1978


This was the year that Barry Gibb songs dominated the charts. On Billboard magazine’s Hot 100, Barry as a songwriter held the number 1 spot for half the year. His songs were number 1 for 27 weeks out of 37 from December 24, 1977 to September 2, 1978 (listed below). Aside from the top position these songs were high on the charts for a long time. They got incessant airplay and competed with each for chart position. Barry had as many as five songs simultaneously in the top ten and one week in March he had four of the top five spots (‘Night Fever’ at 1, ‘Stayin’ Alive’ at 2, ‘Emotion’ at 3, and ‘(Love Is) Thicker Than Water’ at 5). ‘Emotion’, well remembered, never did make number 1 against this competition.

‘How Deep Is Your Love’ (Oct 1977) — 3 weeks, Dec 24 to Jan 7
. . . 3 weeks off
‘Stayin’ Alive’ (Dec 1977) — 4 weeks, Feb 4 to Feb 25
‘(Love Is) Thicker Than Water’ (Nov 1977) — 2 weeks, Mar 4 to Mar 11
‘Night Fever’ (Feb 1978) — 8 weeks, Mar 18 to May 6
‘If I Can’t Have You’ (Dec 1977) — 1 week, May 13
. . . 4 weeks off
‘Shadow Dancing’ (Apr 1978) — 7 weeks, Jun 17 to Jul 29
. . . 3 weeks off
‘Grease’ (May 1978) — 2 weeks, Aug 26 to Sep 2

New work done in 1978 did not begin to appear until the second half of the year. All this songwriting for films and other artists had left the masses wondering what the Bee Gees themselves would do next. At precisely this pivotal moment the public were given, not the ultimate carefully crafted artistic pièce de résistance that the Bee Gees might have had a chance to create in some other kinder universe, but instead the absurdity of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

While all the chart madness was going on, starting in March the Bee Gees did begin recording their new album, Barry thinking all the while how he was going to live up to the public’s expectations, and eventually thinking too how they were going to overcome the blot of Sgt Pepper. Whether it was getting to be too much for the weary public must have come to mind, but after all it had been two years since a Bee Gees studio album, so they went ahead. The backlash began in 1979.


songs


SHADOW DANCING
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Andy Gibb
A side by Andy Gibb, April 1978; album cut by Andy Gibb, 1978

WHY
Andy Gibb, Barry Gibb
album cut by Andy Gibb, 1978

AN EVERLASTING LOVE
Barry Gibb
album cut by Andy Gibb, 1978

GREASE
Barry Gibb
A side by Frankie Valli, May 1978; Grease soundtrack, 1978

AIN’T NOTHING GONNA KEEP ME FROM YOU
Barry Gibb
A side by Teri De Sario, July 1978; album cut by Teri De Sario, 1978

TRAGEDY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
A side by Bee Gees, February 1979; album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

TOO MUCH HEAVEN
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
A side by Bee Gees, November 1978; album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

LOVE YOU INSIDE OUT
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
A side by Bee Gees, April 1979; album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

REACHING OUT
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

SPIRITS (HAVING FLOWN)
[ PASSING THOUGHT ]
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

SEARCH, FIND
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

STOP (THINK AGAIN)
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

LIVING TOGETHER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

I’M SATISFIED
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1979; B side by Bee Gees, April 1979

UNTIL
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
B side by Bee Gees, February 1979; album cut by Bee Gees, 1979

DESIRE
[ MIDNIGHT ]
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
A side by Andy Gibb, January 1980; album cut by Andy Gibb, 1980

WHERE DO I GO
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Andy Gibb
album cut by Jimmy Ruffin, 1980

THE LOVE INSIDE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Andy Gibb
album cut by Barbra Streisand, 1980

FOREVER FOREVER
[ NOBODY ]
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Jimmy Ruffin, 1980

THIS COULD BE GOODBYE
probably Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
reported title. no record

BACK IN YOUR ARMS
probably Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
reported title. no record

CASTLES
probably Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
demo by Barry. no record

ECSTASY
probably Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
demo by Barry. no record

FEELINGS
probably Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
demo by Barry. no record

THE LOVE THAT WAS LOST
Maurice Gibb
promotional film soundtrack. US copyright March 1979

THE RESCUE OF BONNIE PRINCE WALLY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
comedy skit (not music). fan club record by Bee Gees, 1978

WHIRLPOOL
Barry Gibb, David English
screenplay (not music). US copyright January 1979

This year’s work included songs for a second Andy album and a new Bee Gees album that was released in 1979. The obvious idea of all four brothers recording together was brought up, and the results were the song ‘Desire’ with Andy on lead vocal, and two other songs credited to all four as writers that were recorded later for other projects, ‘Where Do I Go’ and ‘The Love Inside’. Barry wrote a main title for the RSO film of the musical play Grease and a song for Teri De Sario.

Several other titles are known from leaked demo tapes or rumors. ‘Nobody’ was partly rewritten by Robin as ‘Forever Forever’ and recorded by Jimmy Ruffin. The others as listed would probably have been credited to B R & M Gibb if released.

Maurice’s first outside work in a while was an instrumental piece, ‘The Love That Was Lost’.

