Bee Gees: In Our Own Time

0:00:02 > 0:00:04- You all sing together, eh? - That's right.- Come on up here.

0:00:04 > 0:00:08- We just wanted to get up and play. - Yeah. We just wanted to have fun.

0:00:08 > 0:00:13# Wine and women and song will only make me sad... #

0:00:13 > 0:00:17We were on an adventure together. We were loving everything we were doing.

0:00:17 > 0:00:19We were just hoping that we could get more recognition,

0:00:19 > 0:00:23but it wasn't till the Beatles came along that we realised how much we wanted it.

0:00:24 > 0:00:28- COMMENTATOR:- The Bee Gees. The most exciting sound in the world.

0:00:31 > 0:00:35# Have you seen my wife, Mr Jones?

0:00:36 > 0:00:40# Do you know what it's like on the outside? #

0:00:44 > 0:00:47Massachusetts, from the Bee Gees.

0:00:47 > 0:00:49CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:00:49 > 0:00:52I remember doing Top Of The Pops for the first time.

0:00:52 > 0:00:55That was a great dream because that's the show to do. You're made if you do it.

0:00:55 > 0:01:01# Feel I'm going back to Massachusetts... #

0:01:03 > 0:01:06Robin, we've heard rumours the group is splitting up. Would you verify that?

0:01:06 > 0:01:10If I was to say that was true then I would be the Premier of Russia.

0:01:10 > 0:01:14Our career was in the valley. No record company wanted us. Management didn't want us. Nothing.

0:01:14 > 0:01:19I just remember going in the car and hearing this "ch-ch-ch, ch-ch-ch,"

0:01:19 > 0:01:21every time we crossed this bridge.

0:01:21 > 0:01:23# J-j-j-jive talkin'

0:01:23 > 0:01:25# You're telling me lies... #

0:01:25 > 0:01:32Disco is a bad word if you're not the group

0:01:32 > 0:01:35that disco is built around.

0:01:35 > 0:01:38And we're the group that disco was built around.

0:01:38 > 0:01:41# Controlling my mind and my soul

0:01:42 > 0:01:44# Reach out for me, yeah

0:01:44 > 0:01:46# And the feeling is right

0:01:46 > 0:01:50# The night fever Night fever

0:01:50 > 0:01:53# We know how to do it... #

0:01:54 > 0:01:55BANG!

0:01:57 > 0:02:00# When the feeling's gone and you can't go on, it's tragedy

0:02:00 > 0:02:03# When the morning cries and you don't know why

0:02:03 > 0:02:04# It's hard to bear... #

0:02:04 > 0:02:07- 'We loved music so much.- Yes.'

0:02:07 > 0:02:09And it's so ingrained in our souls

0:02:09 > 0:02:13that we don't know how to move away from it.

0:02:13 > 0:02:15We welcome back the Bee Gees.

0:02:15 > 0:02:17CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:02:24 > 0:02:25# I couldn't figure why

0:02:25 > 0:02:29# You couldn't give me what everybody needs... #

0:02:29 > 0:02:33We are in fact the enigma with the stigma. We know this.

0:02:33 > 0:02:37We're aware of it. We hear it every day. We live with it.

0:02:37 > 0:02:38We've suffered.

0:02:38 > 0:02:41But tonight, I think we've come home.

0:02:41 > 0:02:43# I'm surprised you

0:02:43 > 0:02:47# Let me stay around you

0:02:47 > 0:02:49# One day I'm gonna lift the cover

0:02:49 > 0:02:51# And look inside your heart... #

0:02:51 > 0:02:53# Well, it's a-one for the money

0:02:53 > 0:02:55# Two for the show

0:02:55 > 0:02:58# Three to get ready Now go, cat, go

0:02:58 > 0:03:00# But don't you

0:03:00 > 0:03:03# Step on my blue suede shoes

0:03:03 > 0:03:06# You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes... #

0:03:06 > 0:03:10I just think we were intentionally affected by the beginning of rock 'n' roll,

0:03:10 > 0:03:12by Elvis Presley and Lonnie Donegan

0:03:12 > 0:03:14and Tommy Steele and the Don Lang Five.

0:03:14 > 0:03:17When I really felt the love, the real love of it

0:03:17 > 0:03:20is when I heard Wake Up Little Susie by the Everly Brothers...

0:03:23 > 0:03:24# Wake up, little Susie

0:03:24 > 0:03:26# Wake up... #

0:03:27 > 0:03:30..and I kept on playing it over and over again

0:03:30 > 0:03:32and I kept on hearing these harmonies.

0:03:32 > 0:03:36So when they were singing songs, or we heard any Everly Brothers songs, the three of us,

0:03:36 > 0:03:38we'd just add a third harmony, so it'd be three-part.

0:03:38 > 0:03:41# The movie's over It's four o'clock

0:03:41 > 0:03:43# And we're in trouble deep

0:03:43 > 0:03:45# Wake up, little Susie

0:03:45 > 0:03:47# Wake up, little Susie... #

0:03:47 > 0:03:51So we perfected it from listening to those guys and Neil Sedaka,

0:03:51 > 0:03:55where he'd actually tripled with himself, so it was these three-part harmony songs.

0:03:55 > 0:03:57Anything like that, we could sing them.

0:03:57 > 0:04:01- We just wanted to get up and play. - Yeah, we just wanted to have fun.

0:04:01 > 0:04:03In that degree it was a hobby.

0:04:03 > 0:04:07When did you first get together and discover you could harmonise?

0:04:07 > 0:04:10The first time I remember, Robin and I were about six and Barry was nine

0:04:10 > 0:04:15and we sat in the lounge room and Barry got his first guitar

0:04:15 > 0:04:18for his birthday and the first thing we sang was Lollipop.

0:04:18 > 0:04:20Which is... The Mudlarks sort of thing.

0:04:20 > 0:04:23It was the only one... We just automatically harmonised.

0:04:23 > 0:04:26Don't ask me where we got the Lollipop from,

0:04:26 > 0:04:28but it was the only on that had the harmonising in each step.

0:04:28 > 0:04:30Can you remember it?

0:04:30 > 0:04:31MUTTERING

0:04:31 > 0:04:34# Lollipop, lollipop Ooh, lolly, lolly, lolly

0:04:34 > 0:04:38# Lollipop, lollipop Ooh, lolly, lolly, lolly

0:04:38 > 0:04:41# Lollipop, lollipop Ooh, lolly, lolly, lolly

0:04:41 > 0:04:43# Lollipop, my lollipop. #

0:04:43 > 0:04:45APPLAUSE

0:04:45 > 0:04:47We would just sing songs like Lollipop.

0:04:47 > 0:04:50We would just sing them and try and get them better

0:04:50 > 0:04:52and, um, I remember Dad coming in and saying,

0:04:52 > 0:04:54"I thought you had the radio on."

0:04:54 > 0:04:56That was the beginning of the harmonies.

0:04:56 > 0:04:59It became instinctive for us because we loved the oldies.

0:04:59 > 0:05:04- It's incredible, considering how young you were.- I was nine and Maurice and Robin were about six.

0:05:04 > 0:05:07We often thought we were triplets at one time,

0:05:07 > 0:05:10because we all had the same goal, the ultimate goal

0:05:10 > 0:05:11of just singing together,

0:05:11 > 0:05:14and I would say we'd be more three brothers

0:05:14 > 0:05:15than twins and an older brother.

0:05:15 > 0:05:18Musical creativity ran right through our family.

0:05:18 > 0:05:23Our father was a bang leader during the war and he then led the band

0:05:23 > 0:05:27on the ferry between Liverpool and the Isle Of Man.

0:05:27 > 0:05:30Work was pretty difficult in the late-50s for my dad to come up with

0:05:30 > 0:05:33and he needed a fresh start and he was still young enough

0:05:33 > 0:05:35to do that for himself, and he had a responsibility for us.

0:05:35 > 0:05:39So it was a natural kind of move to Australia.

0:05:39 > 0:05:41He was a very ambitious man, and I liked that.

0:05:41 > 0:05:46And we all went and it was like a six-week trip across the world.

0:05:46 > 0:05:48For us it was an adventure. We didn't know where we were going.

0:05:48 > 0:05:51And we got on a ship called the Fairsea with our parents

0:05:51 > 0:05:53and baby Andy, and our sister,

0:05:53 > 0:05:56and travelled for five weeks to Australia with very little money.

0:05:56 > 0:05:59We had a ball. We were singing on the front of the boat,

0:05:59 > 0:06:00we were getting the sun...

0:06:00 > 0:06:05- And you crossed...- On the Fairsea. - .. the Indian Ocean, you went to the Suez Canal,

0:06:05 > 0:06:08the Red Sea, and you saw things that children our age...

0:06:08 > 0:06:11- It was great. - ..would never have seen.

0:06:11 > 0:06:13And we settled in Brisbane, which was quite tropical,

0:06:13 > 0:06:17and passion fruit on the streets and banana trees in everybody's garden.

0:06:17 > 0:06:19And then we started working,

0:06:19 > 0:06:22found out different places that we could go and sing.

0:06:22 > 0:06:24And we got the opportunities to sing in a racing arena.

0:06:24 > 0:06:26We got to know a driver called Bill Goode.

0:06:26 > 0:06:28He said, "You can come and sing."

0:06:28 > 0:06:32We sang at the Redcliffe speedway on the back of a flatbed truck

0:06:32 > 0:06:34and collected about £14 something, I remember, of the track.

0:06:34 > 0:06:36People threw money on the track.

0:06:36 > 0:06:39That was our first sort of public engagement.

0:06:39 > 0:06:41- You all sing together, eh? - That's right.

0:06:41 > 0:06:44And your brother Barry plays. Come on up here.

0:06:44 > 0:06:47Our first television shows, I had become very lanky,

0:06:47 > 0:06:49very tall and lanky and thin.

0:06:49 > 0:06:51And Maurice and Robin were still at their same height,

0:06:51 > 0:06:55so what they decided to do was to get two tea chests

0:06:55 > 0:07:00and put Robin and Maurice on each tea chest, so we'd all be the same height for the camera.

0:07:00 > 0:07:02You're going to stand up on the high level?

0:07:02 > 0:07:06- So, is it true that you write your own pieces, Barry? - It's true, Desmond.

0:07:06 > 0:07:09- And what was the song we sang? - Time Is Passing By.

0:07:09 > 0:07:12# Dum-du-dum-dum, dum-du-dum-dum, dum-du-dum-dum-dum

0:07:12 > 0:07:17# Dum-du-dum-dum, dum-du-dum-dum dum-du-dum-dum-dum

0:07:17 > 0:07:21# Dum-du-dum-dum, dum-du-dum-dum dum-du-dum-dum-dum

0:07:21 > 0:07:25# Dum-du-dum-dum, dum-du-dum-dum dum-du-dum-dum-dum

0:07:25 > 0:07:26# Ah-a-ah... #

0:07:26 > 0:07:29We used to do all these pop shows but they were very live

0:07:29 > 0:07:31and there was no such thing as taping shows.

0:07:31 > 0:07:34We did various songs that we'd either written

0:07:34 > 0:07:36or were hits at the time.

0:07:36 > 0:07:40There was Lollipop, of course, and songs that people sang in harmony.

0:07:40 > 0:07:43And it was great experience because you were on the spot.

0:07:43 > 0:07:47Nothing was pre-recorded.

0:07:47 > 0:07:50You picked up your guitar and you went on and you played and you sang.

0:07:50 > 0:07:52APPLAUSE

0:07:52 > 0:07:58Between 1960 and 1965 was the era of rock'n'roll in Australia.

0:07:58 > 0:08:02With its own environment, its own TV stars, its own pop stars,

0:08:02 > 0:08:05rock stars, totally unknown to the rest of the world.

0:08:05 > 0:08:10# Wine and women and song will only make me sad

0:08:13 > 0:08:18# Love and kisses and hugs The thing I never had

0:08:20 > 0:08:22We were, like, on an adventure together.

0:08:22 > 0:08:24We were loving everything we were doing.

0:08:24 > 0:08:26We were hoping to get more recognition.

0:08:26 > 0:08:30But I don't think it was until the Beatles came along that we realised

0:08:30 > 0:08:32how much we wanted to have the approval they had.

0:08:32 > 0:08:34- # Come on- Come on

0:08:34 > 0:08:35- # Come on- Come on

0:08:35 > 0:08:37- # Come on- Come on

0:08:37 > 0:08:39- # Come on- Come on

0:08:39 > 0:08:41# Please me, oh yeah

0:08:41 > 0:08:43# Like I please you. #

0:08:46 > 0:08:49When the Beatles came to Sydney, the magic was unbelievable.

0:08:49 > 0:08:53I mean, the whole city was in this mood of Beatlemania.

0:08:53 > 0:08:55I'd never seen anything like this before.

0:08:55 > 0:09:00And I remember going down Pitt Street and getting the Beatles Fan Club books and looking through

0:09:00 > 0:09:03what gear they've got, what boots they're wearing, what outfits,

0:09:03 > 0:09:07what clothes, the amps, the guitars, the recording session pitches,

0:09:07 > 0:09:10all this stuff. I was mesmerised by them,

0:09:10 > 0:09:13because they were doing something that we loved to do

0:09:13 > 0:09:15and they were successful at it.

0:09:15 > 0:09:18# Like I please you. #

0:09:18 > 0:09:21APPLAUSE

0:09:23 > 0:09:25So we began to believe in ourselves.

