649
01:22:29,145 --> 01:22:31,604
I was an usher at Comiskey Park.
1650
01:22:31,685 --> 01:22:33,145
That was my first job.
1651
01:22:33,229 --> 01:22:36,270
Look at that crowd out there.
1652
01:22:36,354 --> 01:22:37,395
50,000 people,
1653
01:22:37,479 --> 01:22:38,759
the largest crowd of the season,
1654
01:22:38,810 --> 01:22:41,270
showed up
at Chicago's Comiskey Park.
1655
01:22:41,354 --> 01:22:43,145
Many had come
for Disco Demolition Night,
1656
01:22:43,270 --> 01:22:44,935
a promotional gimmick.
1657
01:22:45,020 --> 01:22:47,979
15,000 others had to be
turned away.
1658
01:22:48,060 --> 01:22:49,145
Steve Dahl says,
1659
01:22:49,229 --> 01:22:52,354
"We're gonna let everybody in
the White Sox park
1660
01:22:52,438 --> 01:22:55,438
"for 98¢
1661
01:22:55,520 --> 01:22:57,270
"if you bring a disco record,
1662
01:22:57,354 --> 01:22:58,833
"and we're gonna blow
those records up
1663
01:22:58,895 --> 01:23:00,354
in the middle of center field."
1664
01:23:02,729 --> 01:23:05,145
We're letting people in.
1665
01:23:05,229 --> 01:23:09,270
I pointed out to my chief usher,
1666
01:23:09,354 --> 01:23:11,854
"That record, that record,
that record,
1667
01:23:11,935 --> 01:23:14,188
"that record, that record,
that record,
1668
01:23:14,270 --> 01:23:16,270
"those aren't disco records.
1669
01:23:16,354 --> 01:23:18,604
Those are just...
Those are R&B records."
1670
01:23:20,979 --> 01:23:24,020
And the thing that I noticed
1671
01:23:24,104 --> 01:23:26,354
more than anything
1672
01:23:26,438 --> 01:23:29,188
was just mostly Black records.
1673
01:23:30,895 --> 01:23:31,979
At the same time
1674
01:23:32,060 --> 01:23:34,020
all this stuff is going down
in Chicago,
1675
01:23:34,104 --> 01:23:35,854
we were playing the stadiums.
1676
01:23:35,935 --> 01:23:38,395
It was an amazing tour.
1677
01:23:38,479 --> 01:23:41,020
We were sort of, like,
in our own little world,
1678
01:23:41,104 --> 01:23:43,145
not thinking about
the outside world.
1679
01:24:15,810 --> 01:24:18,354
He struck him out,
and the ball game is over.
1680
01:24:22,854 --> 01:24:26,395
Okay, let's usher Steve
down to the explosives
1681
01:24:26,479 --> 01:24:30,395
with a loud "Disco sucks" chant.
1682
01:24:30,479 --> 01:24:32,395
Disco sucks!
1683
01:24:32,479 --> 01:24:34,604
Disco sucks!
1684
01:24:34,685 --> 01:24:36,685
Disco sucks!
1685
01:24:36,770 --> 01:24:38,854
Disco sucks!
1686
01:24:38,935 --> 01:24:40,770
Disco sucks!
1687
01:24:40,854 --> 01:24:42,270
Disco sucks!
1688
01:24:43,979 --> 01:24:45,578
Ladies and gentlemen,
our brother Andy.
1689
01:25:25,604 --> 01:25:26,770
Come on!
1690
01:25:26,854 --> 01:25:28,621
Andy joined us onstage
for "You Should Be Dancing,"
1691
01:25:28,645 --> 01:25:30,979
and it was
the four of us together,
1692
01:25:31,060 --> 01:25:32,604
and Andy joined my mic,
1693
01:25:32,685 --> 01:25:34,479
so we were singing
around the one mic,
1694
01:25:34,560 --> 01:25:36,685
and he kept looking up,
and he stood back and he goes,
1695
01:25:36,770 --> 01:25:39,060
"Can you believe this shit?"