There are two non-musical works too. The three brothers did a comedy skit called ‘The Rescue of Bonnie Prince Wally’ for a fan club record. Barry and his friend David English wrote up a 32-page treatment for a movie that was never made, Whirlpool, about drug traffic in Miami. David English, the first president of RSO Records, also acted in films and then began a career producing charity sports and entertainment events. He would do more projects with Barry in the years to come.


recording sessions


Andy Gibb

Andy Gibb — vocal
Joey Murcia — guitar
Tim Renwick — guitar
George Bitzer — keyboards, synthesizer
Harold Cowart — bass
Ron Ziegler — drums
Joe Lala — percussion
John Sambataro — vocal; slide guitar (‘Why’)
The Boneroo Horns
  Peter Graves
  Whit Sidener
  Ken Faulk
  Bill Purse
  Neil Bonsanti
  Stan Webb
orchestra arranged by Albhy Galuten;
    also Barry Gibb (‘Shadow Dancing’, ‘An Everlasting Love’,
    ‘One More Look at the Night’, ‘Good Feeling’);
    also Blue Weaver and Barry Gibb (‘Don’t Throw It All Away’)
Paul Harris — keyboards (‘Don’t Throw It All Away’)
Don Felder — guitar (‘I Go for You’)
Jock Bartley — guitar (‘Why’)
Barry Gibb — vocal (‘Shadow Dancing’, ‘Why’, ‘An Everlasting Love’, ‘Don’t Throw It All Away’)
engineer: Karl Richardson; John Blanche, Dennis Hetzendorfer (Criteria); David Gertz (Wally Heider)
producer: Albhy Galuten, Karl Richardson, Barry Gibb
December 1977 to February 1978, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami;
1978, Wally Heider Studio, Los Angeles

Andy’s second album was made under the direction of Albhy Galuten and Karl Richardson, mostly while Barry, Robin, and Maurice were off filming Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (up to January). Barry again was executive producer, and again he was present during recording of a few of the songs, the ones he wrote or co-wrote.

The recording order is not known. The ones with Barry must be among the later ones, so here the Andy songs are shown first, followed by the songs Barry was involved with.

FOOL FOR A NIGHT
Andy Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:20, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978

MELODY
Andy Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:00, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978

I GO FOR YOU
Andy Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:19, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978

GOOD FEELING
Andy Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:46, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978

WAITING FOR YOU
Andy Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:13, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978

ONE MORE LOOK AT THE NIGHT
Andy Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:45, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978

This is a nice set of songs by Andy, all probably written in the year and a half since he recorded his first album. They are a little less country in style. It is worth listening to these separately from the collaborations with Barry. ‘Melody’ for example has some of the same feeling of longing that Andy put into songs like ‘Starlight’ on Flowing Rivers. They might sound even more authentic played by a young band Andy’s age rather than note-perfect sessionmen.

WHY
Andy Gibb, Barry Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:31, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978

Andy said that he wrote the melody for ‘Why’ but asked Barry to write lyrics for it. Barry on backing vocals.

John Sambataro, who sang backing and harmony vocals on the non-Barry songs, plays slide guitar. Later in 1978 he left the Andy Gibb band and went on tour with David Mason (ex-Traffic), and early in 1979 he became lead guitarist for McGuinn, Clark and Hillman, a band playing country rock along the lines of some of Andy’s songs— what might have been! Also on this track was Jock Bartley of the country rock band Firefall, then recording their third album at Criteria. They had their Bee Gees connections: the first two albums had been engineered by Karl Richardson, and Joe Lala was a regular guest musician. And John Sambataro eventually joined Firefall in 1982 and recorded two albums with them.

SHADOW DANCING
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Andy Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:34, lead vocal Andy Gibb
A side, April 1978; Shadow Dancing, 1978

The first song credited to all four brothers. There would be two more over the next few months that were not released until some time later. There was loose talk about Andy appearing on Bee Gees disks and about some sort of arrangement where he would tour and they would record with him, never quite confirmed. Barry sings backing vocals.

AN EVERLASTING LOVE
Barry Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:06, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978; A side, July 1978

Barry writing for Andy, and providing a lot of falsetto backing vocals on the mechanically repeating chorus. This is very different from any of Andy’s own songs.

(OUR LOVE) DON’T THROW IT ALL AWAY
Barry Gibb, Blue Weaver (1977)
undated 1978
stereo 4:07, lead vocal Andy Gibb
Shadow Dancing, 1978; A side, September 1978

‘Don’t Throw It All Away’ was the very good song Barry and Blue wrote during the Saturday Night Fever sessions. For this version Barry added a bridge section. Barry sings backing vocals.

Andy wrote six new songs for this album (plus ‘Why’), but once again none of them was chosen as the A side of a single. Andy was now almost twenty— the age Barry was when he wrote ‘Spicks and Specks’ with support from Maurice. Barry’s generosity toward Andy is praiseworthy, but nonetheless, perhaps this should have been the time to promote Andy’s own talents.


Stephen Stills

Stephen Stills — vocal, guitar, percussion
Andy Gibb — vocal
Dave Mason — vocal
John Sambataro — vocal
Joey Murcia — guitar
Mike Finnigan — piano (‘You Can’t Dance Alone’)
Kenny Kirkland — piano (‘What’s the Game’)
George Perry — bass
Joe Vitale — drums
Joe Lala — percussion
engineer: ?
producer: Stephen Stills, Ron Albert, Howard Albert
February 1978, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami

YOU CAN’T DANCE ALONE
Stephen Stills (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:30, lead vocal Stephen Stills
Thoroughfare Gap, 1978

WHAT’S THE GAME
Stephen Stills (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:30, lead vocal Stephen Stills
Thoroughfare Gap, 1978

Stephen Stills was back at Criteria to record his album Thoroughfare Gap. In 1976 he had visited the Bee Gees while they were making Children of the World, and this time he and Andy’s group visited each other. Andy and his usual backup singer John Sambataro sing backup on two songs, ‘You Can’t Dance Alone’ and ‘What’s the Game’. John sang on a third song, Albhy Galuten plays piano on another, and Joey Murcia, Joe Lala, and ‘Chocolate’ Perry play on most of the album.


Frankie Valli

Frankie Valli — vocal
Barry Gibb — vocal
Peter Frampton — guitar
Gary Brown — sax (instrumental version)
others
engineer: Karl Richardson
producer: Barry Gibb, Karl Richardson, Albhy Galuten
around February 1978, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami

GREASE
Barry Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:21, lead vocal Frankie Valli
single May 1978; Grease soundtrack, 1978

Barry wrote a title song to order for the Robert Stigwood film of the stage musical Grease. Since it is heard only in the animated opening credits, it did not need to be recorded before filming. It was recorded shortly after filming for Sgt Pepper, which was probably when Barry invited Peter Frampton to the session. The other uncredited musicians were some of those from the Andy Gibb album that was being made around the same time.

