Too much heaven...

Bee Gees is an Australian-English group, made up of the 3 Gibb brothers - Barry, Robin, Maurice - and who have sold no less than 220 million records to date around the world.

What will turn out to be a great story starts off rather badly in the late 1950s, with somewhat unruly siblings as children, forcing the family to leave England to settle in Australia. On the spot, concerning their future, the choice is simple for the siblings : it will be thugs or musicians !

Having wisely opted for the 2nd option, we see them first appearing in a group called "The Rattlesnakes", then in another called "Wee Wish Johnnie and the Bluecats". And it is in 1962 that they will take the name "The Bee Gees", the capital 'B' and 'G' could allude to the name of their mother (Barbara Gibb), to their siblings (Brothers Gibb - "Brothers Gibb”) in particular…

It was in 1967 that their fate was to change for the long haul when the album "Bee Gees’ 1St" was released, an album which enjoyed great esteem.

But it was the album "Horizontal", released the same year, that gave them their first and - huge - hit with the track "Massachusetts". Single flagship which is a hit around the world and explodes their notoriety.

Another colossal hit in 1968 with "I started a joke", from the album "Idea" which does almost as well as "Massachusetts".

Faced with this dazzling starization and because he considers himself underemployed, Robin decides to leave the group. A parenthesis that will last until 1970, when the group reformed by force of circumstances.

At the end of 1972, "The Bee Gees" becomes "Bee Gees". A name change that did not prevent the group from going through a first hole until the mid-1970s.

It was not until 1975 and the album "Main course" to see them come back - in the race - notably thanks to the flagship Single "Jive talkin". Single announcer, sound side, of the wave that will follow.

A surge that arrives a year later in 1976 with the enormous "You should be dancing", which can be considered to this day as one of the founding songs of the Disco movement. A major musical movement that will reign supreme on the planet for the next four years.

The supreme dedication came a year later in 1977 when the band was asked to record 4 songs for the soundtrack of a film in production, a certain… Saturday Night Fever. In the end, 7 songs are provided. The soundtrack will sell more than 40 million copies ! It’s a planetary tidal wave, the 3 Gibb brothers are becoming the most adulated stars of the moment.

"How deep is your love", "Stayin 'alive" and "Night fever" are a real hit, especially the last two which literally ignite every dance floor on the planet.

New album in 1979 with "Spirits having flown" which remains to this day their biggest commercial success in terms of personal album. In particular thanks to flagship titles such as the magnificent "Too much heaven" and the enormous "Tragedy". And to a lesser extent “Love you inside out”.

By adding these three titles to the previous ones, the Gibb brothers will have achieved the feat of being No.1 on the Charts 6 times consecutively (only Whitney Houston will do better) !

Beginning of the Eighties, parenthesis for the brothers who start to write for the others, in particular for Barbra Streisand. Fruitful collaboration that produced one of the most beautiful romantic ballads of the decade, namely "Woman in love".

In 1981, second air hole with their album "Living eyes", with average success and which will produce 2 minor hits which are "He’s a liar" and "Living eyes".

Back in force in 1982 with the Single "Heartbraker", written especially for Dionne Warwick and which made a real worldwide success.

For the next four years, no album in common, the 3 brothers go on separate tracks and produce solo. Without much success. We had to wait until 1985 to see them again in the spotlight with the album they composed for Diana Ross, which produced a new mega hit with "Chain Reaction".

The trio returned to center stage in 1987 with the album "E.S.P.", album carried in particular by the flagship title "You win again". Title which ranks N°1 across the Channel and which allows them to be the 1st group to have had a title classified N°1 over 3 distinct decades (60, 70 and 80) ! Paradoxical as it may seem, in the USA, the album is a semi-failure.

New album "One" in 1989, whose Single of the same name will perform well in the Charts. Followed in 1991 by the album "High civilization" which produced only the hit "Secret love".

The 90s will be harder to negotiate for the trio, except in 1997 which saw the release of the album "Still waters", an album crowned with a success that exceeded expectations and offered them their best score in terms of sales since 1979. Album driven mainly by the huge hit "Alone".

These will be their last major successes and the 2000s will see two of the brothers disappear. First Maurice in 2003, then Robin in 2012. Joining their brother Andy, who died prematurely in 1988 at the age of 30.

The Gibb brothers will always have a special place in the musical history of the 80s, a place of honor, among the best. Incredibly talented, both for themselves and for others, they will have written an impressive number of hits. Hits that every Saturday night continue to ignite many Dancefloors all over the planet.

To discover or rediscover...