0:09:25 > 0:09:28We began to believe, "Well, OK, if they can do it

0:09:28 > 0:09:31"then we should be able to have a go at doing it."

0:09:31 > 0:09:37It was not born out of arrogance but it was just a blind belief that...

0:09:37 > 0:09:40Why can't we've a shot at that?

0:09:43 > 0:09:45# Oh, where is the sun

0:09:45 > 0:09:49# That shone on my head?

0:09:51 > 0:09:53# The sun in my life

0:09:53 > 0:09:54# It is dead

0:09:54 > 0:09:56# It is dead

0:09:58 > 0:10:00# Where is the light

0:10:00 > 0:10:04# That would play in my street? #

0:10:06 > 0:10:10So we felt a little bit left out of the Mersey boom.

0:10:10 > 0:10:12We wanted to be a part of that.

0:10:12 > 0:10:15There was so much energy and so much excitement about it.

0:10:15 > 0:10:18That was our world. We wanted to be a part of...

0:10:18 > 0:10:20We were from Manchester, as far as we knew -

0:10:20 > 0:10:22we knew we were Isle of Man-born

0:10:22 > 0:10:24but brought up as kids in Manchester.

0:10:24 > 0:10:28And we were northern, just like the Beatles. "What are we doing here?"

0:10:28 > 0:10:31- Right-o, chaps. Let's have a check. Flaps?- Check.- Check.

0:10:31 > 0:10:32- Right.- Right.

0:10:37 > 0:10:44# Where is the girl I loved all along?

0:10:46 > 0:10:50# The girl that I loved She is gone

0:10:50 > 0:10:53# She is gone... #

0:10:53 > 0:10:55You had to remember, this was an era where the UK

0:10:55 > 0:10:59- was dictating whatever happened... - What happened in the world.

0:10:59 > 0:11:01- Yeah.- Culturally, musically.

0:11:01 > 0:11:04And we had to be where the action was. London was the hub.

0:11:04 > 0:11:07As much as we loved Australia, we'd had 13 records in a row,

0:11:07 > 0:11:10and not doing that well at all, record-wise.

0:11:10 > 0:11:12So we released our last record, which was Spicks And Specs,

0:11:12 > 0:11:15in Australia, and we decided to go back to England.

0:11:15 > 0:11:20We'd left but a week out, we'd found out that Spicks And Specks had gone to number one in Australia,

0:11:20 > 0:11:22and it just blew us away.

0:11:22 > 0:11:25And we're a week out now. And we're thinking, "Oh, great."

0:11:25 > 0:11:28The only people who knew were the Australians on the ship,

0:11:28 > 0:11:31going, "Hey, great, nice one - you got a number one."

0:11:31 > 0:11:32"Yeah, great for us now."

0:11:32 > 0:11:34So we ended up going back.

0:11:34 > 0:11:38So we came back to England and kissed the docks at Southampton when we got off.

0:11:38 > 0:11:40There was a pop group standing on the docks,

0:11:40 > 0:11:43dressed like the Beatles were dressed in Help,

0:11:43 > 0:11:46and they said to us, "Don't go any further.

0:11:46 > 0:11:47"Go back to Australia."

0:11:47 > 0:11:51"Go back. Groups are dead. Clapton lives."

0:11:57 > 0:12:00We sent tapes and records to the Beatles manager,

0:12:00 > 0:12:03Brian Epstein, and his partner, Robert Stigwood.

0:12:03 > 0:12:06We didn't know whether or not they would hear them.

0:12:06 > 0:12:09Robert Stigwood spoke to us and he had heard the records.

0:12:09 > 0:12:12He had heard the tapes. He wanted Brian to actually play the songs to him,

0:12:12 > 0:12:16that we'd sent from Australia. He said, "I hear you write your own songs,

0:12:16 > 0:12:18"I like what I hear. Can we do business?"

0:12:18 > 0:12:21So we go up to the Saville Theatre in London.

0:12:21 > 0:12:24Robert came in, supported by two gentlemen,

0:12:24 > 0:12:28and he looked a bit weary for wear, and he'd had a late night, obviously.

0:12:28 > 0:12:32And we were still performing our nightclub act,

0:12:32 > 0:12:34even the Peter, Paul and Mary section we'd do.

0:12:34 > 0:12:36And we did this whole act.

0:12:36 > 0:12:39And he said, "Right, be in my office at five,"

0:12:39 > 0:12:40got up and staggered out.

0:12:42 > 0:12:45So we thought, "Oh, OK. I wonder if he liked us."

0:12:45 > 0:12:49So that afternoon we went in and then he offered us a five-year contract...

0:12:49 > 0:12:53to be signed to NEMS.

0:12:53 > 0:12:56I remember walking in there and we saw Ringo for the first time,

0:12:56 > 0:12:57- and went... - HE GASPS AND STAMMERS

0:12:57 > 0:12:59We weren't full-fledged rock stars.

0:12:59 > 0:13:02We were a pop group and there was only three of us,

0:13:02 > 0:13:04so it wasn't really a band.

0:13:04 > 0:13:06And Robert Stigwood brought in Vince Maloney

0:13:06 > 0:13:09and Colin Peterson to help us to become a band.

0:13:09 > 0:13:12Two months after that we were in the American top 20

0:13:12 > 0:13:15and the British top 20 with our first single, New York Mining Disaster.

0:13:15 > 0:13:19Robert Stigwood was actually the champion...

0:13:19 > 0:13:23and the jewel in our crown,

0:13:23 > 0:13:26as far as our career went, because if we hadn't met Robert

0:13:26 > 0:13:30at that particular time, I don't know which way we could have gone.

0:13:34 > 0:13:39# In the event of something happening to me

0:13:41 > 0:13:46# There is something I would like to you all to see

0:13:46 > 0:13:52# It's just a photograph of someone that I knew

0:13:52 > 0:13:57# Have you seen my wife, Mr Jones?

0:13:57 > 0:14:02# Do you know what it's like on the outside?

0:14:02 > 0:14:05# Don't go to talking too loud

0:14:05 > 0:14:07# You'll cause a landslide

0:14:07 > 0:14:09# Mr Jones... #

0:14:09 > 0:14:13I remember doing the demo first, of New York Mining Disaster.

0:14:13 > 0:14:15Robert thought it would be a good idea before we go in to make the album.

0:14:15 > 0:14:18You're going to need more songs to write. Go in and use the studio.

0:14:18 > 0:14:21To see what we'd written or what we'd had since what he'd heard.

0:14:21 > 0:14:24And we came up with about eight to ten songs

0:14:24 > 0:14:27and there was still that missing song that he thought he could turn into a hit.

0:14:27 > 0:14:30All of a sudden there's a blackout. We had no power at all.

0:14:30 > 0:14:33So we went outside and while we were waiting for the power to come back on,

0:14:33 > 0:14:36in the area where the cage is, where the elevator goes down,

0:14:36 > 0:14:39there are steps on either side, we just sat on the steps

0:14:39 > 0:14:42and Barry was playing his guitar and this was so echoey.

0:14:42 > 0:14:45Wonderful echo in this place and it was like being in a mine.

0:14:45 > 0:14:48# Don't go to talking too loud

0:14:48 > 0:14:50# You'll cause a landslide

0:14:50 > 0:14:55# Mr Jones

0:14:55 > 0:15:00# In the event of something happening to me... #

0:15:00 > 0:15:04And the premise was the Aberfan mining disaster.

0:15:04 > 0:15:08- It had broken everyone's heart. - It was only six months before we wrote the song.

0:15:08 > 0:15:11But it also started us writing about drama

0:15:11 > 0:15:13and pulled us away from The Beatles Me To You.

0:15:19 > 0:15:23We were working at IBC Studio which was the place where The Beatles used to record,

0:15:23 > 0:15:26I believe, up to Abbey Road.

0:15:26 > 0:15:29On its own stage there was mellotron,

0:15:29 > 0:15:34and for the first time in our lives, we saw a mellotron.

0:15:35 > 0:15:37# A certain kind of light

0:15:39 > 0:15:41# That never shone on me

0:15:43 > 0:15:46# I want my life to be

0:15:46 > 0:15:49# Lived with you

0:15:49 > 0:15:53# Lived with you

0:15:53 > 0:15:55# There's a way... #

0:15:55 > 0:15:59I remember a time, at 2am in the morning, Robert would come in

0:15:59 > 0:16:02and he said To Love Somebody was playing and he'd call up New York

0:16:02 > 0:16:05and play it in the speaker to Ahmet Ertegun,

0:16:05 > 0:16:07the head of Atlantic Records,

0:16:07 > 0:16:12down the phone. "Listen to this. This is their next single."

0:16:12 > 0:16:17# Baby, you don't know what it's like

0:16:17 > 0:16:21# Baby, you don't know what it's like

0:16:23 > 0:16:26# To love somebody

0:16:26 > 0:16:28# To love somebody

0:16:28 > 0:16:30# The way I love you. #

0:16:31 > 0:16:34And that's how it was done. It was very organic.

0:16:34 > 0:16:35It was very gut-instinct.

0:16:35 > 0:16:39So different to the way things are done now.

0:16:39 > 0:16:43What was really fantastic about that first year is that New York Mining Disaster

0:16:43 > 0:16:48and then To Love Somebody were charting in the American Top 20,

0:16:48 > 0:16:53which is very unusual, even by today's standards, for first time records and British artists.

0:16:53 > 0:16:57It was due to Robert Stigwood and Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic working together.

0:16:57 > 0:17:01We had the NEMS team, we had The Beatles team behind us

0:17:01 > 0:17:02and that's what kicked it off for us.

0:17:02 > 0:17:08To crack America was the ultimate dream. You've got to remember, when you're from that generation of kids

0:17:08 > 0:17:13growing up in Liverpool and Manchester or wherever, America's pavements are gold.

0:17:13 > 0:17:17Everything is two cars for the family, huge houses!

0:17:17 > 0:17:23You know, I mean television, like, five, ten channels. We had...two!

0:17:35 > 0:17:39Tonight, Massachusetts from the Bee Gees.

0:17:39 > 0:17:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:17:42 > 0:17:45I remember doing Top Of The Pops for the first time, a great dream

0:17:45 > 0:17:48because that's the show to do. You're made if you do it.

0:17:48 > 0:17:54# Feel I'm going back to Massachusetts... #

0:17:57 > 0:18:00We were so over the moon, we thought we could get away with murder.

0:18:00 > 0:18:04To have a number one in England, you have no idea how much we dreamed of this in Australia.

0:18:04 > 0:18:09To have a number one in the UK charts - we felt like we'd arrived.

0:18:17 > 0:18:21The Bee Gees, the most exciting sound in the world.

0:18:38 > 0:18:40We were very anxious to make our mark.

0:18:40 > 0:18:44If it was a choice between partying and being in the studio,

0:18:44 > 0:18:46it would defiantly be in the studio.

0:18:46 > 0:18:48It wasn't about having a good time,

0:18:48 > 0:18:51a good time to us was being in the studio.

0:18:51 > 0:18:53A good time to us was a good woman.

0:18:53 > 0:18:55That women became the, sort of, voom!

0:18:55 > 0:18:58You know, music, women.

0:18:58 > 0:19:03Women became the confliction between the two subjects.

0:19:03 > 0:19:05It was going out with a girl or it was writing a song,

0:19:05 > 0:19:08or it was being a group or going out with a girl.

0:19:08 > 0:19:10So we began to fall in love.

0:19:32 > 0:19:36# I been thinking sitting on a pole

0:19:38 > 0:19:41# I'm getting sick of doing what I'm told

0:19:44 > 0:19:47# Just me and the mirror and my brain

0:19:48 > 0:19:52# But that was when I got an idea

0:19:52 > 0:19:54# Came like a gun and shot in my ear. #

0:20:00 > 0:20:03There was a lot of hits in that short time, all the things were happening.

0:20:03 > 0:20:06There was a lot of money all of a sudden and cars

0:20:06 > 0:20:09and girlfriends and love-interests were happening,

0:20:09 > 0:20:14and jealousies were happening, so the drink came more, the money became more.

0:20:14 > 0:20:18When you're 18, 19 years of age, you know, and after all the work

0:20:18 > 0:20:20we'd done through clubs and everything, I felt grown-up.

0:20:20 > 0:20:23I felt like I had been through the mill.

0:20:23 > 0:20:25# But that was when I got an idea

0:20:25 > 0:20:28# Came like a gun and shot in my ear

0:20:28 > 0:20:34# Don't you think it's time you got up and stood alone? Ah! #

0:20:34 > 0:20:39In 1967, we became members of the club called the Speakeasy

0:20:39 > 0:20:43which was an underground club which was only for The Beatles and The Stones

0:20:43 > 0:20:47and The Who and Otis Reading and Sam and Dave,

0:20:47 > 0:20:52Ahmet Ertegun and Robert and Brian Epstein.

0:20:52 > 0:20:57It was virtually a closed club.

0:20:57 > 0:21:00You went downstairs and there was a coffin.

0:21:00 > 0:21:04If you were allowed in, if you were somebody they know

0:21:04 > 0:21:09and you were supposed to go in, the wall would turn round.

0:21:09 > 0:21:11And the coffin would turn round.

0:21:11 > 0:21:15In you would go, and there'd be George Best playing the machines,

0:21:15 > 0:21:18and The Stones would be lying around all over the place,

0:21:18 > 0:21:26and it was one of those days that I met John Lennon from the back.