Frankie Valli, falsetto lead singer of the immensely popular Four Seasons group of the early 1960s, was a natural choice to sing it. Barry touched up the vocal with his own falsetto. The film director Randal Kleiser did not like ‘Grease’ and the new song ‘You’re the One That I Want’ because they did not fit the fifties style musically or lyrically.


Teri De Sario

Teri De Sario — vocal
Barry Gibb — vocal
Joey Murcia — guitar
George Terry — guitar
George Bitzer — keyboards
Paul Harris — keyboards
George Perry — bass
Ron ‘Tubby’ Ziegler — drums
The Boneroo Horns
  Peter Graves
  Whit Sidener
  Ken Faulk
  Bill Purse
  Neil Bonsanti
  Stan Webb
orchestra arranged by Albhy Galuten
engineer: Karl Richardson
producer: Barry Gibb, Karl Richardson, Albhy Galuten
around February 1978, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami

AIN’T NOTHING GONNA KEEP ME FROM YOU
Barry Gibb (1977)
undated 1978
stereo 3:50, lead vocal Teri De Sario
single, July 1978; Pleasure Train, 1978

Albhy Galuten heard Teri De Sario in a club, and got Barry involved in recording a song for her. Barry sang backing vocals. song from 1977.

The musicians are again the usual group who did Andy’s sessions, and a few of them continued into the sessions for the new Bee Gees album. George Bitzer from Network appears again. Teri was married to Boneroo Horn player Bill Purse.


Sesame Street Fever

Robin Gibb — vocal
Frank Oz — vocal
Jerry Nelson — vocal
Carroll Spinney — vocal
Jim Henson — vocal
others
engineer: Michael DeLugg
producer: Joe Raposo
possibly May 1978, New York

SESAME STREET FEVER
Joe Raposo (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 5:40, lead vocal The Count, Grover, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Robin Gibb
Sesame Street Fever, 1978
stereo 3:10, lead vocal The Count, Grover, Ernie, Cookie Monster, Robin Gibb
single, 1978

TRASH
Joe Raposo (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 6:13, lead vocal Robin Gibb
Sesame Street Fever, 1978

C IS FOR COOKIE
Joe Raposo (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 5:32, lead vocal Cookie Monster
Sesame Street Fever, 1978

Robin made a guest appearance on the children’s television program Sesame Street in 1978, bringing along his four year old daughter to visit the set. He then also contributed vocals to their album Sesame Street Fever. The date is unknown, but would be the first half of 1978. The songs are all by Sesame Street’s resident songwriter Joe Raposo, writer of ‘It Ain’t Easy Being Green’ and many others.

The cover of the album was a parody of the cover of Saturday night fever, with the muppet Grover as the John Travolta figure. On the album Robin turns in a beautiful lead vocal on ‘Trash’ as Oscar the Grouch. He also sings a few lines in ‘Sesame Street Fever’ and speaks briefly at the start of the Sesame Street classic ‘C Is for Cookie’. The muppet character voices were by Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Carroll Spinney, and Jim Henson.


Bee Gees

Barry Gibb — vocal, guitar
Robin Gibb — vocal
Maurice Gibb — vocal, bass, keyboard
Blue Weaver — keyboards, synthesizer, programming
Alan Kendall — guitar
Dennis Bryon — drums
George Terry — guitar
Harold Cowart — bass
Joe Lala — percussion
Daniel Ben Zebulon — percussion
Gary Brown — sax
Herbie Mann — flute (‘Spirits Having Flown’)
The Boneroo Horns
  Peter Graves
  Whit Sidener
  Kenny Faulk
  Bill Purse
  Neil Bonsanti
  Stan Webb
The Chicago Horns (‘Too Much Heaven’, ‘Stop (Think Again)’)
  James Pankow
  Walter Parazaider
  Lee Loughnane
orchestra arranged by Albhy Galuten; concertmasters Gene Orloff (Sound Mixers), Bob Basso (Criteria)
engineer: Karl Richardson; Dennis Hetzendorfer, John Blanche
producer: the Bee Gees, Karl Richardson, Albhy Galuten
March to May, July to November 1978, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami;
  Sound Mixers Studio, New York (strings)

The Bee Gees spent much of 1978 on Spirits Having Flown, the most time they had ever spent on one album. Barry said that he felt it had to live up to the sensational success of Saturday Night Fever. This only heightened any tendencies the Bee Gees had toward perfectionism, Barry in particular. No doubt each song has many, many recording dates, as they carefully recorded and re-recorded each nuance, but none of the dates are known. There was a break from about the second week of May to the last week of July.

In retrospect the decision to use Barry’s falsetto on almost every song looks like a mistake. Albhy Galuten said years later that Barry felt his falsetto voice was more expressive and had greater range, so he wanted to use it all the time. The songs on Spirits Having Flown are quite varied in style, but the sameness of the vocals makes them sound more alike than they are. Spirits Having Flown is as varied in musical style as classic older Bee Gees albums. ‘Tragedy’ is the only really ‘disco’ song here.

Albhy recalls Spirits Having Flown as being created primarily by Barry, Albhy, and Karl putting in long days and nights at Criteria. Blue Weaver recalls others being involved! Both agree that Robin was active behind the scenes in songwriting and offering feedback to the recording process, but Maurice contributes probably the least he did on any Bee Gees album. Not only was his alcoholism sapping his creativity, but he was having back pains finally diagnosed in 1980 as caused by a bad disk. In the recording phase Robin and Maurice now mainly played the role of backing and harmony vocalists, and even in that capacity Barry did many of the vocal dubs himself as he went over and over the recorded work. Instrumentally Blue again made great contributions to the arrangements.

