I Started a Joke and now the whole world’s crying
One to go?
R.I.P. Cancer is a shit.
Ah, Robin. Guess you ain’t Stayin’ Alive no more.
RIP. 
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.)
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.
[shrug] Who expects artists to be saints anyway? Some of the greatest in history were right bastards, we can still respect them as artists.
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)
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.
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.
:smack: Correct. Thanks for pointing it out.
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.
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.
So sorry to lose another voice. We’ve lost too many recently.
Ouch 
If people are thinking of a third, consider the loss of Chuck Brown. The WaPostprinted 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.
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.
RIP Robin.