Bee Gees Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), Part 1/4
David Garcia
Posting-Frequency: monthly (25th of month)
Last-modified: 1998/08/25
Maintainer: David Garcia <ga...@compuserve.com>
Bee Gees
Frequently Asked Questions
Part One of Four
August 25, 1998
Table of Contents:
Part One:
1-01. Who are the Bee Gees?
Part Two:
2-01. What LPs, CDs or videos am I missing from my
collection?
Part Three:
3-01. What Bee Gees on-line resources are available?
Part Four:
4-01. What is a FAQ?
4-02. Whatever happened to...?
4-03. Will the Bee Gees ever perform live again?
4-04. Will "Still Waters" be their last album?
4-05. What is the Bee Gees e-mail address?
4-06. Who is Renee Schreiber?
4-07. What is this rumor about missing lyrics to the song
"Rings Around the Moon"?
4-08. When will the Bee Gees make a Christmas album (and/or
country album, "unplugged" album, etc.)?
4-09. Who decides whether rarities are released? Any chance
that some unreleased tracks will be made available?
4-10. What kind of tuning does Barry use on his guitar?
4-11. How tall are the Bee Gees?
4-12. Are any of the Gibb brothers left-handed?
4-13. When are their families' birthdays and anniversaries?
4-14. Who is older, Robin or Maurice?
4-15. What's on the list of forthcoming events?
4-16. Where can I find the lyrics to...?
4-17. Have any books been written about the Bee Gees or Andy
Gibb?
4-18. Where can I order a CD of...?
4-19. Any fan get togethers planned for the near future?
4-20. What interviews have appeared in newspapers or
magazines lately?
4-21. Where can I find Maurice Gibb lunchboxes and other Bee
Gees memoribilia?
4-22. Save me, save me! The Bee Gees are just another one of
my obsessions, but she says it's tearing my world apart, and if I
only had my mind on something else, I could dedicate my life to
something new. Where do I stand? I look like a happy man, but
how hopelessly I'm lost! I have just myself to blame, it seems.
Where do I go from here?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1-01. Who are the Bee Gees?
A. David Garcia writes...
The Bee Gees are three brothers: Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, and
Maurice Gibb. From 1967 to 1969, they were joined by Vince
Melouney and Colin Petersen. In 1970, while Robin pursued a solo
career, the album "Cucumber Castle" was released with just Barry
and Maurice as the Bee Gees.
Contrary to popular belief, younger brother Andy Gibb was
never a member of the Bee Gees as such, although his brothers
lent assistance in songwriting, producing and backing vocals on
his three solo albums.
The brothers Gibb were born in the Isle of Man, an island
located between Great Britain and Ireland. Barry was born on
September 1st, 1946. Robin and Maurice, twins, were born on
December 22nd, 1949. The family later moved to Manchester,
England, where Andy was born on March 5, 1958.
According to a 1979 TV Bio, as children the three boys used
to perform in Manchester theaters. They called their singing
trio "The Rattlesnakes", and later "Wee Johnny Hays and the Blue
Cats." Their harmonies were so natural that, one day at home,
their mother mistook their singing as a radio on in the next
room.
In 1958 the Gibb family, with infant Andy, sailed to
Australia. It was there that the brothers started pursuing
professional careers as singers and songwriters. Their father,
Hugh Gibb, and been a professional drummer and bandleader in his
youth. The brothers' talent caught the attention of a local DJ,
and soon they were performing at racetracks, beach resorts, and
on local radio and TV broadcasts. Around this time they named
themselves the BG's, and later, the Bee Gees.
In 1963, Festival Records signed the Bee Gees to their first
record contract. Though hits as a group were slow in coming,
Barry put his songwriting talents to good use writing for other
singers and groups.
In 1966 the Bee Gees had their first number one single in
Australia, "Spicks and Specks." The following January the Gibb
family boarded a ship back to England.
The brothers had sent demo tapes to NEMS, the group managing
the Beatles. One night Robert Stigwood sat down and listened to
a few demo tapes from the pile. He liked what he heard, and
wanted to see about signing them up.
The 1967 album "Bee Gees First" was a tremendous debut
success. The first single, "New York Mining Disaster 1941", was
believed by many to be recorded by the Beatles under a different
name. American record executives started using this as a
technique to spark interest in the record, saying only that the
name of this group began with a "B" and ended with an "S". With
the follow-up success of "Holiday" and "To Love Somebody", people
soon knew quite well who the Bee Gees were.
Later that year, the Bee Gees -- now the three brothers and
fellow Australians Vince Melouney and Colin Petersen -- recorded
the album "Horizontal". The single "Massachusetts" topped the UK
charts. In 1968, the "Idea" album soon followed with the
classics "I Started a Joke" and "I've Gotta Get a Message To
You".
As was often the case with sixties pop groups, the first
flash of success soon after brought dissension and clashes of
egos -- what Barry calls the "First Fame" syndrome. Despite
years of performing together as brothers, the sudden rise to fame
soon overwhelmed the Bee Gees.
In 1969, with the "Odessa" album, there were conflicts over
the release of "First of May" as a single. Robin thought that
"Lamplight" should be the a-side. Other divisions ensued, and
eventually resulted in Robin departing to pursue a solo career.
Around this time Vince Melouney and Colin Petersen also split
from the band.
Robin's solo debut, "Robin's Reign", was a modest success in
Europe. The single "Saved By The Bell" did particularly well in
Germany. Meanwhile, Barry and Maurice continued together as the
Bee Gees. Their album, "Cucumber Castle", also coincided with a
UK television special. Soon after, however, Barry and Maurice
went their separate ways as well.
The reconciliation was a gradual one. Barry once remarked
that, if they hadn't been brothers, they probably never would
have got back together. The "Two Years On" album seemed more
like an anthology of three soloists than any sort of group
effort. The song "Lonely Days", however, did show that they
could still work together as a group.
On their next album, "Trafalgar", the reconciliation process
continued. The Bee Gees finally had their first #1 single in the
US, "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart". The success of this
classic showed that the brothers Gibb were far more successful as
a group than they would ever be as soloists.
As evidenced by the 1972 album "To Whom It May Concern", the
Bee Gees were now drifting into a musical pattern of soft
ballads. The songs "Run To Me" and "My World" were typical of
the group's sound of this time. Eventually the Bee Gees decided
to break away from the London scene and start afresh in the
United States.
In the US, the Bee Gees started in new directions musically.
Unfortunately, these new directions were bereft of commercial
success. The 1973 album, "Life in a Tin Can", saw meager sales
of its single, "I Saw A New Morning". Finally, when "Wouldn't I
Be Someone", the single from "A Kick In The Head Is Worth Eight
In the Pants", failed to climb the charts, the record company
chose not to release the album.
Soon after this, the talents of accomplished record producer
Arif Mardin were brought to the group's assistance. As producer
of their next album, "Mr. Natural", he helped the Bee Gees to
evolve their creativity, "open their ears", and explore musical
forms quite different from the warm ballads they had grown
accustomed to. The "Mr. Natural" album turned out not to be the
commercial breakthrough the Bee Gees were seeking, but with
tracks like "Heavy Breathing", "Dogs", and "Charade", it was
obvious that the brothers were finding their way down new paths
of songwriting.
Around this time their personal lives also began to grow and
change. Robin became a father, and so did Barry. In 1975,
Maurice re-married. As the brothers were finding their way back
to success musically, they were also starting to realize that
there was much more to life than just putting another gold record
on the studio wall.
The following year, Arif Mardin's guidance paid off with the
album "Main Course", featuring "Jive Talkin", "Nights on
Broadway", and "Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)". This rebirth of
the Bee Gees was far more intense than anyone had expected. The
urban music scene was shifting to R&B Dance, and the "blue-eyed
soul" of the Bee Gees' "Main Course" album fit right in.
In 1976, the Bee Gees changed record labels in the US. Now
that they were under Polydor, they no longer had Atlantic Records
producer Arif Mardin to assist them. In this sense, the
"Children of the World" album was a true test of their talents:
Arif Mardin had brought them this far, now could they continue on
their own?
The album's first single, "You Should Be Dancing", quickly
rose to success as the dance clubs latched onto its intense
rhythms and falsetto harmonies. Among the trendy night clubs and
discotheques, the song became an anthem. Other songs from the
album, "Boogie Child" and "Love So Right", also did well.
Work began on the next studio album. The Bee Gees relocated
to the Chateau D'Heuroville studio in France. Sometime soon
after, Robert Stigwood, their manager, called them to request
some songs for a movie soundtrack. He described the film he was
producing, some low budget dance movie set in Brooklyn. He
persuaded the brothers to give him the songs that were already
recorded for their next album. This project eventually became
the film "Saturday Night Fever".
Having thus been relieved of their entire studio album, the
Gibb brothers now spent some time mixing the tracks for the live
double-LP, "Here At Last... Bee Gees Live!" Soon after, though,
Robert Stigwood called again -- this time about yet another film.
Now Robert wanted the Bee Gees to work as supporting actors in a
musical, a film that would weave Beatles songs into a story about
Sgt. Pepper and a mythical place called Heartland. Peter
Frampton would be assigned the lead role, and the Bee Gees would
be cast as the Henderson brothers. The film would be called, of
course, "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."
In late 1977, while the Bee Gees were filming "Sgt. Pepper",
the film "Saturday Night Fever" was released. Three songs from
the soundtrack -- "How Deep Is Your Love", "Stayin' Alive", and
"Night Fever" -- instantly climbed to the top of the singles
charts. The soundtrack album stayed at #1 for 24 weeks, becoming
the top selling album up to that time, and remains even now the
best selling soundtrack album in history.
While all this took place, the brothers saw changes on the
set of the "Sgt. Pepper" film. They had been sharing a trailer;
now they each had a private trailer of their own. People who had
previously ignored them were now far more deferential. With the
astounding success of the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack,
suddenly these three nameless supporting actors were central to
the film.
It's a wonderful feeling, of course, to be the sudden center
of attention on a movie lot. Except, in this case, the movie was
looking less and less promising each day. In stages, the Bee
Gees began to realize that their movie debut, arriving at the
pinnacle of their success as a music group, was destined to be a
hideous waste of film. "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club
Band" was a bomb in the making, and the Bee Gees wanted out.
On three separate occasions, the brothers literally begged
Robert Stigwood to take them out of the film. But it was, of
course, too late for that. So, they carried on as best they
could and hoped the damage to their careers would be minimal.
In the end, their musical careers emerged relatively
unscathed. It was, however, the end of their acting careers. At
the time, it was rumored that Barry was being considered for the
role of Che Gueverra in Robert Stigwood's film version of
"Evita". As it turned out, the film "Evita" ended up being
postponed for nearly two decades, by which point the opportunity
had passed him by. As for the film "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band", although the brothers' predictions of
cinematic disaster proved correct, they did manage to pull a nice
single out of the soundtrack: Robin's version of "Oh, Darling",
the only Bee Gees' hit song that they didn't write themselves.
Whatever the public thought of the film "Sgt. Pepper", the
Bee Gees were to be more permanently linked with a movie they had
never even appeared in: "Saturday Night Fever". Before the
release of "Fever", disco was gaining some airplay, but merely as
another of many forms of popular music, and disco clubs were
something most people only read about in "New York" magazine.
The film "Saturday Night Fever" changed all that. Now discos
were not just for the urban trendsetters. Suddenly you had
assistant managers of suburban tub and tile outlet stores wearing
leisure suits and gold medallions on Saturday nights. Dance
instruction studios were overwhelmed with requests to "teach me
to dance like Travolta". Songs like "Disco Duck" and "Macho Man"
crowded established rock acts off the airwaves.
During this time the Bee Gees were a constant presence. At
one point, Gibb compositions held all the top five slots on
Billboard's top ten. This sort of success naturally evokes a
wide span of reactions, ranging from blind imitation to outright
resentment and loathing. In the midst of all the excitement,
while Rod Stewart released his disco hit "Do You Think I'm Sexy"
and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones worked on his "Emotional
Rescue" falsetto, others began to rebel, and the anti-disco
backlash began.
Looking back, it was both unfortunate and unfair that the
Bee Gees were blamed for disco. Had the movie "Saturday Night
Fever" never been made, and those same Gibb compositions made
their way to the Bee Gees' next studio album as originally
planned, the whole "disco fever" travesty might have been
avoided. Ultimately, disco was as much a fashion trend as a
music trend, and the fashion industry found "Saturday Night
Fever" to be a convenient infomercial.
The irony in all this was that the Bee Gees didn't dance,
didn't wear leisure suits, and didn't even particularly like
dance movies like "Fever". They've always characterized their
music as "Blue-Eyed Soul", and whether people danced to it or not
was pretty much beside the point. They took pride in their
songwriting craft, not in the merchandising of garish disco
lifestyles.
With their next studio album, "Spirits Having Flown", they
sought to provide more variety. The lead single, "Too Much
Heaven", was a slow ballad, not a disco dance tune. The "Spirits
Having Flown" album had a variety of musical styles, from the
Caribbean feel of the title track to the smoky nightclub sound of
"Stop, Think Again." Nearly all the songs were sung in falsetto
vocals, however, and "Tragedy", the second single, was undeniably
disco in style.
