My First Musical Obsession (by Kelly)
My First Musical Obsession
Bear with me here. This really is about a
band, I promise, but there’s a little introduction to how I discovered them.
(Posted by Kelly)
I was 11 - 12 years old in 1977, and it was
a great year for movies. Back in the day when your parents wanted to get rid of
you for the day they could drop you off at the movie theater with some money,
and you would buy a ticket and some popcorn and see a movie. There were I think
6 screens in the theater my friends and I frequented. We would pay for the one
movie and then “sneak in” to other movies and spend the day that way. We saw a
bunch of movies that were really meant for audiences older than us, and we
didn’t always understand them, but we watched them anyway.
I know I saw more movies than this but
these stand out in my memory:
Star Wars came out in May. I saw it in the
summer, and I saw it 5 ½ times. I usually only see a movie once and I’m done. I
was so in love with Han Solo. Here’s a trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-_xHEv0l-w
That summer I also saw The Island of Dr.
Moreau. It freaked me out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RAgnFAQ9s4
In December I saw Close Encounters of the
Third Kind. Sorry I could not find the original trailer, but this is a really
good one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSpQ3G08k48
Also in December I saw, “sneaked into” Saturday
Night Fever. The movie was so over my head, and pretty much the only scene I
remember was the gang rape of the girl who loves Tony.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5tBXe0kSLA
I had no business seeing that movie and I
didn’t like it, but the music…
THAT is when I discovered the Brothers
Gibb, the Bee Gees, and they became My First Musical Obsession. I loved their
harmonies, I loved the beat, I loved the energy, and, well, Barry…
I had to have the album (we had vinyl in
those days) and I just about wore it out. There really isn’t a favorite of mine
from that album, but here are a couple of videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpqqjU7u5Yc
We only had the one turntable, and it was
in the living room, so my family got to enjoy it right along with me. Imagine
my surprise when my parents told me they were by no means a new group.
I had to know more, so I spent a lot of
time and what little money I could scrounge together at Music Millennium in
Portland. They were the place to go if you wanted music of any kind, new and
used. (I just googled it and amazingly they are still there: https://musicmillennium.com/)
I was very pleasantly surprised to learn
that, as much as I loved their disco work, I loved the older stuff even more. I
collected every album I could find and discovered I liked Robin’s voice even
better than Barry’s. Again I don’t have a favorite, but these are the ones that
stick in my head when I think of the Bee Gees pre-Saturday Night Fever:
New York Mining Disaster 1941:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48j8UdBwDS8
I Started a Joke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrg1UAixGaM
Words:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKyrDyvzCiI
Massachusetts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk9bmuncB4Q
My very first concert was to see the Bee
Gees at the Portland Memorial Colosseum.
I went with my friend Stephanie, and we were so high up in the rafters
that I had to use binoculars to see them, but I saw them. It was…I can’t even
describe it. It was one of the highlights of my life.
Then in 1978 they donated a song to the Music
for UNICEF fund. (This was before LiveAid, folks). If I remember correctly, it
was a surprise – they sang it live on TV to introduce it to us (I could be
wrong, but that’s how I remember it. Leave me with my dreams.) I thought I was
going to die with anticipation. We only had the one TV and I made the whole
family sit down and watch it with me. It was Too Much Heaven:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nREV8bQJ1MA
After that my head started to come down
from the clouds, but I still collected every album I could find (wish I still
had them lol).
The Bee Gees had a younger brother, Andy,
who was just a child when his brothers started making hits. In the late 70s he
launched a solo career. Interestingly enough it was in 1977 that he had his
first US hit, I Just Want to Be Your Everything. It was #1 on the Billboard chart
for three weeks:
He performed with his brothers in 1979
doing You Should Be Dancing at the end of a Bee Gees show. (I’m pretty sure
that’s the tour I attended):
In 1988 the band made the announcement that
Andy was going to join the band, but unfortunately Andy died that year. He died
of myocarditis, brought on by years of drug use. Sadly he seemed to be finally
on an upward trajectory out of addiction and depression, but that is really
impossible to say. Speaking as an addict I can tell you that everyone has their
individual bottom, and no one else can say what it is.
Maurice, Robin’s twin, was a recovering
alcoholic who suffered a relapse after Andy’s death in 1988. He threatened his wife
and children with a gun in 1991, and quit drinking. He remained sober until his
death in January 2003 of a heart attack brought on by an intestinal blockage.
Robin was diagnosed with colorectal cancer
in 2011. He had surgery but shortly thereafter contracted pneumonia, went into
and came out of a coma, and he died of kidney failure in 2012.
Barry is the oldest and is ironically the
only one left. He is still making music.
Here is a link to the list of 1,030 songs
that Barry, Robin, and Maurice wrote together, alone, or with others. They have
been recorded by all kinds of artists you may never have thought of including
Dionne Warwick, Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Olivia
Newton-John, and Michael Jackson, to name just a few:
https://www.beegees.dk/brmlist.htm
The Bee Gees are one of the most prolific,
famous, and influential bands of all time. They have changed the face of
popular music and their memory will endure forever. They were my first love, so
to speak, and they will always have a treasured and nostalgic place in my
heart.
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