1696
01:25:41,354 --> 01:25:43,770
Nobody could believe
what was going on.
1697
01:25:43,854 --> 01:25:45,173
And to see
the four of us onstage,
1698
01:25:45,229 --> 01:25:46,662
when I looked over
and saw Barry and Robin
1699
01:25:46,685 --> 01:25:48,079
and I saw Andy in front of me,
I thought,
1700
01:25:48,104 --> 01:25:50,479
"This is how it's gotta be."
1701
01:25:58,935 --> 01:26:00,645
How 'bout the Bee Gees?
1702
01:26:04,560 --> 01:26:06,313
Well, listen, we took
all the disco records
1703
01:26:06,395 --> 01:26:08,520
that you brought tonight,
1704
01:26:08,604 --> 01:26:11,729
threw 'em in a giant box,
1705
01:26:11,810 --> 01:26:15,354
and we're gonna blow 'em up
real good.
1706
01:26:28,270 --> 01:26:32,520
One, two, three, boom!
1707
01:26:37,729 --> 01:26:40,020
That blew 'em up real good!
1708
01:26:48,395 --> 01:26:51,188
They'd tell you as an usher,
every now and then,
1709
01:26:51,270 --> 01:26:53,145
you're gonna get a drunk person
1710
01:26:53,229 --> 01:26:54,854
storming the field.
1711
01:26:54,935 --> 01:26:57,395
Try to grab 'em,
hold on to 'em, or whatever.
1712
01:26:57,479 --> 01:27:00,188
But everybody ran on the field.
1713
01:27:08,935 --> 01:27:11,229
When I got older, I recognized
1714
01:27:11,313 --> 01:27:15,729
that this was actually the end
of a era.
1715
01:27:18,313 --> 01:27:19,729
It was a book burning.
1716
01:27:19,810 --> 01:27:22,188
It was a racist,
1717
01:27:22,270 --> 01:27:25,060
homophobic book burning.
1718
01:27:25,145 --> 01:27:28,685
And the Bee Gees
got caught up in that
1719
01:27:28,770 --> 01:27:31,104
because they were
part of that culture
1720
01:27:31,188 --> 01:27:33,895
that was lifting
a lot of people up.
1721
01:27:39,685 --> 01:27:40,979
- Thank you.
We love you.
1722
01:27:41,060 --> 01:27:43,354
And we'll see you again.
Bye-bye.
1723
01:27:50,020 --> 01:27:53,810
Nearly 7,000 spectators held
their very own demolition.
1724
01:27:53,895 --> 01:27:56,685
Game two of the doubleheader
was canceled last night.
1725
01:27:56,770 --> 01:28:00,229
That game will be forfeited.
1726
01:28:00,313 --> 01:28:02,520
The anti-disco movement
1727
01:28:02,604 --> 01:28:05,104
was almost anti-Bee Gees
at that point.
1728
01:28:05,188 --> 01:28:07,935
Ironically, the soundtrack
to "Saturday Night Fever,"
1729
01:28:08,020 --> 01:28:09,935
the album
that made them superstars,
1730
01:28:10,020 --> 01:28:12,604
also branded them
as a disco group.
1731
01:28:12,685 --> 01:28:14,270
Because you can dance to it,
I mean,
1732
01:28:14,354 --> 01:28:15,953
doesn't necessarily make it
a disco song.
1733
01:28:16,020 --> 01:28:17,604
I mean, you can dance
to lots of songs.
1734
01:28:17,685 --> 01:28:20,020
You really don't wanna be
labeled "disco"...
1735
01:28:20,104 --> 01:28:21,313
- No, no.
- At all, do you?
1736
01:28:21,395 --> 01:28:23,020
Because our music is a variety
1737
01:28:23,104 --> 01:28:24,270
of different kinds of music.