The album sold well, and the Bee Gees easily filled football
stadiums in their 1979 concert tour. One of the fans at Dodger
Stadium that night was singer Barbra Streisand. She asked the
brothers to work with her on her next album. As Barry started
production of Barbra's "Guilty" album, Maurice produced the LP
"Steppin' Out" for the Osmonds.
During this time, new Bee Gees compositions went to Barbra's
album, and also to Jimmy Ruffin's "Sunrise" album, which Robin
was producing. Barbra's "Guilty" album netted three top singles
in 1980, and has been the most successful album of her career.
Now work began on the Bee Gees' next studio album. In many
ways, the "Living Eyes" album was unlike all their other recent
work. "Spirits Having Flown" had a falsetto lead on every track
but "Until"; "Living Eyes" avoided falsetto leads on every song
but "Soldiers". Not only were the pulsating rhythm sections of
"Children of the World" gone, but the backup trio of Alan
Kendall, Dennis Bryon and Blue Weaver were all replaced by
session musicians halfway through the production. One song, "Be
Who You Are", even had a long symphonic introduction with a full
orchestra.
Unfortunately, 1981 was not a good year for the brothers
Gibb. The disco backlash was causing radio stations to avoid any
new vinyl by the Bee Gees. In the meantime, punk rock and new
wave groups were defining the sound of the 80's. Looking back on
these days, one journalist remarked "...the Bee Gees were trying
to be the Bee Gees at the same time that the Sex Pistols were
being the Sex Pistols."
In the meantime, their record label, RSO, was in turmoil.
Changes at the top and financial chaos clouded the release of
"Living Eyes". The pages of Rolling Stone carried, not Bee Gees
album reviews, but news of lawsuits and audits. So it was that
the rock press barely noticed when, in the wake of six
consecutive number one hits, "He's A Liar" floundered on the
singles charts.
There might be an article or an interview somewhere that
explains what happened next. If so, I have yet to find it. It's
easier to say what didn't happen. The Bee Gees didn't release
any more studio albums. They didn't go on tour. They didn't
work with their former back-up band of Kendall, Bryon and Weaver.
They didn't stay with RSO. Instead, for the next six years their
efforts would be divided between writing and producing for other
artists and working on their own occasional solo projects. To
make an unfortunate comparison, the Bee Gees became the three
artists formerly known as the Bee Gees.
The lone exception to this period "in exile" was the
soundtrack to the movie "Stayin' Alive". Sylvester Stallone was
hired to direct this sequel to "Saturday Night Fever". Looking
at the film, it is obvious that this was a work crafted in
Stallone's own image. Even John Travolta ended up looking like
Rambo in Spandex.
In directing the film, Stallone was at least somewhat
obligated to include Bee Gees songs in the soundtrack. But most
of the emphasis was given to the music of Frank Stallone, the
director's brother. In contrast, some songs the Bee Gees wrote
were faded out abruptly in the middle of a verse. In any case,
both the film and the soundtrack album failed to measure up to
the original.
In between "Living Eyes" and the "Stayin' Alive" film, Robin
released his solo album "How Old Are You" on the Polydor label.
This album was produced by Robin and Maurice, and all the
compositions were by the twins, including the single "Juliet".
The album and single did well in Germany, but were scarcely
noticed in the US. Barry's absence from the album was easily
explained: he had just finished producing Dionne Warwick's
"Heartbreaker" LP, and was about to begin production of "Eyes
That See In The Dark" for Kenny Rogers. Both of Barry's projects
were co-produced by Karl Richardson and Albhy Galuten, and
consisted of songs written by the Bee Gees, and occasional
co-writing by Albhy Galuten.
The next Bee Gees success was to come in under the radar.
"Islands In the Stream" was a huge country hit for Kenny Rogers
and Dolly Parton. It also crossed over and dominated mainstream
pop radio -- one of very few country duets to ever do so. In all
the excitement, people didn't seem to notice who wrote the song.
The biggest country hit of 1983 was written by the same composers
who wrote the disco anthem "Stayin' Alive" -- the Bee Gees had
made a most remarkable transition in their songwriting, and
hardly anyone seemed to realize it.
As if to emphasize the point, the Bee Gees now started
another transition. They began work on an R&B comeback album for
Motown diva Diana Ross. "Eaten Alive" and the single "Chain
Reaction" gave Diana Ross her first major chart success in the
UK. In the wake of "Saturday Night Fever", the Bee Gees had
proven their worth as songwriters and producers with both country
music and Motown style R&B... but at the same time their own solo
careers were going nowhere.
Robin had a brief hit with the "Secret Agent" album's single
"Boys Do Fall In Love", but his followup album "Walls Have Eyes"
failed to attract listeners. EMI later blamed this on internal
changes at the record label. At the same time, Barry's solo
debut "Now Voyager" was unable to spark excitement with record
buyers. While "Shine Shine" did find its way into the top 40, it
was quickly forgotten along with the album. A second solo album,
"Moonlight Madness", was instead diverted to the soundtrack of
the film "Hawks", a British comedy-drama starring Timothy Dalton
and Anthony Edwards.
In 1987, Arif Mardin and the brothers Gibb set their sights
on a renewal of the Bee Gees' career as recording artists. The
"E.S.P." album brought the single "You Win Again", a #1 success
in several countries. The USA, however, wasn't one of them.
Following the tragic death of younger brother Andy Gibb in 1988,
the Bee Gees started to seriously re-evaluate their careers.
Trying to make sense of the tragedy, they also began to feel a
need to truly dedicate themselves to what they've always done
best: songwriting and performing. Regardless of what the radio
stations thought about the Bee Gees, they would be heard.
The 1989 album "One" brought the brothers success on both
sides of the Atlantic. "Ordinary Lives" was the featured single
in Europe, and the title track proved to be the group's
"comeback" single in the US. For the first time in ten years,
the Bee Gees set forth on a world tour.
The 1991 followup album "High Civilization" was less well
received. While the song "Secret Love" did well in Europe, "When
He's Gone" was ignored in the US. The Bee Gees again toured
Europe. But while touring Europe, their thoughts surely were
directed toward the states.
It was maddening. Songs and albums that sold well in Europe
went unnoticed by Americans. "You Win Again" provides a perfect
example: how can a song by a major artist be number one in
England, yet number 75 in the US? Two years later, Warner even
re-released "You Win Again" in the US as the second single from
the "One" album, hoping that it would finally get airplay. It
didn't. Why did American radio ignore the group? As one
reviewer quipped, we were ready to forgive Nixon for Watergate,
but were we ready to forgive the Bee Gees for disco?
In 1993, the Bee Gees returned to the Polydor label and
released the CD "Size Isn't Everything". Appearances on radio
and TV brought inevitable one-liners about the meaning of the
title, even leading shock jock Howard Stern to ask "which one is
the 'biggest' Bee Gee?" Sadly, the "Full Size" tour planned for
April of 1994 had to be abruptly canceled, due to Barry's health
problems.
During this time no less than three tribute albums to the
Bee Gees have been released: An alternative rock version,
"Melody Fair", joins compilations of previous cover versions on
the rack: "Bee Gees Songbook" (a UK import), and the recently
released "Soul of the Bee Gees", featuring a liner note "mea
culpa" over the record company's mishandling of Robin Gibb's
single "Toys" back in 1985.
In September of 1996 word was received that the Bee Gees had
been chosen as 1997 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. The ceremony was held in Cleveland on May 6, 1997.
Additional awards have included the American Music Awards'
"International Artist" award, and special recognition in this
year's "Brit" awards.
The newest release, "Still Waters," debuted at #2 on the UK
charts. The compilation album "The Very Best of the Bee Gees"
also briefly reentered the top ten a
s well, putting the brothers
Gibb in the remarkable position of having two albums in the UK
top ten at the same time -- all this thirty years after their
international debut. The album debuted in the US at #11, their
first top twenty album since 1979. The US release of "Still
Waters" was been acompanied by a whilrwind of activity. The
weekend before the album's debut, VH-1 had a "Bee Gees Weekend"
with a Saturday afternoon marathon of videos and performances. On
the day of the album's release, the Bee Gees appeared on the
Oprah Winfrey show, and that evening were inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. The album reportedly sold
over 2.5 million copies worldwide, making it their greatest
success since 1979's "Spirits (Having Flown)."
Is it over? Not yet -- the brothers Gibb, even with a four
decade career to look back on, continue to look forward, and plan
for the next album, the next single. As Barry puts it, "...a
gold record on your wall is like an ornament, and it doesn't
really mean anything. It's a memory -- you look at it and go,
'Well THAT was great,' but it's not part of your NOW. And it's
now and tomorrow that are the most important..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Responses to FAQ: Send responses and comments to David
Garcia at ga...@compuserve.com or post to the mailing lists if you
are a subscriber.
Special thanks to the following for their kind assistance in
producing this FAQ: Renee Schreiber, Joe Brennan, Chris Mathis,
Bette Hanson, Lynn Lyda, Antonette Daniar, Jill Thompson, "Imran
C.", Joey Spain, Ed Vlasov, Melody Ishiwata, "Kevin M.", Doug
"Doug in MO" Shannon, Jimmy Wade, Goran Gustafsson, Juan Perea,
Grant Walters, "Tony", "Mike", Lucas Broer, Joel K. Ashby, "Di",
Marty Hogan, Rhonda J. Platania, Anne Simpson, Al Collum III,
Elliott A. Jacobowitz, Sue Thompson, Kathy Gray and her friend in
France, Ruth Burcaw, "BG Pixie" CBolitiski, Ann M. Richardson,
Marcel Troost, Daniel Navarro, Doug "Doug in TX" Wilson, Phongsak
Suppattarachai, "Marion from (today's climate here) Germany",
Colin Harris, Greg Luther, Helio Takahashi, Douwe Dijkstra, Diane
Weidenkopf, Robert Phan, Karen Liew, Ron Ramirez, Jay Siekierski,
Alan Dail, Joan Furilla, Jan Carnell, "Amy on AOL", Udo Muellner,
Park Duk-Hyeon, Joseph Yellin, Tom Fini, Martha Irvin and many
others (to whom I apologize for their accidental omission)
David Garcia
Posting-Frequency: monthly (25th of month)
Last-modified: 1998/08/25
Maintainer: David Garcia <ga...@compuserve.com>
Bee Gees
Frequently Asked Questions
Part Three of Four
August 25, 1998
3-01. What Bee Gees on-line resources are available?
Well, the information age is providing a plethora of on-line
goodies to Bee Gees fans these days. Most of these are available
on the internet, a few others through subscriber-based on-line
services such as America On-Line and CompuServe. Here is a basic
overview of what you can expect to find...
NEWS:
If you want to read about the lastest goings on in the lives
of the brothers Gibb and their fans, here are some resources are
worth considering...
alt.music.bee-gees is a USENET newsgroup. Ask your internet
service provider how to access newsgroups if you're not familiar
with it. Like most USENET newsgroups, alt.music.bee-gees is not
moderated. This means that anyone can post whatever message they
wish, regardless of whether it's kind, truthful, or even remotely
related to the topic of the Bee Gees and their music. The
alt.music.bee-gees newsgroup has become a magnet for all sorts of
MAKE MONEY FA$T pyramid schemes and such these days, and could do
with more fan participation. Unfortunately, exposing your e-mail
address to a newsgroup such as alt.music.bee-gees can cause you
to end up with tons of bulk e-mail in your mailbox, simply
because the cyber-nitwits who send out such mailings harvest
e-mail addresses from USENET newsgroups. This is one of the
factors that has led to the much-decried "Decline and fall of
USENET" in general. All things considered, however,
alt.music.bee-gees is still a pretty good newsgroup.
Mailing lists are a fine alternative to spam-ridden
newsgroups, and there are two dedicated to the brothers Gibb,
their music, and careers (and occasionally drifting off into
topics of collectible Bee Gees lunchboxes, which Bee Gee has the
cutest... uhhh... "eyes," etc.)
The "Words" mailing list is a free e-mail subscriber service
that has over 600 dedicated fans, and a daily output of between
30-50k of subscribers posts from around the globe. To subscribe,
send an e-mail message to lists...@bg.wsii.com with a blank
subject line and the message:
subscribe words yo...@address.here
in the message body. Yes, that's right, where it says
yo...@address.here substitute your e-mail address.
A second mailing list, the "Spirits Having Flown" list, is
also a free e-mail subscriber service, presently available only
in digest form. To subscribe, send e-mail to
bee-g...@mail-list.com with the message:
subscribe yo...@address.here/YOUR NAME HERE
And, you got it, replace yo...@address.here with your e-mail
address, and replace YOUR NAME HERE with your real name.
THE WEB:
On March 9th, 1997, the day before the UK release of "Still
Waters", the Bee Gees made their official debut on the World Wide
Web. The long awaited Official Bee Gees Web Experience, at
is also mentioned in the liner notes of the new CD. It is still
relatively new to the net, but already is coming to life with
biographical info, TV appearance schedules, and the official Bee
Gees e-mail address, bee...@beegees.net
This web site is growing rapidly, with appearance info,
links to other sites, and a few official answers to questions
raised in this FAQ as well!