0:21:26 > 0:21:28I never met John Lennon from the front.

0:21:29 > 0:21:33# Last night I got an idea

0:21:33 > 0:21:35# Last night I got an idea... #

0:21:35 > 0:21:40And it was Pete Townsend who introduced me to John Lennon, and what I remember is,

0:21:40 > 0:21:45"Barry, I'd like you to meet John Lennon." "John Lennon, pleased to meet you."

0:21:47 > 0:21:49And carried on talking to somebody else.

0:21:49 > 0:21:53So I thought to myself, "Well, I've met John Lennon.

0:21:53 > 0:21:56I had John Lennon's black-windowed Mini Cooper, bought that off him.

0:21:56 > 0:21:59I became part of the inner circle of all those guys.

0:21:59 > 0:22:03I was going to parties, and Magical Mystery Tour.

0:22:03 > 0:22:05It was like a wild world for me.

0:22:05 > 0:22:09When you think that five months before all of this was going on,

0:22:09 > 0:22:12I was in Pitt Street buying The Beatle fan club book

0:22:12 > 0:22:18and now here I am partying with these guys, my heroes.

0:22:18 > 0:22:24Let's have a warm reception for the attractive Bee Gees and soloist Barry Gibb.

0:22:38 > 0:22:42# Smile an everlasting smile

0:22:42 > 0:22:47# A smile can bring you near to me

0:22:49 > 0:22:54# Don't ever let me find you gone

0:22:54 > 0:22:59# Cos that would bring a tear to me... #

0:22:59 > 0:23:05Dick Cavett, Mike Douglas, Nev Griffin, Johnny Carson,

0:23:05 > 0:23:07we did 11 Johnny Carson shows over the years.

0:23:09 > 0:23:13There wasn't any decisive point where we moved to America because

0:23:13 > 0:23:16it was an international scene from 1967 onwards,

0:23:16 > 0:23:18wherever you were based, you had to go to America.

0:23:18 > 0:23:22It was England or America. It had to be one of the two.

0:23:22 > 0:23:25No other country in the world could give you international fame.

0:23:25 > 0:23:32# It's only words And words are all I have

0:23:32 > 0:23:38# To take your heart away. #

0:23:38 > 0:23:42CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:23:54 > 0:23:58It's hard to speak about Odessa in any coherent way

0:23:58 > 0:24:01because it was not a planned album. It was just a collection of songs.

0:24:01 > 0:24:04We thought we were going to do a concept album.

0:24:04 > 0:24:09Because of Tommy and Robert, Robert's connection to these type of things,

0:24:09 > 0:24:14he wanted us to do a rock opera and we wanted to put it on stage.

0:24:14 > 0:24:18Instead of writing a rock opera, we just came up with a mish-mash.

0:24:18 > 0:24:20We came up with...

0:24:20 > 0:24:26a bunch of songs that we thought we were going somewhere with it, but I think we were extremely weary.

0:24:26 > 0:24:31Even at such a young age, we'd been through quite a number of albums very quickly.

0:24:31 > 0:24:34We could no longer deal with each other.

0:24:34 > 0:24:36We could no longer deal with each other.

0:24:36 > 0:24:42The three of us drifted apart, in fact, I'd say the four of us drifted apart, including Robert.

0:24:42 > 0:24:45What really happened is First Of May, the record, was coming out

0:24:45 > 0:24:49and everybody went for First Of May as being the A side and Barry was singing the lead on that.

0:24:49 > 0:24:53On the other side was Lamplight, which Robin wound up singing the lead,

0:24:53 > 0:24:56and everybody thought Lamplight should be the single so Robert chose First Of May,

0:24:56 > 0:25:00and thinking he was biased towards Barry, Robin said, "That's it, I've had it,"

0:25:00 > 0:25:04Robin, we've heard rumours the group is splitting up.

0:25:04 > 0:25:06Would you verify those rumours?

0:25:06 > 0:25:09If I was to say that was true, then I'd be the Premier of Russia.

0:25:09 > 0:25:13Then Robin decided to leave when were doing the Cucumber Castle film.

0:25:13 > 0:25:19# Don't forget to remember me

0:25:20 > 0:25:25# And the love that used to be

0:25:25 > 0:25:30# I still remember you

0:25:30 > 0:25:35# I love you

0:25:35 > 0:25:37# In my heart... #

0:25:37 > 0:25:40Barry left after that, and I was all of a sudden a Bee Gee.

0:25:40 > 0:25:44I don't think there was a design in the break-up itself,

0:25:44 > 0:25:46we just wandered off.

0:25:46 > 0:25:49It was a crazy period because we didn't know what we were doing

0:25:49 > 0:25:51unless we read the trades.

0:25:51 > 0:25:52We sort of tried to get together,

0:25:52 > 0:25:56but every time we tried we knew it was the wrong time.

0:25:56 > 0:25:58It was inevitable, I think, this would happen,

0:25:58 > 0:26:01because it was something that was growing anyway.

0:26:01 > 0:26:03But being young, you don't know how to handle it.

0:26:03 > 0:26:07Of course we were excited, we were very high on ourselves, it was a dream come true.

0:26:07 > 0:26:11Yeah, I had, like, seven Aston Martins and six Rolls-Royces

0:26:11 > 0:26:12before I was 21.

0:26:12 > 0:26:15I don't know where they are now!

0:26:15 > 0:26:17But that's how crazy it was.

0:26:17 > 0:26:19The first fame syndrome, we called it,

0:26:19 > 0:26:21when you go through that. If you survive it, it's great.

0:26:21 > 0:26:26And we managed to have the foresight and strength to say, "This is stupid, let's get back together."

0:26:26 > 0:26:30Lonely Days was an instrumental I was playing on the piano,

0:26:30 > 0:26:32Barry and Robin came round and we sang,

0:26:32 > 0:26:34and before we knew it the song was taking shape.

0:26:34 > 0:26:38# Lonely days Lonely nights

0:26:38 > 0:26:42# Where would I be without my woman

0:26:42 > 0:26:48# Lonely days Lonely nights

0:26:49 > 0:26:51# Where would I be without my woman

0:26:53 > 0:26:57# Lonely days Lonely nights

0:26:57 > 0:27:02# Where would I be without my woman?

0:27:02 > 0:27:07# Lonely days Lonely nights

0:27:08 > 0:27:11# Where would I be without my woman? #

0:27:11 > 0:27:15So those first times together, we knew, it was inevitable.

0:27:15 > 0:27:17Look what we'd done in these few days together.

0:27:24 > 0:27:27# Lonely days Lonely nights

0:27:27 > 0:27:31# Where would I be without my woman?

0:27:31 > 0:27:32Come on!

0:27:33 > 0:27:38# Lonely days And lonely nights... #

0:27:38 > 0:27:40I felt like we'd never done it before.

0:27:40 > 0:27:41We were like new. It was like fresh.

0:27:41 > 0:27:45The energy that each one had on expressing what they'd learned

0:27:45 > 0:27:47by being apart, it all came out in that week.

0:27:47 > 0:27:50It was brilliant, a wonderful session, wonderful.

0:27:50 > 0:27:52Thank you all very much, and good evening.

0:27:52 > 0:27:56CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:28:16 > 0:28:18After Run To Me we went into a valley, totally.

0:28:18 > 0:28:23Our career was in a valley, no record company wanted us, management didn't want us, nothing.

0:28:23 > 0:28:26At the end of every decade, there's a tendency that the business

0:28:26 > 0:28:29tries to eject artists from the last decade.

0:28:29 > 0:28:32So, you're either the artist of the '60s

0:28:32 > 0:28:34or an artist of the '70s or an artist of the '80s,

0:28:34 > 0:28:36and it still goes on now.

0:28:36 > 0:28:43So, we were suddenly out of favour by the beginning of the '70s.

0:28:43 > 0:28:46You think it's going to last for ever, and it doesn't,

0:28:46 > 0:28:49- and that's when the- BLEEP - hits the proverbial fan.

0:28:49 > 0:28:53Because all of a sudden you turn to drinking a bit with your friends, "Oh, you'll do it again,"

0:28:53 > 0:28:54then you turn to drugs,

0:28:54 > 0:28:58and before you know it you're on a collision course with death, that's it.

0:28:58 > 0:29:04And to us, we thought maybe that's it, maybe that was our career.

0:29:04 > 0:29:07Oh, yeah, your ego's deflated enormously.

0:29:07 > 0:29:11But that was meant to be, too. It wasn't good stuff, it was OK.

0:29:11 > 0:29:13At that time we were trying to be experimental,

0:29:13 > 0:29:16Sly And the Family Stone where huge with hits.

0:29:16 > 0:29:19It was a different kind of period, like early disco or something,

0:29:19 > 0:29:22there was something going on that was really strange.

0:29:22 > 0:29:26And we just were off the mark - we were so off the mark we released an album,

0:29:26 > 0:29:30To Whom It May Concern, because we didn't know who the hell was going to buy it!

0:29:30 > 0:29:34That's how totally... You know, "Where are we going?"

0:29:36 > 0:29:40# Burning embers and I still remember

0:29:40 > 0:29:44# All of those little things

0:29:44 > 0:29:48# But I can't feel it so much

0:29:48 > 0:29:50# Cos I am so out of touch

0:29:50 > 0:29:55# With my heart and it won't sing... #

0:29:55 > 0:29:58We needed to have bigger records than we were having.

0:29:58 > 0:30:01We weren't moving that well at all.

0:30:01 > 0:30:04Robert had become acquainted with Arif Mardin,

0:30:04 > 0:30:07who had done some of the Aretha Franklin early records,

0:30:07 > 0:30:09and suggested we explore those roots,

0:30:09 > 0:30:12which is how we ended up doing Mr Natural with Arif.

0:30:12 > 0:30:17# Darling, there ain't no doubt... #

0:30:17 > 0:30:20Arif was so instrumental in producing black artists.

0:30:20 > 0:30:22He produced a lot of people, and we wanted that input.

0:30:24 > 0:30:29# So I try, try, try, try, try

0:30:29 > 0:30:34# Mr Natural, come on, baby

0:30:34 > 0:30:37# When I walk in the rain

0:30:37 > 0:30:40# You won't know that I'm crying

0:30:40 > 0:30:45# A smile on my face says I'm trying

0:30:45 > 0:30:50# I'm trying to understand

0:30:50 > 0:30:58# That a love that is lost can never be found again

0:30:59 > 0:31:03# And you can see me dance

0:31:03 > 0:31:09# I look like a happy man... #

0:31:09 > 0:31:12- We always loved black music.- Yeah.

0:31:12 > 0:31:15In the '60s it was just...

0:31:15 > 0:31:19- And...- Sam Cooke and Otis Redding...

0:31:19 > 0:31:21Wilson Pickett, all the influences had been there,

0:31:21 > 0:31:23we just explored them more.

0:31:23 > 0:31:27We felt it was a time we needed, and Arif was the ideal tool,

0:31:27 > 0:31:28he encouraged it, more so.

0:31:28 > 0:31:31Because that's when I said, for To Whom It May Concern

0:31:31 > 0:31:33and all those albums before, we had no direction.

0:31:33 > 0:31:35Arif went, this is the way you go.

0:31:35 > 0:31:38We'd given up on the psychedelia, we'd given up on that whole

0:31:38 > 0:31:41'everyone has to be like The Beatles to succeed'.

0:31:41 > 0:31:45We thought we were on the right track, we thought we were doing the right things,

0:31:45 > 0:31:48we were moving into that R&B vein.

0:31:48 > 0:31:50But we weren't really succeeding.

0:31:50 > 0:31:52Mr Natural was a total disaster,

0:31:52 > 0:31:55but it was like a rehearsal for Main Course.

0:31:55 > 0:31:57and working with Arif for the first time.

0:31:57 > 0:32:01Fortunately for us, Arif said, "This was a good start,

0:32:01 > 0:32:06"let's do another album," and we didn't expect that.

0:32:06 > 0:32:10That was the opening of 461 Ocean Boulevard, wasn't it?

0:32:10 > 0:32:14And that's when Eric Clapton said, "I've just done this album called

0:32:14 > 0:32:18"461 Ocean Boulevard, why don't you go and rent the same house

0:32:18 > 0:32:20"and record in America instead of England?

0:32:20 > 0:32:22"See what that does for you, spiritually."

0:32:22 > 0:32:24He said, "It really worked for me,

0:32:24 > 0:32:27"I feel like a totally different artist

0:32:27 > 0:32:30"having moved away from that whole English syndrome."

0:32:30 > 0:32:34# Get on up, look around

0:32:34 > 0:32:38# Can't you feel the wind of change... #

0:32:38 > 0:32:42When we got to Miami and all of a sudden sunshine, oh!

0:32:42 > 0:32:45This is paradise compared to where we just came from.

0:32:45 > 0:32:47And we got Arif Mardin of course,

0:32:47 > 0:32:49because we wanted him after Mr Natural.

0:32:49 > 0:32:52When we worked with him on Main Course, he knew us.

0:32:52 > 0:32:54And he brought out the best in every one of us, Arif.

0:32:54 > 0:32:57He taught me bass, I didn't even know I could play,

0:32:57 > 0:32:58that's how much I admire that man.

0:32:58 > 0:33:00He wouldn't play himself.

0:33:00 > 0:33:02A brilliant pianist but he didn't believe in playing on his own records.