1738
01:28:24,354 --> 01:28:25,979
It shouldn't be called
just that.
1739
01:28:26,060 --> 01:28:28,020
So people hated disco.
1740
01:28:28,104 --> 01:28:30,188
Hated it.
1741
01:28:30,270 --> 01:28:31,604
We had FBI and Secret Service
1742
01:28:31,685 --> 01:28:33,704
around the airplane every time
we landed in a certain place
1743
01:28:33,729 --> 01:28:35,479
'cause of the bomb threats.
1744
01:28:35,560 --> 01:28:37,979
It was scary stuff.
1745
01:28:38,060 --> 01:28:39,313
We were perplexed,
1746
01:28:39,395 --> 01:28:40,729
'cause I got that vibe
from them.
1747
01:28:40,810 --> 01:28:42,520
You know,
"Why are people doing this?"
1748
01:28:42,604 --> 01:28:44,270
The Bee Gees claim
1749
01:28:44,354 --> 01:28:46,479
some radio stations
around the country
1750
01:28:46,560 --> 01:28:49,188
are refusing to play
their new single.
1751
01:28:49,270 --> 01:28:50,537
The Bee Gees are not allowed
to have a hit
1752
01:28:50,560 --> 01:28:51,841
because they had
a lot of success
1753
01:28:51,895 --> 01:28:53,015
with "Saturday Night Fever."
1754
01:28:53,060 --> 01:28:54,145
That, to me, is crap.
1755
01:28:54,229 --> 01:28:56,810
Radio is, of course,
very difficult to get back
1756
01:28:56,895 --> 01:28:58,270
once you lose them.
1757
01:28:58,354 --> 01:29:00,560
Back then,
if you weren't on the radio,
1758
01:29:00,645 --> 01:29:01,645
there was nothing.
1759
01:29:01,729 --> 01:29:03,560
- Let's all grow up.
We're just a pop group.
1760
01:29:03,645 --> 01:29:04,854
We're not a political force.
1761
01:29:04,935 --> 01:29:06,354
We're just making music.
1762
01:29:06,438 --> 01:29:07,996
But I don't think there's
any reason to chalk us off
1763
01:29:08,020 --> 01:29:09,520
because we existed in the '70s
1764
01:29:09,604 --> 01:29:11,524
and we would like to exist
in the '80s, you know.
1765
01:29:11,604 --> 01:29:14,395
Does anybody mind if we exist
in the '80s, thank you?
1766
01:29:14,479 --> 01:29:17,020
It was so overwhelming,
1767
01:29:17,104 --> 01:29:20,060
and the whole dynamic changed.
1768
01:29:20,145 --> 01:29:22,810
There were just crazy days.
1769
01:29:22,895 --> 01:29:25,060
I preferred Maurice
as Maurice not being a Bee Gee,
1770
01:29:25,145 --> 01:29:26,520
if that makes sense to you.
1771
01:29:26,604 --> 01:29:30,060
I preferred him as Maurice,
not being a Bee Gee.
1772
01:29:30,145 --> 01:29:31,729
Suddenly, they realized
1773
01:29:31,810 --> 01:29:34,020
that they were in
a different position.
1774
01:29:34,104 --> 01:29:37,104
Robin went through a kind of...
1775
01:29:37,188 --> 01:29:39,854
It wasn't a breakdown,
but it was just something
1776
01:29:39,935 --> 01:29:43,229
where he felt very shy
of being in public
1777
01:29:43,313 --> 01:29:45,438
and doing things for a while.
1778
01:29:45,520 --> 01:29:48,060
The backlash was
a very frightening experience.
1779
01:29:48,145 --> 01:29:49,854
When things get to that point,
1780
01:29:49,935 --> 01:29:53,229
you're out of control
of the whole thing.
1781
01:29:53,313 --> 01:29:55,246
We thought the Bee Gees
better go on the back burner
1782
01:29:55,270 --> 01:29:57,395
for a while until this dies down
1783
01:29:57,479 --> 01:29:59,060
or something, you know.