TRAGEDY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 5:03, lead vocal Barry Gibb
A side, February 1979; Spirits Having Flown, 1979

Blue Weaver plays most of ‘Tragedy’, including programming the newly invented sequencers for the bass and drum parts. The so-called disco rhythm is similar to that of the Beatles’ ‘Get Back’ and the song’s halfway status between rock and disco could have been emphasized by a halfway falsetto vocal. Barry spent days just on the sound effect that ends the pause before the last chorus.

TOO MUCH HEAVEN
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:55, lead vocal Barry Gibb
A side, November 1978; Spirits Having Flown, 1979

Illustrating the excess of these sessions, ‘Too Much Heaven’ has 27 vocal tracks. Barry on falsetto lead 3 times, falsetto high harmony 3 times, falsetto low harmony 3 times. Barry on natural voice lead 3 times, high harmony 3 times, low harmony 3 times. Barry, Robin and Maurice together on lead 3 times, high harmony 3 times, low harmony 3 times. The horn section from the band Chicago play on the song, in return for the brothers’ appearance on a Chicago song (see below).

LOVE YOU INSIDE OUT
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:11, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Spirits Having Flown, 1979; A side, April 1979

A slow funk groove. If the brothers can be believed, they sent off to Robert Stigwood a special version with the alternate line ‘backwards and forwards with my cock hanging out’ (instead of ‘with my heart hanging out’) just to see if he was paying attention. He was.

REACHING OUT
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:05, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Spirits Having Flown, 1979

A nice acoustic-guitar ballad, not disco or funk, but with synthesizer and falsetto.

SPIRITS (HAVING FLOWN)
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 5:19, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Spirits Having Flown, 1979

Barry sings much of this in natural voice, breathy style, with noticeable support from Robin and Maurice. Herbie Mann adds a bit of flute in the ending. This would have made an excellent single, on its own merits and as a transition back to natural voice Bee Gees. Its working title was ‘Passing Thought’.

SEARCH, FIND
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:13, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Spirits Having Flown, 1979

Uptown rhythm and blues, with horns and a driving rhythm section. It would have fit right in with the Arif Mardin arrangements on Mr Natural. The bass player adds some nice touches. Another natural single that would have broken the disco mold.

STOP (THINK AGAIN)
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 6:40, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Spirits Having Flown, 1979

Calling this a slow ballad makes it sound like a classic Bee Gees song but it has a different sense of pacing, with a little hesitation, maybe Otis Redding in falsetto. The Chicago Horns played on this song.

LIVING TOGETHER
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:21, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
Spirits Having Flown, 1979

Back to funk. On the verses Robin delivers a startlingly feminine-sounding solo falsetto lead for the one and only time. Now listen to the other songs again for possible double leads by Barry and Robin, with Robin using this voice.

I’M SATISFIED
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:55, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Spirits Having Flown, 1979; B side, April 1979

Slightly reggae. The verses build in intensity and then fall back into the groove.

UNTIL
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 2:27, lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, February 1979; Spirits Having Flown, 1979

The least worked-over song of the bunch, something Barry came up with and recorded quickly. It includes some of the highest notes he ever reached.

DESIRE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978, 30 May 1979
stereo 4:24, lead vocal Barry Gibb
unreleased
stereo 4:24, lead vocal Andy Gibb
A side, January 1980; After Dark, 1980

Blue Weaver recalls that ‘Desire’ was intended for the Spirits Having Flown album and originally had Barry singing lead. After they spent weeks on it, they dropped it from the album lineup. Andy recorded a new vocal track to it in 1979, but it still had vocal backing tracks by Barry, Robin and Maurice. When it came out as an Andy single in 1980 it was publicized as the first track with all four brothers on it (and it would be the only one). It’s similar to ‘Shadow Dancing’— light disco with not much to say.


Chicago

Peter Cetera — vocal, bass
Donnie Dacus — guitar
Robert Lamm — keyboards
Lee Loughnane — trumpet
James Pankow — trombone
Walter Parazaider — woodwinds
Danny Seraphine — drums
Laudir de Oliveira — percussion
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb — vocal
first half 1978, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami

LITTLE MISS LOVIN’
Peter Cetera (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:41, lead vocal Peter Cetera
Hot Streets, 1978

The Bee Gees sing backup vocals on a song by the band Chicago, who were recording their Hot Streets album at Criteria in 1978. This backing vocal paid back Lee Loughnane and Walt Parazaider playing flugelhorn and flute on ‘Too Much Heaven’ (according to liner notes to the 2003 reissue of Hot Streets). Blue Weaver also appears on the album playing synthesizer on the song ‘No Tell Lover’.


Bee Gees

Barry Gibb — talk, vocal, guitar
Robin Gibb — talk, vocal
Maurice Gibb — talk, vocal
David English — talk
producer: the Bee Gees
probably October or November 1978, Criteria Recording Studios, Miami

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM THE BEE GEES
talk (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 7:21, voices of Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
fan club disk, 1979

THE RESCUE OF BONNIE PRINCE WALLY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 7:53, voices of Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, David English
fan club disk, 1979

Members of the fan club got a special disk for Christmas 1978, or a little later. ‘A Personal Message’ is mostly the brothers talking but it includes about a half minute of the three of them singing ‘Silent Night’ with Barry on guitar.

‘The Rescue of Bonnie Prince Wally’ is a very silly skit with funny voices in odd accents and sound effects. The Bee Gees were known privately for doing things like this, often on film, but this is the only one made publicly available. They said they cleaned up the language for this disk.