Discography (among others ...) :

60s Decade :

The battle of the blue and the gray 1963
Turn around, look at me 1964
Wine and woman 1965
New York mining disaster 1941 1967
To love somebody 1967
Massachussets 1967
World 1967
Words 1968
Jumbo 1968
I've gotta get a message to you 1968
I started a joke 1968
First of May 1969
Tomorrow tomorrow 1969
Don't forget to remember 1969

70s Decade :

I.O.I.O 1970
Lonely days 1970
How can you mend a broken heart 1971
My world 1972
Run to me 1972
Alive 1972
Mr natural 1974
Jive talking 1975
Nights on Broadway 1975
Fanny (Be tender with my love) 1976
You should be dancing 1976
Love so right 1976
How deep is your love 1977
More than a woman 1977
Staying alive 1977
Night fever 1978
Too much heaven 1978
Tragedy 1979
Love you inside out 1979
Spirits (Having flow) 1979

80s Decade :

He’s a liar 1981
Living eyes 1981
The woman in you 1983
You win again 1987
E.S.P. 1987
Ordinary lives 1989
One 1989

90s Decade :

Secret love 1991
Paying the price of love 1993
For whom the bell tolls 1993
Alone 1997
Still waters run deep 1997
Immortality 1998

2000s Decade :

This is where I came in 2001
Sacred trust 2001
Deja vu 2001
Walking on air 2001
Loose talk costs lives 2001
Just in case 2001

Tracks :

1963 ... take a good look at these incredible images ! No, no, you're not dreaming, those who will become one of the major groups of the twentieth century make their debut on this country hit ... Impossible to imagine at this time the incredible fate that awaits them !

1964 ... finished the Country, we find them a year later in Intimist mode. And it is obvious that they are particularly gifted in this area ...

1965 ... their success is limited for the moment to Australia but it will not last very long ...

1967 ... and here it is, the 1st global top hit. The Bee Gees style, so typical, is asserting itself more and more, it's obvious ...

1967 ... the year of the revelation and the explosion of notoriety. They follow directly on a new mega planetary hit. The tube machine will now run at full speed ...

1967 ... their 1st Masterpiece. It is THIS title that propels them for good to the front of the stage and makes them indisputable and undisputed stars of the time

1967 ... 4th mega hit of the year. A decidedly exceptional year in 1967 which confirms an increasingly exceptional talent !

1968 ... will 1968 live up to the previous one, good question ... And the answer is : all the same. It is enormous !

1968 ... the band is best known for their incredible 70s period. But who really knew the amazing things they accomplished in the previous decade...?

1968 ... will this track be the mega hit of the year...? May be yes, May be not...to be continued !

1968 ... and no, despite the obvious quality of the previous track, it is THIS title, their 2nd Masterpiece, which will shatter everything. By itself reinforcing the legend that they are writing title after title ...

1969 ... any shortness of breath at the end of the 1960s...? Oh no, on the contrary. It's in full form, once again, on an Intimist high class track

1969 ... a title that will surely not remain as their most inspired but whatever happens, the dynamic that drives them is such that each title turns into gold ...

1969 ... a decade of 60 which ends in apotheosis with a new sumptuous title, all on absolutely hallucinating and so kitsch images !

1970 ... after a decade of the 60s which put them in orbit, we find them at the beginning of the 70s in shifted mode, on a somewhat tribal-inspired title. Astonishing ...

1970 ... a year that is decidedly unlike the others. Intimist mixed with Beatles-style sound. Hmm, hmm, we get lost ... And yet, it's still a hit !

1971 ... the group finally finds the foundations that have made its success until then. On an absolutely sumptuous ballad. Phew, we were scared ...

1972 ... again the Intimist of very high caliber and which once again shows all the talent of the Gibb brothers in this field

1972 ... a year definitely placed under the sign of romance. And each time, the perfect mix of the voices of the 3 brothers truly works wonders !

1972 ... the least "prestigious" of the 3 hits of the year. We will largely be satisfied ...

1974 ... slight air gap for the years 1973 and 1974. The group is clearly lacking inspiration and the titles released are struggling to find their audience. A lack of inspiration that won't last long. Because the rest will be literally incredible ...

1975 ... then, suddenly, the tempo suddenly accelerates. While the group had mainly built its legend on exceptional ballads, now is the time for Dance. And for a first try, it's a master stroke. And that's only the beginning !

1975 ... a second title Break-in dance. Admittedly, it will not have the same level of success as its predecessor but the dynamic is indeed launched and that is the main thing

1976 ... the 'Bee Gees' style which will be all the rage in the years which will follow is now perfected. All that remains is to unroll !