1784
01:29:59,145 --> 01:30:01,438
We couldn't do anything
as the Bee Gees at all.
1785
01:30:03,313 --> 01:30:05,479
Well, backlash,
I'm really good on.
1786
01:30:09,685 --> 01:30:13,560
Any band that is successful
1787
01:30:13,645 --> 01:30:16,520
is going to have
1788
01:30:16,604 --> 01:30:20,229
some form of resist...
That's just the law of nature.
1789
01:30:21,313 --> 01:30:23,438
When they get so successful,
1790
01:30:23,520 --> 01:30:24,935
sometimes the only
interesting thing
1791
01:30:25,020 --> 01:30:27,313
to say about them is,
"Oh, I don't like them.
1792
01:30:27,395 --> 01:30:29,537
"Everyone else likes, you know,
'How Deep Is Your Love.'
1793
01:30:29,560 --> 01:30:32,354
I don't...
You know, it's stupid."
1794
01:30:32,438 --> 01:30:34,270
For bands of my generation,
1795
01:30:34,354 --> 01:30:36,270
you understand
about the ups and downs.
1796
01:30:36,354 --> 01:30:38,604
You can see it.
Like, where are the pitfalls?
1797
01:30:38,685 --> 01:30:40,935
What is the shit
you're gonna take?
1798
01:30:41,020 --> 01:30:43,104
When might this happen?
When might that happen?
1799
01:30:43,188 --> 01:30:44,979
For those people
that were on the first wave
1800
01:30:45,060 --> 01:30:48,229
of sort of global
pop superstardom,
1801
01:30:48,313 --> 01:30:49,979
if you wanna call it that,
1802
01:30:50,060 --> 01:30:51,104
it was new to them.
1803
01:30:51,188 --> 01:30:52,996
Like, "Why does everyone
suddenly hate our band?"
1804
01:30:53,020 --> 01:30:55,104
"We sold 8 billion records
last year.
1805
01:30:55,188 --> 01:30:57,229
What's the deal?"
1806
01:30:57,313 --> 01:30:59,479
So it's confusing.
1807
01:30:59,560 --> 01:31:01,270
It was not just the Bee Gees
1808
01:31:01,354 --> 01:31:05,810
but the idea of dance
1809
01:31:05,895 --> 01:31:07,479
in that period,
1810
01:31:07,560 --> 01:31:10,438
it was no longer acceptable
1811
01:31:10,520 --> 01:31:13,020
for this kind of music
to carry the weight,
1812
01:31:13,104 --> 01:31:15,020
to carry the industry.
1813
01:31:16,685 --> 01:31:18,520
Everybody was at that point
in their lives
1814
01:31:18,604 --> 01:31:22,395
where they began to look
for other things to do.
1815
01:31:23,895 --> 01:31:26,438
And Andy was having
problems too.
1816
01:31:26,520 --> 01:31:28,145
- Andy?
Andy...
1817
01:31:28,229 --> 01:31:30,145
I saw him in Malibu.
1818
01:31:30,229 --> 01:31:31,270
He'd been involved
1819
01:31:31,354 --> 01:31:33,645
with a lot of people
who were doing drugs,
1820
01:31:33,729 --> 01:31:35,354
and he was doing drugs.
1821
01:31:35,438 --> 01:31:37,810
He was doing cocaine.
1822
01:31:37,895 --> 01:31:40,604
I talked to him
outside on the balcony,
1823
01:31:40,685 --> 01:31:42,662
saying, you know, "This is
really a nice house, Andy."
1824
01:31:42,685 --> 01:31:44,770
"It's a nice car out there,
that Porsche.
1825
01:31:44,854 --> 01:31:46,020
"Really nice.
1826
01:31:46,104 --> 01:31:48,395
You're not gonna keep all this,
you know."
1827
01:31:48,479 --> 01:31:49,854
And he said,
"What do you mean?"
