Why The Bee Gee's Hatred here?

[pepper1dancer]

Why is there some hatred for the Bee Gee's? I really enjoyed their sound in the day. I cant imagine hearing their sound today in some new material, but I really jammed to them back then. Was it because they were too commercial? Can I please get some insight?

[SandraDee]

I feel that many disco fans were suspicious of them because their sound prior to becoming disco/r & b was so different; the change was so sudden & drastic.:icon_eek: Then of course as soon as disco became unfashionable they dropped the sound like a hot potato; of course dozens of other acts did too at the same time but the Bee Gees were so huge & visible so they got more flack than most; their association with SNF did alot of damage; they were seen as turning disco white & straight & boring by the chattering classes! I personally like many of their 'disco' tracks & love the stuff they wrote/produced for other acts like Barbra, Dionne & Diana. Barry & Robin are living legends as much as Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger IMO.

[ol'skinflint]

I feel that many disco fans were suspicious of them because their sound prior to becoming disco/r & b was so different; the change was so sudden & drastic.:icon_eek: Then of course as soon as disco became unfashionable they dropped the sound like a hot potato; of course dozens of other acts did too at the same time but the Bee Gees were so huge & visible so they got more flack than most; their association with SNF did alot of damage; they were seen as turning disco white & straight & boring by the chattering classes! I personally like many of their 'disco' tracks & love the stuff they wrote/produced for other acts like Barbra, Dionne & Diana. Barry & Robin are living legends as much as Paul McCartney or Mick Jagger IMO.

I consider the Bee Gees to be in the same category as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Springsteen, Robbie Robertson, Tom Waits and others. Unbelievably gifted songwriters with voices I prefer to hear only in very limited amounts. And if you've ever heard some of these writer's work interpreted by other artists you know what I mean. Examples: Diana Krall doing Mitchell's "A Case of You", James Taylor doing Mitchell's "River". The Eagles covering Tom Wait's "Ol' 55", Luther Vandross "How Deep is Your Love", Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams doing "Emotion."

[markydefad]

I think the Bee Gees benefitted the most from the disco craze-- they dominated the top of the charts with one DISCO-ORIENTED tune after another in the mid-late 70s; then, when the backlash began-- with the glare of the spotlight on them-- they were deemed the prime culprits. They represented the mainstream pop act that went disco--and drew ridicule, although "Stayin' Alive' is always listed in the great singles lists that rock-oriented Rolling Stone publishes from time to time.

[Nano]

Hey Pepper, I don't hate the Bee Gees... just got soooooo tired of hearing those records! (And the fact that they had so much radio airplay BITD certainly didn't help.) It's like those friends who still listen to Pink Floyd... great band for sure, but don't you have The Wall embedded in your memory by now?

A couple of years ago I made myself two CDs of my favorite BG's tracks, one for the early "ballad" period, the other for the funky stuff. I discovered that from time to time, I can still dig them, specially the second disc.

And THE cover version of these guys' material is, of course, "How can you mend a broken heart" by Mr. Al Green.

[jam master jay]

I don't "hate" the Bee Gees either - but I don't think of them along with a lot of my favorite artists from the disco era. They are more of the public face of disco music, simply because of their involvement with the SNF soundtrack (and perhaps another album or two) - when in fact, they were never a disco act before the movie, and they were quick to distance themselves from disco after the backlash hit. In recent years, they seemed to embrace their music from that era again, but to a lot of casual music fans - they will always be identified with disco music.

I prefer to think of them outside of the disco era, as songwriters and performers they have produced fine music. But, it's not the same for me as listening to the real music that was being played in clubs and discos back then.

[Nano]

...although "Stayin' Alive' is always listed in the great singles lists that rock-oriented Rolling Stone publishes from time to time.

And don't you just SENSE that those guys never listen to disco music when they select that song from the entire BG's catalogue? It's like "let's put some disco hits so we're not discriminating... Jerry! Bring me that Billboard book of lists..." :icon_idea:

[markydefad]

Yep, Nano...the other one always listed is "Good Times" and then maybe "Hot Stuff." Oh and justifiably, "I Feel Love" must get validation now too...since it spawned the trance thang....

[markydefad]

see the next one...

[markydefad]

After disco died...the Bee Gees USA hit-making stopped dead in its tracks too..

from AMG:
"In 1981, the group's new LP, Living Eyes, was recorded after an extended lay-off in the wake of four years of hard work, but didn't even make the Top 40. Suddenly, with the disco era over and out of favor, the Bee Gees couldn't even get arrested and were being shunned for the excesses that it represented. "

However, they did do a couple of dance-oriented tracks, notably:
"He's A Liar" & "The Woman In You"

"Liar" peaked at #30 Pop; "Woman" peaked #24 Pop--but the consecutive #1s were over in the USA, at least. Bee Gees were almost never played on pop radio until "One" was a moderate hit in 1989 (Billboard says it actually got to #7!!)--it seemed to me like KISS in LA played it for about 2 weeks!!!