Osmonds

Merrill Osmond — vocal, possibly bass
Alan Osmond — vocal, possibly guitar
Wayne Osmond — vocal, possibly guitar
Jay Osmond — vocal, possibly drums
Kitty Woodson — vocal (‘Love on the Line’)
Denny Crockett — keyboards
Blue Weaver — keyboards
George Bitzer — keyboards
Bruce Nazarian — guitar, bass, keyboards
George Terry — guitar
Rich Dixon — guitar
Joey Murcia — guitar
Ike Egan — bass
George Perry — bass
Sam Foster — drums
Joe Lala — percussion
Fred Wickstrom — percussion
Richie Puente — percussion
Ken Hodges — percussion
The Boneroo Horns
  Peter Graves — trombone
  Russ Freeland — trombone
  Whit Sidener — sax
  Chris Colclessar — sax
  Ken Faulk — trumpet
  Vinnie Tanno — trumpet
  Jerry Peel — French horn
Mike Lewis — sax (‘Steppin’ Out’)
orchestra arranged by Mike Lewis
engineer: Steve Klein
producer: Maurice Gibb, Steve Klein
last quarter of 1978, Kolob Recording Studios, Provo, Utah; Criteria Recording Studios, Miami

Maurice met with the Osmond brothers in Utah at their invitation in July or August of 1978, and took up their offer to produce an album for them toward the end of the year. The Osmonds, a little younger than the Gibb brothers (born 1949-1955), had, like the Gibbs, become well known as television performers in the early 1960s. They were actors in the one-year series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters and sang its theme song, the model for the Bee Gees’ version in 1964. In the years since, they and younger siblings Donny, Marie, and Jimmy had had occasional chart hits and were still well known figures on television. Donny and Marie had a variety show on the ABC network from 1973 to 1979. During 1978 the press kept reporting on Marie and Andy Gibb spending time together.

Probably the Osmonds expected some of the Bee Gees magic to rub off by working with Maurice, and on the face of it his experience in a successful brother act made it seem logical that he could work well with the Osmonds. However Maurice’s steady drinking made it impossible. His creativity was in eclipse in any case, and in this particular situation he just had little common ground with the Osmonds’ cleaner lifestyle.

The album cover states that all backing tracks and vocals (except ‘Emily’) were recorded at Kolob, and that ‘strings, horns, and additional recording’ were done at Criteria. Those present in Utah report instrumental recording in sessions led mainly by regular Osmond musicians Ike Egan and Denny Crockett. Maurice was uncomfortable in Utah and not productive. His contributions to the project were slight, and he certainly does not sing or play on any of it. The Osmonds themselves sometimes played instruments on record and in live shows, but the credits for this album are vague.

Vocal credits are not given although certainly the four brothers are all singing. Merrill was usually the lead singer and is so credited here. Two Osmond fans kindly pointed out a few songs with lead parts by Wayne. There are still some lame ‘other voice’ credits awaiting help from someone familiar with the brothers’ voices. The LP sleeve credits Kitty Woodson on the duet.

The writer credits as shown here come from US copyright registrations. The album cover credits all songs to the four Osmond brothers except of course ‘Love Ain’t an Easy Thing’ and ‘Rest Your Love on Me’. The copyrights show the addition of Egan and Crockett on some songs, and Jay Osmond missing on some. ‘Love Ain’t an Easy Thing’ was originally heard on Neil Sedaka’s 1974 LP Laughter in the Rain. Barry’s ‘Rest Your Love on Me’ had not yet been released when the Osmonds recorded it.

STEPPIN’ OUT
Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:24, lead vocal Merrill Osmond, other voice
Steppin’ Out, 1979

EMILY
Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond, Ike Egan, Denny Crockett (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:18, lead vocal Merrill Osmond
Steppin’ Out, 1979

YOU’RE MINE
Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 5:02, lead vocal Merrill Osmond, Wayne Osmond
Steppin’ Out, 1979

BABY’S BACK
Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond, Ike Egan, Denny Crockett (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:27, lead vocal Merrill Osmond
Steppin’ Out, 1979

LOVE ON THE LINE
Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond, Jay Osmond (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:32, lead vocal Merrill Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Kitty Woodson
Steppin’ Out, 1979

RAININ’
Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:33, lead vocal Wayne Osmond
Steppin’ Out, 1979

I’ I’ I
Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond, Ike Egan, Denny Crockett (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 4:18, lead vocal Merrill Osmond, other voice
Steppin’ Out, 1979

LOVE AIN’T AN EASY THING
Neil Sedaka, Phil Cody (1974)
undated 1978
stereo 3:38, lead vocal Merrill Osmond
Steppin’ Out, 1979

HOLD ON
Alan Osmond, Wayne Osmond, Merrill Osmond, Jay Osmond (1978)
undated 1978
stereo 3:20, lead vocal Merrill Osmond
Steppin’ Out, 1979

REST YOUR LOVE ON ME
Barry Gibb (1976)
undated 1978
stereo 4:15, lead vocal Merrill Osmond
Steppin’ Out, 1979


Maurice Gibb

Blue Weaver — piano
orchestra arranged by Mike Lewis
engineer: ?
producer: Maurice Gibb
1978, Miami

THE LOVE THAT WAS LOST
Maurice Gibb (1978)
undated 1978
stereo about 6:30, instrumental
film score

Maurice composed ‘The Love that Was Lost’ for a short promotional film for the charity the United Way. His wrote it by playing multiple parts on keyboard, and he sent the tape to Mike Lewis to be scored for orchestra. Mike was the usual arranger for K C and the Sunshine Band, and he arranged the Osmonds album probably shortly before or after this. For the recording of ‘The Love that Was Lost’ Maurice asked Blue Weaver to play piano, and Mike Lewis conducted the orchestra that was hired for the session. Maurice therefore is not on the recording.


selected record releases


Bee Gees : single
US: RSO, February 1978; UK: RSO, February 1978.