Mind you, no one web site can subsitute for the efforts of
all fans. As Joe Brennan once observed, each fan does bring his
own particular perspective on the Bee Gees to his own site, and
in this sense each site, official or otherwise, is well worth
viewing. So it is that, in addition to the offical site
mentioned above, it is well worth paying a visit to the
following...
http://www.cc.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/
This is Joe Brennan's web site, which goes into exhaustive
detail on pretty much every song the Bee Gees have ever recorded.
Encyclopaedic in scope, his web page makes you start to realize
just how little you knew about songs that never made it to the
record racks. Now it even includes a comprehensive list of songs
in alphabetical order! Great going, Joe!
http://www.andygibb.org/
A remarkable tribute to Andy Gibb, the only soloist to have
his first three singles hit number one -- this was no mere teen
idol. The Official Andy Gibb Home Page features a well-written
bio, album gifs, and information on the Andy Gibb Memorial
Foundation.
http://mv.ru/~eddy/bee.html
What IS that line in "Stayin' Alive", oh, YOU know, that
thing that goes "we can try to understand, the New
York .......... on man?" Look it up here, at Eddy's lyrics page.
You'll be surprised to discover how many songs you've been
mishearing all these years.
http://users.deltanet.com/~twograys/beegees.htm
Kathy Gray has a lovely pictorial site here, with nice
reprints of magazine articles, pics of the Bee Gees, fans'
photos, contests, a collectors' corner (we will now pause to take
a breath), real audio files, up-to-date TV info, a VERY active
message board... essentially, we are talking about a Bee Gees
theme park in cyberspace. Visit it now, before Six Flags takes
it over!
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~iomvc/dpage.htm
Speaking of theme parks, how about a Bee Gees museum? Of
course, if it were up to me, we would just take over the
Guggenheim, dispense with all those needless oil paintings, and
start installing karaoke bars in the rotunda. I've been told
that this is impractical, for reasons that elude me presently, so
perhaps a museum on the Isle of Man -- the indisputable
birthplace of the Bee Gees -- would be suitable. Think so? Stop
by and share your thoughts with a few Manx fellows actively
pursuing the idea...
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/main_course/media.htm
Every time I listen to the new Bee Gees single "Alone", I
remember how Sue Thompson blessed us all by providing .wav files
of audio excerpts months before the song's release in the USA.
http://www.scranton.com:2222/archive/b/bee_gees/
Greg Luther first brought this site to my attention, "a web
site that has a few selected Bee Gees songs for guitar." And
he's right, it is. In the new_york_mining_disaster.crd file
Andrew Rogers explains how to play guitar chords like Barry does.
I must say, those minor chords look a tad challenging. And a
barre on the 10th fret for C major? Oy!
Other artists are here too, just click on "Parent Directory"
once or twice to view the list. As a failed guitar player, this
is just the sort of thing I've been looking for. Thanks, Greg!
http://chevytrucks.org/mrphilco/beegees.html
Okay, you've got the cover to "Horizontal", and there's five
guys there. Now, which one is Vince Melouney, and which one is
Colin Peterson? Well, you may find GIFs of album covers
elsewhere, but THIS site tells you who is who, provides catalog
numbers and tells you about CD availability. Very good GIFs,
too! In fact, I was so impressed with this site that I decided
to help Ron "Mr. Philco" Ramirez scrounge up some more album
covers -- so now the site is bigger than ever. It's nice to
FINALLY have a place to send people looking for Bee Gees album
GIFs. Keep up the good work, Mr. Philco!
http://www.polydor.com/polydor/artists/beegees/splash.html
Well, we've been waiting for it, and now here it is: the Bee
Gees page on the web site of Polydor, their record label. Among
the features are a nice biography, although it curiously ends in
1977, tour dates (none available at the present time), and
excerpts from the Bee Gees Electronic Press Kit (6.9 Megs of
Quick Time Video. You may wish to go mow the lawn while
downloading...). Also features a 30 second clip from the "Alone"
video, and realaudio and .wav files of song excerpts from the
"Still Waters" album. All in all, enough to keep the file
download portion of your internet software busy for awhile. Make
space on your hard drive...
http://www.imperium.net/~alandail/BeeGees.html
Alan Dail's site has a lot of text, and a sort of
down-to-business look to it that I find appealing. There are
links: links to the UK album chart, links to radio station
request lines, and links to the Internet Singles Chart voting
site (you HAVE voted, haven't you?). Check often for new radio
info!
http://www.bgwoc.org/
Diane Weidenkopf's Wind of Change site has nice newspaper
and magazine articles on the Bee Gees. Other goodies too! If
you're curious about Bee Gees bootlegs, for example, you can read
about them here. Not BUY them, mind you, but READ about them (of
course!). Great site!
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/7434/index.html
Joan Furilla brings us Joan's Wonderful Bee Gees Page, the
home of Name that Bee Gees Song, one of those things on the
internet that can easily make me forget that I have
responsiblities and shouldn't spend hours being so totally
distracted...
http://www.toptown.com/CENTRALPARK/carncom/beegees/central.htm
Jan Carnell's Bee Gees Back Chat is back, after a brief
absence. And due to its overwhelming popularity, it has moved to
a new location. Please note the above URL in your bookmarks!
One of my favorite parts about it is the .wav to the song "Just
in Case", not yet released anywhere in any form, except for this
composition in progress on the Keppel Road video. Nice pictures,
too!
http://members.aol.com/bgfan/gc/index.html
Amy on America On-line has put together this web site, which
provides a nice combination of Bee Gees buy/sell ads and
Macintosh evangelism ("Don't give in to the dark side", she
warns. Well, of COURSE not! I use OS/2...). Past offerings
listed have included Bee Gees "Sgt. Pepper" bubble gum cards!
Yes, right, very good web site, one that is worth checking,
especially if you're still looking for that Maurice Gibb lunchbox
to complete your collection!
http://muellner.simplenet.com/groove/lexicon/beegees/albums.htm
Mr. Udo Muellner has a Bee Gees discography on his web site.
Actually, it looks a lot like my FAQ discography too, except that
his is easier to read, includes a comprehensive singles
discography as well and predates mine by half a year. And look
at this, he subscribes to CompuServe too! Well, it's true then,
great minds think alike!
Other sites...
Suffice it to say, you don't have to speak English to
appreciate the Bee Gees. Since my capabilities in foreign
languages remain somewhat limited, I will not attempt to review
these, but if you speak the language, by all means stop by and
have a look!
Bee Gees Fan Club - Argentina [In Spanish]:
http://free.websight.com/BGFC_ARG/
Bee Gees Fan Club - Japan [In Japanese]:
http://village.infoweb.or.jp/~fwhw3700/bgsfcjp_index.htm
Polydor - Japan [In Japanese]:
http://www.polydor.co.jp/music/intl/beegees/
Note: if you want to show the Japanese sites to someone who can
read Japanese, be sure to download a Japanese-enabled web browser
such as Tabibito (for Windows 95), available at
http://www.japancan.com
Don't forget, there are many more Bee Gees sites out there.
Be sure to pass the word on so that we can include them in the
next FAQ. Happy net-surfing!
CHAT:
For those who find internet chat to be even better when the
topic is the Bee Gees, consider the IRC channel #bee-gees where
Gibb fans meet on the XWorld server. Open for your chatting
pleasure on Sundays 7pm Eastern, Tuesdays and Thursdays 8pm
Eastern. (Note to those abroad: Eastern is the same as "New York
time," check your handy world clock. You DO have a handy world
clock, or course?)
Special thanks to chat operator Martha Irwin for this
helpful info, and for also suggesting that newbies in need of
killer chat apps consider mIRC shareware chat software, easily
obtained on-line by visiting www.mirc.co.uk.
COMMERCIAL ON-LINE SERVICES:
In other words, AOL and Compu$erve. Please remember, you
have to JOIN THESE SERVICES to take advantage of their
propriatery resources. Unlike other internet thingies, you
can't just point to your web browser here and expect it to
suddenly cough up CompuServe fan club forums -- although it is
rumored that CompuServe may eventually make forums available to
non-subscribers on the internet as a pay-per-use feature...
America On-Line:
Well, alright, you've endured twenty-five consecutive busy
signals, modem initialization errors and cyber-bales of junk
e-mail and now you want to get up to speed on the Bee Gees. Just
pay a visit to the People Connection. In the "Arts and
Entertainment" area a Bee Gees channel is available for your
chat- room pleasure on Wednesday nights at 9:30 PM, Eastern
Standard Time (New York time).
Kathy Gray also urges me to "include information on the Bee
Gees bulletin boards available on AOL. To get there, use
Keyword: MMC (to get to the Music Message Center), then click on
'Artists A - F,' then click on 'Bee Gees.'" Thanks, Kathy!
CompuServe:
Just use the CompuServe GO command to GO BEEGEES (WINCIM
users, click the stoplight icon and type BEEGEES in the dialog
box). This will place you in the Fan Club B forum, which has a
section dedicated to the Bee Gees, including a messages area and
file library. Among the items in the library are JPEGS and GIFS
of album covers and promotional photos. You can also find
several text files in the library, including a recent CompuServe
conference with John Merchant of Middle Ear studio.
In addition to the Fan Club forum, you can access other
CompuServe goodies to keep you informed on Bee Gee bulletins and
album info.
* GO POLYGRAM takes you to the Polygram CompuServe site, which
gives album release info. There was a nice site for the Bee
Gees under April releases, despite the fact that nothing was
released in April...
* GO ALLMUSIC takes you to the All-Music Guide, where you can
look up such things as the catalog numbers for albums of those
Latin pop duos that Barry keeps singing with (see FAQ part 2) and
all available covers of Gibb composition "Gilbert Green" (one, so
far).
* CompuServe's Executive News Service enables you to get press
releases and other wire service articles selected for your
perusal. Follow the instructions in the Executive News Service,
and use as news search keywords BEE GEES, BARRY GIBB, ROBIN GIBB,
MAURICE GIBB and ANDY GIBB. If you like, you can also create a
second news folder with the keywords ROBERT STIGWOOD, POLYDOR,
ARIF MARDIN, KARL RICHARDSON, ALBHY GALUTEN or whatever. The
Executive News Service carries with it per-minute charges IN
ADDITION TO CompuServe's usual exorbitant hourly rates. So read
the help file on charges and usage carefully, and for crying out
loud, DON'T GET UP FOR A CUP OF COFFEE while logged on to the
Executive News Service! You've been warned...
David Garcia
Posting-Frequency: monthly (25th of month)
Last-modified: 1998/08/25
Maintainer: David Garcia <ga...@compuserve.com>
Bee Gees
Frequently Asked Questions
Part Four of Four
August 25, 1998
4-01. What is a FAQ?
A. Well, THIS is a FAQ. In a broader sense, a FAQ is a list of
answers to Frequently Asked Questions (and thus the acronym). It
is a fairly common thing to find on USENET newsgroups, and it
serves the purpose of providing answers to the questions most
likely to be asked by those who are new to the group. This way,
they can quickly get up to speed and deal with the more esoteric
questions, etc.
On USENET, FAQs are posted to news.answers and the newsgroup
to which the FAQ relates. This FAQ is posted to news.answers and
alt.music.bee-gees on the 25th of each month. The most recent
version of the FAQ is always available by ftp at:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/alt.music.bee-gees/
and on the world wide web at:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/music/beegees-faq/
If you wish to reprint all or part of this FAQ on your web
site or fan club newsletter, please write to the FAQ maintainer,
David Garcia, at ga...@compuserve.com
4-02. Whatever happened to...?
A. Here are some followups on several people who have been asked
about from time to time...
ANDY GIBB - Younger brother Andy Gibb passed away on March 10th,
1988. The Andy Gibb Memorial Foundation was started by his
brothers to carry on his memory.
At some point, I would like to see an Andy Gibb FAQ posted
here too. I don't know as much about Andy as some of our mailing
list subscribers do, and I'm sure that there are those who could
do better at it than me. It seems inappropriate to let him be
merely a footnote to this FAQ, and I look forward to seeing the
Andy Gibb FAQ someday soon. In the meantime, be sure to visit
the official Andy Gibb web page, http://www.andygibb.org/
ROBERT STIGWOOD - As Joe Brennan once said, it would seem that
the relationship between Robert and the Bee Gees is a complex
one. While they had their share of legal battles in 1981, the
brothers still look upon Robert as their mentor, and said as much
at the Brit Awards this year. Barry also asked Robert Stigwood
to accept the award on stage with them.
Among Robert's recent acheviements are the movie "Evita" and
the new stage musical "Saturday Night Fever". A Bee Gees
connection in each of these: Back in the seventies, Barry was
being considered for the role of Che Guevara in the film "Evita",
but lost out due to the misfortune of two decades of delays.
And, the Bee Gees have written a new song, "Immortality", for the
"Fever" musical, which is opened in London in May of 1998.
