Robin Gibb Dies

[K364]

I Started a Joke and now the whole world's crying

[Biggirl]

One to go?

R.I.P. Cancer is a shit.

[Siam Sam]

Ah, Robin. Guess you ain't Stayin' Alive no more.

RIP.

[PapSett]

So sad. The Queen of Disco, and now one of the Kings. :-(

[Llama Llogophile]

Originally Posted by PapSett

So sad. The Queen of Disco, and now one of the Kings. :-(

On the contrary. Donna Summer and one of the Bee Gees in the same week? I'd call it a good start.










I kid, I kid.












I don't really. Disco needs to die.














I kid, I kid. I'm sorry they're gone.... Mostly.

[Morgyn]

They were so much more than just disco, and even the stuff they did that's been labeled "disco" was and is damn good music.

I feel sorry for Barry. It must be terrible being the eldest and now only surviving son.

[Ashley Pomeroy]

It's a shame - they led blameless lives and kicked out some fantastic tunes, even though they always seemed to be an ultra-professional copy of what was going on at the time. They had a pop career before I was even born. Also, I always thought that the great thing about Maurice and Robin was that if people who looked like that could be famous, so could anyone. It's as if they were prototypes for Andy and Barry.

[Cicero]

I am sorry for the way that he went.

Nevertheless, and in response to a comment in the Death Pool I don't believe they were all that nice people. Certainly Colin Petersen had issues.

They grew up in Brisbane where I lived. Many years ago they were interviewing the compere of a show that featured them very early on- I guess they were little more than teenagers then (if that). He said that the other performers were good but they were a handful.

Fair enough, most performing groups have royalty issues with a member and kids can be a pain in the neck. However, they certainly were not saints.

As an aside, it seems that the youngest brother Andy is all but forgotten.

[BrainGlutton]

If he's in Hell, he's having a good time there! Disco Inferno!

(That was by the Trammps, not the Bee Gees, but the song was on the same Saturday Night Fever soundtrack that introduced millions to the Bee Gees, and it's too good not to use. Anyway, the Trammps' lead singer died this year, too.)

[maggenpye]

Your link (Cicero) says that while Petersen had issues with (manager) Stigwood, he remained on good terms with the brothers, even during the court cases.

I remember from my fangirl days (sigh) that they admitted being little brats during their Brisbane days. When they heard they'd been called obnoxious, they thought it was a compliment.

It was their drug use and Maurice's sometimes violent relationship with Lulu (he 'joked' that she could throw a mean right hook straight back at him) that barred them from sainthood for me.

But the music was great. Andy's as well.

[BrainGlutton]

[shrug] Who expects artists to be saints anyway? Some of the greatest in history were right bastards, we can still respect them as artists.

[Cicero]

Maggenpye, you may have missed the final sentence in the entry in Wiki:

"He remained close to Melouney, but became bitter towards his other ex-bandmates about his lost royalties.".

( I remember the movies Petersen was in Smiley and Smiley get your Gun. He always reminded me of an Australian version of Micky Dolenz).

Is it my imagination or is it a really bad year for musicians? I guess many of the initial ones are now at an age where they are vulnerable (except any on my Death Pool list) but the more recent ones who croaked have not been ancient. (well not all of them)

[Cicero]

Originally Posted by BrainGlutton

[shrug] Who expects artists to be saints anyway? Some of the greatest in history were right bastards, we can still respect them as artists.

I never suggested that there were expectations that they were saints. If you read my post I was replying to a specific post saying they seemed nice people.

[not what you'd expect]

RIP Robin.

I sure enjoyed their early music. I can still remember the first time I ever heard I started a joke. I thought it was the most beautiful song I'd ever heard up to that time.

[maggenpye]

Originally Posted by Cicero

Maggenpye, you may have missed the final sentence in the entry in Wiki:

"He remained close to Melouney, but became bitter towards his other ex-bandmates about his lost royalties.".

Correct. Thanks for pointing it out.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Cicero

I never suggested that there were expectations that they were saints. If you read my post I was replying to a specific post saying they seemed nice people.