0:33:02 > 0:33:06He would come up with these little things and suggest them to the band.

0:33:06 > 0:33:11He was like a little boy with his enthusiasm, wasn't he?

0:33:11 > 0:33:13Arif knew exactly where we needed to go,

0:33:13 > 0:33:16and he taught us everything we know about production.

0:33:17 > 0:33:19He's been a great teacher, a great mentor.

0:33:19 > 0:33:21We spent about three or four weeks

0:33:21 > 0:33:26writing about three or four songs, three of which were rejected,

0:33:26 > 0:33:29and one which was accepted called Wind Of Change.

0:33:29 > 0:33:30When it came to dubbing the bass on Wind Of Change,

0:33:30 > 0:33:34I came in the next day and Arif said, "OK?" I said, "Yep."

0:33:34 > 0:33:35We start the track and I did one take.

0:33:35 > 0:33:38He went, "Wonderful."

0:33:38 > 0:33:42Without changing a part. I looked at him and said,

0:33:42 > 0:33:45"You don't want to change this?" "No, that was brilliant. "Wonderful."

0:33:45 > 0:33:50I knew I'd made it in his eyes because he never told me to change anything.

0:33:50 > 0:33:54But because of what he'd taught me from all the previous tracks on what I'd played bass on,

0:33:54 > 0:33:58I was like... I was with him, I was behind the beat.

0:33:58 > 0:34:02He was going, "Great. Great." I was chuffed.

0:34:02 > 0:34:05I went home laughing my head off. I couldn't believe it.

0:34:05 > 0:34:07I'd played the way he loved it.

0:34:10 > 0:34:12CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:34:19 > 0:34:22Next thing that happened after Wind Of Change was Nights On Broadway.

0:34:22 > 0:34:24Arif said, "I want more like that."

0:34:24 > 0:34:28# Here we are

0:34:28 > 0:34:33# In a room full of strangers

0:34:35 > 0:34:38# Standing in the dark

0:34:38 > 0:34:43# Where your eyes could not see me

0:34:43 > 0:34:49# Well, I had follow you

0:34:49 > 0:34:53# Though you did not want me to

0:34:55 > 0:35:00# But that won't stop my loving you

0:35:00 > 0:35:03# I can't stay away

0:35:03 > 0:35:09# Blaming it all on the nights on Broadway

0:35:09 > 0:35:11# Singing them love songs

0:35:11 > 0:35:14# Singing them straight to the heart songs

0:35:14 > 0:35:19# Blaming it all on the nights on Broadway

0:35:19 > 0:35:23# Singing them sweet sounds

0:35:23 > 0:35:26# To that crazy, crazy town... #

0:35:28 > 0:35:29And so Nights On Broadway,

0:35:29 > 0:35:33or rather Lights On Broadway, which is what it was called in the first place,

0:35:33 > 0:35:37became the second accepted track, and it just moved on from there.

0:35:37 > 0:35:40Jive Talkin' happened during the middle of the sessions

0:35:40 > 0:35:43when we were driving home one night over a bridge.

0:35:43 > 0:35:47I just remember going in the car and hearing this "ch-ch-ch, ch-ch-ch,"

0:35:47 > 0:35:49every time we crossed this bridge.

0:35:56 > 0:35:59And Barry had noticed, he's going "J-J-Jive talkin'..."

0:35:59 > 0:36:02thinking of the dance, "You dance with your eyes."

0:36:02 > 0:36:03That's all he had.

0:36:03 > 0:36:08And we're going, "ch-ch-ch, ch-ch-ch,"

0:36:08 > 0:36:10exactly 35mph, that's what we got.

0:36:10 > 0:36:13# J-J-Jive talkin'

0:36:13 > 0:36:15# You're telling me lies

0:36:15 > 0:36:17# Jive talkin'

0:36:17 > 0:36:20# You wear a disguise

0:36:20 > 0:36:22# Jive talkin'

0:36:22 > 0:36:25# So misunderstood, yeah

0:36:25 > 0:36:27# Jive talkin'

0:36:27 > 0:36:30# You're really no good... #

0:36:30 > 0:36:32We played it to Arif, and he went,

0:36:32 > 0:36:34"Do you know what jive talkin' means?"

0:36:34 > 0:36:37And we said, "Well, yes, you're dancing."

0:36:37 > 0:36:39"He says, "No..."

0:36:39 > 0:36:42I'm putting on this Turkish accent, because this is how he talks.

0:36:42 > 0:36:45- And he said, "No, it's a black expression for bull...- BLEEP."

0:36:45 > 0:36:48And we went, "Oh, really?"

0:36:48 > 0:36:51# Jive talkin', you're telling me lies... #

0:36:51 > 0:36:53And changed it.

0:36:53 > 0:36:55# Good lovin' still gets in my eyes... #

0:36:55 > 0:36:58He gave us the groove, the tempo, everything.

0:36:58 > 0:36:59"This is your groove."

0:36:59 > 0:37:03Because we were English, we were less self-conscious

0:37:03 > 0:37:08about exploring the no-go areas than a lot of American artists and groups would have done,

0:37:08 > 0:37:12especially the white ones, because they were always, like soul, "Don't go to the black area.

0:37:12 > 0:37:15"You've got to be," you know. If you were white, you stayed out of that,

0:37:15 > 0:37:19they were scared that if they did they would make fools of themselves,

0:37:19 > 0:37:21but we did it because we were serious,

0:37:21 > 0:37:24we didn't think there was any no-go areas, it's music.

0:37:28 > 0:37:30# Jive talkin'

0:37:30 > 0:37:33# You're telling me lies, yeah

0:37:33 > 0:37:35# Good lovin... #

0:37:35 > 0:37:36Robert Stigwood wanted Jive Talkin' as the first single.

0:37:36 > 0:37:43Ahmet Ertegun said we think Nights On Broadway because we don't think people

0:37:43 > 0:37:48will accept this from the Bee Gees because, first of all,

0:37:48 > 0:37:55you haven't done anything like this before and secondly, it's very black.

0:37:55 > 0:37:57Robert said, "That's exactly why I want it to be the first single."

0:37:57 > 0:38:02When Jive Talkin' came out, everyone went, "Who? The Bee Gees?

0:38:02 > 0:38:04"Broken Heart Bee Gees? Are you kidding?

0:38:04 > 0:38:08"You mean, the same group that did... Whoa.

0:38:08 > 0:38:11"Nobody knew." And that changed our whole career.

0:38:11 > 0:38:17And it became a number one record, and we knew that was the start...

0:38:17 > 0:38:20of our black music influences, with Arif Mardin,

0:38:20 > 0:38:23being expressed to its full potential.

0:38:23 > 0:38:25We were completing Nights On Broadway,

0:38:25 > 0:38:28we'd done the vocal tracks and harmonies and stuff,

0:38:28 > 0:38:31and usually at the end you have some ad-libs, or some kind of thing

0:38:31 > 0:38:34to take us away from the original melody and have some fun.

0:38:34 > 0:38:36So Arif wanted us to try to scream

0:38:36 > 0:38:40like Paul McCartney would sometimes scream in falsetto, you know?

0:38:40 > 0:38:41So, Barry said, "I'll have a go"

0:38:41 > 0:38:46so we went out there and he did the "blaming it alls" ad-lib on the end of Nights On Broadway.

0:38:46 > 0:38:49- # Blaming it all - Blaming it all

0:38:49 > 0:38:51- # On the night on Broadway - On the nights on Broadway

0:38:51 > 0:38:53- # Singing them love songs - Aha

0:38:53 > 0:38:57# Singing them straight to the heart songs

0:38:57 > 0:38:59- Blaming it all - Ah, baby love... #

0:38:59 > 0:39:03And he screamed and it's the first time I'd heard him scream in tune with a melody.

0:39:03 > 0:39:05And in doing so I discovered I had a falsetto voice.

0:39:05 > 0:39:09- # Straight to the heart songs - Aaaah, yeah, yeah, yeah... #

0:39:09 > 0:39:10I knew it was back there somewhere,

0:39:10 > 0:39:13because we tried things like that early on.

0:39:13 > 0:39:15And we thought, that's brilliant.

0:39:15 > 0:39:17So, after that we wrote Fanny Be Tender.

0:39:17 > 0:39:21because we wanted to do a whole song in falsetto.

0:39:21 > 0:39:26We loved The Stylistics. We loved...The Spinners, Delphonics

0:39:26 > 0:39:29People were coming out with these records like, # Betcha, woah... #

0:39:29 > 0:39:32They were all falsetto lead singers and they were black.

0:39:32 > 0:39:34R'n'B, at the time. That's they called it.

0:39:34 > 0:39:37We were into all that stuff.

0:39:37 > 0:39:41# Be tender with my love

0:39:41 > 0:39:46# You know how easy it is to break it

0:39:46 > 0:39:51# Fanny be tender with my love

0:39:51 > 0:39:54# Cos it's all that I got

0:39:54 > 0:39:58# And my love won't forsake me... #

0:39:58 > 0:40:03Fanny Be Tender convinced us that we were now recording the kind of music

0:40:03 > 0:40:06that was going to take us to the next plateau.

0:40:06 > 0:40:12What was happening for the first time also was apart from going on to the Billboard pop chart,

0:40:12 > 0:40:13we were appearing on the black charts as well

0:40:13 > 0:40:16where there were no white acts.

0:40:16 > 0:40:18That was telling us something,

0:40:18 > 0:40:22that we were in an area that we would never have gone into.

0:40:22 > 0:40:25# Ah, ah

0:40:25 > 0:40:28# Ah, ah

0:40:28 > 0:40:29# Ah

0:40:29 > 0:40:31# Ah, ah, ah-ah

0:40:32 > 0:40:37# Fanny be tender with my love. #

0:40:37 > 0:40:39We just felt tremendously happy.

0:40:39 > 0:40:42We were just so knocked out that we had an audience again.

0:40:42 > 0:40:45And to have that success, because even before that

0:40:45 > 0:40:47we weren't looking for a thing like Fever.

0:40:47 > 0:40:49We were just making music.

0:40:49 > 0:40:51And Children Of The World, which followed that,

0:40:51 > 0:40:55we had You Should Be Dancing, the only obvious dance song we ever wrote.

0:40:55 > 0:40:59And Love So Right, two number ones off that.

0:40:59 > 0:41:02They were like triple platinum. We were just coasting along here,

0:41:02 > 0:41:04we were having a ball, this is great!

0:41:04 > 0:41:08We were having a great time. Then the Fever thing happened

0:41:08 > 0:41:12and that's when everything exploded. The world just went crazy.

0:41:21 > 0:41:24# Well you can tell by the way I use my walk

0:41:24 > 0:41:26# I'm a woman's man no time to talk... #

0:41:26 > 0:41:31We had a call from Robert saying Paramount was making a movie and he was producing.

0:41:31 > 0:41:35He said it was about a guy who worked in a paint shop in Brooklyn,

0:41:35 > 0:41:38and he blows his wages every Saturday night in a club

0:41:38 > 0:41:42and wins a dance competition. We thought, nice one, Rob!

0:41:42 > 0:41:46John Travolta was dancing in the film to You Should Be Dancing,

0:41:46 > 0:41:48which had been a hit off Children Of The World,

0:41:48 > 0:41:50which was the previous album.

0:41:50 > 0:41:54And Robert wanted to know if we could write more songs for the film.

0:41:54 > 0:41:57And we went, "OK". So we had Stayin' Alive,

0:41:57 > 0:41:59How Deep Is Your Love and If I Can't Have You -

0:41:59 > 0:42:02they were the first three he heard.

0:42:02 > 0:42:04And he said, "Great, this is fantastic."

0:42:04 > 0:42:08And to us this was most likely to be our new album.

0:42:08 > 0:42:12So he came back about a month later and asked for some more.

0:42:12 > 0:42:15Our album's gone now!

0:42:15 > 0:42:17So we ended up with about eight of our songs in the film.

0:42:17 > 0:42:19But in those days, you thought,

0:42:19 > 0:42:22"God, you'd pay people to put your songs in a film."

0:42:22 > 0:42:24It was great promotion.

0:42:24 > 0:42:27There was a suggestion that Stayin' Alive

0:42:27 > 0:42:29should be called Saturday Night.

0:42:29 > 0:42:33And Robert said, "No, we should keep it. It is like Buried Alive."

0:42:33 > 0:42:35"It's the opposite. It is actually 'Stayin' Alive'."

0:42:35 > 0:42:40Robert dug his heels in. They thought it was a sophisticated title

0:42:40 > 0:42:43for a popular song. But we wouldn't budge and neither would Robert,

0:42:43 > 0:42:47There were so many songs called Saturday Night. We did have a song called Night Fever,

0:42:47 > 0:42:50and the compromise was that we suggested the title of the film

0:42:50 > 0:42:52should be Saturday Night Fever,

0:42:52 > 0:42:54but we would have the song, Night Fever,

0:42:54 > 0:42:56on the album without "Saturday" on it.

