The Bee Gees--Night Fever (1978)

     Today is Barry Gibb's 65th birthday, and it's time to give him some props....

      I've never been a fan of 70's era disco, but it's not without it's charms, and although it turned into a record producer's version of spam, at it's peak it could be innovative (not to mention fun). Enter The Bee Gees. They had a long career by the time and at least to the public had dissipated from the popular music landscape. During this time however, they had continued to put out quality albums, and write...for themselves and for others. For those who were fans, the beginnings of what was to be the disco era Bee Gees could be found in the 1974 album, "Mr. Natural", when they shed the previous styles that they had been known for and sang in a looser style, with the tempo and tenor of the album was more upbeat.

      The next album, 1975's "Main Course" was the breakthrough. For those who think that Saturday Night Fever "made" the Bee Gees need to go here. They fully embraced the surfacing disco movement, but with a major difference. The Gibb brothers' writing skills had always been good, but by this time a new and exciting musical movement meshed perfectly in a way that gave some intelligence and depth to what was considered just glorified dance music.  

     The real songwriting leader during this time was Barry, and 1977/78 was his year. Consider that from December of 77 to September of 78, the charts were ruled by song written by the eldest brother. This is the list of No. 1's he had during this time:
  
     "How Deep is Your Love"
     "Stayin' Alive"
      "(Love is) Thicker Than Water"
      "Night Fever"
      "If I Can't Have You"
     "Shadow Dancing"
     "Grease"

     In fact, Gibb holds the record for consecutive #1's on the charts with six. Looking back 30 years later, there is a lot of dreck associated with disco music, and I'd be the first to point it out. But for anyone who is still not a believer, the Bee Gees (and the songwriting of Barry) was not only the class of the era, but produced arguably the best music of the 70's.