BILL SHEPHERD - When recently asked about him on the "Words"
mailing list, Renee mentioned that Bill passed away some years
ago. Bill, as you recall, did the orchestrations for the early
Bee Gees albums, and it could be said that he had a lot to do
with the lush sound of those albums as well. He was also one of
their producers in the Australian days.
ALBHY GALUTEN AND KARL RICHARDSON - In much the same way that
Bill Shepherd helped to sculpt the sound of the early Bee Gees
albums,Albhy and Karl had a lot to do with the sound of the
"helium years". I had a press release from MCA about one of
these two a few months back, talking about work with CD-ROMs.
According to an article Joey Spain recently forwarded, it appears
to be Albhy, who is now VP of interactive programming for MCA
Music Entertainment. Thanks, Joey!
ARIF MARDIN - Arif produced three albums with the Bee Gees: "Mr.
Natural", "Main Course", and "E.S.P.". He also produced two
songs on the new "Still Waters" CD: "I Will" and "Obsessions".
On December 17th 1996, the New York Post reported that,
after 33 years with Atlantic Records, Arif has signed a
"long-term deal" to stay with the company. It also notes that in
1990 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National
Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He won his sixth Grammy
award earlier this year for his work on "Smokey Joe's Cafe -- The
Songs of Leiber and Stoller" from the hit Broadway play. His
previous Grammy awards include Producer of the Year in 1975 and
for co-producing the soundtrack for "Saturday Night Fever" in
1978, according to the Post.
GUMMO GIBB - Joe Brennan writes...
Apparently Hugh and Barbara were big Marx brothers fans, and
started off naming their boys after them in order. Luckily for
the others, by the time the second boy came along, Gummo was old
enough to be attending school and taking quite a bit of teasing
about his name, and they decided to name the second boy Barry.
The parallels would have been uncanny. It was the middle
three brothers who performed together and achieved the greatest
fame, and consider even the personalities involved: Chico, the
one who gets the girls; Harpo, the best musician and whose voice
you rarely hear; and Groucho, the one known for his wordplay.
And then even little Zeppo would have been the young handsome
brother.
But it was not to be. The real reason for the family's move
to Australia was not the alleged arson incidents, but for the
sake of poor Gummo, who needed to start a new life where his name
was less known.
Living out an eerie parallel, Gummo left show business early
in the family's career and was never captured on film performing
with them. He is said to be a travelling sheepshearer in
Queensland, keeping to himself and never revealing his first
name, going only by "Gibb... just call me Gibb".
At his request, only his feet are shown in the drawing in
the "Legend" book, and not even an animal parody of his face is
provided. He is not mentioned in the autobiography of the group,
and if you ask any of the family about him today, they will deny
his existence, mainly because I have made all of this up.
SUNNY JIM - In their authorized biography, the Bee Gees mention
that they often did little comedy skits about Sunny Jim as a way
of warming up before recording in the studio -- "Sunny Jim in the
Arctic", etc. Sunny Jim is also among those given thanks in the
liner notes of the "Children of the World" CD.
Of course, all this you hear about Sunny Jim action figures,
and Rankin/Bass yuletide productions of "The Adventures of Sunny
Jim" with the composition "What's That on the Floor, Sunny Jim,
Sunny Jim", is nothing more than groundless rumor. Ignore it.
Please.
4-03. Will the Bee Gees ever perform live again?
A. They already have. In October of 1996, a surprise appearance
of the Bee Gees introduced the VH-1 Fashion Awards special. The
warm reception they received showed that, while "Stayin' Alive"
may be derided by anti-disco critics, it still enjoys huge
popularity with the listening public.
Another recent performance, although a brief one (and
troubled with a water-logged mixing board -- outdoors on a rainy
morning), took place at Rockefeller Center in June 1997, as part
of the Today show's Friday summer concert series.
But of course, the highlight of recent performances has to
be the "one night only" event in Las Vegas in November 1997.
This has since been shown in the US on pay-per-view and HBO, and
is now starting to appear on television broadcasts worldwide --
most recently, on BBC Television.
Plans are in the works presently for more "one-night-only"
performances in Ireland, London's Wembley Stadium, and other
venues in South America, Africa, and Australia. For the lastest
news and ticket info, be sure to check http://www.beegees.net
(and your local travel agent...)
4-04. Will "Still Waters" be their last album?
A. They have stated previously that, as long as their fans want
to hear them, they will be happy to keep making albums.
Does this mean they will keep going on forever? Well, in
recent interviews Barry has suggested some reluctance at touring
past the age of 55, but hopefully that doesn't rule out doing
more albums. Of course, this is a man who was talking about
retirement back in 1979....
No matter what the future holds, chances are the Bee Gees
will never leave the music business entirely. An interview on
"Oprah" revealed that they intend to work with Barbra Streisand
again. Also, a recent USA Today article mentioned that the Bee
Gees may at some point start their own record label, and give new
artists a chance to launch their careers. Great news! Now,
where did I put my box of demo tapes? ;-)
4-05. What is the Bee Gees' e-mail address?
A. The address given on the Official Bee Gees Web Experience
is...
Of course, this doesn't answer the question of who actually
clicks on the "Get New Mail" icon to read the mail sent to this
address, or to what extent the Bee Gees read e-mail sent there.
But this is the e-mail address given to fans on the Official Bee
Gees Web Experience.
Speaking of the internet, are there Bee Gees in cyberspace?
Well, word has it that Maurice, a Macintosh enthisiast, has
surfed the net on occasion, but as far as I know Barry and Robin
have not yet ventured onto the information superhighway. And as
an aside to Maurice, if you're reading this, please... what does
"I.O.I.O." mean? ;-)
4-06. Who is Renee Schreiber?
A. Renee is the Bee Gees' designated liasion with various
recognized Bee Gees fan clubs worldwide (as it happens, there is
no "official" Bee Gees fan club at the present time, and some
locales may have more than one "recognized but unofficial" fan
club, as well as some which may or may not be in various stages
of Gibb acknowledgement. Complicated stuff, these fan clubs!).
Renee is also administrator of the official Bee Gees and
Andy Gibb web sites. Additionally, Renee assists Beverly Burke
with the editing of the BGQ fan club newsletter, and often gives
up-to-date media info and other helpful guidance to fans in
cyberspace.
Renee can be reached by e-mail at bgme...@gate.net and by
snail-mail at the address below.
The liner notes of the "Still Waters" album, by the way,
suggest that fans seeking fan club info write to:
Bee Gees Fan Club Info
20505 US 19 N. Suite #12-290
Clearwater, FL 34624
U.S.A.
For information and a list of clubs, send a self-addressed
stamped envelope. Outside the U.S., along with your
self-addressed envelope, please include post office-marked IRCs
with your self-addressed envelope.
4-07. What is this rumor about missing lyrics to the song
"Rings Around the Moon"?
A. Well, while the song "Rings Around the Moon" has been
relegated to "b-side rarity" status elsewhere in the world, in
Japan it is a bonus track on the "Still Waters" CD. And the
lyric sheet has the words to the song there, but it includes an
extra verse that doesn't appear in the recording! Here is the
missing verse, provided by Joseph Yellin...
If you let me hide
In the corner of your soul
I will cherish you forever
I will keep you from the cold
And you know from the start
I will never break your heart
4-08. When will the Bee Gees make a Christmas album (and/or
country album, "unplugged" album, etc.)?
A. Not for a very long time, from the sound of things.
However, if you're looking for an "unplugged" album in
particular, the mini-CD of the "Storytellers" performance may be
of interest to you. It was, at one point, available as an add-on
to the "Still Waters" CD at Target stores in the US. Perhaps
these songs may appear in other forms elsewhere in the future;
then again, maybe not.
So far, the closest they've come to a Christmas album has
been a rare performance of "Silent Night" on an old fan club
release some years back. The requests by fans for a Christmas
album have been many, but the brothers have maintained that they
just aren't into Christmas albums.
On the other hand, we now have the track "Miracles Happen"
on the "Still Waters" CD. This song was originally written for
the movie remake of "Miracle on 34th Street". Not exactly "Have
a Holly Jolly Christmas with the Bee Gees", but it's a start,
right? ;-)
4-09. Who decides whether rarities are released? Any chance
that some unreleased tracks will be made available?
A. It's an interesting situation. All music recorded by the
brothers Gibb since 1967 remains under their own control, and
nothing can be released without their approval.
Not too many artists are blessed with such circumstances.
Witness the contractual stuggles that o+> (the artist formerly
known as Prince) and George Michael have gone through.
Some performers -- Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, and the late
Frank Zappa, to name two -- have made a point of getting as many
rarities out there as possible, both to appease die-hard fans and
to beat bootleggers at their own game. The Bee Gees, by
contrast, have chosen to keep their unreleased tracks unreleased.
There's certainly enough material in the archives to work
with, if they so chose. In 1973, Atlantic records shelved Bee
Gees album "A Kick in the Head is Worth Eight in the Pants"
shortly before its scheduled release. All three brothers have
abandoned at least one solo album each. And more than one Bee
Gees studio LP has left behind extra songs on the storage reels.
Also, let's not forget several albums worth of songs written
for other artists. Virtually all of these tracks began as demos
with one or more brothers singing. In addition, if they wanted
to go the route the remaining Beatles have gone, they could mine
the vaults of the BBC and countless other radio and television
performances. Finally, there's at least a few demos and
unreleased songs by Andy that remain withheld.
Some of these items have been made available on bootleg CDs,
put out by underground outfits such as Ladybird and Brothers Gibb
Records. Among these have been the "Kick in the Head" album,
both early and recent live performances, solo works and leftover
songs from the "Hawks" soundtrack. Unfortunately, recent
crackdowns in the US by Customs and FBI officials have made these
even harder to find than ever.
Ironically, sixty songs from the brothers' Australian years
have been sold -- legally -- with maniacal enthusiasm around the
world. One song, "I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men", has been
released on ten seperate albums! Festival Records has been
licensing these songs worldwide successfully simply because the
Bee Gees have no creative control over their Australian
recordings of 1963-1966. (Now, if only the brothers would turn
over the Middle Ear Studio vaults to the troops at Festival, they
could give bootleggers a good run for their money...)
4-10. What kind of tuning does Barry use on his guitar?
A. The tuning is what he calls a "Hawaiian" tuning, consisting of
guitar strings tuned as follows (from lowest note to highest
note...)
D A D F# A D
Thanks to Greg Luther for tracking this down on "a web site
that has a few selected Bee Gees songs for guitar." The address
of that web site:
http://www.scranton.com:2222/archive/b/bee_gees/
Maurice, incidentally, uses standard guitar tuning. I like
it that way -- the contrast between the two guitars came out very
nicely on songs such as "Come Home Johnny Bride" and on their
medleys on the "Midnight Special" TV appearances.
4-11. How tall are the Bee Gees?
A. I was surprised to discover how hard it's been to get an
answer to this one! Even the "official" reports have changed
over the years, and differ substantially from guesses hazarded by
fans who have met them and posed for photos with them. I was
hopeful that the Official Bee Gees Web Experience would settle
the matter once and for all, but now I see that they use the very
same estimates that I've always been using. Good heavens,
doesn't SOMEBODY have a tape measure over there? Anyway, fans
estimates have been as follows:
Barry: between 5' 10" and 6' 1"
Robin: between 5' 8" and 5' 11"
Maurice: between 5' 6" and 5' 9"
Further, it is interesting to note that the Official Bee
Gees Web Experience lists Andy as having been between 5' 7" and
5' 9" in height.
4-12. Are any of the Gibb brothers left-handed?
A. Barry is. Andy was too.
4-13. When are their families' birthdays and anniversaries?
A. Thanks to Lynn Lyda and Bette Hanson for their help with the
following...
Barry Alan Crompton Gibb and his family
Barry and Linda Gibb married Sept 1, 1970 (his 2nd marriage)
Barry's Birthday: Sept 1, 1946
Linda's Birthday: May 11, 1950
children's birthdays...
Stephen Gibb: Dec 1, 1973
Ashley Gibb: Sept 8, 1977
Travis Gibb: Jan 10, 1981
Michael Gibb: Dec 1, 1984
Alexandra Gibb: Dec 29, 1991
Robin Hugh Gibb and his family
Robin and Dwina Gibb married Jul 31, 1985 (his 2nd marriage)
Robin's Birthday: Dec 22, 1949
Dwina's Birthday: Dec 22, 1952
children's birthdays...
Spencer Gibb: Sept 21,1972
Melissa Gibb: Jun 17, 1974
Robin John Gibb: Jan 21, 1983
Maurice Ernest Gibb and his family
Maurice and Yvonne Gibb married Oct 17, 1975 (his 2nd marriage)
renewed wedding vows Feb 23, 1992
Maurice's Birthday Dec 22, 1949
Yvonne's Birthday: Sept 24,1950
children's birthdays...
Adam Gibb: Feb 23, 1976
Samantha Gibb: Jul 2, 1980
Additional days and anniversaries:
January 12, 1945 Leslie Gibb (sister)
January 25, 1978 Peta Gibb (Andy's daughter)
September 29,19-- Berry Gibb-Rhodes (Leslie's daughter)
November 17, 19-- Barbara Gibb (mother)
Andy Gibb was born March 5, 1958 and died March 10, 1988
Hugh Gibb was born January 15, 1916 and died March 6, 1992
4-14. Who is older, Robin or Maurice?