A NIGHT FEVER
B DOWN THE ROAD (live 1976)

The Bee Gees’ third and last single from Saturday Night Fever, propelled by the momentum of the other two still on the charts, had the longest run at number 1 on Billboard’s charts, eight weeks. It also went number 1 in Britain. Radio stations were sent a version that faded a minute early at 3:52.

CD: ‘Night Fever’ on Saturday Night Fever; ‘Down the Road’ on Here at Last.


Graham Bonnet : single
UK: Ring O’Records, March 1978.

A WARM RIDE
B 10/12 OBSERVATION

Graham Bonnet recorded the extra Saturday Night Fever song ‘Warm Ride’ and scored a top ten hit in Australia and New Zealand. The British release was one of the last on Ringo Starr’s vanity label Ring O’Records.


Rare Earth : single
US: Prodigal/Motown, April 1978.

A WARM RIDE
B WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME ALONG

This was the American release of ‘Warm Ride’. Rare Earth were a Detroit-based white rock band signed to Motown. Their first records were on the Rare Earth vanity label and as of this single they switched to Prodigal, another Motown-owned label. They performed the song on American Bandstand in June 1978, and issued a six-minute-plus version on a promo disk, but it was not a hit. The band were: Gil Bridges (vocals, flute, sax), Ray Monette (guitar), Mark Olson (vocals, keyboards), Mike Urso (bass), Pete Rivera (drums), Eddie Guzman (percussion).


Andy Gibb : single
US: RSO, April 1978.

A SHADOW DANCING
B LET IT BE ME

Andy Gibb : single
UK: RSO, April 1978.

A SHADOW DANCING
B TOO MANY LOOKS IN YOUR EYES

Andy Gibb’s third single became his third American number 1. This was the song credited to all four Gibb brothers. Barry sings backing vocals. The B sides were from his first album. This just missed top forty in Britain. Andy was mainly an American sensation.

CD: ‘Shadow Dancing’ on Andy Gibb and Andy Gibb Millennium.


Frankie Valli : single
US: RSO, May 1978; UK: RSO, May 1978.

A GREASE
B GREASE (instrumental)

The title song to Grease was yet another American number 1 for Barry as songwriter, and it made top five in Britain as well. The B side was the instrumental track, and in the US only it had a sax solo by Gary Brown.

The song was also on the soundtrack album Grease and Frankie Valli’s own album Frankie Valli... Is the Word.

CD: Grease.


Andy Gibb : Shadow Dancing
US: RSO, April 1978; UK: RSO, September 1978.

A 1 SHADOW DANCING
A 2 WHY
A 3 FOOL FOR A NIGHT
A 4 AN EVERLASTING LOVE
A 5 (OUR LOVE) DON’T THROW IT ALL AWAY

B 1 ONE MORE LOOK AT THE NIGHT
B 2 MELODY
B 3 I GO FOR YOU
B 4 GOOD FEELING
B 5 WAITING FOR YOU

Andy Gibb’s second album was hugely successful in the marketplace. Musically it continued the uneasy juxtaposition of Barry’s hit songs for Andy and Andy’s own songs, the latter confined mostly to side 2 of the LP. All are again played to a polish by the best session players Barry, Albhy, and Karl could hire.

American release was considerably in advance of that elsewhere, and the next several Andy singles were quite different.

CD: ‘Shadow Dancing’, ‘An Everlasting Love’, and ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’ on Andy Gibb and Andy Gibb Millennium.


Andy Gibb : single
US: RSO, June 1978.

A AN EVERLASTING LOVE
B FLOWING RIVERS

Andy’s fourth American single did not reach number 1 like the first three, but did go top five. Barry sings backing vocals. The B side was again off his first album, not the new one.

CD: ‘An Everlasting Love’ on Andy Gibb; both on Andy Gibb Millennium.


Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
US: RSO, July 1978; UK: A & M, July 1978.

A 1 Bee Gees, Nicholas : SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
    Frampton, Bee Gees : WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
A 2 Farina : HERE COMES THE SUN
A 3 Frampton, Bee Gees : GETTING BETTER
A 4 Steinberg, Stargard : LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS
A 5 Bee Gees, Steinberg, Nicholas, Pleasance, Stargard : I WANT YOU (SHE’S SO HEAVY)

B 1 Nicholas, Frampton, Bee Gees : GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING
B 2 Bee Gees, MacIntosh, Wheeler : SHE’S LEAVING HOME
B 3 Nicholas, Steinberg : YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY
B 4 Robin Gibb : OH! DARLING
B 5 Martin : MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER
B 6 Bee Gees : POLYTHENE PAM
    Frampton, Bee Gees : SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW
    Bee Gees : NOWHERE MAN
    Frampton, Bee Gees : SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (REPRISE)

C 1 Earth Wind and Fire : GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE
C 2 Farina : STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
C 3 Howerd, Farina : WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR
C 4 Howerd : MEAN MR MUSTARD
C 5 Burns : FIXING A HOLE
C 6 Cooper, Bee Gees : BECAUSE
C 7 Frampton, Bee Gees : GOLDEN SLUMBERS / CARRY THAT WEIGHT

D 1 Aerosmith : COME TOGETHER
D 2 Maurice Gibb, Frampton, Burns, Bee Gees : BEING FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR KITE!
D 3 Frampton : THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD
D 4 Barry Gibb, Bee Gees : A DAY IN THE LIFE
D 5 Preston : GET BACK
D 1 the cast: SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (finale)

Robin Gibb : single
US: RSO, July 1978; UK: RSO, July 1978.

A OH! DARLING
B SHE’S LEAVING HOME

The soundtrack album to Sgt Pepper. One musical number in the film is missing: George Martin’s instrumental medley of Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band as played by the original Sgt Pepper’s band over the years, recorded under the titles ‘Charleston’, ‘Hoedown’, ‘Swing Dance’, ‘World War II’, and ‘Dying Sequence’. The legacy passed to his grandson Billy Shears, played by Peter Frampton, and his band, played by Barry, Robin, and Maurice.