0:42:56 > 0:42:58# Listen to the ground

0:42:58 > 0:43:00# There is movement all around

0:43:00 > 0:43:02# There is something going down

0:43:02 > 0:43:04# And I can feel it

0:43:04 > 0:43:06# On the waves of the air

0:43:06 > 0:43:09# There is dancin' out there

0:43:09 > 0:43:11# If it's something we can share

0:43:11 > 0:43:13# We can steal it

0:43:13 > 0:43:17# And that sweet city woman she moves through the light

0:43:17 > 0:43:22# Controlling my mind and my soul

0:43:22 > 0:43:27# Just reach out for me and the feeling is bright

0:43:27 > 0:43:30# Night fever, night fever

0:43:30 > 0:43:33# We know how to do it

0:43:35 > 0:43:39# Night fever, night fever

0:43:39 > 0:43:41# We know how to show it... #

0:43:41 > 0:43:43We stayed on the path we had always stayed on,

0:43:43 > 0:43:48and that is, let's just make what we believe is a great record.

0:43:48 > 0:43:52And we continued with that for about six or seven songs.

0:43:52 > 0:43:57Never really knowing if they were going to be used in the movie.

0:43:57 > 0:44:00We didn't go near the film. The only time was the premiere.

0:44:00 > 0:44:02We stood at the back of the theatre listening,

0:44:02 > 0:44:07and at least being able to say to Robert, "It is wonderful,

0:44:07 > 0:44:11"but when you're in a club you can't hear people dancing."

0:44:11 > 0:44:12That is right.

0:44:12 > 0:44:14The music was too soft.

0:44:14 > 0:44:17And if you're in a club you don't hear people going like...

0:44:17 > 0:44:18You don't hear their feet.

0:44:18 > 0:44:20You don't hear this stuff.

0:44:21 > 0:44:24Robert got the point, pumped the music up,

0:44:24 > 0:44:26took out all the noises of the feet and that's what you have now.

0:44:26 > 0:44:30# I know your eyes in the morning sun

0:44:30 > 0:44:36# I feel you touch me in the pouring rain

0:44:36 > 0:44:40# And the moment that you wander far from me

0:44:40 > 0:44:44# I wanna feel you in my arms again

0:44:45 > 0:44:50# And you come to me on a summer breeze

0:44:50 > 0:44:52# Keep me warm in your love

0:44:52 > 0:44:54# Then you softly leave

0:44:54 > 0:44:58# And it's me you need to show

0:44:58 > 0:45:00# How deep is your love?

0:45:00 > 0:45:04# How deep is your love?

0:45:04 > 0:45:07# I really mean to learn

0:45:07 > 0:45:12# Cos we're living in a world of fools

0:45:12 > 0:45:14# Breaking us down

0:45:14 > 0:45:19# When they all should let us be

0:45:19 > 0:45:22# We belong to you and me... #

0:45:22 > 0:45:26Being in Miami, you're in a goldfish bowl here.

0:45:26 > 0:45:28You don't see much of what's going on out there.

0:45:28 > 0:45:31When we were here writing stuff for the Spirits album,

0:45:31 > 0:45:33we didn't think about what Fever was doing

0:45:33 > 0:45:35or what was happening out there. We didn't really know that much.

0:45:35 > 0:45:39We were locked away for about a month before How Deep Is Your Love came out.

0:45:39 > 0:45:41That was a number one before the film.

0:45:41 > 0:45:45I remember everyone saying what a great R'n'B ballad.

0:45:45 > 0:45:47As soon as the film came out - what a great disco ballad!

0:45:47 > 0:45:49It was so opposite, it was so funny.

0:45:49 > 0:45:52The one thing that still affects us is How Deep Is Your Love.

0:45:52 > 0:45:55No matter how it's sung, it's still a beautiful song.

0:45:55 > 0:45:57It wasn't all what you would call dance music.

0:45:57 > 0:46:02But then we became the biggest disco band around, which amazed us.

0:46:02 > 0:46:08We always thought KC was the disco thing, Donna Summer. It was all great, fun stuff. Party music.

0:46:08 > 0:46:10We never regarded ourselves as that.

0:46:10 > 0:46:13All I know is when we were recording these songs,

0:46:13 > 0:46:17we didn't think about dancing, we were just thinking about songs.

0:46:17 > 0:46:20We didn't even know the word disco music existed.

0:46:20 > 0:46:23It was coined after the film because of the film's success.

0:46:23 > 0:46:25None of us expected the success that Fever had.

0:46:25 > 0:46:28The album started doing a million a week.

0:46:28 > 0:46:29This was pretty shocking for us.

0:46:29 > 0:46:32We couldn't look at the numbers, or understand it.

0:46:32 > 0:46:35Such a phenomenon. Other record companies were printing it.

0:46:35 > 0:46:37Ours couldn't keep up the pace.

0:46:37 > 0:46:43# If I can't have you I don't want nobody, baby

0:46:43 > 0:46:47# If I can't have you, ah-ah-ah. #

0:46:47 > 0:46:51It was an incredible feeling, like being in the eye of a storm.

0:46:51 > 0:46:54You didn't have a real sense of what was going on around you.

0:46:54 > 0:46:59You couldn't answer your phone. You had people climbing over your walls.

0:46:59 > 0:47:03So yeah, it was extremely crazy and something we weren't used to.

0:47:03 > 0:47:05We had never experienced that kind of fame,

0:47:05 > 0:47:06that kind of good fortune.

0:47:06 > 0:47:12It has affected in many ways the culture in a very sub-conscious way,

0:47:12 > 0:47:14that very few vehicles have.

0:47:14 > 0:47:18That is the amazing thing, it still gets played.

0:47:18 > 0:47:22And we don't even understand that. We just... We're bewildered by it.

0:47:22 > 0:47:25There is something magical about when something happens.

0:47:25 > 0:47:30You just don't know where this is, where this captures the imagination

0:47:30 > 0:47:32of millions of people at the same time.

0:47:32 > 0:47:35It goes beyond being just a hit album.

0:47:35 > 0:47:38# If I can't have you

0:47:38 > 0:47:41# I don't want nobody, baby

0:47:41 > 0:47:46# If I can't have you, Ah-ah-ah-ah. #

0:47:46 > 0:47:51Disco is a bad word if you're not the group

0:47:51 > 0:47:54that disco is built around.

0:47:54 > 0:47:58And we're the group that disco was built around.

0:47:58 > 0:48:03- And so based on that, we're very, very happy with the word disco. - Oh, absolutely.

0:48:03 > 0:48:05It was an amazing experience

0:48:05 > 0:48:07in the recording industry.

0:48:07 > 0:48:11There was no radio station that wasn't playing, back to back

0:48:11 > 0:48:13Gibb brothers songs.

0:48:13 > 0:48:17Of course, the record business was pretty angry because they couldn't get records on the playlist

0:48:17 > 0:48:19because there was no room.

0:48:19 > 0:48:21It was number one on the Billboard charts for six months unbroken.

0:48:21 > 0:48:24Fever did around 30 to 35 million.

0:48:24 > 0:48:26Thriller did approximately 50 million.

0:48:26 > 0:48:30We're quite happy to be second to Michael

0:48:30 > 0:48:32and we've had a lot of giggles about that.

0:48:37 > 0:48:38Ladies and gentlemen, our brother Andy.

0:48:38 > 0:48:43CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:48:44 > 0:48:45CHEERING DROWNS SINGING

0:48:47 > 0:48:49CHEERING DROWNS SINGING

0:48:49 > 0:48:52The door was always open for Andy. It was never closed off.

0:48:52 > 0:48:54Andy wanted to be one of us.

0:48:54 > 0:48:56He always wanted to be part of us.

0:48:56 > 0:48:59The difference in the age was quite radical

0:48:59 > 0:49:01so it never quite worked out.

0:49:01 > 0:49:05As time went on, Andy watching, listening,

0:49:05 > 0:49:07witnessing what we were doing,

0:49:07 > 0:49:09began to feel that this was something he could do too.

0:49:09 > 0:49:10as an individual.

0:49:10 > 0:49:12That's really how it came about.

0:49:12 > 0:49:14The first time I ever saw Andy perform

0:49:14 > 0:49:18in the way that we had performed, was on stage in Ibiza.

0:49:18 > 0:49:20# Through the night

0:49:20 > 0:49:22# Taking me through the night

0:49:22 > 0:49:24# Shadow dancing

0:49:24 > 0:49:26# Baby, you do it right

0:49:26 > 0:49:28# Oh, give me more

0:49:28 > 0:49:31# Drag me across the floor

0:49:31 > 0:49:33# Shadow dancing

0:49:33 > 0:49:36# Always having more... #

0:49:36 > 0:49:38I made sure Robert heard what Andy had been doing,

0:49:38 > 0:49:41Andy invited Robert and I to Bermuda.

0:49:41 > 0:49:44We'd convinced Andy to get together with me

0:49:44 > 0:49:45to see if we could come up with something.

0:49:45 > 0:49:48The first thing was I Just Want To Be Your Everything.

0:49:48 > 0:49:50The second was Thicker Than Water.

0:49:50 > 0:49:54The third was something that all four of us wrote together,

0:49:54 > 0:49:55called Shadow Dancing.

0:49:55 > 0:49:59# You do it right taking me through the night

0:49:59 > 0:50:01# Shadow dancing

0:50:01 > 0:50:04# Baby, you do it right... #

0:50:04 > 0:50:07Then he started writing more and he was getting better.

0:50:07 > 0:50:10He was doing very well in terms of numbers ones

0:50:10 > 0:50:12and consecutive singles.

0:50:12 > 0:50:15If it was an artist today, it would be loud and proud.

0:50:15 > 0:50:19# I wish you were here

0:50:19 > 0:50:22# Drying these tears I cry

0:50:24 > 0:50:27# They were good times

0:50:27 > 0:50:29# And I wish you were here

0:50:29 > 0:50:32# And calling my name

0:50:32 > 0:50:37Andy had great strike not unlike Maurice and perhaps, perhaps not,

0:50:37 > 0:50:39that's what ended his life.

0:50:39 > 0:50:44But with the drugs and cocaine abuse that he had done LA over his young life...

0:50:44 > 0:50:46He'd been involved with a lot of people doing drugs.

0:50:46 > 0:50:48About six months before he died, he went back to stay

0:50:48 > 0:50:51at Robin's house, then we heard he was hitting the liquor store.

0:50:51 > 0:50:55And he did it for 48 hours, I believe he was drinking

0:50:55 > 0:50:57when he was taken into hospital.

0:50:57 > 0:51:00And the day before was his 30th birthday and I called him up

0:51:00 > 0:51:03and Robin said he can't come to the phone, he's out of his skull.

0:51:03 > 0:51:06I thought, tell his to sod off, I said.

0:51:06 > 0:51:08Go away, and I put the phone down.

0:51:08 > 0:51:11I got very angry. I thought, when will he learn?

0:51:19 > 0:51:25And it was three days after that. Ken who works for Robin called us about 6 or 7 in the morning

0:51:25 > 0:51:29and said that Andy has passed away. I just dropped the phone.

0:51:29 > 0:51:34# Ah, I wish you were here

0:51:34 > 0:51:37# Drying these tears I cry

0:51:39 > 0:51:41# They were good times... #

0:51:41 > 0:51:44The last thing that happened between me and Andy was an argument

0:51:44 > 0:51:48which is devastating for me because I had to live with that all my life.

0:51:48 > 0:51:53There was a phone call, "You've really got to get your act together."

0:51:53 > 0:51:57Instead of being gentle about it, I was angry.

0:51:57 > 0:52:01And because someone had said to me, tough love is the answer, you know.

0:52:01 > 0:52:05So for me, it wasn't because that was the last conversation we had.

0:52:05 > 0:52:07That's my regret.

0:52:07 > 0:52:11We approached him to be a Bee Gee and we'd have loved him to be a Bee Gee.

0:52:11 > 0:52:16I think if he had have been, he may still be with us.

0:52:16 > 0:52:20# I tried to throw our love away And I can't let go... #

0:52:22 > 0:52:24We had to go in the studio the week after.

0:52:24 > 0:52:28We thought if we go back to work, we can get recentred.

0:52:31 > 0:52:35And I was playing the strings, it was very beautiful.

0:52:35 > 0:52:39Barry and Robin started crying and I started crying.

0:52:39 > 0:52:40We went home.

0:52:40 > 0:52:43About a month later we came back in and we did

0:52:43 > 0:52:48Wish You Were Here for Andy and that was very difficult to sing.

0:52:48 > 0:52:51But we wanted to do it.

0:52:51 > 0:52:53It was such a hauntingness on this sound

0:52:53 > 0:52:56I was getting on the keyboards that was so pretty.

0:52:56 > 0:53:00I was playing chords that went into beautiful melodies.

0:53:00 > 0:53:03Barry and Robin were like, maybe next week.

0:53:03 > 0:53:04And we left.

0:53:04 > 0:53:07# Tragedy

0:53:09 > 0:53:11# Tragedy... #

0:53:19 > 0:53:21Solo now.

0:53:25 > 0:53:26Hold it!

0:53:26 > 0:53:30It would be nice if we could find a bigger sound for that solo.

0:53:32 > 0:53:36Yes, just like that. Beautiful. Let's do it again.

0:53:36 > 0:53:38Second half of the chorus but bring that sounding, that's great.

0:53:39 > 0:53:44- Yeah.- OK. 1, 2, 3, 4.

0:53:44 > 0:53:47# Tragedy

0:53:47 > 0:53:49# Tragedy... #

0:53:49 > 0:53:52When somebody stops singing something really interesting,

0:53:52 > 0:53:55as soon as he stops singing an instrument takes over doing

0:53:55 > 0:53:57something equally interesting.