A. Although they are twins (and thus born on the same day,
December 22nd), Robin was born first.
4-15. What's on the list of forthcoming events?
A. For the latest info, be sure to check the Official Bee Gees
Web Experience, at: http://www.beegees.net
Also, for televised events, a good source of up-to-date
information is RockonTV, a free e-mail subscriber service that
let's you know who will be appearing and/or performing on US
television in the week to come. "BG Pixie" CBolitiski describes
it as follows:
"RockonTV is great cuz they post appearances on all sorts of
variety/talk shows, VH1, MTV, and other. They generally post
two notices during the week, one in time for week-end events and
then one for the entire week to come. To get the e-mail delivery
of RockonTV send an e-mail message with the words "subscribe" in
the subject area to Rock...@satchmo.com. Now we can all watch
for the Brothers at the same time. Happy Screening!"
Joey Spain adds the following...
"You need not actually 'subscribe' to the notice list to
receive the information they offer. They have a WWW site with
the same content, and more at:
http://www.satchmo.com/rockontv/rocknext.html
4-16. Where can I find the lyrics to...?
A. This question has both a short answer and a long answer.
First the long answer, which is... nowhere.
Now, you might take issue with this, and say that lyrics are
easily obtained in sheet music, in songbooks, even on lyric
sheets that come with the CDs. But, quite simply, these sources
are by no means guaranteed to be accurate.
Take, for example, the song "Alone Again" from the "Two
Years On" album. The sheet music anthology "Bee Gees Complete,
Vol. 2", cites the phrase "I'm an abandoned train," However,
another songbook lists the same phrase as "I'm on a bound down
train." Which is correct?
As for the lyric sheets on the CDs, let's look at the "High
Civilization" CD. For the song "Secret Love", we see the phrase
"I'd follow anywhere to make you happy." But listen to the CD,
and it's OBVIOUS that Barry is singing "I'd follow anywhere to
make it happen."
So, why not ask the Bee Gees themselves? It's a thought, of
course. But what about the song "Jive Talkin'?" On the "Main
Course" CD Barry clearly sings "You'll never know / just what you
mean to me." But in concert -- for example, the Melbourne
concert on the "All For One" video -- he sings "You'll never
know / just what you've done to me." For a while I thought this
just might be the NEW official lyric, but then on VH-1's
"Storytellers" Barry reverted back to "what you mean to me".
Such is songwriting.
Now for the short answer. An exhaustive anthology of Bee
Gee lyrics can be found at...
4-17. Have any books been written about the Bee Gees or Andy
Gibb?
A. Well, some have in years past, but my understanding is that
they are pretty much out-of-print now. So, check your local used
book store for any of the following titles (as supplied by Kathy
Gray...)
1) "The Legend" Written by David English - Illustrations by
Alex Brychta - Nov. 1979 - The Legend Company.
(This is truly a priceless find. A cartoon-illustrated
biography of the Bee Gees which portrays Barry as "Lionheart,"
Robin as the "Red Setter" and Maurice as an "Eager Beaver." Yes,
it's worth having just for this. The book is hard to find, but
worth the effort. Available as a large paperback, but if you're
lucky enough to find one of the very few (extremely rare) large
hardcover editions with the red cover, you're quite lucky indeed.
The Bros. had those printed up specially just for family members
and friends).
2) "The Authorized Biography" Written by Barry, Robin and
Maurice Gibb as told to David Leaf - 1979 - Dell Publishing
(This book is also elusive, but it's out there, folks! If
you're lucky enough to find a copy of this large hardcover book,
you'll be treated to many enjoying (and some surprising)
anecdotes about the Gibb Family and the Bros' rise to stardom.
Includes many, many, original photos and a large, full color
foldout poster. The same book can also be found with the same
cover, but in a smaller paperback version).
3) "The Bee Gees" Written by Kim Stevens- 1978 - Quick Fox
(This is a large paperback with a photo of the Bee Gees
dressed in full Sgt. Pepper regalia on the front (headshots only)
- 92 pages with many photos)
4) "The Bee Gees" Written by Kim Stevens - 1978 - Scholastic
Book Services
(This is a small paperback of the above book but by a
different publisher. The cover is a brownish/orange color with a
photo of the Bee Gees - 109 pages)
5) "The Bee Gees - a Photo-Bio" Written by Kim Stevens - 1978 -
Jove
(This is the exact same book as the "Bee Gees" by Kim
Stevens, but in a small paperback version with a different cover
of the Bros. in Sgt. Pepper regalia. - 192 pages).
6) "The Bee Gees" by Larry Pryce - 1980 - Chelsea House
(This small paperback book features a black cover with the
words "The Bee Gees" in hot pink lettering on the front - A
biography, including an album discography and a few photos - 139
pages).
7) "The Bee Gees" by Craig Schumacher - 1979 - Creative
Education
(This small, thin blue paperback book features a cover photo
of the Bros. from the old Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid film
lot while filming the "Stayin Alive" video. Includes several
photos and a rather brief (considering the size of the other
bios) biography - 32 pages).
8) "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - by Henry Edwards -
1978 - Pocket Books
(The small paperback book from the movie - includes many
photos from the shooting of the film).
9) "The Bee Gees 1" and "The Bee Gees 2" - Chatty Books, The
Netherlands
(These are two very tiny hardcover books from the
Netherlands with different covers on each. Each book is approx.
125 pages long and written in the native language - includes many
song lyrics written in English).
10) "The Official Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band
Scrapbook, Collector's Edition" - Written by Robert Stigwood and
Dee Anthony - 1978 - Pocket Books
(This is a
large paperback book featuring a cover photo of
the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton from the movie of the same name -
includes many color and B/W photos of the filming of the movie -
80 pages)
11) "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - Official Programme
- 1978 - Robert Stigwood Group, Ltd.
(This is the official programme (large paperback) from the
movie and is special in that it includes a 33 1/3 rpm mylar
record - it's written in "playbill" format with biographies of
the actors, including the Bee Gees, etc.)
12) "Andy Gibb" - Written by Connie Berman and Marsha Daly -
1979 - Xerox Corp.
(This small paperback book features a nice cover photo of
Andy, a biography and several photos - 122 pages).
Thanks, Kathy, for your hard work at digging up this info!
4-18. Where can I order a CD of...?
A. Fans have found various Bee Gees CDs (including imports and
rare items) at many of the following places. Please understand,
not all outlets carry all items, so compare and evaluate...)
http://www.musicexpress.com/
Phongsak Suppattarachai of Thailand found "Living Eyes"
here, and says orders take about one month to deliver. Also,
Helio Takahashi mentions seeing the astonishingly rare "Runaway"
CD by Carola here at $19.75!
http://www.musicshop.co.uk
Park Duk-Hyeon recently found the new single "Alone" through
this service. The order arrived just a few days after the
single's release halfway around the world. Pretty fast delivery!
Doug Wilson also recently found his "Still Waters" CD here.
telnet://cdeurope.com
http://www.cdeurope.com
CDEurope has a nice database format for those who prefer
telnet to www; they also have their own BBS. Phongsak
Suppattarachai recently discovered "The Bunbury Tails" here!
http://www.cdconnection.com
Phongsak Suppattarachai says that he's seen the UK "Alone"
single here. Sounds worth checking out.
Tower Records: (800) ASK-TOWER
This number will give you the location of the Tower Records
store nearest you (based on your zip code). Personally, I wish
it would give the location of the LARGEST Tower Records store
nearest me -- that would be more useful. Thanks to Marty for
this number, and for the number of Tower Records' Kingston store
in London: 011 44 171 439 2500. I called them, and the clerk
cheerfully confirms that desperate Yanks can order their UK
singles and albums by phone. Thanks, Marty!
Take Notes Records: (800) 650-3472.
At Marty's suggestion, I gave them a call. It sounds like a
one- man operation, and at the time I called the one man was out
having lunch, but it does seem to at least be the right number.
Give it a try...
Golden Treasures: (501) 795-4209.
According to Kathy Gray, the "Birth of Brilliance" CD can be
found here for a mere $29. Mailing address:
Golden Treasures
PO Box 601
Bentonville AR 72712
HMV Records, Herald Square, NYC
Located on 34th and Broadway (across from Macy's). They
almost always seem to have a copy of the "Living Eyes" CD there
on the shelves, and it's a reasonably priced $28.99 for the
Japanese import. Last week they had four! Their collection of
imports is astonishing, and both Tom Fini and I are starting to
question the import manager's claims of impartiality toward the
Bee Gees. After all, who but a true fan would stock Japanese
mini-CDs of the "Melody Fair" Subaru commercial?
Virgin Megastore, 45th and Broadway, NYC
The place bears a striking resemblance to Pizza Planet in
the animated classic "Toy Story". Certainly NYC's REDDEST
neon-lit CD shop. An entire import section is down in the
basement. Pricier than HMV, but chances are if you can't find
something at HMV, you may quite possibly find it here. And
surely THAT'S good to know...
For those passing through Singapore (a major transit stop in
the Far East, and a pleasant one too!), Karen Liew suggests
making a stop at the following shops on Orchard Road, "the ONLY
place to shop in Singapore <that is, if you're a tourist>"...
Chua Joo Huat
14 Scotts Road #03-22
Far East Plaza
Singapore 228213
Tel.: (65) 7360621
Fax.: (65) 2351330
Disc Domain (branch of Chua Joo Huat)
6 Raffles Boulevard #03-134
Marina Square
Singapore 039594
Tel.: (65) 3343168
Fax.: (65) 3347134
Supreme Compact Disc
Far East Plaza
14 Scotts Road #03-14
Tel.: (65) 7325432
[most of the hard-to-find CDs and cassettes from the
1969-1973 period are here.]
Tower Records
Pacific Plaza
9 Scotts Road #04-00
[has the Warner catalog of CDs that are out of print in the
US -- both the European and US versions!]
Tel.: (65) 7353600, (65) 7353487
Fax: (65) 7348762
Thanks, Karen!
4-19. Any fan get togethers planned for the near future?
A. There are occasional get-togethers in Miami, but I don't know
of any scheduled at present. Local get-togethers often take
place in other parts of the fan community. Check with the
mailing lists for details...
4-20. What interviews have appeared in newspapers or
magazines lately?
A. Kathy Gray has done a splendid job of providing a list of
recent published articles at her "Bee Gees Pictorial" web site,
http://users.deltanet.com/~twograys/beegees.htm
and I personally would suggest checking here at least once or
twice a week, before heading off to the newsstand. Here is a
recent listing from her site...
2/15/97: Billboard Magazine
2/27/97: Daily Record (UK)
3/1/97: Daily Express (UK)
3/1/97: Music Week (UK)
3/1/97: Film and TV Week (UK)
3/1/97: Times (UK)
3/1/97: TV Quick (UK)
3/1/97: TV Times (UK)
3/1/97: What's On TV (UK)
3/2/97: OK Magazine (UK)
3/2/97: The Observer Review (UK)
3/2/97: Sunday People (UK)
3/2/97: Mail on Sunday (UK)
3/2/97: Sunday Telegraph (UK)
3/3/97: Here (UK)
3/8/97: Music Week (UK)
3/12/97: The Sun (UK)
3/13/97: Swiss Magazine
4/97: Q Magazine (UK)
5/97: ELLE Magazine
4/97: DAS NEUE Magazine
5/6/97: USA Today
5/26/97: People Magazine "Still Waters Review"
5/97 Entertainment Weekly
5/29/97 Rolling Stone Magazine
6/97 People Magazine
Thanks, Kathy!
4-21. Where can I find Maurice Gibb lunchboxes and other Bee
Gees memoribilia?
A. Have you tried Maurice's garage? Just kidding.
Given that most official Gibb-related merchandise dates back
to 1979 or so, you're not likely to find much on the shelves of
Wal-Mart or your local Target store. No, for this, a little
effort shall be required.
If you're at Times Square, and Pepe doesn't have his open
briefcase of Bee Gee belt buckles on the subway platform (lately
Pepe's been straying over to Hanson keychains), you can always
try The Colony, on 49th and Broadway, in the historic Brill
Building. Their slogan is "I found it at the Colony!" I've
heard fans suggest other slogans, with regard to the price tags
one finds when one finds it at the Colony. Admittedly, The
Colony does tend to be geared toward the die-hard fan with more
disposable income than will-power. Believe me, I've seen it
happen. Lunchboxes, jigsaw puzzles, Andy Gibb dolls -- people
have left that place in tears. As a non-collector, I just think
of it as another of New York City's well-stocked museums. After
all, I don't think about how much the Van Goghs cost at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, right? In any case, enter at your
own risk: you just might end up buying something that you're not
quite prepared to explain to your spouse...