1828
01:31:49,935 --> 01:31:51,854
I said,
"You do what you're doing,
1829
01:31:51,935 --> 01:31:53,354
"this stuff will vanish.
1830
01:31:53,438 --> 01:31:54,810
"All this stuff will go.
1831
01:31:54,895 --> 01:31:57,188
Your career will go
out the window, everything."
1832
01:31:57,270 --> 01:32:00,229
And he says, "I know. I know.
I know what I have to do."
1833
01:32:00,313 --> 01:32:03,060
There was a lot of chaos
that I didn't witness,
1834
01:32:03,145 --> 01:32:05,685
but I was aware of it.
1835
01:32:05,770 --> 01:32:07,079
We were scattered
all over the place
1836
01:32:07,104 --> 01:32:08,354
for a little while.
1837
01:32:10,313 --> 01:32:14,060
Robin was either in New York,
or Maurice was in England.
1838
01:32:14,145 --> 01:32:15,520
I was alone at the time,
1839
01:32:15,604 --> 01:32:18,020
and I got a phone call
from Barbra.
1840
01:32:20,810 --> 01:32:23,354
She asked me
about writing songs for her,
1841
01:32:23,438 --> 01:32:26,685
and that terrified me.
1842
01:32:26,770 --> 01:32:29,395
I don't know if I can do this,
you know?
1843
01:32:29,479 --> 01:32:30,729
So I called my brothers,
1844
01:32:30,810 --> 01:32:33,395
and I said,
"This is what we gotta do.
1845
01:32:33,479 --> 01:32:35,520
And let's do it."
1846
01:32:35,604 --> 01:32:37,770
And that's how
the "Guilty" album came about.
1847
01:32:41,979 --> 01:32:44,854
We really could not get
on the radio.
1848
01:32:44,935 --> 01:32:48,395
So the whole idea was
to write for other people.
1849
01:32:48,479 --> 01:32:49,729
Let's be songwriters.
1850
01:32:49,810 --> 01:32:52,438
Let's try and graduate
from being a group
1851
01:32:52,520 --> 01:32:55,604
that's probably...
1852
01:32:55,685 --> 01:32:58,020
beginning to fade, you know?
1853
01:32:58,104 --> 01:33:00,729
Let's see if we can
dance around that.
1854
01:33:10,313 --> 01:33:12,604
It was more about outlets
for writing,
1855
01:33:12,685 --> 01:33:16,145
writing songs
that aren't Bee Gees songs.
1856
01:33:16,229 --> 01:33:18,104
They have an attitude
somewhere else.
1857
01:33:33,560 --> 01:33:36,104
Now, Robin, you and Barry
cowrote "Woman in Love,"
1858
01:33:36,188 --> 01:33:38,560
which became
the international smash.
1859
01:33:38,645 --> 01:33:41,229
Was it difficult
taking the woman's perspective?
1860
01:33:41,313 --> 01:33:43,810
Oh, no.
1861
01:33:43,895 --> 01:33:45,270
It's our way of doing things.
1862
01:33:45,354 --> 01:33:46,354
We will assume that role
1863
01:33:46,395 --> 01:33:47,935
within the song
to write the song.
1864
01:33:48,020 --> 01:33:49,895
After
the Barbra Streisand album,
1865
01:33:49,979 --> 01:33:52,104
managers would call up
all the time:
1866
01:33:52,188 --> 01:33:53,979
"Gee, can I get together
with you guys?
1867
01:33:54,060 --> 01:33:55,354
Will you make my record?"
1868
01:33:55,438 --> 01:33:56,854
And, you know,
established artists.
1869
01:34:12,729 --> 01:34:13,871
It was just as important for us
1870
01:34:13,895 --> 01:34:15,604
to have an artist singing
one of our songs
1871
01:34:15,685 --> 01:34:18,354
and being on the radio
as it was for ourselves.