0:53:57 > 0:53:59And when that instrument stops and the voice comes back the voice

0:53:59 > 0:54:02has to be equally interesting as the instrumental before it.

0:54:02 > 0:54:06So anywhere there's a space you make an interesting situation happen.

0:54:15 > 0:54:18When we were doing tragedy, for instance, we knew we wanted the sound

0:54:18 > 0:54:22of an explosion to come at a certain point to a accentuate the track.

0:54:22 > 0:54:26So we all gathered in the control booth and listened to the track back.

0:54:26 > 0:54:28It might work. Now listen...

0:54:31 > 0:54:38THEY ALL TALK OVER EACH OTHER

0:54:38 > 0:54:41What might work is...

0:54:41 > 0:54:45Like then, go to the mic and go, "kkkrrrr."

0:54:45 > 0:54:47And maybe if we can turn it into an explosion.

0:54:47 > 0:54:51Let's try overloading it.

0:54:51 > 0:54:53What about a real explosion in the studio?

0:54:53 > 0:54:55There's an air force base.

0:54:55 > 0:54:59- Where do we find one? - Max has some dynamite in his office!

0:54:59 > 0:55:04- Let me give it to go before we get the dynamite.- OK.

0:55:04 > 0:55:07- This will be interesting.- I hope everything comes out all right.

0:55:07 > 0:55:11- See if he finds a downbeat.- He's got to get it in at the right spot.

0:55:11 > 0:55:13Give me some track. Let's give it a shot.

0:55:24 > 0:55:27HE MAKES EXPLOSION SOUND

0:55:27 > 0:55:28LAUGHTER

0:55:28 > 0:55:33I think, Barry, loosen your shirt.

0:55:34 > 0:55:38Close your eyes and concentrate on the metre.

0:55:38 > 0:55:41I'll be counting. I'll be counting!

0:55:51 > 0:55:53HE MAKES EXPLOSION SOUND

0:55:55 > 0:55:57Thank you, fabulous.

0:55:57 > 0:55:59It was a hair early but when we're all together.

0:55:59 > 0:56:01Let's hear it back.

0:56:01 > 0:56:04Listen, it's going to work with three together

0:56:04 > 0:56:08and maybe you can do something sound wise to make them work.

0:56:08 > 0:56:10Shut up and get in here.

0:56:14 > 0:56:16Let's hear it back.

0:56:17 > 0:56:19Was he still the same guy as he was before?

0:56:29 > 0:56:30There you go, fantastic.

0:56:30 > 0:56:32Very nice.

0:56:35 > 0:56:38# When the feeling's gone and you can't go on, it's tragedy

0:56:38 > 0:56:41# When the morning cries but you don't know why

0:56:41 > 0:56:45# It's hard to bear with no-one to love you

0:56:45 > 0:56:48# You're going nowhere

0:56:48 > 0:56:50# Tragedy

0:56:50 > 0:56:53# When you lose control and you go no soul

0:56:53 > 0:56:54# It's tragedy

0:56:54 > 0:56:57# When the morning cries and you don't know why

0:56:57 > 0:57:01# It's hard to bear with no-one to love you

0:57:01 > 0:57:03# You're going nowhere... #

0:57:03 > 0:57:06In retrospect, we could have actually waited a year or so

0:57:06 > 0:57:09before Spirits came out.

0:57:09 > 0:57:12Saturday Night Fever was still in the top 10 when we brought Spirits out.

0:57:12 > 0:57:17That was a 30-ton tour, they call it! A lot of gear.

0:57:17 > 0:57:20We had six semi trailers, we had the 707 plane.

0:57:20 > 0:57:21It was huge.

0:57:22 > 0:57:27I mean, Dodgers Stadium, places like that. We used to dream of this.

0:57:27 > 0:57:30Having people in the audience like Barbra Streisand

0:57:30 > 0:57:32watching your show and loving it.

0:57:32 > 0:57:35These were fantasies. These were all dreams.

0:57:35 > 0:57:36And to have a 707?!

0:57:36 > 0:57:40Black with red bottom and our three heads on the tail and all this.

0:57:40 > 0:57:44We are going, wooh! Even getting bomb threats was great!

0:57:44 > 0:57:48Because if you weren't important, they wouldn't bomb you!

0:57:48 > 0:57:53# Night and day, there's a burning down inside of me

0:57:55 > 0:57:57# Burning love

0:57:57 > 0:58:01# With a yearning that won't let me be

0:58:03 > 0:58:04# Down I go

0:58:05 > 0:58:09# I just can't take it all alone

0:58:09 > 0:58:13# I really should be holding you

0:58:13 > 0:58:15# Holding you

0:58:15 > 0:58:17# Loving you

0:58:17 > 0:58:19# Loving you

0:58:22 > 0:58:23# Tragedy

0:58:23 > 0:58:26# When the feeling's gone and you can't go on

0:58:26 > 0:58:28# It's tragedy

0:58:28 > 0:58:30# When the morning cries and you don't know why

0:58:30 > 0:58:31# It's hard to bear

0:58:31 > 0:58:33# With no-one to love you

0:58:33 > 0:58:36# You're going nowhere... #

0:58:36 > 0:58:39It was a great tour and Andy joined us on that tour in a few shows,

0:58:39 > 0:58:43even John Travolta. It was a fabulous experience.

0:58:43 > 0:58:47To go on stage and see the audience, that's the only way you can

0:58:47 > 0:58:50say thank you - by going on stage live - for putting you there.

0:58:50 > 0:58:53That was our way of thanking people. It's the only way you can do it.

0:58:53 > 0:58:59If it wasn't for the audience, we wouldn't have been up there.

0:59:03 > 0:59:06The 50-city tour we did for Spirits

0:59:06 > 0:59:09was really the beginning of Maurice's alcohol problems.

0:59:09 > 0:59:11But, you see, I was always very protected.

0:59:11 > 0:59:13I didn't get all the arrests that people would have got

0:59:13 > 0:59:17because I was always protected by people looking after me.

0:59:17 > 0:59:19"He's just having a good time, it was all right."

0:59:19 > 0:59:21They would take me up to my room, I wouldn't worry about getting

0:59:21 > 0:59:23to bed because they would take me to bed.

0:59:23 > 0:59:27We had security and people looking after us and roadies and things.

0:59:27 > 0:59:29Saved me from a lot of driving and speeding fines

0:59:29 > 0:59:31and drunk-driving tickets.

0:59:31 > 0:59:34The only time I got the first one was in the Isle of Man

0:59:34 > 0:59:36because I was the only guy in a blue Rolls-Royce

0:59:36 > 0:59:38driving around the Isle of Man drunk.

0:59:38 > 0:59:40I stuck out like a sore thumb.

0:59:40 > 0:59:43It was more of a question of denial.

0:59:43 > 0:59:47It is was more, let's keep writing, Mo will be OK.

0:59:47 > 0:59:50And the reason the Streisand Guilty album

0:59:50 > 0:59:54doesn't really involve Maurice on more than one song, Guilty,

0:59:54 > 0:59:57was because at that point Maurice had reached the razor's edge.

0:59:57 > 1:00:00He really needed to be in rehab.

1:00:00 > 1:00:03And so this was really the whole family um,

1:00:03 > 1:00:07coming to the same conclusion.

1:00:07 > 1:00:12Robin and I confronting Maurice in his home with Yvonne, his wife.

1:00:12 > 1:00:16Basically laying down a law which we didn't want to lay down.

1:00:16 > 1:00:21Which was Mo, it ends now or it ends forever.

1:00:21 > 1:00:25And... at that point Mo went into rehab.

1:00:25 > 1:00:29And took the step and Robin and I waited for about six months,

1:00:29 > 1:00:32for him to come back around.

1:00:32 > 1:00:36And then we went back in the studio together and carried on as we had before.

1:00:36 > 1:00:41The whole it's time to kill fever, kill disco period came in so we took a back seat.

1:00:41 > 1:00:43# Living eyes

1:00:43 > 1:00:47# When out in the rain will fall... #

1:00:47 > 1:00:48The saturation point was ridiculous.

1:00:48 > 1:00:52That's why we had to sit back and produce other people and write for others.

1:00:52 > 1:00:56When we heard that they were having Bee Gee-free weekends

1:00:56 > 1:00:59in Chicago and places like that, it was scary stuff.

1:00:59 > 1:01:04We thought the Bee Gees had better go on the back burner for a while

1:01:04 > 1:01:06until this dies down or something.

1:01:06 > 1:01:09So we couldn't do anything as the Bee Gees at all.

1:01:09 > 1:01:11We didn't make an album until '87.

1:01:11 > 1:01:15We had done so much in the studio over so few years

1:01:15 > 1:01:17that I think it caught up with us.

1:01:17 > 1:01:21Brrch!

1:01:21 > 1:01:24Personally, I thought this'll give us a chance to explore

1:01:24 > 1:01:25and write for other artists. We got offered Barbra.

1:01:25 > 1:01:30I called Neil Diamond and I said what's Barbra like to work with?

1:01:30 > 1:01:33He said she's fantastic, just go for it.

1:01:33 > 1:01:36# We got nothing to be guilty of

1:01:36 > 1:01:39# Our love will climb any mountain

1:01:39 > 1:01:43# Near or far we are

1:01:43 > 1:01:45# And we never let it end... #

1:01:48 > 1:01:49Me and Barry writing in his bedroom.

1:01:49 > 1:01:54We'd do a song each day and then the following week we'd do

1:01:54 > 1:01:56the lyrics to each respective song that we'd written.

1:01:56 > 1:02:00And we sent the seven songs that we'd finished at that point to Barbra Streisand.

1:02:00 > 1:02:03We had an immediate 'yes'. She wanted to start right away.

1:02:03 > 1:02:05So that was a very enjoyable experience.

1:02:05 > 1:02:07From then on it was Dionne Warwick's album.

1:02:07 > 1:02:10Kenny Rogers and Dolly. We all worked together and wrote.

1:02:10 > 1:02:12I did some solo stuff with Robin which was great.

1:02:12 > 1:02:14Everybody was doing something.

1:02:14 > 1:02:17We were all scattered at that point.

1:02:17 > 1:02:18We all wanted some time away.

1:02:18 > 1:02:22Robin wanted to live in New York for a little bit.

1:02:22 > 1:02:25Maurice was having back surgery.

1:02:25 > 1:02:27And so all of these opportunities opened up.

1:02:27 > 1:02:28We had nothing else to do.

1:02:28 > 1:02:33And that led to the Diana Ross album Chain Reaction.

1:02:33 > 1:02:36And the Kenny Rogers album with Dolly Parton and Islands In The Stream.

1:02:36 > 1:02:38# Islands in the stream

1:02:38 > 1:02:40# That is what we are

1:02:40 > 1:02:42# No-one inbetween

1:02:42 > 1:02:44# How can we be wrong?

1:02:44 > 1:02:46# Sail away with me

1:02:46 > 1:02:48# To another world

1:02:48 > 1:02:53# And we rely on each other # Ah-huh... #

1:02:53 > 1:02:56Islands In The Stream started out as a soul song.

1:02:56 > 1:02:59We came up with Islands In The Stream in our writing room upstairs.

1:02:59 > 1:03:02We all loved each other and knew we had a monster song

1:03:02 > 1:03:06we just didn't know who was going to record it.

1:03:06 > 1:03:09It was very like, HIGH PITCH: # Islands in the stream... #

1:03:09 > 1:03:12We viewed it as an R&B song and not a country song.

1:03:12 > 1:03:16And in the end it came to show that those two types of music

1:03:16 > 1:03:21are very close together and Islands In The Stream became a country song.

1:03:21 > 1:03:27Really, we're talking about two careers here. Composers and artists.

1:03:27 > 1:03:33The two go together, but then they are separate as well.

1:03:33 > 1:03:35They're both meaningful to us.

1:03:35 > 1:03:39We see ourselves as composers first and artists second

1:03:39 > 1:03:43because we can't have the second without the first

1:03:43 > 1:03:46and we enjoy writing for others.

1:03:46 > 1:03:49The greatest thing about being a writer, a songwriter,

1:03:49 > 1:03:53is when you write a song with someone in mind that you really love

1:03:53 > 1:03:57and then that person ends up singing it, there's no reward like it.

1:03:57 > 1:04:00We wrote a song for Celine Dion called Immortality.

1:04:00 > 1:04:03She inspired the song, she inspires us.

1:04:03 > 1:04:07Probably the finest female pop singer in the world.

1:04:07 > 1:04:10It was a dream it she might sing one of our songs one day.

1:04:10 > 1:04:11And the dream came true.

1:04:11 > 1:04:17# So this is who I am

1:04:17 > 1:04:21# And this is all I know...#

1:04:22 > 1:04:25We wrote Immortality for the Saturday Night Fever musical

1:04:25 > 1:04:30and they wanted one big song at the end so the guy could come out, # Immortality! #

1:04:30 > 1:04:32The whole thing. There was a guy that sang it in the show

1:04:32 > 1:04:35but he wrote it with Celine totally in mind.