Then there's the auctions. No, not Sotheby's, and not
Hank's Saturday Afternoon Auctions in Gilbert, Iowa. This is the
age of cyberspace, and the best auctions can be found with a
click of the mouse. You could start with ebay, at
http://pages.ebay.com/aw/index.html on the world wide web. Type
"Bee Gees" in the search dialog box, and you will likely find
between 40 and 60 items up for sale. Make your bid, and when the
auction closes, within a week after it started, you may or may
not find yourself with a delightful little bargain. Details are
explained in the ebay help file, or you can just e-mail the
persons selling the items for more details. If it's out there,
chances are one of these days you'll see it for sale at ebay...
Among items to keep an eye out for:
* Bee Gee lunchboxes. As seen on the Rosie O'Donnell show,
three different ones, a Barry, a Robin, and a Maurice. Pay no
mind to the lurid discussions regarding Robin's trousers on the
photo...
* Andy Gibb doll. I saw this at the Colony. Given my
attitude on dolls -- and this is no "action figure," this is a
DOLL, make no mistake -- I'll refrain from offering my opinion
here. But I hear it's a very popular item.
* Bee Gees musical keyboard. Makes sounds almost entirely
unlike anything heard on any Bee Gee recording or demo (except
possibly the Ocean Drive Mix of "Paying the Price of Love"), but
has that cool Bee Gees logo and a nice photo on the box (make
sure you get the box with it).
* Bee Gees Jigsaw Puzzle. It's a jigsaw puzzle, with a Bee
Gees picture on it. There are stories I could tell, but I am
sworn to secrecy.
4-22. Save me, save me! The Bee Gees are just another one of
my obsessions, but she says it's tearing my world apart, and if I
only had my mind on something else, I could dedicate my life to
something new. Where do I stand? I look like a happy man, but
how hopelessly I'm lost! I have just myself to blame, it seems.
Where do I go from here?
A. If I understand correctly, your question is, "how can I tell
if I'm overly obsessed with the music and the careers of the
brothers Gibb?" Well, over quoting of song lyrics is one sure
sign; e-mailing the FAQ Maintainer to check the sources of quotes
in the above question is yet another.
By way of reply, we have this helpful ten-point checklist,
provided by Diane Weidenkopf at her web-site:
http://www.bgwoc.org/
Here is her list of signs to watch out for (or strive
for...):
Top 10 Warning Signs you are obsessed with The Bee Gees:
10. You have 100 video tapes and every one has some Bee Gees
related clip on them.
9. You seriously think of naming your first born Barry.
8. You are willing to rent "Grumpy Old Men" just for the
"Staying Alive" part.
7. You always check the Bee Gees section at the record
store, hoping against all hope there will be some unknown Bee
Gees album you missed.
6. You declare Sept. 1st and Dec. 22nd holidays, take off
from work and have a cake with the number of candles since the
first Australian record was released.
5. Your goal in life is to fill your 100 disc changer with
nothing but Bee Gees (and you feel inadequate because you only
have 32 discs).
4. You can find redeeming qualities in the Sgt. Pepper
Movie.
3. You keep buying Bee Gees vinyl even though you no longer
own a turntable.
2. You find yourself defending your CD collection to people.
They just don't understand that you NEED that European import of
"One" (when you already have the U.S.version) because it has ONE
EXTRA SONG!
1. You break up with a boyfriend/girlfriend because he/she
tells you (the next day) that a TV show had a clip about the Bee
Gees yesterday and he/she thought about telling you but didn't
know if you'd be interested.
Thanks, Diane, for this remarkable insight. But I have to
admit, none of these seem like a problem to me! ;-)
David Garcia
Posting-Frequency: monthly (25th of month)
Last-modified: 1998/08/25
Maintainer: David Garcia <ga...@compuserve.com>
Bee Gees
Frequently Asked Questions
Part Two of Four
August 25, 1998
2-01. What LPs, CDs or videos am I missing from my
collection?
A. This is a slightly incomplete list of items of interest (when
available, catalog numbers are included for ordering
convenience...)
STUDIO ALBUMS:
[1967] Bee Gees First (#7 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 825-220-2
[1968] Horizontal (#12 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833-659-2
[1968] Idea (#17 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833-660-2
[1969] Odessa (#20 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 825-451-2
[1969] Cucumber Castle
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833 783-2
[1971] Two Years On (#32 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833 785-2
[1971] Trafalgar (#34 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833 786-2
[1972] To Whom It May Concern (#35 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833 787-2
[1973] Life In A Tin Can
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833-788-2
[1974] Mr. Natural
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833 789-2
[1975] Main Course (#14 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833 790-2
[1976] Children of the World (#8 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 823 658-2
[1979] Spirits (Having Flown) (#1 for 6 weeks, Billboard album
charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 827 335-2
[1981] Living Eyes
[out of print in US, available by import from Japan]
Label: POLYDOR (Japan)
Cat #: POCP-2244
[1987] E.S.P.
[out of print in US, available by import from Europe]
Label: WARNER BROTHERS
Cat #: 2-25541
[1989] One
[out of print in US, available by import from Europe]
Label: WARNER BROTHERS
Cat #: 2-25887
[1991] High Civilization
[out of print in US, available by import from Europe]
Label: WARNER BROTHERS
Cat #: 2-26530
[1993] Size Isn't Everything
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 521 055-2
[1997] Still Waters
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 537 302-2
LIVE ALBUMS:
[1977] Here At Last, Bee Gees Live (#8 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 833 791-2
GREATEST HITS COMPILATIONS:
[1969] Best of Bee Gees (#9 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 831 594-2
[1973] Best of Bee Gees, Vol. 2
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 831 960-2
[1976] Bee Gees Gold, Vol. 1
[not available on CD, only cassette]
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 823 659-4
[1980] Bee Gees Greatest (#1 Billboard album charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 800 071-2
[1990] Tales of the Brothers Gibb - A History In Song
[US version omits some songs from the "Hawks" soundtrack, which
was never released in the US.]
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 843 911-2
[1990] The Very Best of the Bee Gees
[not released in US, available as import from Europe; also said
to be widely available in Canada]
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 847 339-2
SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS:
[1970] Sing a Rude Song
[out of print]
Maurice sings in this short-lived West End musical of non-Gibb
compositions
LABEL: POLYDOR
Cat #: 2383-018
[1970] Melody
[out of print in US, available by import from Japan]
Label: POLYDOR (Japan)
Cat #: POCP-2007
(thanks to Robert Phan for this info!)
[1975] All This and World War II
[out of print in US]
The Bee Gees and other artists sang Beatles covers for this
soundtrack
[1977] Saturday Night Fever (#1 for 24 weeks Billboard album
charts)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 4228253892
[1978] Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The Bee Gees and other artists sang Beatles covers for this
soundtrack. Unlike "All This and World War II", however, the Bee
Gees (to their later regret) actually appeared in this movie.
Finally returning to the CD racks after twenty long years, you
may find this one filed under "Peter Frampton" (at least I did at
HMV).
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 3145570762
[1983] Stayin' Alive
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 4228132692
(Thanks to Phongsak Suppattarachai for this info!)
[1986] Hawks
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 4228372642
(Thanks to Phongsak Suppattarachai for this info!)
[soundtrack not released in US, but Phongsak recently obtained
this through Polydor (Netherlands); movie is available on video]
[1992] The Bunbury Tails
[not released in US, but still available in Europe, at least
through www.cdeurope.com (thanks, Phongsak Suppattarachai!)]
Thanks to Imran for the following info...
"This has got to be one of the best albums I've never heard
of!! Until last year, I had no idea what the Bunbury Tails were
about nor had I ever heard of any of the tracks and then someone
got me the CD and I still can't get over how good it is! For
anyone who doesn't know, "The Bunbury Tails" CD was released by
Polydor in 1992 and it was based on a cute cartoon series in
England which comprised of mainly bunnies playing cricket! Much
of the humour would be better understood if you have an
understanding of the game of cricket and its many legends over
the years e.g. Viv Richards. Features the Bee Gees, Elton John,
Level 42, Shakatak and many others!"
Featured Bee Gees Tracks:
* We're The Bunburys
* Bunbury Afternoon
Fight the Good Fight (Eric Clapton) and some other tunes were
written/cowritten by the Brothers Gibb, and feature occasional
Gibb backup vocals. The Eric Clapton track was also issued on
the 1988 Summer Olympics Album, this time credited to "The
Bunburys" under the title "Fight (No Matter How Long)".
Title: The Bunbury Tails
Artist: Various
Label: POLYDOR (UK)
Cat #: 515 784-2
SOLO ALBUMS - BARRY:
[1985] Now Voyager
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 4228234292
(Thanks to Phongsak Suppattarachai for this info!)
[out of print in US, although Phongsak recently got it through
Polydor (Germany); video still available in US]
SOLO ALBUMS - ROBIN:
[1970] Robin's Reign
[out of print in US]
According to Marty Hogan, "Robin's Reign" is available on CD from
SPECTRUM, a German subsidiary of Polydor. Thanks, Marty!
You can write to SPECTRUM at:
SPECTRUM Records
Holzdamm 57-61, D-2000
Hamburg, Germany
Label: SPECTRUM
Cat #: 847 914-2
Robert Phan also says that KARUSSEL had the CD under the same
catalog number, released in 1991 and deleted in 1992.
Label: KARUSSEL
Cat #: 847 914-2
[1982] How Old Are You
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 4228108862
(Thanks to Phongsak Suppattarachai for this info!)
[out of print in US; available on CD in Europe (Phongsak
Suppattarachai recently reported finding this through
www.musicexpress.com)]
[1984] Secret Agent
[out of print in US]
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 821 797-2
(thanks to Robert Phan for the catalog number)
[1985] Walls Have Eyes
[not released on CD in US, out of print]
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 821 592-2
(thanks to Robert Phan for the catalog number)
SOLO ALBUMS - ANDY:
Andy's three studio albums have been digitally remastered and
reissued on CD. About time!
[1977] Flowing Rivers
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 31453-9921-2
[1978] Shadow Dancing
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 42284-7916-2
[1980] After Dark
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 31453-9922-2
[1980] Andy Gibb's Greatest Hits
[not released on CD, out of print]
[1991] Andy Gibb [Greatest Hits Collection]
A recent CD release of hit singles and unreleased tracks,
including his final work "Man On Fire." [Note: there is some
confusion as to the actual title of this CD. The CD itself seems
to either have no title, or else to be self-titled "Andy Gibb."
Distributors' catalogs, on the other hand, all seem to call it
"Greatest Hits Collection," "Collection of His Greatest Hits," or
some such variation. Yet none of these words can be found on the
CD itself. Some on-line record outlets now refer to this album
as S/T, for "self titled"]
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 314-511585-2
WORK WITH OTHER ARTISTS:
[1980] Jimmy Ruffin - Album: "Sunrise"
[not released on CD, out of print]
[1980] Barbra Streisand - Album: "Guilty"
[now digitally remastered for CD]
Label: COLUMBIA
Cat #: CK-36750
[1982] Dionne Warwick - Album: "Heartbreaker"
[out of print in US; available in Germany as Cat #:258719
(thanks, Phongsak Suppattarachai!)]
Label: ARISTA
Cat #: ARCD-8006
[1983] Kenny Rogers - Album: "Eyes That See In The Dark"
Label: RCA
Cat #: PCD1-4697
[1985] Diana Ross - Album: "Eaten Alive"
[out of print in US]
Label: RCA
Cat #: PCD1-5422
[1986] Carola - Album: "The Runaway"
[Sweden only; has been out of print, but appears to once again
returning to CD in Europe]
Label: POLYDOR(Sweden)
Cat #: 829 298-2
(thanks to Robert Phan for the catalog number)
BEE GEES TRIBUTE ALBUMS:
[1993] Bee Gees / Songbook (The Gibb Brothers By Others)
[Not released in US, available by import from UK]]
performed by various artists
Label: CONOISSEUR COLLECTION
Cat #: VSOP CD 184
[1994] Melody Fair: Tribute to the Bee Gees performed by various
artists
Label: EGGBERT
Cat #: 80012
[1996] Soul of the Bee Gees
performed by various artists
Label: THE RIGHT STUFF
Cat #: 7243-8-35600-2-8
AUSTRALIAN YEARS 1963-1966:
Festival records has a large library of recordings from the
Bee Gees during their Australian years of 1963-1966. These are
the only recordings the Bee Gees themselves have no creative
control over, and Festival has used this to great advantage,
licensing the rights to these songs throughout the world.
Polydor had a brief license to distribute these in the
three-volume "Rare, Precious and Beautiful" series back in the
late 60's.
Some Australian demos, such as "Top Hat" and "I'll Know What
To Do", are truly rare. Other recordings, especially singles
such as "Claustrophobia" and "Spicks and Specks", seem to be on
every record rack in town.
There are a total of sixty Bee Gees songs from the
Australian era. The following list of albums provides a partial
sampling of the many reissues of these classics. Rather than
offer a separate track listing of each of these albums, all sixty
songs are listed below, with cross-references to the various
albums on which the songs appear. Please feel free to add to
this list with your own findings...
