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Gibb Songs version 2 by Joseph Brennan, copyright 2006—2013

1993

The Bee Gees recorded and released the album Size Isn’t Everything. Songwriting and possibly recording had started in 1992.

The Bee Gees now had a new recording deal with their old label Polydor.

songs

HAUNTED HOUSE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1993

HEART LIKE MINE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1993

ANYTHING FOR YOU
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1993

BLUE ISLAND
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1993

ABOVE AND BEYOND
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
album cut by Bee Gees, 1993

MY DESTINY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
B side by Bee Gees, August 1993

855-7019
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
B side by Bee Gees, April 1994

PERSONAL
probably Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
unreleased

SILENT SCREAM
probably Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
unreleased

The remaining songs for Size Isn’t Everything, and two other titles. ‘Personal’ and ‘Silent Scream’ were mentioned, but they might be alternate titles for other songs. ‘Silent Scream’ may be ‘Haunted House’.

recording sessions

Bee Gees

Barry Gibb — vocal, guitar
Robin Gibb — vocal
Maurice Gibb — vocal, keyboards, synthesizer, guitar
Tim Moore — keyboards, synthesizer, programming
Alan Kendall — guitar
Tim Cansfield — guitar
George Perry — bass
Trevor Murrell — drums
Luis Jardim — percussion
Ed Calle — sax
Produced — by Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, with Femi Jiya

The Bee Gees album Size Isn’t Everything. Recording dates are unknown, except that one group of songs was apparently started in 1992. The rest of the songs could be later in 1992 or the first half of 1993.

Size Isn’t Everything was the last Bee Gees album that sounded like three writers and performers working together. The vocals are a real treat, showing off their solo and harmony sound, as if they were proclaiming what made the Bee Gees so unique. The solo vocals are a fine balance of Barry and Robin and even two songs featuring Maurice. Many long-time fans consider Size Isn’t Everything a real return to form and one of the Bee Gees’ best ever albums.

Thematically some of the songs continue ideas from the High Civilisation song cycle, but there is no overall theme. Like classic Bee Gees albums this one is a collection of various songs.

PAYING THE PRICE OF LOVE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1992)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 4:12, lead vocal Barry Gibb
A side, August 1993; Size Isn’t Everything, 1993
stereo (Ocean Drive mix), lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, 1993
stereo (KC mix), lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, 1993
stereo (Jellybean mix number 1), lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, 1993
stereo (Jellybean mix number 1 edit), lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, 1993
stereo (Jellybean mix number 1 dub), lead vocal Barry Gibb
promo, 1993
stereo (Jellybean mix number 1 dub vibe), lead vocal Barry Gibb
promo, 1993
stereo (A/C mix), lead vocal Barry Gibb
promo, 1993
stereo (radio edit), lead vocal Barry Gibb
promo, 1993

The lead single ‘Paying the Price of Love’ had the usual incredible number of alternate ‘mixes’ considered necessary. It was the only song with a prominent Barry falsetto vocal and a dance beat. Maybe this was what the public expected of the Bee Gees but the album was much more varied. The beat is a hip hop groove, before that was commonly heard on top forty radio, showing the Bee Gees’s awareness of current sounds. Barry sings about the agony of being uncertain about love, not the certainty of the character in High Civilisation.

KISS OF LIFE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1992)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 4:14, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993

‘Kiss of Life’, a possible second single (released in some markets), was an energetic rock/dance hybrid with an impressively complex vocal line involving distinctive Robin and Barry solo vocals as well as group vocals. Robin sings some characteristically odd lyrics making it hard to say exactly what the song is about, but it has a great feel to it. The kiss of life is that essential touch that one needs.

HOW TO FALL IN LOVE, PART 1
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1992)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 5:59, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993; A side, April 1994

Another possible single ‘How to Fall in Love’ was a good ballad sung by Barry rolling into a long repeating ending where the vocal is like the rhythm section to the instrumental parts. No other ‘part’ ever appeared. This song continues on the fantasy in High Civilisation even more explicitly of an older man and a much younger woman.

OMEGA MAN
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1992)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 3:59, lead vocal Maurice Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993

Maurice said later that he decided to finish up ‘Omega Man’ after Barry had set it aside. The lyrics are not well developed. The song does show off Maurice’s voice to good advantage and without the growling he often affected.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1992)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 5:06, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993; A side, November 1993

The second single ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ was a beautiful mixture of the classic and modern Bee Gees sound. Formally it is similar to ‘The Only Love’ but with Robin singing the big chorus that is so much in his style and Barry singing the more twisting verse melody that is so much in his. They sound great. The interplay of Barry and Robin, and Maurice doing harmony, was very reminiscent of their old records, but the song is more sophisticated and the sound more contemporary. ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ sums up what Size Isn’t Everything was all about.

FALLEN ANGEL
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1992)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 4:30, lead vocal Robin Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993; B side, April 1994

‘Fallen Angel’ is the modern Robin sound, his vocals floating over electronic percussion and synthesizer. The lyrics are outstanding, contrasting the parents’ love and hope with their daughter’s desperate search for love somewhere else, sung not to the pathetic tune of strings but to a pounding maddening beat that echoes the confusion in her head.