1872
01:34:27,685 --> 01:34:29,479
When you write a song
with someone in mind
1873
01:34:29,560 --> 01:34:31,020
that you really love
1874
01:34:31,104 --> 01:34:33,854
and then that person ends up
singing it,
1875
01:34:33,935 --> 01:34:35,645
there's no reward like it.
1876
01:34:47,729 --> 01:34:50,854
We wrote so many
different types of song,
1877
01:34:50,935 --> 01:34:53,685
and that created
that new determination
1878
01:34:53,770 --> 01:34:56,854
for us to become
the Bee Gees again.
1879
01:35:05,935 --> 01:35:07,604
I think, over time,
1880
01:35:07,685 --> 01:35:10,060
we became more and more unified.
1881
01:35:10,145 --> 01:35:11,520
By '85,
1882
01:35:11,604 --> 01:35:13,060
we really got it together
as a group.
1883
01:35:15,270 --> 01:35:17,810
We became a real band again.
1884
01:35:29,854 --> 01:35:31,645
We never really had a category.
1885
01:35:31,729 --> 01:35:33,895
We just had different periods,
1886
01:35:33,979 --> 01:35:36,520
and we managed to fit
into different eras,
1887
01:35:36,604 --> 01:35:38,395
and we saw a lot of people
1888
01:35:38,479 --> 01:35:41,520
who were the champions
of their era come and go.
1889
01:35:41,604 --> 01:35:44,520
We didn't always connect,
but we stayed around.
1890
01:35:44,604 --> 01:35:46,810
We managed to defy the criticism
1891
01:35:46,895 --> 01:35:47,895
most of the time.
1892
01:35:54,685 --> 01:35:55,895
And I just hope and pray
1893
01:35:55,979 --> 01:35:58,270
that the music lasts, you know?
1894
01:35:58,354 --> 01:35:59,770
Because I begin to recognize
1895
01:35:59,854 --> 01:36:01,895
that there's not as much time
in front of me
1896
01:36:01,979 --> 01:36:04,645
as there is behind me.
1897
01:36:10,854 --> 01:36:11,935
Hi, Australia.
1898
01:36:12,020 --> 01:36:13,810
This is Andy Gibb here in Miami,
1899
01:36:13,895 --> 01:36:15,604
and I'd like to wish
all you kids...
1900
01:36:15,685 --> 01:36:16,979
One more time?
1901
01:36:20,020 --> 01:36:21,104
Hi, Australia.
1902
01:36:21,188 --> 01:36:22,770
This is Andy Gibb here in Miami,
1903
01:36:22,854 --> 01:36:24,145
and I'd like to wish
all the kids
1904
01:36:24,229 --> 01:36:26,810
and all my friends in Australia
a very merry Christmas
1905
01:36:26,895 --> 01:36:28,145
and a happy New Year.
1906
01:36:48,520 --> 01:36:49,685
Barry was first,
1907
01:36:49,770 --> 01:36:51,871
and then, in fact, Robin's
half an hour older than I am,
1908
01:36:51,895 --> 01:36:53,270
and we're twins,
1909
01:36:53,354 --> 01:36:55,979
and that's how we basically met.
1910
01:37:10,270 --> 01:37:11,537
Robert Stigwood,
this is for you.
1911
01:37:11,560 --> 01:37:12,479
No, you didn't do it.
1912
01:37:12,560 --> 01:37:13,871
- You gotta react to the thing.
- What line?
1913
01:37:13,895 --> 01:37:14,979
Oh, the reaction?
1914
01:37:15,060 --> 01:37:15,979
- Yeah.
- All right.
1915
01:37:16,060 --> 01:37:17,520
- It's a close-up.
- Okay.
1916
01:37:17,604 --> 01:37:19,121
Oh, yeah, that's right.
Sorry, do it again.
1917
01:37:19,145 --> 01:37:20,506
- Yeah, do it again.
- Do it again.
1918
01:37:20,560 --> 01:37:22,020
Okay.
