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Saturday Night Fever has an unforgettable opening sequence.
The 1978 disco movie focuses on a man's shiny red shoes with enormous heels. The camera pulls back to reveal an impossibly-handsome John Travolta, carrying a tin of paint and flashing that dazzling smile at beautiful women.
But what makes the classic scene unforgettable? It's not the leading man or Brooklyn's gritty urban setting.
It's the music.
Thanks to the Bee Gees' disco anthem Stayin' Alive, Travolta doesn't walk down the street: He struts.
The priceless combination of music and visuals in American cinema has been championed by Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino, but it reached near perfection in Saturday Night Fever. And it was pure coincidence.
"We were already working in France doing our new studio album before we knew about Saturday Night Fever," recalled Robin Gibb yesterday. "Then Robert Stigwood (the movie's producer) told us about the movie.
"He asked if we had any songs, so we sent our new tracks that we'd already finished and they seemed to fit the movie perfectly. We know what happened after that."
We do, but it's worth repeating. The Bee Gees' soundtrack album to Saturday Night Fever smashed every record that was worth breaking. Four singles (Stayin' Alive, How Deep Is Your Love?, More Than A Woman and Night Fever) all reached No 1 on the American Billboard charts. The album then sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.
Robin Gibb is reluctant to pick a favourite Bee Gees track, but admits to having a soft spot for one of the greatest love songs ever written.
"I loved all our Fever songs, but yes, How Deep is Your Love? is one of my favourites," he said.
I've Gotta Get A Message To You
Gibb was speaking before his gig tonight at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, where he will perform with a 30-piece orchestra as part of his Magnetic 2005 tour. Although he will perform songs from his album Magnet, most of the night will be devoted to songs he penned with his brothers — older sibling Barry and twin brother Maurice, who died in 2003.
Indeed, Magnet is the 55-year-old's tribute to his late brother. "Obviously we cannot be the same without Maurice, but there is no end to a great legacy," he told Today. "So we continue on ... for the moment in our separate ways, but who knows?
"In the future we may work together again as the Bee Gees."
With the music industry currently besieged with manufactured boy bands, it's important not to underestimate the Bee Gees' legacy.
George Martin once said no band in the world performed better harmonies than the Bee Gees — and he produced The Beatles. Even Paul McCartney — who gave the world Yesterday, Hey Jude and Let It Be — doffs his song-writing cap in deference to the Bee Gees.
Gold 90 FM DJ Will Xavier, who's worked in the music industry for 25 years, believes it's in the blood. "There's just something about being in a band of brothers," he said. "They say music is in the blood. Well, same blood, same music. That's why the Bee Gees' harmonies, their song writing, their melodies, everything just fits."
But Robin Gibb is remarkably modest about his contribution to a band that kicked off with the hit Spicks and Specks in 1966, followed up with New York Mining Disaster, Massachusetts and To Love Somebody (all 1967). They went on to sell 180 million albums, making them the fifth-most successful band in history.
"All I ever wanted to do was write music, perform it and hope that people enjoyed it," he said.
"Other artists have their favourite Bee Gees songs. In fact, everywhere I go, I meet people who all have different choices and like Bee Gees songs from different eras. We are lucky they can choose from so many songs I suppose."
But in the late 70s, there was a backlash. New wave began to usurp disco and the very people who bought Saturday Night Fever suddenly denied ever liking the band with the falsetto voices, white suits and gold medallions.
American radio stations had Bee Gee-free weekends. It was preposterous, but Robin Gibb remains philosophical about that period.
"I don't think there was a backlash," he said. "That's what happens after an album becomes so popular. It was the same with Michael Jackson's Thriller (the 1982 album which went on to become the biggest-selling album of all time). When something is so big for so long, stations will have to take a break from playing it."
Fortunately, the Bee Gees enjoyed something of a renaissance before Maurice died and deservedly so. The Record was released in 2001 and the album was just that: A two-disc compilation that informed the younger generation that songs such as Boyzone's Words was a Bee Gees classic.
The music industry finally acknowledged the band, too. In 1994, Robin Gibb was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 and picked up numerous lifetime achievement awards along the way.
"Our music has always been able to reach all ages," he said. "Whether it's our original version or through cover versions by younger bands, our music is still out there."
And artistes want to work with him.
"Right now, I'm working with artistes such as Wyclef Jean, Babyface, Sheryl Crow and McCartney. It's been a long career, but thankfully, I have always been accorded respect from the industry and fans and that's very rewarding." -TODAY/sh
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