1:04:35 > 1:04:41# And I will stand for my dream if I can

1:04:41 > 1:04:47# Symbol of my faith in who I am

1:04:47 > 1:04:51# But you are my only... #

1:04:51 > 1:04:53# One day I'm going to lift the cover

1:04:53 > 1:04:57# And look inside your heart

1:04:57 > 1:05:00# We gotta level before we go

1:05:00 > 1:05:02# And tear this love apart

1:05:02 > 1:05:04# There's no fight you can't fight

1:05:04 > 1:05:07# This battle of love with me

1:05:07 > 1:05:08# You win again

1:05:08 > 1:05:13# So little time we do nothing but compete

1:05:13 > 1:05:16# There's no life on earth

1:05:16 > 1:05:18# No other could see me through

1:05:18 > 1:05:20# You win again

1:05:20 > 1:05:22# Some never try

1:05:22 > 1:05:25# But if anybody can, we can

1:05:25 > 1:05:28# And I'll be... I'll be

1:05:28 > 1:05:30# Following you. #

1:05:30 > 1:05:33I keep a dictaphone next to the bed.

1:05:33 > 1:05:36About four in the morning I woke up with this melody

1:05:36 > 1:05:41which was, "there's no fight you can't fight this battle of love with me,

1:05:41 > 1:05:44"you win again" and that was it.

1:05:44 > 1:05:48I thought if I lose this it'll be gone forever.

1:05:50 > 1:05:54Because the next day it's gone. It's just gone.

1:05:54 > 1:05:57- So I checked the machine, there was no cassette in it. - It's always the same.

1:05:57 > 1:06:00I was running around the house trying to find a cassette

1:06:00 > 1:06:04and I found a cassette and got whatever I could down and played it

1:06:04 > 1:06:06to Robin the next day.

1:06:06 > 1:06:08# There's no fight you can't fight

1:06:08 > 1:06:10# This battle of love with me

1:06:10 > 1:06:12# You win again

1:06:12 > 1:06:14# So little time

1:06:14 > 1:06:16# We do nothing but compete... #

1:06:18 > 1:06:20It was funny.

1:06:20 > 1:06:24Unfortunately the record was never released here but You Win Again when it came out in 1987.

1:06:24 > 1:06:29We had signed with Warners and this was the first record and everybody went gung ho.

1:06:29 > 1:06:34And really did well. And I remember we had these stomps put on.

1:06:34 > 1:06:36There was something in my garage we had come up with

1:06:36 > 1:06:38and got it all together.

1:06:38 > 1:06:42There's no drums at all. It's sounds that we made.

1:06:42 > 1:06:44I remember Reef was producing the album with us

1:06:44 > 1:06:47and he said great when you come to New York we'll do

1:06:47 > 1:06:52You Win Again again because we had done the demo in my garage.

1:06:52 > 1:06:57We got to New York and I thought they would do the whole thing again.

1:06:57 > 1:06:58Where do we start?

1:06:58 > 1:07:02And we had some programmers and he went, "Have you got the stomps?"

1:07:02 > 1:07:06"No, I thought we were going to do the whole thing again."

1:07:06 > 1:07:08"Oh no, you've got to get the stomps. The stomps make the record.

1:07:08 > 1:07:12"We've to get the stomps to make the sound is part of the back track.

1:07:12 > 1:07:16So, I had to get them sampled on my drum machine in Miami

1:07:16 > 1:07:18and the discs sent up.

1:07:18 > 1:07:20We embellished it a bit more in the studio

1:07:20 > 1:07:24And the record company wanted them off.

1:07:24 > 1:07:26We went, "No."

1:07:26 > 1:07:29"Can you take them off the intro?" "No."

1:07:29 > 1:07:33"Can you turn them down in the mix?" "No." It's as it is.

1:07:33 > 1:07:37That's the record. And they didn't like that. They weren't too happy.

1:07:37 > 1:07:41And now everybody says when the record starts on the radio you know it's the Bee Gees.

1:07:41 > 1:07:45And that was a great single - it signalled the song is coming.

1:07:45 > 1:07:47It became Princess Diana's favourite song.

1:07:47 > 1:07:50It was amazing, the success that record had.

1:07:50 > 1:07:54I knew I had made it in the sampling when Phil Collins came up to me

1:07:54 > 1:07:56and said can you give me a copy of the stomps?

1:08:07 > 1:08:10# Feel my heartbeat

1:08:10 > 1:08:14# When you run your fingers through my hair

1:08:16 > 1:08:18# I can tell you

1:08:18 > 1:08:23# I can feel you by my side when you're not there

1:08:23 > 1:08:26Yeah

1:08:26 > 1:08:30# Just as my life fades to darkness

1:08:30 > 1:08:34# You make me see the light

1:08:34 > 1:08:38# Show me that my search is over

1:08:38 > 1:08:41# I pay the price

1:08:41 > 1:08:44I pay the price

1:08:44 > 1:08:45# Tell you some day

1:08:45 > 1:08:49# Baby, you and I should be one, one

1:08:51 > 1:08:55# Do it always

1:08:55 > 1:08:56# Brighter than the eye can see

1:08:56 > 1:08:58# We hide the sun

1:08:59 > 1:09:01I think the Bee Gees sound...

1:09:01 > 1:09:03I don't know how to describe it.

1:09:03 > 1:09:05I guess it's a mixture. It's us.

1:09:05 > 1:09:09You've to remember we come from an era where everybody was experimenting with sounds.

1:09:09 > 1:09:12And it was almost a rite of passage.

1:09:16 > 1:09:18It's a mixed bag.

1:09:18 > 1:09:23I think we were fortunate that it wasn't just one lead singer.

1:09:23 > 1:09:26We could alternate and sometimes sing the same song together.

1:09:26 > 1:09:32When we sing songs like you know how easy it is to hurt me.

1:09:32 > 1:09:36Barry and Robin sing in unison but it sounds like one guy.

1:09:36 > 1:09:39A bit more Robin, a bit more Barry, are you sure which one is it?

1:09:39 > 1:09:42It's a sound of the two.

1:09:42 > 1:09:45Then the three of us go into harmony on the finally be tender.

1:09:45 > 1:09:50And you know how easy it is. It's just Barry and Robin.

1:09:50 > 1:09:53But they mesh together so well it sounds like one voice

1:09:53 > 1:09:56but it's a different voice from them separately.

1:09:56 > 1:10:00To us, it was like The Beatles. Having that alternative lead,

1:10:00 > 1:10:01and being able to mix it up.

1:10:01 > 1:10:05# Make somebody mine

1:10:05 > 1:10:07# I come down on my knees

1:10:07 > 1:10:09# You say love can be blind

1:10:09 > 1:10:12- # It's that hunger you feel - You know my life is in your hands

1:10:12 > 1:10:15# And every breath you take is planned

1:10:15 > 1:10:17# And all this love goes on forever

1:10:19 > 1:10:21# Tell you someday... #

1:10:21 > 1:10:26I think people today in the world of music are far more conservative in what they do.

1:10:26 > 1:10:32They don't use harmonies like they should. It's because they're too lazy, it's hard work,

1:10:32 > 1:10:36because there's no technology that can create the human voice in harmony,

1:10:36 > 1:10:39or even a machine that could create a melody. You've got to do that yourself.

1:10:39 > 1:10:44Those are the basic vehicles of all popular music.

1:10:44 > 1:10:47That's what's going to make music what it is, and the songs what they are,

1:10:47 > 1:10:51and there's still no technology for those principle ones. Thank God there isn't.

1:10:51 > 1:10:54So that blend has been used quite a lot.

1:10:54 > 1:10:58It's when we do the harmonies, we bank them underneath with doubles and falsettos on top,

1:10:58 > 1:11:01so you get the full richness of the harmony, which is what I love to do.

1:11:01 > 1:11:05I love to arrange, get the records all... Put this and that there.

1:11:05 > 1:11:09Paint the picture, add the colours. They're like our children,

1:11:09 > 1:11:11we send them out in the world, hope they'll do well.

1:11:11 > 1:11:14# I stumble in the night

1:11:14 > 1:11:17# Never really knew what it would've been like

1:11:17 > 1:11:21# You're no longer there to break my fall

1:11:23 > 1:11:25# The heartache over you

1:11:25 > 1:11:29# I gave it everything but I couldn't get through

1:11:29 > 1:11:31# I never saw the signs

1:11:32 > 1:11:35# You're the last to know when love is blind

1:11:35 > 1:11:40# All the tears and the turbulent years when I would not wait for no one

1:11:40 > 1:11:43# I didn't stop, take a look at myself

1:11:43 > 1:11:46# And see me losing you

1:11:49 > 1:11:52# When the lonely heart breaks

1:11:52 > 1:11:58# It's the one that forsakes It's the dream that we stole

1:12:01 > 1:12:06# And I'm missing you more And the fire that will roar

1:12:06 > 1:12:11# Hole in my soul

1:12:13 > 1:12:15# For you it's goodbye

1:12:15 > 1:12:18# For me it's to cry

1:12:18 > 1:12:22# For whom the bell tolls... #

1:12:22 > 1:12:28I think people will always love songs about human relationships and melody.

1:12:28 > 1:12:31These are the songs that will reach out over the decades to the unborn,

1:12:31 > 1:12:34Because they are perennial as the grass. Human emotion.

1:12:34 > 1:12:37It's not ego that makes you write a great song.

1:12:37 > 1:12:42- It's the belief that you can't that makes you do it. - Sometimes even envy, jealousy.

1:12:42 > 1:12:46You hear a great song on the radio and you think, "I wish I could write a song like that.

1:12:46 > 1:12:49I think you need things to motivate you,

1:12:49 > 1:12:52but also there's that belief that you can, as well.

1:12:52 > 1:12:54You know, Damn The Torpedoes.

1:12:54 > 1:12:59What Robert said to us in 1967, write for 40 years from now.

1:12:59 > 1:13:03Don't just write for now. In other words, don't write for trends and fashions,

1:13:03 > 1:13:06which we tried not to do. That's the one thing I remember him saying,

1:13:06 > 1:13:08write for the future.

1:13:08 > 1:13:10# For you it's goodbye

1:13:10 > 1:13:13# For me it's to cry

1:13:13 > 1:13:19# For whom the bell tolls... #

1:13:23 > 1:13:26Please stand and welcome Barry, Robin, Maurice Gibb

1:13:26 > 1:13:29into the Hall of Fame. The Bee Gees!

1:13:29 > 1:13:32APPLAUSE

1:13:35 > 1:13:39'Being in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was just a dream for us.'

1:13:39 > 1:13:44Not only getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but being inducted by Brian Wilson,

1:13:44 > 1:13:46to me was a knockout. That blew my night.

1:13:46 > 1:13:50We are in fact the enigma with the stigma. We know this,

1:13:50 > 1:13:54we're aware of it, we hear it every day, we live with it,

1:13:54 > 1:13:56we have suffered.

1:13:56 > 1:14:01But tonight, I think we've come home, and we thank you very much for this honour.

1:14:01 > 1:14:06So every single award you get has a different kind of intense, emotional experience for you.

1:14:06 > 1:14:10The Brit Awards, it's been a long time since we've been involved in anything like that.

1:14:10 > 1:14:13To get the lifetime achievement award was a wonderful honour.

1:14:13 > 1:14:18Beautiful, Quincy Jones coming out any giving us that award in the American Music Awards.

1:14:18 > 1:14:21Quincy, I've known for a lot of years,

1:14:21 > 1:14:22and it's so sweet he could do that.

1:14:22 > 1:14:24Gentlemen...

1:14:24 > 1:14:29let me just sum it up with this phrase on your international award.

1:14:29 > 1:14:34Their recordings have sold well over 100 million copies worldwide...

1:14:34 > 1:14:36CHEERING

1:14:36 > 1:14:40Making them one of the top five most successful artists ever.

1:14:40 > 1:14:43Congratulations, and good luck on your upcoming world tour.

1:14:43 > 1:14:44Barry!

1:14:44 > 1:14:47CHEERING

1:14:47 > 1:14:53How times change. 10, 15 years ago, you wouldn't have put on a Bee Gees record. Now it's sort of OK.

1:15:10 > 1:15:15# I was a midnight rider on a cloud of smoke

1:15:15 > 1:15:19# I could make a woman hang on every single stroke

1:15:19 > 1:15:23# I was an iron man I had a master plan

1:15:23 > 1:15:25# I was alone

1:15:28 > 1:15:32# I could hear you breathing with a sigh of the wind

1:15:32 > 1:15:36# I remember how your body started trembling

1:15:36 > 1:15:39# Oh, what's a night it's been

1:15:39 > 1:15:43# And for the state I'm in I'm still alone

1:15:45 > 1:15:49# And all the wonders made for the Earth

1:15:49 > 1:15:54# And all the hearts in all creation

1:15:54 > 1:15:57# Somehow I always end up alone

1:15:57 > 1:15:59# Always end up alone

1:15:59 > 1:16:01# Always end up alone

1:16:03 > 1:16:06# So I play, I'll wait... #

1:16:06 > 1:16:10'We stopped touring, basically, to concentrate more on the writing,

1:16:10 > 1:16:13'on songs, and the work that was involved in that.

1:16:13 > 1:16:16'If we did tour, we wanted it to be special.

1:16:16 > 1:16:18'We didn't want to go out and do a nostalgic tour.'

1:16:18 > 1:16:21Just doing the old songs, saying "thank you very much".

1:16:21 > 1:16:26So we wanted to at least have a good success under our belt before we go out again.

1:16:26 > 1:16:28# And I don't want to be alone... #

1:16:28 > 1:16:35One Night Only only became a concept after we did the one show at MGM.

1:16:35 > 1:16:41It came about from back surgery. Long-term, every two nights, every one night tours

1:16:41 > 1:16:43were no longer really feasible.