[Nano]

How good that you mention that album... I loved it! Part of the problem, IMHO, was that the fast tracks like "Liar" were the worst and not representative of the album as a whole. The best songs like "Wildflower", "Paradise" or the title track were ballads or mid-tempo numbers. Plus, of course, they were destined to a huge backlash by then (and the disco sound had changed), but also the album was badly marketed.

For me, with LIVING EYES they were back into classic form after the airplayed-to-death SPIRITS HAVE FLOWN, which seemed for me a little over the top, with all those falsettos...

[Videoskooter]

I never understood why they are so much hated by a lot of Disco-fans and I probably will never understand it! Even their most known hits like "Stayin' Alive", "Night Fever", "How Deep is your love" still have the magic for me. I start movin' when I hear them.

Stuff they wrote for others like Melba Moore's "You've Stepped Into My Life", Teri Desario's "Ain't Nothing Gonna Keep Me From You" still are amongst my faves and when "You Should Be Dancin'" explodes from the speakers, you will not keep me still!

The Bee Gees are unique talents, be it Pop, Soft-Rock, Disco!

I recognize a good groove when I hear 1 and I don't care what others think about it!

[FlyRobinFly]

Night Fever is certainly one of my top 20.

[remicks]

****

may disco live on


forever :








******
next time :

i think she needs a dance partner for this segment

[langlang]

the bee gees and the whole snf lp was fantastic in its time frame,but because of the massive success and just unending airplay, its become tired. it's reached the dreaded status of cliche. cliche disco. whenever someone wants to talk bad about disco, the first thing you hear is a bee gees song,and the travolta hand in the air thing. those songs along with ring my bell and that hammer record-cant touch this- are so worn-out and tired that no self respecting jock would play them for fear of having his gear smashed and burned at the stake! although i must admit i secretly play them at low volume by candlelight in the basement sometimes.

[JussiK]

Amen (only stay out of the cellar). "You Should Be Dancing" worked as pop disco until the SNF phenomenon. After the film, any mention of Bee Gees conjured up a nightmare world of polyester, a place you do not want to go. For many unfortunately, that place is where the discos are, Where The Tacky People Go to dance to Village People and Ring My Bell. Of course we know better and had nothing to do with that kind of disco. Now it's so much better as Wild Cherry puts it, in Europe at least. New generations don't think of Bee Gees when they hear the word disco. They think of cosmic sounds, Prelude, Salsoul. Still, we know the Bee Gees existed and made us look bad in a lot of people's eyes. That's why we learned to hate the Bee Gees. They gave our music a bad name. They were the embarrassing aunts and uncles of the family who did their best to ruin the party. They had an unspeakable dress sense, they were tragic beyond redemption. Later, we got more like them. Mc Hammer like you say. Madonna is another that should have been wheeled out ages ago and have you seen Kanye West lately?! Jesus he was horrible last Sunday night here. A living cliche emerging arms wide open like a messiah thru pyro effects and kneeling in front of the crowd one arm extended. Failing to to rap or to sing, he quickly resorted to autotune.

[Cdnbob]

Was "Ring My Bell" and stuff by the Village People really considered that bad? While I quite like "RMB", I kind of prefer Anita's follow-up "Don't Drop My Love". As for the BeeGees, I think what people got sick of was they were so over-exposed in the late 70s/early 80s, and people got sick of their high, sqeaky voices. While numerous black vocal groups have sung in wonderful falsetto voices, the BeeGees version was atrocious. I'm sorry but three mid-to-late 40s men, singing like a bunch of castrated cats, was just silly and to be honest, after a few minutes of those voices, even I couldn't stand it. It was just waaay too over the top. I mean did their voices never change when they went from puberty to male adults? Sorry, for bashing them but while there are some of their songs I like, I often prefer them done by other singers (e.g. How Do You Mend A Broken Heart by Steve Brookstein is one of the best versions of that song).

[JussiK]

Was "Ring My Bell" and stuff by the Village People really considered that bad? .

Ring My Bell was amiable enough disposable pop when it came out. We all thought it was catchy and fun for a few dances and that it would be over and done with within a few months max. Did not turn out to be so. Many people seem to love it and it's often cited as being a classic and a prime example of disco music. Just like Abba's Dancing Queen. There probably are disco retirement homes in Miami, with oldtimers twitching in wheelchairs to those and I Will Survive. If someone knows such a place where they play space disco and Disco Piper by Orient Express let me know. Years fly by! - The VPs first album was considered disco dynamite when new, and remains a far more credible affair than mass market pop stuff that followed.