Charles Dickens was nice people, all around, but by some accounts he treated his wife pretty badly. And Shakespeare abandoned his. Everybody's got somethin' to hide 'cept me and my monkey.

[cochrane]

Oh, shit. Robin now. There had been talk of Barry and he reuniting as the Bee Gees after the passing of their brother, Maurice. Now that's not going to happen.

And yes, I'm a fan of theirs. I was listening to them before Main Course, back when Robin took most of the leads. I remember when they were on the top of the pop charts, and deservedly so. At one point, they had written or performed the top five singles on the Billboard charts, matching a feat achieved only by the Beatles. Their recordings had tight harmonies that really came out in softer numbers like "How Deep is Your Love?" and "Too Much Heaven." They wrote hits for other artists, too, such as Barbra Streisand and Dolly Parton. They were typecast as a disco act, but kept releasing albums throughout the 80s and 90s until their final one, This is Where I Came In.

I mourn Robin's passing. The Bee Gees contributed a lot to music history, and to hell with their detractors.

[Becky2844]

So sorry to lose another voice. We've lost too many recently.

[Rhythmdvl]

Ouch


If people are thinking of a third, consider the loss of Chuck Brown. The WaPost printed an excellent lamentation of him and Donna Summer. It needs to be updated.

If you don't consider him an icon, at least consider him for the 'comes in threes' superstition--save the life of a pop star. Cher thanks you.

[Equipoise]

I hate to seem like an opportunist, but this has always been one of my favorite cover versions. It's a simple live acoustic guitar/minimal percussion cover of "Immortality" that's so lovely and beautiful. People who put down the Bee Gees as being only about disco never heard this.

"Immortality"

RIP Robin.

[elfkin477]

Originally Posted by Cicero

As an aside, it seems that the youngest brother Andy is all but forgotten.

Hmm. I didn't immediately connect this Robin to the Bee Gees. Barry and Andy are the two brothers I've heard referenced by name most often.

[N9IWP]

The local news lady this morning said he was from the "Bee's Gees" - before her time obviously

Brian

[GuanoLad]

Originally Posted by elfkin477

Hmm. I didn't immediately connect this Robin to the Bee Gees. Barry and Andy are the two brothers I've heard referenced by name most often.

Robin and Maurice were twins, though they did not really look alike. Well, they did, but they didn't. And Robin was instrumental to the group, he wrote a lot of the more successful songs, and was often the lead singer on their earlier hits.

Here's a bit of fun to cheer you all up.

[Baron Greenback]

The Gibb brothers' mother is still alive too.

[Kamino Neko]

Originally Posted by elfkin477

Hmm. I didn't immediately connect this Robin to the Bee Gees. Barry and Andy are the two brothers I've heard referenced by name most often.

Andy was never a Bee Gee, by the way...he had a solo career, though, which is probably why you've heard his name more.

Jeez...Barry's the oldest of the Gibb brothers, but he's also the last one alive. (Andy died in the 80s, Maurice about 10 years ago, and now Robin's gone...) That's gotta be hard on him.

[gytalf2000]

Very sad! I loved the Bee Gees. So many great songs! You will be missed, Robin!

[Sister Vigilante]

Originally Posted by GuanoLad

Robin and Maurice were twins, though they did not really look alike. Well, they did, but they didn't. And Robin was instrumental to the group, he wrote a lot of the more successful songs, and was often the lead singer on their earlier hits.

Here's a bit of fun to cheer you all up.

They were fraternal, not identical. They never remotely looked alike. They were one year older than my mother, who was a huge fan, and thankfully still alive (as is her fraternal twin sister, who also looks nothing like her). I grew up with their music and love all of it. He'll be missed. He had the best voice of the three.

[Clothahump]

He died from a fever he caught last Saturday night.

[gytalf2000]

Originally Posted by Baron Greenback

The Gibb brothers' mother is still alive too.

I thought that she was still alive. I can't imagine outliving three of your children.
Like I said before, very sad!