Following is the order of music in the film itself:

SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (instrumentals)
SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND / WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS
FIXING A HOLE
GETTING BETTER
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD (instrumental)
HERE COMES THE SUN
I WANT YOU (SHE’S SO HEAVY)
GOOD MORNING, GOOD MORNING
NOWHERE MAN
POLYTHENE PAM / SHE CAME IN THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW
SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (REPRISE)
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD (I)
MEAN MR MUSTARD
SHE’S LEAVING HOME
LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS
OH! DARLING
MAXWELL’S SILVER HAMMER
BECAUSE
STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
BEING FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR KITE!
WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR (instrumental)
YOU NEVER GIVE ME YOUR MONEY
GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE
WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR
COME TOGETHER
GOLDEN SLUMBERS / CARRY THAT WEIGHT
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD (II)
A DAY IN THE LIFE
GET BACK
SGT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND (finale)

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was one of the most inept movie musicals ever made. For one thing Peter Frampton, Barry, Robin, and Maurice were not professional actors. But the entire project was ill-conceived and executed, quite apart from anything involving the Bee Gees, who reportedly asked to back out of it before it was made.

On the strength of the Bee Gees’ success RSO (US) manufactured two million copies of the expensive two-LP set, which had an embossed front cover, special inner sleeves, and a poster. Counterfeiters who had made a tidy profit on Saturday Night Fever managed to get copies of the music and artwork ahead of release and added to the overabundance of product. Sales were terrible. At that time stores were allowed to return unsold albums for credit. Record business insiders said that it was the first album to ‘return platinum’, and that because of the counterfeiting it returned more than it shipped. RSO destroyed hundreds of thousands of copies, and despite that the album was a familiar sight in cutout bins for years to come.

The single of ‘Oh! Darling’ was credited as Robin Gibb. It went top twenty in America, very good considering the circumstances. The only song from the album that sold better was Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’.

In some countries in Europe a second single credited as Barry Gibb was issued, ‘A Day in the Life’ / ‘Nowhere Man’, with the B side lengthened by editing in a repeat section.

CD: Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.


Teri De Sario : single
US: Casablanca, July 1978; UK: Casablanca, July 1978.

A AIN’T NOTHING GONNA KEEP ME FROM YOU
B SOMETIME KIND OF THING

Teri De Sario’s single did not reach top forty. Barry wrote and sang backup on the A side. He was not involved with the B side, a recent composition by Miami-based Betty Wright.


Sesame Street Fever
US: Sesame Street, August 1978; UK: Sesame Street, August 1978.

  SESAME STREET FEVER
  TRASH
  C IS FOR COOKIE

Robin sang lead vocal on ‘Trash’ and contributed some vocal to the other two songs.


Bee Gees : Monday’s Rain
US: Pickwick, August 1978.

A 1 WHERE ARE YOU (1966)
A 2 SPICKS AND SPECKS (1966)
A 3 PLAY DOWN (1966)
A 4 BIG CHANCE (1966)
A 5 GLASS HOUSE (1966)

B 1 HOW MANY BIRDS (1966)
B 2 SECOND HAND PEOPLE (1966)
B 3 I DON’T KNOW WHY I BOTHER WITH MYSELF (1966)
B 4 MONDAY’S RAIN (1966)

Bee Gees : Take Hold of That Star
US: Pickwick, August 1978.

A 1 I WAS A LOVER, A LEADER OF MEN (1965)
A 2 FOLLOW THE WIND (1965)
A 3 CLAUSTROPHOBIA (1964)
A 4 THEME FROM ‘THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE MCPHEETERS’ (1964)
A 5 EVERY DAY I HAVE TO CRY (1965)

B 1 TAKE HOLD OF THAT STAR (1963)
B 2 COULD IT BE (1964)
B 3 TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1965)
B 4 THE THREE KISSES OF LOVE (1963)

Bee Gees : Turn Around, Look at Me
US: Pickwick, August 1978.

A 1 WINE AND WOMEN (1965)
A 2 I DON’T THINK IT’S FUNNY (1965)
A 3 TURN AROUND, LOOK AT ME (1964)
A 4 I AM THE WORLD (1966)
A 5 THE BATTLE OF THE BLUE AND THE GREY (1963)

B 1 HOW LOVE WAS TRUE (1966)
B 2 AND THE CHILDREN LAUGHING (1965)
B 3 YOU WOULDN’T KNOW (1965)
B 4 I WANT HOME (1966)

Bee Gees : Peace of Mind
US: Pickwick, August 1978.

A 1 TIMBER (1963)
A 2 I WAS A LOVER, A LEADER OF MEN (1965)
A 3 PEACE OF MIND (1964)
A 4 CHERRY RED (1966)
A 5 ALL OF MY LIFE (1966)

B 1 DON’T SAY GOODBYE (1964)
B 2 JINGLE JANGLE (1966)
B 3 TINT OF BLUE (1966)
B 4 BORN A MAN (1966)

Virtually a reissue of the three Rare Precious and Beautiful albums, but on four disks. Monday’s Rain, Take Hold of That Star, and Turn Around, Look at Me each contain the first nine songs respectively of Rare Precious and Beautiful volumes 1, 2, and 3. The fourth album Peace of Mind then contains the last three songs of volume 3, last three of volume 2, and last three of volume 1, in that order. The songs are in the same ‘electronically rechanneled to simulate stereo’ mixes used for Rare Precious and Beautiful, and once again ‘I Was a Lover, a Leader of Men’ appears twice for no particular reason.

Budget label Pickwick can be faulted for needlessly expanding three albums into four, but at least they charged a low price for them, and the LPs were quality pressings. This was the first release in America of all nine songs on Turn Around, Look at Me and the first and third songs on Peace of Mind, something the Pickwick folks probably did not realize since nothing is said about it on the sleeves. (Atco had released only the first two Rare Precious and Beautiful albums.)