[jj6ms]

the Bee Gees were fantastic song writers, and played a very interesting part in the disco era. Check out this Bee Gees mix if you're a doubter :-)

http://www.sixmillionsteps.com/drupal/node/951

JJ

[JussiK]

Candi Staton - Nights On Broadway
Rufus & Chaka Khan - Jive Talkin'
Melba Moore - You Stepped Into My Life

When some Bee Gees tracks like those above are performed by people like Candi Staton they do become something else don't they? Whatever Candi sings sounds good. Same goes for Chaka&Rufus and Melba of course. But when people like Samantha Sang sing Bee Gees tunes, they resume their original form - think having pink, artifical strawberry flavoured marshmallow fluff forcefully shoved down your face. Still, I can see the attraction of the whining, tinny and strange voice, in another context. A lisping euro nymphette unable to sing two notes often does sound fascinating. The b-movie starlet is doing disco, pouting and posing nearly nude, trying in vain to be heard over cheap, madly percolating synths recorded way too loud. I love all that, and in many cases, these mainly Italian-made non-hit records in question are actually quite well made in their own, crazy way. Vince Tempera can do no wrong. Check Celso Valli's demented "Disco Panther" as delivered by transexual porn star/still active tv personality Cassandra aka Eva Robins aka Roberto Coatti. How can you defend that? Yet, it's a brilliant track. Or so people like me claim. We think bizarre technical imperfections heighten the impact and create something unpredictable we can't do without.

Appreciating Bee Gees comes probably down to cultural differences regarding the way individuals look at design, fashion and audiovisual presentation in general. The timeless, glitzy, technically polished and clean Americana look and sound the band excels is seen by many as genuinely something to appreciate and cultivate. Others shudder at the thought.

[boogienights]

I like the Bee Gees. Only the snobbiest of disco fans could refuse to move their feet to "You Should Be Dancing". And I love the dreamy sound of "Night Fever", more than Carol Douglas's and I also prefer their version of "More Than A Woman" more than the Tavares. "Stayin' Alive" I am a little tired of. Why does commercial have to equal uncool?

[SandraDee]

As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. When people hear YMCA, Ring My Bell & Staying Alive several thousand times & see their maiden aunts dancing to it at weddings etc they are bound to go off music no matter how good it may be. I remember being in a gay bar which was playing those stereotypical tracks like It's Raining Men, I Am What I Am & I Will Survive & some bitter/jaded young queen proclaimed loudly that he was sick of all this queeny music, & I agreed with him to an extent but really these are great songs & they end up hated mainly due to over-familiarity.

[remicks]

As the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. When people hear YMCA, Ring My Bell & Staying Alive several thousand times & see their maiden aunts dancing to it at weddings etc they are bound to go off music no matter how good it may be. I remember being in a gay bar which was playing those stereotypical tracks like It's Raining Men, I Am What I Am & I Will Survive & some bitter/jaded young queen proclaimed loudly that he was sick of all this queeny music, & I agreed with him to an extent but really these are great songs & they end up hated mainly due to over-familiarity.

Its true . I don't really feel a need to hear IT'S RAINING MEN ever again. I've heard it inside out and upside down and it has long since served its purpose (for me).

And I'm careful not to let that happen to other songs by over playing them ... especially the ones I hold dearest.

I've mentioned before my dismay at hearing ABBA's LAY ALL YOUR LOVE ON ME at a wine gathering lawn party simply because that song was on the GREATEST HITS CD they happened to be playing . I really resented it ... that ABBA song is too special to be so casually included amongst their familiar fare, and it was glaringly out of place in that situation Its an underground song, embraced at the time only by those under special circumstances . In the US , LAYLOM was never pressed on a 7" single, never promoted for radio play , never made available for the regular folk at large except to those ABBA fans that bought the album .

For me particularly, it conjures up a special time of being madly in love and sharing / feeling that song eye to eye while on the floor of The Troc . In our own little world if you will within that song on that crowed dance floor. .

So I don't want to hear it so far out of context , in ordinary settings while amongst every common Tom Dick and Very Hairy. I only want to hear it on my terms ... (if possible) to preserve its meaning .

To avoid " the familiarity breeds contempt" trap toward certain songs , the special ones .... I intentionally monitor how often I listen to them .

And I really get no thrill when having WE ARE FAMILY thrust on me ( and the thirty somethings on their way home from the gym) while choosing bread at Trader Joe's.
I don't want that day to come where I scream , "I CAN'T HEAR THAT SONG ONE MORE TIME !"

****

[SandraDee]

I intentionally monitor how often I listen to them .

I do the same! You CAN get too much of a good thing. I find music is like food or films or anything else - if you just enjoy the stuff you like now & again you really do appreciate it so much more.

[drlove]

When the disco backlash hit mid-1979 forward, they were easy targets as the most successful music group out there at the time. Hell, even the Bee Gees themselves recognized this fact ...I think it was Robin who was quoted years later as saying he'd like to take the "Stayin' Alive" 45rpm, dress it up in gold chains and light it on fire. Thankfully, in time, their artistry (especially their songwriting skills) stood the test of time, and allowed them comebacks in 1987 throughout Europe ("You Win Again") and in '89 in the U.S. ("One"), and even a further comeback in 1997 (with "Alone"). Global Superstars since 1967, their overall impact can be regarded as being a VERY talented trio of singers, songwriters, producers and arrangers who happened to have a series of disco hits at one stretch (1975-79) in their long, storied career. They'll always remain favorites of mine.