This was the end of the songs known to have been written in 1992. The remainder might be 1992 or 1993.

HAUNTED HOUSE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1993)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 5:44, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993

Barry and Robin sing together for most of ‘Haunted House’, an excellent song about the remains of a relationship.

HEART LIKE MINE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1993)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 4:41, lead vocal Robin Gibb, Barry Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993

Robin said that ‘Heart Like Mine’ was inspired by Enya’s moody songs, and he gets some of the slow dreamy feel of her music.

ANYTHING FOR YOU
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1993)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 4:36, lead vocal Barry Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993

‘Anything for You’ was the lightweight song of the album.

BLUE ISLAND
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1993)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 3:15, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993

‘Dedicated to the children of the former Yugoslavia’, says the lyric sheet. A real change of pace, ‘Blue Island’ has Barry and Robin singing as one voice with some harmony by Maurice, accompanied mainly by just the simple sound of Barry and Maurice playing rhythm guitar.

ABOVE AND BEYOND
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1993)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 4:27, lead vocal Maurice Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993

The second featured vocal by Maurice, ‘Above and Beyond’ is a good upbeat number with Barry adding prominent backing vocal. Maurice’s old optimism was back.

MY DESTINY
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1993)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 3:37, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
B side, August 1993

855-7019
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1993)
undated 1992 or 1993
stereo 6:26, lead vocal Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb
B side, April 1994

The two non-album B sides were excellent songs that many fans thought worthy of the album (the weak ‘Anything for You’ was the usual target to be dropped). ‘My Destiny’ has a great rocking guitar riff by Alan Kendall and classic 1970s Bee Gees harmonies on the chorus. Even better was ‘855-7019’, a laid-back ballad sung alternately by Barry and Robin in top form and with a lazy instrumental ending.

DECADANCE
Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb (1976)
1976, undated 1993
stereo (first unnamed mix), lead vocal Barry Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993
stereo (second unnamed mix), lead vocal Barry Gibb
Size Isn’t Everything, 1993
stereo (Classic house mix) 9:30, lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, November 1993
stereo (Classic house mix (edit)) 8:42, lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, June 1997
stereo (club mix), lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, November 1993
stereo (vocal mix), lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side, November 1993
stereo (deep dub mix), lead vocal Barry Gibb
B side (promo), 1993

‘Decadance’ is not really a new recording, but just the 1976 recording ‘You Should Be Dancing’ edited and remixed into many new versions. One or two versions of it were ‘hidden tracks’ at the end of Size Isn’t Everything in some countries (not the US).

selected record releases

NOTE— From this year onward CD singles are shown as singles. The songs are shown as A for the plug song (track 1) and as numbers 2 and up for additional songs on the single, all still referred to in the business (and here) as B sides.

Barry on rhythm guitar and backing vocal. This was Lulu’s first album in nine years, and its title song ‘Independence’ became her first top ten hit in Britain since 1974. She had kept busy as an actress in television and movies.

The lead single off Size Isn’t Everything. In the US it came with two alternate mixes of the title song and a version of ‘Decadance’, which is a radical remix of ‘You Should Be Dancing’ from 1976. Fans in the UK were usually offered two versions of each CD single. One of these had two alternate mixes of the title and a new song released only as this B side, ‘My Destiny’. The other came with three old songs.

‘Paying the Price of Love’ reached number 23 in Britain and 32 in Germany, but as usual it did not make the top forty in America.

Polydor manufactured Kelli Wolfe’s CD single, sent out promo copies, and sent some copies to distributors, before release was cancelled. On the continent a few copies reached stores. Even though the single was not released there are some genuine copies of it available on the collectors’ market.

The single had two mixes of ‘Eyes’, neither the same as that used on the Bunbury Tails in 1992. One is a shorter edit and the other is a remix. The other song ‘Born to Be Loved by You’ was not otherwise released.

This single had the same two versions of ‘Let Me Wake Up in Your Arms’ as the Independence album.

Size Isn’t Everything reached number 23 in Britain and number 12 in Germany, but did not make the top 100 in America. Sales in Britain were boosted by the hit single ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’.

Copies outside North America included track 12, ‘Decadance’ (the 1976 recording of ‘You Should Be Dancing’ with new material mixed in). In some German copies track 12 included a second version of ‘Decadance’ that followed the first version after two minutes of silence.

The second single was the big hit, reaching number 4 in Britain and looking for a time as if it might hit the top spot. For once a Bee Gees hit in Britain missed in Germany, reaching only number 52.

One of the two British singles had ‘Decadance’, and the other once again had three old songs.

This popular Brazilian duo recorded the same album in the Portuguese and Spanish languages. They performed in a Brazilian style called music sertaneja based on traditional music of the countryside but popular in urban areas. Chitãozinho e Xororó were one of the founders of the style, which was usually performed by a pair of musicians. For their version of ‘Words’ Barry sang part lead vocal (in English) and all three brothers on backing vocals.

This collection included rarities ‘Cowman Milk Your Cow’ and ‘Secrets’ and three other songs not released by the Bee Gees. The rest are cover versions of more or less interest.

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