Available on CD:
[A] Birth of Brilliance
Label: FESTIVAL
Cat #: D 45813/4
[B] The Magic Collection: The Bee Gees
Label: ARC
Cat #: MEC 949044
[C] To Be Or Not To Be
Label: THUNDERBOLT
Cat #: CDTB 170
Released on LP: (likely out of print)
[01] THE BEE GEES SING AND PLAY 14 BARRY GIBB SONGS (Leedon,
1965)
[02] SPICKS AND SPECKS (Spin, 1966)
[03] TURN AROUND, LOOK AT US (Calendar, 1967)
[04] RARE PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL (Polydor, 1968)
[05] RARE PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL, volume 2 (Polydor, 1968)
[06] RARE PRECIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL, volume 3 (Polydor, 1969)
[07] INCEPTION / NOSTALGIA (Karussel, 1970)
[08] BEE GEES (Impact, 1975)
[09] BIRTH OF BRILLIANCE (Festival, 1978)
[10] MONDAY'S RAIN (Pickwick, 1978)
[11] TAKE HOLD OF THAT STAR (Pickwick, 1978)
[12] TURN AROUND, LOOK AT ME (Pickwick, 1978)
[13] PEACE OF MIND (Pickwick, 1978)
[14] BEE GEES BONANZA (Pickwick, 1978)
The Australian Bee Gees songs:
1. All by myself [A-07-09]
2. All of my life [03-05-13-14]
3. And the children laughing [C-01-06-12]
4. Big chance [C-02-04-10-14]
5. Born a man [A-02-04-09-13-14]
6. Butterfly [A-07-08-09]
7. Cherry red [A-03-05-09-13-14]
8. Claustrophobia [A-B-C-01-05-09-11-14]
9. Coalman [A-07-08-09]
10. Could it be [A-B-C-01-05-09-11-14]
11. Daydream [07-08]
12. Don't say goodbye [01-05-13-14]
13. Every day I have to cry [A-B-C-03-05-09-11-14]
14. Exit, stage right [A-07-09]
15. Follow the wind [C-01-05-11-14]
16. Forever [07]
17. Glass house [C-02-04-10-14]
18. Hallelujah, I love her so [07]
19. How love was true [A-C-01-06-09-12]
20. How many birds [A-C-02-04-09-10-14]
21. I am the world [A-B-C-03-06-09-12]
22. I don't know why I bother with myself [C-02-04-10-14]
23. I don't think it's funny [A-B-C-01-06-09-12]
24. I love you because [07]
25. I want home [A-B-C-03-06-09-12]
26. I was a lover, a leader of men [A-C-01-03-05-06-09-11-13-14]
27. I'll know what to do [07]
28. In the morning (early recording) [A-B-07-08-09]
29. Jingle jangle [02-04-13-14]
30. Like nobody else [A-07-09]
31. Lonely winter [A-07-08-09]
32. Lum-de-loo [07-08]
33. Monday's rain (album version, see note below) [C-02-04-10-14]
34. Monday's rain (single version, see note below) [A-B-09]
35. Paperback writer [07-08]
36. Peace of mind [A-01-03-06-09-13]
37. Playdown [C-02-04-10-14]
38. Second hand people [A-C-02-04-09-10-14]
39. Somewhere [07]
40. Spicks and specks [A-B-C-02-04-09-10-14]
41. Storm [A-07-08-09]
42. Take hold of that star [C-01-05-11-14]
43. Terrible way to treat your baby [A] [07] [09]
44. The battle of the blue and the grey [A-B-C-03-06-09-12]
45. The end [07]
46. The three kisses of love [A-B-C-03-05-09-11-14]
47. The twelfth of never [07]
48. Theme from "The travels of Jamie McPheeters"
[A-B-C-03-05-09-11-14]
49. Ticket to ride [07-08]
50. Timber! [A-01-06-09-13]
51. Tint of blue [02-04-13-14]
52. To be or not to be [A-C-01-05-09-11-14]
53. Top hat [07]
54. Turn around, look at me [A-B-C-03-06-09-12]
55. Where are you [02-04-10-14]
56. Wine and women [A-B-C-01-03-06-09-12]
57. You won't see me [A-07-08-09]
58. You wouldn't know [B-C-01-06-12]
59. You're nobody till somebody loves you [07-08]
60. You're the reason [07-08]
Note: The album and single versions of "Monday's Rain"
feature two entirely different vocals on the recordings. Among
the several differences, the easiest to note is that the first
chorus of the album version begins "Don't let me down...", while
the single version has "Don't go away...". The vocal style on
the second verse is also notably different. On the single
version, it is unmistakably sung by Barry. The album version, by
contrast, is quite mistakable indeed... ;-)
Sincere thanks to Joe Brennan for his web site, which
provided track listings for the old LPs. Also, I wouldn't have
known about the two "Monday's Rain" versions if he hadn't told
me. Once you know about it, of course, it's easy to spot.
For more info on the Bee Gees' Australian era, be sure to
check Joe Brennan's web page, at:
http://www.cc.columbia.edu/~brennan/beegees/
THE "of COURSE I'll pay $16 for this CD to hear the one Bee Gees
track" RECORDINGS:
[1978] Grease (movie soundtrack)
Label: POLYDOR
Cat #: 825 095-2
(thanks to Robert Phan for the catalog number) Frankie Valli
sings "Grease" title track, a Barry Gibb composition.
[1978] Sesame Street Fever (children's album)
Robin Gibb sings "Sesame Street Fever" and "Trash" (not Gibb
compositions)
[1980] Times Square (movie soundtrack)
"Help Me", written and performed by Robin Gibb and Marcy Levy
[1988] 1988 Summer Olympics Album - One Moment In Time
performed by various artists
The Bee Gees perform Gibb composition "Shape of Things To Come".
Another Gibb composition, "Fight (No Matter How Long)", is listed
as by "The Bunburys" and features Eric Clapton's performance from
"The Bunbury Tails" album.
Label: ARISTA
Cat #: ARCD - 8551
[1979] Chicago - Hot Streets
If you've bought everything else on this list, but find that
you still have money to burn, buy this one to hear falsetto Gibb
backing vocals on "Little Miss Lovin'." Chicago, incidentally,
returned the favor with some horn work on the "Spirits (Having
Flown)" LP, if I recall correctly. And yes, I suppose somewhere
there is a Chicago fan who bought "Spirits (Having Flown)" JUST
to hear those horns. Go figure.
[1990] Nobody's Child - Romanian Angel Appeal
performed by various artists
Featuring "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" from the 1989
Melbourne concert appearance
Label: WARNER BROS.
Cat #: 26280-2
[1993] Jose Y Durval - Todo Por Amor
Something was mentioned on the mailing list previously about
a Brazilian pop duo, Chitaozinho e Xororo, recording a cover of
"Words" in Miami with guest vocals by the Bee Gees. Now Joe
Brennan has been sent some info on yet another latin cover of
"Words" with the Bee Gees by Jose y Durval, and Xororo listed as
guitarist. Both albums are titled "Todo Por Amo". I don't
evenPRETEND to know what's going on here, but CompuServe's
All-Music Guide (use GO command to GO ALLMUSIC) cheerfully
coughed up the catalog number for Jose y Durval, and refused to
acknowledge any info for Chitaozinho e Xororo (quite possibly due
to a spelling error, I would suspect...). Catalog info for Jose
y Durval is as follows:
Label: PHILLIPS
Cat #: 314-510464-2
[1995] Tapestry Revisited - A Tribute to Carole King
performed by various artists (video also available)
The Bee Gees sing Carole King composition "Will You Still Love Me
Tomorrow"
Label: Lava Records
Cat #: 92604-2
[1996] Paul Anka - Amigos
According to Grant Walters, "Barry sings backround vocals
with Paul and Anthea Anka on the song "Yo Te Amo" (Do I Love
You). It's a very light, breezy ballad, and the three voices meld
quite nicely. Barry's vocals are mostly falsetto, sung very
gently and breathily - but there are times we get to hear that
wonderful airy regular voice of his :-) All in all well worth
the purchase of the CD."
Label: COLUMBIA
Cat #: CK 91110
[198*] Barbra Streisand - One Voice
Barry appears live and sings "Gulity" and "What Kind of Fool"
with Barbra.
Also available on video.
Label: COLUMBIA
Cat #: CK-40788
[199*] Coca-Cola Comercials
Our efforts to resolve the cola mystery are finally starting
to pay off. Let's follow the trail so far.
In the sixties, around 1968 from what I've heard, the
brothers wrote and recorded two songs for Coca-cola. It sounds
as if Bill Shepherd is doing the orchestrations. I've heard them
on tape, but not on any commerical (no pun intended) releases.
One jingle is entitled "Another Cold and Windy Day". This
tune is reminiscent of "Holiday," and features Robin seeking
solace to his miserable and unceasing agony in a bottle of
sugared phosphoric acid (otherwise known as Coca-Cola). If
Tolstoy were to write soft drink jingles, they would sound like
this. "...I turn my face into the sun, the time of winter has
begun..."
The other clip is "Sitting in the Meadow", which is rather
similar to "Sir Geoffrey Saved the World". Robin leads on this
upbeat tune, with Barry joining in on the chorus. "Sitting in
the meadow, frolic in the grass / Wouldn't you be lazy, everybody
asks..." and so on.
I never understood the reason these were made until I took
my son to see the "Turbo Rangers" movie a while back. Before the
movie started, they had a little 90-second music video with some
angst-ridden nineties ensemble. It was... a Coca-Cola jingle.
Since I go to the movies about as often as an Amish farmer,
I don't know how many others of these were made. But it seems
entirely possible that the Bee Gees appeared in some such promo
as this, to be played in the movie theatres. For you restless
collectors out there, perhaps this is yet another thing to keep
an eye peeled for. I wonder...
But all this aside, the issue has been, where can you buy a
CD with these commericals on it?
I had heard from others that Coca-cola had (or so they
heard) released this as a promotional CD. However, it was
conspicuous in its absence at the official Coca-Cola boutique and
souvenir-stand near Trump Tower on 5th Avenue.
The road next led me to HMV at Herald Square, where I found
an import CD called "Great Cola Commercials - Vol. 2" (Vox
Records, UK) that had jingles from Del Shannon, Johnny Cash and a
cast of dozens... but no Bee Gees.
So I speculated that there MUST be a Volume One somewhere,
another Holy Grail of soda jingles yet to be found.
Then we heard from Douwe Dijkstra, in the Netherlands.
Douwe read my earlier pleas for assistance, and provided the
following:
"The CD that I have is called 'Coca-Cola Comercials.' This
is the official title.
"Furthermore in the inlay it says: '65 sensational tracks'
and 'things go better with Coke.'
"The only Bee Gees performed track is #37 being the one
starting with "Sitting in the Meadow"
"In my view there is no "Great Cola Commercials vol 1", but
#2 is just called #2 because the above mentioned Coca Cola did
already exist.
"You can order both CD's from "Offshore Echoes Magazine" to
be found on
http://www.guernseyweb.co.uk/cdjing.html"
So, there you have it. Case closed. Thanks, Douwe!!
Now, what's this about Dentyne commercials? ;-)
* Guilty Pleasures: The Songs You Hate To Love"
performed by various artists
The most disturbing cover art I've ever seen, bar none.
Aside from this, the album is noteworthy for its inclusion of
rare Gibb composition "Gilbert Green" as performed by Gerry
Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers.
LABEL: SONY MUSIC SPECIAL PRODUCTS
Cat #: AK-53923
* Roy Orbison - Rare Orbison Vol. 2
Barry Gibb/Larry Gatlin composition "Indian Summer"
originally came out on the Gatlin Brothers "Smile" album in 1985.
It features vocals by Barry, Larry Gatlin, and Roy Orbison. It
is also available on the "Legendary Roy Orbison" box set.
(Thanks to Jill Thompson and Imran for this info!)
Label: MONUMENT
Cat #: AK-45404
Also available on:
Label: COLUMBIA SPECIAL PRODUCTS
Cat #: 45404
SINGLES WORTH FINDING:
[1989] One / Wing and A Prayer
This is the only US release of the song "Wing and a Prayer",
a track included on the European "One" CD.
Label: WARNER
[1993] Paying the Price of Love / Decadence
The song "Decadence" was included on the European "Size
Isn't Everything" CD, but in the US could only be found on the
single. It is a remix of "You Should Be Dancing", among other
things. The US single also includes three (!) remixes of "Paying
the Price of Love". Maybe I'm just not into remixes, but I can't
help but wonder what inspired the hyper-marketing of so many of
these, ESPECIALLY when the perfectly listenable songs "855-7019"
and "My Destiny" were languishing in storage.
Label: POLYDOR (US)
[1993] Paying the Price of Love/Paying the Price of Love (KC
Mix)/My Destiny/Paying the Price of Love (The Ocean Drive Mix)
Label: POLYDOR (UK)
Cat #: 859 471-2
[1993] How To Fall in Love, Part 1 (edit)/855-7019/Fallen Angel
(remix)
Label: POLYDOR (UK)
Cat #: 855 647-2
Much thanks to Marty for solving the above mysteries!
[1997] Alone / Closer than Close / Rings Around the Moon
This UK single has rare b-side "Rings Around the Moon".
This song also recently became available on a US maxi-CD single
of "Alone," with "Decadence" and "Stayin' Alive [live version]"
thrown in for good measure.