[cochrane]

They also have an older sister, Lesley.

Originally Posted by Tengu

Andy was never a Bee Gee, by the way...he had a solo career, though, which is probably why you've heard his name more.

Just before his death, his brothers officially named him a Bee Gee. It was too late for him to join them on their next album, One, however.

[Kamino Neko]

Huh. I did not know that. Interesting.

[maggenpye]

Originally Posted by GuanoLad

Here's a bit of fun to cheer you all up.

I was thinking of this very clip yesterday. I remember feeling so very guilty while I laughed myself sick. I was a very silly fangirl.

[D-bear]

Originally Posted by Clothahump

He died from a fever he caught last Saturday night.

It's a Tragedy

Kinda surprised no one else considered it so...

[KneadToKnow]

Originally Posted by cochrane

It was too late for him to join them on their next album, One, however.

Prophetic title, that.

[jsgoddess]

I'm a big fan of their music, especially "I've Gotta Get a Message to You" and "To Love Somebody."

And yeah, I like the disco stuff, too. I love dance music.

[Eugene of Sandwich]

Sad. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Bee Gees but I was always a fan. Mid 60s, just a kid, Robin and Maurice were my older brother's age. I was practically the only kid my age that liked them. In other words, I really did like them. All the best to Barry and Mum.

[Stelios]

I feel so sorry for his mother.

[GuanoLad]

Originally Posted by Sister Vigilante

They were fraternal, not identical. They never remotely looked alike.

They did kind of look alike, because all four brothers had strong features that resembled each other's.

[Sister Vigilante]

Yeah, if you compare all the faces, you can see how one feature on one man ties to a brother's feature, which ties to the next, etc. Andy has the best mix of all 4 brothers. But just looking at Maurice and Robin I'd never have guessed. Maurice looks more like Barry.

[Siam Sam]

With Donna Summers and Robin Gibb featuring in the news lately, I wonder if there's going to be some sort of disco revival. I recall the '50s revivial of the 1970s very well. The '60s even had a revival of sorts. Maybe we'll get disco back (which kind of makes me shudder).

[cochrane]

It's been a few days, but this video is a hauntingly appropriate tribute to Robin, as well as to his brothers Maurice and Andy. The Bee Gees had recorded it shortly after Andy's death and Robin sings it solo here.

Wish You Were Here.

[Chicagojeff]

Originally Posted by Siam Sam

With Donna Summers and Robin Gibb featuring in the news lately, I wonder if there's going to be some sort of disco revival. I recall the '50s revivial of the 1970s very well. The '60s even had a revival of sorts. Maybe we'll get disco back (which kind of makes me shudder).

Why is that? People dancing...choruses...good music. "Nights on Broadway" was my fsvorite..

[Siam Sam]

Originally Posted by Chicagojeff

Why is that? People dancing...choruses...good music. "Nights on Broadway" was my fsvorite..

Well, I was never a fan of disco. At the height of the craze, I was a hippie-punk hybrid.

[cochrane]

Originally Posted by GuanoLad

Robin and Maurice were twins, though they did not really look alike. Well, they did, but they didn't. And Robin was instrumental to the group, he wrote a lot of the more successful songs, and was often the lead singer on their earlier hits.

Here's a bit of fun to cheer you all up.

The Bee Gees had a fun-loving side themselves. Here's a video they made for Howard Stern around 1993. Spoilered because it's likely NSFW.

SPOILER:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYq05-RAhyg

[Sycorax]

I love the Bee Gees, and have wondered why disco has been so often maligned on this forum and elsewhere. Who can forget Saturday Night Fever, with such fantastic dancing to the Bee Gees music. I didn't care much for the acting and his relationships with the two girlfriends. I watched it for the music and dancing. For the longest time, I didn't know who the individual brothers were, but took notice when Andy died of a heart problem in the '80's. I feel for Barry -- I hope he can get through this latest loss and continue on in some capacity (musical or otherwise), and live a long and rewarding life.