1919
01:37:22,104 --> 01:37:23,645
Robert Stigwood,
this is for you.
1920
01:37:46,270 --> 01:37:47,313
Ladies and gentlemen,
1921
01:37:47,395 --> 01:37:49,854
an Oscar nominee
for "Saturday Night Fever,"
1922
01:37:49,935 --> 01:37:52,479
John Travolta.
1923
01:37:52,560 --> 01:37:54,560
Tonight
1924
01:37:54,645 --> 01:37:57,145
the Recording Academy
is celebrating
1925
01:37:57,229 --> 01:38:00,188
three brothers
who changed my life
1926
01:38:00,270 --> 01:38:02,560
and the world of music forever,
1927
01:38:02,645 --> 01:38:05,645
and though brothers Robin
and Maurice are sadly gone,
1928
01:38:05,729 --> 01:38:08,685
we are thrilled to be joined
by a brother like no other,
1929
01:38:08,770 --> 01:38:11,479
one of the most successful
singer-songwriters
1930
01:38:11,560 --> 01:38:14,438
of our times,
my friend Barry Gibb.
1931
01:38:40,270 --> 01:38:43,313
They're a brilliant chapter
in the book of music.
1932
01:38:43,395 --> 01:38:44,895
You know,
some people are a footnote.
1933
01:38:44,979 --> 01:38:45,979
Some people take up...
1934
01:38:46,020 --> 01:38:48,479
The Beatles and Dylan
take up huge...
1935
01:38:48,560 --> 01:38:49,895
But the Bee Gees are there.
1936
01:38:57,313 --> 01:38:59,479
You go back and look
at their body of work,
1937
01:38:59,560 --> 01:39:01,935
and it's some of the best
songs ever written.
1938
01:39:05,313 --> 01:39:06,829
There's nothing else to say
about the Bee Gees
1939
01:39:06,854 --> 01:39:08,438
except they were
fucking awesome.
1940
01:39:52,060 --> 01:39:55,479
When I think about it now,
1941
01:39:55,560 --> 01:39:57,895
I think about
how it all sort of started.
1942
01:39:59,560 --> 01:40:01,810
We just had this dream,
1943
01:40:01,895 --> 01:40:04,313
and we thought, "Well",
1944
01:40:04,395 --> 01:40:06,313
what do we want
to be famous for?"
1945
01:40:08,438 --> 01:40:11,060
It turns out
it was the songwriting.
1946
01:40:14,935 --> 01:40:18,060
And I think
everything we set out to do,
1947
01:40:18,145 --> 01:40:20,229
we did, against all odds.
1948
01:40:22,438 --> 01:40:24,354
I can't honestly come to terms
with the fact
1949
01:40:24,438 --> 01:40:26,188
that they're not here anymore.
1950
01:40:26,270 --> 01:40:28,188
Never been able to do that.
1951
01:40:32,438 --> 01:40:34,188
I'm always reliving it.
1952
01:40:34,270 --> 01:40:35,579
It's always,
"What would Robin think?"
1953
01:40:35,604 --> 01:40:37,354
or, "What would
Maurice think?"
1954
01:40:37,438 --> 01:40:39,188
And Andy.
1955
01:40:39,270 --> 01:40:40,645
It never goes away.
1956
01:40:43,770 --> 01:40:47,060
And what I wanted to say earlier
1957
01:40:47,145 --> 01:40:49,020
is that I'd rather have 'em
all back here,
1958
01:40:49,104 --> 01:40:50,604
no hits at all.
1959
01:44:56,145 --> 01:44:59,188
Barry, Barry, Barry,
1960
01:44:59,270 --> 01:45:03,685
Barry, Barry, Barry,
Barry, Barry, Barry,
1961
01:45:03,770 --> 01:45:08,645
Barry, Barry, Barry,
Barry, Barry, Barry.
1962
01:45:14,229 --> 01:45:16,854
One, two, three, four.
146730
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