The timing of these releases was obviously meant to cash in on the Bee Gees’ success with very different music, and maybe once again the expectations for Sgt Pepper played into it. But if there were going to be reissues at this time, it’s too bad they were not reissues of better albums— most of the Bee Gees catalog was now out of print.

CD: All on Brilliant from Birth.


Bee Gees : Birth of Brilliance
Australia: Infinity, 1978.

A 1 WINE AND WOMEN (1965)
A 2 I WAS A LOVER, A LEADER OF MEN (1965)
A 3 TIMBER (1963)
A 4 CLAUSTROPHOBIA (1964)
A 5 COULD IT BE (1964)
A 6 PEACE OF MIND (1964)
A 7 TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1965)
A 8 I DON’T THINK IT’S FUNNY (1965)

B 1 THE THREE KISSES OF LOVE (1963)
B 2 THE BATTLE OF THE BLUE AND THE GREY (1963)
B 3 THEME FROM ‘THE TRAVELS OF JAIMIE MCPHEETERS’ (1964)
B 4 TURN AROUND, LOOK AT ME (1964)
B 5 EVERY DAY I HAVE TO CRY (1965)
B 6 HOW LOVE WAS TRUE (1966)
B 7 YOU WON’T SEE ME (1970)
B 8 LONELY WINTER (1970)

C 1 MORNING OF MY LIFE (1970)
C 2 LIKE NOBODY ELSE (1970)
C 3 ALL BY MYSELF (1970)
C 4 THE STORM (1970)
C 5 BUTTERFLY (1970)
C 6 TERRIBLE WAY TO TREAT YOUR BABY (1970)
C 7 EXIT, STAGE RIGHT (1970)
C 8 COALMAN (1970)

A 4 I AM THE WORLD (1966)
A 4 CHERRY RED (1966)
B 4 I WANT HOME (1966)
B 3 MONDAY’S RAIN (1966)
B 1 HOW MANY BIRDS (1966)
B 2 SECOND HAND PEOPLE (1966)
B 4 BORN A MAN (1966)
A 2 SPICKS AND SPECKS (1966)

Released only in Australia, Birth of Brilliance was a landmark collection that fans worldwide gradually became aware of over many years’ time.

All of the songs are in the original mono, without the distortions introduced by being ‘electronically rechanneled’. Ten songs from the Inception / Nostalgia album (1970), recorded in 1966, finally made their début in Australia. ‘Monday’s Rain’ has the vocal track used on the original single, appearing here on LP for the first time anywhere. Lastly the gatefold sleeve has inside several rare photographs of the Bee Gees in Australia, a few of them in color.

The sequence was intended to be roughly chronological assuming as compiler Glenn A Baker did that the Australian Turn Around, Look at Us LP (1967) should be considered the second album and that the Inception / Nostalgia songs come before those from Spicks and Specks. Such was the state of known Bee Gees history as late as this. But the inclusion of five songs by other writers rather than more Gibb originals suggests a greater misunderstanding of what the group were about.

Birth of Brilliance was issued as a 2-CD set in 1994. Near the end of 1998 Festival issued a new and more comprehensive set of the Bee Gees’ Australian recordings confusingly titled Brilliant from Birth. Since it includes all of the songs that were on Birth of Brilliance, it should have replaced it, but for some reason Festival kept both 2-CD sets available for the next several years. Brilliant from Birth is preferable for sound quality and completeness. The LP version of Birth of Brilliance might still be of interest for the photographs on the inner gatefold.

CD: All on Brilliant from Birth.


Andy Gibb : single
US: RSO, September 1978.

A (OUR LOVE) DON’T THROW IT ALL AWAY
B ONE MORE LOOK AT THE NIGHT

Andy Gibb : single
US: RSO, September 1978.

A WHY
B ONE MORE LOOK AT THE NIGHT

Andy Gibb : single
UK: RSO, September 1978.

A WHY
B FOOL FOR A NIGHT

Different singles for the American and British markets. The two US singles have consecutive catalog numbers and the same B side, as if ‘Why’ was a quick replacement for ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’— although ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’ was in fact the American hit. Barry on backing vocals on ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’.

CD: ‘(Our Love) Don’t Throw It All Away’ on Andy Gibb and Andy Gibb Millennium.


Chicago : Hot Streets
US: Columbia, September 1978; UK: CBS, September 1978.

  LITTLE MISS LOVIN’

Bee Gees on backing vocals.


Stephen Stills : Thoroughfare Gap
US: Columbia, September 1978; UK: CBS, September 1978.

  YOU CAN’T DANCE ALONE
  WHAT’S THE GAME

Andy Gibb on backing vocals.


Bee Gees : single
US: RSO, November 1978; UK: RSO, November 1978

A TOO MUCH HEAVEN
B REST YOUR LOVE ON ME

The lead single for the new Bee Gees album. It was not a disco song but had plenty of Barry Gibb falsetto. Number 1 in America and top five in Britain. Barry, Robin, and Maurice donated the income from this song to UNICEF, a gift that is still active since the song has been continuously available on the Spirits Having Flown album and on several albums of Bee Gees hits.

‘Rest Your Love on Me’, dating to the Children of the World sessions in 1976, was finally released. It just beat out the Osmonds version recorded under Maurice’s direction not long before but not yet released. In January Andy Gibb and Olivia Newton-John would perform it at the Music for UNICEF show, the first time most people heard it. As a country song it did not fit in with what the Bee Gees were putting on their albums, even though they continued to write the occasional country song, like ‘Where Do I Go’, also left off the forthcoming album.

CD: ‘Too Much Heaven’ on Spirits Having Flown; ‘Rest Your Love on Me’ on Bee Gees Greatest.