Label: POLYDOR (UK)
Cat #: 573 527-2
[1997] I Could Not Love You More/Love Never Dies/Brits Medley
This second single from the UK release of "Still Waters" has
the rare b-side "Love Never Dies." The single faded quickly on
the charts, so if you're looking for it, better look now!
Label: POLYDOR (UK)
Cat #: 571 223-2
THE "Let's Parody the Bee Gees and MAKE MONEY FA$T" RECORDINGS:
[1981] Hee Bee Gee Bees - "The Original Hee Bee Gee Bees' 439
Golden Greats"
According to Joe Brennan, this is the work of Phillip Pope,
Mike Stevens and Angus Deayton. This parody album includes
tracks "Meaningless Songs" and "Posing in the Moonlight." In the
interests of justice, let me just mention here that, years later,
the brothers Gibb were given a chance to detonate the Hee Bee Gee
Bees live at a charity telethon in the UK. Ahh, revenge...
[out of print]
LABEL: Hee Bee Gee Bees [RCA] (UK)
* Additionally, the Bee Gees parody THEMSELVES on the Howard
Stern New Years' Eve video show. See video info, below.
BEE GEES APPEARANCES ON VIDEO:
[1978] Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
VHS: MCA Catalog # 55013 $29.95
LASERDISC: MCA Catalog # 17004
[198*] Barbra Streisand - One Voice
Barry appears in concert with Barbra and sings two duets
with her: "Guilty" and "What Kind of Fool"
[1985] Barry Gibb - Now Voyager
VHS: MCA Catalog # 80187 $19.95
Movies Unlimited Cata
log # 071294 $14.99
Call Movies Unlimited at (800) 523-0823
[1990] The Bee Gees One For All Tour - Live (2 vols.)
VHS: Volume I MPI Catalog # 1935
Volume II MPI Catalog # 1936
LASERDISC: Volumes I & II Combined
MPI Catalog # 9802 $29.98
Call MPI Home Entertainment at (800) 323-0442
[1994] Howard Stern New Year's Rotten Eve Pay-Per-View (is this
the exact title?)
The video of Howard Stern's Pay Per View event features the
Bee Gees singing a parody of "To Love Somebody" in a gag promo
for John Wayne Bobbitt. I've seen this at Palmer Video, may be
available for rental elsewhere as well. If you're unable to find
a copy, posting to the alt.fan.howard-stern newsgroup may be of
some benefit. (Warning: video contains adult content -- indeed,
aside from the appearance by the brothers Gibb, the video is
pretty much nothing else BUT adult content...)
[1995] Tapestry Revisited - A Tribute to Carole King
The Bee Gees sang on "Tapestry Revisited," the Carole King
tribute album. This video features songs and interviews with
several of the artists who worked on this album, including the
Bee Gees.
[1997] Keppel Road - The Life and Music of the Bee Gees
A recent documentary on the Bee Gees, which also features
the song-in-progress "Just In Case" Laserdisc version also
available, at least in Japan, maybe elsewhere besides...
VHS: Polygram Video
Catalog #440 054 881-3 $19.95
* The Bee Gees - Music Biography (import from Japan)
"21 songs, clips and live performances, plus rare material
from the early days in Australia." 54 min.
VHS: Music Video Distributors Catalog # R 2310 $69.95
LASERDISC: Music Video Distributors Catalog # LR 2310
Call Music Video Distributors at (800) 888-0486
* The Return of Bruno
An HBO production featuring Bruce Willis in a fictional
documentary along the lines of "Spinal Tap." Cameo appearances
by Ringo Starr, Dick Clark, the Bee Gees and others.
BEE GEES SONGS IN THE MOVIES (AND ON VIDEO, MAYBE):
[1970] Melody
[1971] Bloomfield (UK), The Hero (US)
("The Loner" by Maurice, performed by The Bloomfields [which
Joe Brennan notes..."sounds like a pseudonym for somebody but I
don't know who"])
[1975] All This and World War II
(Bee Gees and other artists perform Beatles songs)
[1977] Saturday Night Fever
[1978] Grease
(title song was written by the Barry Gibb and performed by
Frankie Valli)
[1980] Times Square
("Help Me", written and performed by Robin Gibb and Marcy
Levy)
[1983] Stayin Alive
* A Breed Apart
(score by Maurice, and main title "Hold her in your hand"
written by Barry and Maurice, sung by Maurice) (thanks, Joe!)
[1988] Hawks
Featuring songs from Barry's unreleased solo album
"Moonlight Madness". The movie is also based on a story
(unpublished?) by Barry Gibb and David English.
BEE GEES LASER DISCS AND CD-ROMS:
* Bee Gees - Interactive CD-ROM (is this even CLOSE to the
title?)
I had heard there was a Bee Gees interactive CD-ROM in
Europe a while back, but I have no info on this at all. If
anyone knows about it, I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
* Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
LASERDISC: MCA Catalog # 17004
* The Bee Gees One For All Tour - Live (2 vols.)
LASERDISC: Volumes I & II Combined
MPI Catalog # 9802 $29.98
Call MPI Home Entertainment at (800) 323-0442
* The Bee Gees - Music Biography (import from Japan)
Described in the catalog as "21 songs, clips and live
performances, plus rare material from the early days in
Australia." 54 min.
LASERDISC: Music Video Distributors Catalog # LR 2310
Call Music Video Distributors at (800) 888-0486
* Keppel Road
In Japan, the "Keppel Road" video is now available on Laser
Disc too.
Also, Singapore, the busiest transit stop in the world, does
seem to have some nice laser discs available...
* Greatest Bee Gees Karaoke
As Karen Liew writes, "I haven't seen it, but I think that
there's footage of the Bee Gees in it. I make this assumption
because there's this teeny tiny itsy bitsy thanking the Bee Gees
for their co-operation and video footage... The LD is red all
over, with a landscape photo of the brothers smack in the centre
(I think). All I can remember is that Robin was in the centre
and he had long hair with sunglasses on... I remember seeing
Massachussetts, and the New York Mining Disaster, but not much
else. ...I went to a couple of stores in Far East, and most of
them are priced at S$89 (around US$60). At Supreme Records, I
found a copy selling at S$89, but at the store next door, it was
selling for S$82. I found the Video CDversion of this, (also at
Far East Plaza) but it came in two parts, each sold separately
(S$39)."
Supreme Compact Disc
Far East Plaza
14 Scotts Road #03-14
Tel.: (65) 7325432
* One
Another find from Karen Liew, who writes: "- The description
on the back said that it covers the brothers' comeback
album. ...The LD kind of looks like the "One" album; white with
black and white photographs. It definitely looks less garish
than the karaoke LD... This LD is selling for S$45 (around US$30)
and can only be found (so far) in the LD store right smack next
to Supreme Records. (I forget the name, sorry)"
INTERVIEW CLIPS AND TELEVISION APPEARANCES:
Thanks to Antonette Daniar for providing us with the
following info...
The AG*BG Video Exchange Club is the only ALL Video club
(with permission) in North America that offers only Bee Gees/Andy
Gibb video material.
Here are some of the video clips available from Judy Gogarty
and the AG*BG Video Exchange Club of Edmonton, Canada:
* VH-1 Bee Gees Weekend (1989 Promo Story)
* Bee Gees Spotlight (Canadian video) videos '60's to '90s
* Rock of Europe 1989
* Fighting Back (England - 1992) interview with Maurice
about his alcohol problem
There is no e-mail address and no web page. Snail mail
address is as follows:
Judy Gogarty
AG*BG Video Exchange Club
12717 - 116th Street
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada. T5E 5H1
Letters are sent to her and she will send a membership sheet
to be filled out and signed. It is sent back to her and she sends
you the order form with the complete list of all the video clips
that she has available. There are hundreds to choice from, Poor
to Excellent quality.
Clips are to be checked off to fit a 2 hour tape. The cost
to Canadian customers is $19.00 (in Canadian funds), which
includes insured postage. New US prices: $16.00 US funds for
each T120 includes regular postage. Overseas fans can write for
details and for reduced transfer costs.
No cheques accepted only money orders made out to JUDY
GOGARTY.
Orders take 3 weeks from the time it is received. Keep in
mind that there may be delays. Holidays there is an additional
delay of one week. She stresses to be patient.
The price of transfer tapes from Europe are listed on the
order form beside each tape. These tapes are sold as is and will
not be changed or edited.
Always check off an extra 15 minutes of clips in case one is
not available.
Giggles
again.....), could you please update it? The following is just a few things
that no longer exist:
David Garcia wrote in message ...
>Archive-name: music/beegees-faq/part3
>Posting-Frequency: monthly (25th of month)
>Last-modified: 1998/08/25
>Maintainer: David Garcia <ga...@compuserve.com>
>
>
> Bee Gees
> Frequently Asked Questions
> Part Three of Four
> August 25, 1998
>
>3-01. What Bee Gees on-line resources are available?
>
>THE WEB:
> On March 9th, 1997, the day before the UK release of "Still
>Waters", the Bee Gees made their official debut on the World Wide
>Web. The long awaited Official Bee Gees Web Experience, at
>
> http://www.beegees.net
>
>is also mentioned in the liner notes of the new CD. It is still
>relatively new to the net, but already is coming to life with
>biographical info, TV appearance schedules, and the official Bee
>Gees e-mail address, bee...@beegees.net
> This web site is growing rapidly, with appearance info,
>links to other sites, and a few official answers to questions
>raised in this FAQ as well!
>http://www.andygibb.org/
> A remarkable tribute to Andy Gibb, the only soloist to have
>his first three singles hit number one -- this was no mere teen
>idol. The Official Andy Gibb Home Page features a well-written
>bio, album gifs, and information on the Andy Gibb Memorial
>Foundation.
>
>
Pat Wong
other places, I believe. It's some kind of automated posting but I
forget the details on that. David is also acutely aware that his FAQ is
in dire need of update. He hasn't had the time to do anything about it.
Hope this helps.
"Giggles" <MARS...@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:0_Ap7.2441$dw.562...@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com...
| Before you post this yet again (and again and again and again and
| again.....), could you please update it? The following is just a few
things
| that no longer exist:
|
|
| David Garcia wrote in message ...
| >Archive-name: music/beegees-faq/part3
| >Posting-Frequency: monthly (25th of month)
| >Last-modified: 1998/08/25
| >Maintainer: David Garcia <ga...@compuserve.com>
| >
| >
| > Bee Gees
| > Frequently Asked Questions
| > Part Three of Four
| > August 25, 1998
--
~8^) Pat Wong (ICQ #61070813)
| | | | | | |
\\ - - //
(@ @)
_____oOOo_(_)_oOOo_ _ __
We could learn a lot from crayons:
Some are sharp, some are pretty,
Some are dull, some have weird names,
And all are different colors...
But they all have to learn to live in the same box.
---------------------Oooo-----------
oooO ( )
( ) ) /
\ ( (_/
\_)
BGMelody
>again.....), could you please update it? The following is just a few things
>that no longer exist:
I can't tell you how many times I've tried to contact David to advise him that
these FAQ's are outdated (including even my name!!), but I get absolutely no
response nor do I see the FAQ's updated.
Renee (Schreiber) DiNicola
BGMelody
>other places, I believe. It's some kind of automated posting but I
>forget the details on that. David is also acutely aware that his FAQ is
>in dire need of update. He hasn't had the time to do anything about it.
>Hope this helps.
Thanks for the info. Somehow there has to be a way to get this "automated"
posting removed (if it can't be updated). Perhaps David can do that until he
has time to update it.
Renee
d-g...@worldnet.att.net
>David isn't the one posting this, trust me. He has said that here and
>other places, I believe. It's some kind of automated posting but I
>forget the details on that. David is also acutely aware that his FAQ is
>in dire need of update. He hasn't had the time to do anything about it.
>Hope this helps
Well spoken, Pat!
I do need to do somthing about this. As Pat said, this whole thing
is automatically posted, month after month, by the mit.edu FAQ server.
Given the public outcry (or, outwhine, whichever...) I am now going through
the rtfm.mit.edu manual to find out the required procedure for suspending
FAQ posting.
Meanwhile, if you can think of specific things that need to be done to
the FAQ (e.g, this website is gone, that website ought to be listed instead),
feel free to email me at d-g...@worldnet.att.net and I'll try to make a note
of it for that gloried day when I finally DO revise the thing. Again, I'm
looking for specific corrections, not the general "Dude, they've got a new
freaking album already" things that are painfully obvious.
You can either email me privately or post your gripe here on the newsgroup.
But if you do post to the newsgroup, be sure to CC my email addy, since
I might miss the newsgroup posting.
Oh, one more thing, the new email address is d-g...@worldnet.att.net, since
the compuserve account is long since closed.
Thanks for caring!
David Garcia
d-g...@worldnet.att.net
d-g...@worldnet.att.net
Well, I gave it a shot, and the folks at the faq-server appear to have
acknowledge my request to suspend posting the FAQ. So, hopefully it
won't show up again until it's updated. If it DOES start showing up
again, without updates, be sure to let me know...
David Garcia
d-g...@worldnet.att.net