1976 ... there are the Bee Gees before this title and after this title. 2 worlds, 2 eras, 2 radically opposed styles that will have contributed to making this group one of the most famous groups of all time

1976 ... of course, they will become the indisputable and undisputed Masters of the Disco. This will not prevent them from retaining their unique talent on the ballad side. An extraordinary versatility and extremely rare at this level of excellence !

1977 ... here they sign one of the greatest Ultimate Slows of all time, just that. A marvel of inspiration which will have marked an incredible number of generations and which remains to this day one of the most beautiful Intimist gems of the decade and of the twentieth period

1977 ... an exceptional year 1977 for the group with an incredible succession of anthology titles thanks to the soundtrack of a film which will become cult, a certain "Saturday night fever" ...

1977 ... the Mona Lisa of Disco. A AMAZING title, a monument of Dance from all eras and which continues to delight all DJs on the planet today. MAS-TER-PIE-CE !

1978 ... and what about that one ! A 2nd dance title absolutely exceptional and which in turn ignites all Dancefloors on the planet. 2 titles that follow each other at an almost equivalent level of success. An extremely rare feat of which few groups can boast !

1978 ... it's an uninterrupted succession of mega hits hits Dance but also sublime Ultimate Slow. The proof with this new title which has nothing to envy to "How deep is your love", yet Masterpiece of Masterpieces in the matter. They will have signed 2 of the biggest Ultimate Slows of all time, just that !

1979 ... the last of the planetary mega hits. Something indefinable and inexplicable is going to happen from this title. The group will remain at the top for several more years but will never regain its level of excellence of previous years. It was obvious that it couldn't go on forever. All the greatest fell one day or another ...

1979 ... a decade of the 70s which ended smoothly with this title which recorded still impressive sales scores but which had nothing to do with the previous levels

1979 ... the last title in an incredible decade that saw the group reach heights that few other groups before them had been able to reach. What an incredible destiny for these brothers who had the brilliant idea to engage in music rather than in banditry !

1981 ... the group begins its 3rd decade once again at the top, a feat that few groups can boast. Unfortunately, this decade will rhyme with slow, but irremediable deceleration in terms of success ...

1981 ... the sales scores are still impressive but in constant decline year after year. The slow disaffection for the group is obvious. Fashions change, inevitably ...

1983 ... slight air gap in 1982. One of the first times the band did not release any Single. We therefore find them the following year but the results hardly match their talent

1987 ... so there it is downright a 3-year break that the group performs. On the other hand, this time, we find them in great shape, which allows them to sign their best Single of the decade...

1987 ... their best year of the decade with a second title that once again holds up. But the unmistakable style that made their success is now part of ancient history and the band is obviously struggling to find a new one

1989 ... the year 1988 will be a new year 'without' despite the release of 2 Singles. Fortunately, the last year of the 1980s will allow them to save the furniture, especially thanks to this title a little more inspired than the previous ones

1989 ... a year that saw them bounce back in an amazing way. Of course, we are far from the total hold they had over the musical world 10 years earlier. But they are still there and still manage to surprise us !

1991 ... they will have crossed the decade 60, then 70, then 80 and here they are, still standing, in this decade 90. And my faith, one would have thought that their has been side was really going to make them sink for good. Oh no !

1993 ... another 2-year break before this comeback which allowed them to once again find success. Never finished the little guys !

1993 ... a comeback that is confirmed with a second title of a very high level. 30 years after their debut, still as effective !

1997 ... after 2 new years with an obvious lack of inspiration, we find them at the top of their possibilities. This allows them to sign their biggest hit of the decade here. Respect !

1997 ... 1997 will remain as a Grand Cru for the group with this new title which confirms that we must always count on them. It just goes to show that talent does not deteriorate over time ...

1998 ... when the Diva meets the 3 Fantastic, inevitably, something exceptional happens. They sign here their last notorious success. After 35 years of an absolutely exceptional career which has left in history an incredible number of pieces of anthology...

2001...the adventure will continue a little longer with this latest album. A new opus far, very far from anything they have previously presented but with more than certain quality...

2001...a new opus which will in any case greatly delight the basic fans who exult as soon as the group produces new titles...

2001...quality, quantity, everything is there in this new album to please everyone. At least they will have tried to show another side of them...

2001...we would have liked the adventure to continue a little longer but the group reached the end of what he had to offer. Honestly a shame...

2001...we will therefore appreciate to the maximum these latest titles from an exceptional group in every way. Hats off, gentlemen !

2001...this time, it is indeed the end. But what an incredible adventure and what a hell of a trio ! A unique model that will be very difficult to match...