1:16:43 > 1:16:48The pain was far too much for me. My back had set into a place

1:16:48 > 1:16:53where, if I did that every night, nobody was going to insure us to do that.

1:16:53 > 1:16:58And when you sing falsetto, it's a hell of a high range to go to. You need your back,

1:16:58 > 1:17:04and it's agony when you do it, cos you... Argh! You feel it before you've even taken half a breath.

1:17:04 > 1:17:06So Barry was going through all that stuff.

1:17:06 > 1:17:10I don't know how he did it. But he didn't want to do a bad show.

1:17:10 > 1:17:15# And if there's glory there to behold

1:17:15 > 1:17:19# Maybe it's my imagination

1:17:19 > 1:17:23# Another story there to be told

1:17:23 > 1:17:25- # So I play- Sha-la

1:17:25 > 1:17:27# I'll wait

1:17:27 > 1:17:31# And I pray it's not too late... #

1:17:31 > 1:17:37So we all made up our minds that maybe it was a good idea to do six shows worldwide,

1:17:37 > 1:17:43and put a price on each one of those shows. That way, people would travel to places we'd never been before.

1:17:43 > 1:17:46It'd let my back settle.

1:17:46 > 1:17:49So we did one almost every two weeks, three weeks.

1:17:49 > 1:17:50# And I don't want to be alone

1:17:50 > 1:17:55# Gone but not out of sight

1:17:55 > 1:17:57# I'm caught in the rain and there's no one home

1:17:57 > 1:18:00# And I don't want to be alone... #

1:18:00 > 1:18:03I've seen him do shows and his back's been in agony.

1:18:03 > 1:18:06I know, cos I've had back surgery too, exactly what he went through.

1:18:06 > 1:18:10He's persevered through a whole two-hour show in agony, and nobody would've known it.

1:18:10 > 1:18:14We knew it, cos he was singing and he'd turn round and look at us and go...

1:18:15 > 1:18:18Like this, and go...back out again.

1:18:18 > 1:18:19But all the time in agony.

1:18:19 > 1:18:25# I'm caught in the rain and there's no-one home

1:18:25 > 1:18:27# I don't want to be alone. #

1:18:27 > 1:18:31CHEERING

1:18:46 > 1:18:51# I've seen the story, I read it over once or twice

1:18:51 > 1:18:56# I said that you say A little bit of bad advice

1:18:56 > 1:19:01# I've been in trouble Happened to me all my life

1:19:01 > 1:19:06# I lie and you lie And who would get the sharpest knife

1:19:06 > 1:19:09# You know I shouldn't be somebody like that

1:19:09 > 1:19:12# I'm not the kind of man to throw his hat into the ring and

1:19:12 > 1:19:15# Go down without following through

1:19:15 > 1:19:16# The day turns into night

1:19:16 > 1:19:21# Go down, following through The day turns into night... #

1:19:21 > 1:19:25'This Is Where I Came In takes me back to our Beatle period.

1:19:25 > 1:19:30'We sort of went back to the way we recorded in the late '60s.'

1:19:30 > 1:19:32# This is just where I came in. #

1:19:32 > 1:19:36We sort of went back to that stage where it's the acoustics,

1:19:36 > 1:19:38keep the piano, the bass, the drums, whatever.

1:19:38 > 1:19:40Lot of live drums on this album.

1:19:40 > 1:19:43We wanted that live feel, particularly on the opening track.

1:19:43 > 1:19:45We just wanted to rock a bit more.

1:19:45 > 1:19:50This Is Where I Came In is the harmony thing. We wanted the three of us round one mic singing

1:19:50 > 1:19:52the harmony on this song. That's what we did.

1:19:52 > 1:19:55That was two takes, the whole song. The whole record. For the vocals.

1:19:55 > 1:19:58"OK, that's finished. Next?"

1:19:58 > 1:20:02It was like, "Whoa, this is good stuff. This is great fun."

1:20:02 > 1:20:03We were recording like we used to do.

1:20:03 > 1:20:09# Hope rides on But I'll go anywhere

1:20:09 > 1:20:12# Yes, I'll go anywhere with you

1:20:14 > 1:20:18# I always told myself I would regret this day

1:20:18 > 1:20:23# That I would fall apart and watch you walk away

1:20:23 > 1:20:29# That you would cry out loud and I would stand beside... #

1:20:29 > 1:20:31I loved it. I still do.

1:20:31 > 1:20:35I don't like the long hours in the studio any more because there's so much going on outside,

1:20:35 > 1:20:37and I don't have the attention span.

1:20:37 > 1:20:42If I can make a record in two days, I'll do that.

1:20:42 > 1:20:48But I couldn't sit there for 12 hours a day for 3 months like we used to. Not with five children.

1:20:48 > 1:20:53Not reality any more. But I love it. I love the results of it.

1:20:53 > 1:20:56When something sounds amazing and you don't know how you got there.

1:20:56 > 1:20:59# This is just where I came in. #

1:20:59 > 1:21:02CHEERING

1:21:07 > 1:21:09Thank you.

1:21:09 > 1:21:12Yeah, we love that. We love that song!

1:21:12 > 1:21:18OK, it's Maurice's turn now. Brother Mo, over here.

1:21:18 > 1:21:21CHEERING

1:21:21 > 1:21:26Maurice has done a lot more individual music on this album. It's really about himself.

1:21:26 > 1:21:30The song is called Man In The Middle. We hope you like it.

1:21:30 > 1:21:33CHEERING

1:21:54 > 1:21:58# I've got a plan that can never go wrong

1:21:58 > 1:22:02# You took advantage and the damage done

1:22:02 > 1:22:05# It all comes back to me, baby

1:22:06 > 1:22:09# It all comes back to me. #

1:22:09 > 1:22:12I've sort of been the man in the middle. It comes from that business

1:22:12 > 1:22:16where I've always been in the middle of things between Barry and Robin.

1:22:16 > 1:22:20At different times we've all been the man in the middle. Robin & I hardly ever see eye-to-eye,

1:22:20 > 1:22:26yet we gravitate towards each other no matter what. Mo was always, "Break it up, you guys!"

1:22:26 > 1:22:32"Don't argue." Mo would always be that guy that would take the middle ground or calm things down

1:22:32 > 1:22:38if things got... To that extent, yes, he was. But I think over the years we've all done that.

1:22:38 > 1:22:42# I'm just the man in the middle of a complicated plan

1:22:42 > 1:22:46# No-one to show me the signs

1:22:47 > 1:22:49# I'm just a creature of habit

1:22:49 > 1:22:51# In a complicated world

1:22:51 > 1:22:54# Nowhere to run to

1:22:54 > 1:22:55# Nowhere to hide. #

1:23:07 > 1:23:10CHEERING

1:23:16 > 1:23:19Maurice Gibb, one third of the Bee Gees, has died, aged 53.

1:23:19 > 1:23:22Here's Tamzin Sylvester with tonight's Liquid lead.

1:23:22 > 1:23:25'Maurice collapsed at his beach-front house in Miami

1:23:25 > 1:23:30'on Thursday with severe stomach pains. He was rushed to the nearby Mount Sinai Hospital,

1:23:30 > 1:23:36'but had a heart attack during emergency surgery. His twin brother Robin spoke to the media on Friday,

1:23:36 > 1:23:41'saying he was on the mend. Then, Maurice slipped into a coma. He died in the early hours of this morning

1:23:41 > 1:23:44'with his wife, children and brothers Gibb at his bedside.'

1:23:44 > 1:23:51It was shattering to both of us. Shattering to both of us in countless ways. Countless ways.

1:23:51 > 1:23:54And the speed at which it happened as well. It was so unexpected,

1:23:54 > 1:23:58because he was quite young, and he'd never really been ill...

1:23:58 > 1:24:04It happened in a matter of hours. It's still mind-blowing.

1:24:04 > 1:24:10From a Wednesday night to the Saturday when he died.

1:24:10 > 1:24:17- Nothing could stop it.- The idea of us going on without Mo became something that was...

1:24:17 > 1:24:22"Oh, we could do that! But no, we couldn't.

1:24:22 > 1:24:25"Yes, we could! No, we couldn't."

1:24:25 > 1:24:26We were in shock.

1:24:28 > 1:24:32Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the 2003 Legend Award recipients,

1:24:32 > 1:24:36Barry and Robin Gibb.

1:24:36 > 1:24:39APPLAUSE

1:24:40 > 1:24:45'The Legend, the 2003 award was bittersweet in the Grammys,

1:24:45 > 1:24:48'because it was... Maurice wasn't there.'

1:24:48 > 1:24:51'You've got to remember that Maurice died on January 12th.'

1:24:51 > 1:24:54This was, I think, some time in January.

1:24:54 > 1:25:00His family were there. So it became more of a... Everybody really dwelling on Mo,

1:25:00 > 1:25:04and the sadness of it, the fact we'd lost him at such an early age,

1:25:04 > 1:25:07and it was incredible to receive it, but we were sort of numb.

1:25:08 > 1:25:12We just hadn't come to terms with the fact, "Hey, Maurice has just died."

1:25:12 > 1:25:16We're talking about hours, days, and so it came right in the middle of it.

1:25:16 > 1:25:20Our equilibrium was completely out of whack.

1:25:20 > 1:25:24If it had been another time, we'd have enjoyed it more.

1:25:24 > 1:25:28If Mo had been there with us, it would have been the cream on the cake.

1:25:28 > 1:25:34But the idea that he wasn't there to share it was equally important, but in a very sad way.

1:25:34 > 1:25:38Even the most ardent fans will always know a different Maurice than I did.

1:25:38 > 1:25:42There's a personality, and a whole history that I know about Maurice

1:25:42 > 1:25:44that people will never know. That's the person I miss.

1:25:44 > 1:25:48The music is there, he lives on with the music.

1:25:48 > 1:25:52I hear him on the radio, when I hear a song with him, he's still alive.

1:25:52 > 1:25:58Robin and I love music so much, and it's so ingrained in our souls,

1:25:58 > 1:26:02that we don't know how to move away from it.

1:26:02 > 1:26:06I think it's important also for Maurice's memory,

1:26:06 > 1:26:08it's his legacy just as much.

1:26:08 > 1:26:12The legacy of the Bee Gees must go on, one way or the other.

1:26:12 > 1:26:14# There's a light

1:26:16 > 1:26:19# Certain kind of light

1:26:20 > 1:26:22# That never shone on me

1:26:26 > 1:26:28# I want my life to be

1:26:30 > 1:26:32# Lived with you... #

1:26:32 > 1:26:36'It's been a few years since we've heard our voices together.'

1:26:36 > 1:26:38# There's a way

1:26:40 > 1:26:42# Everybody sing... #

1:26:45 > 1:26:49'Maurice's death left a kind of emotional vacuum between the two of us,

1:26:49 > 1:26:52'because Barry had his way of dealing with it, I had my way,

1:26:52 > 1:26:57'and a few years have passed now, we're able to see each other in a different way.'

1:26:57 > 1:27:00'We're beginning to behave the way we always did before Mo died.'

1:27:00 > 1:27:04# You don't know what it's like

1:27:04 > 1:27:10# Baby, you don't know what it's like now

1:27:11 > 1:27:16# To love somebody, to love somebody

1:27:19 > 1:27:25# The way I love

1:27:26 > 1:27:29# You

1:27:31 > 1:27:35# Way I love you. #

1:27:35 > 1:27:37Because of what happened with Maurice,

1:27:37 > 1:27:40Barry had a way of expressing this way...

1:27:40 > 1:27:47I was polarized. I had no passion or interest in continuing at all.

1:27:47 > 1:27:50I wanted to keep the Bee Gees as the three of us.

1:27:50 > 1:27:54I wanted that to be the only thing anyone ever saw again.

1:27:57 > 1:28:00# Da-da da-da-da

1:28:07 > 1:28:11# I can think of younger days

1:28:11 > 1:28:14# When living for my life

1:28:15 > 1:28:19# Was everything a man could want to do

1:28:21 > 1:28:26# I could never see tomorrow

1:28:26 > 1:28:34# No-one said a word about the sorrow

1:28:35 > 1:28:37# And

1:28:37 > 1:28:41# How can you mend a broken heart?

1:28:45 > 1:28:48# How can you stop the rain from falling down?

1:28:50 > 1:28:53# How can you stop

1:28:54 > 1:28:56# The sun from shining?

1:28:56 > 1:29:01# What makes the world go round? #

1:29:01 > 1:29:06'We still have a lot of music in us, because we've already written one song together this week.

1:29:06 > 1:29:11'I now know inside that what we will do will be good.'

1:29:11 > 1:29:12'Yeah.'

1:29:12 > 1:29:14'It's time for us now to move on...'

1:29:14 > 1:29:17..without ever letting go of Mo.

1:29:17 > 1:29:23# Please help me mend my broken heart

1:29:23 > 1:29:28# And let me live again

1:29:28 > 1:29:33# Da-da da-da da. #

1:29:36 > 1:29:38The blend of the voices is great.

1:29:38 > 1:29:39Even I get nostalgic.

1:29:39 > 1:29:41HE LAUGHS

1:29:41 > 1:29:45I feel more, every day, fortunate to be born into a family

1:29:45 > 1:29:49where Barry is my brother, because I get to work with him.

1:29:49 > 1:29:52I mean, one of the greatest pop writers of all time!

1:29:52 > 1:29:57I mean, there's no... In all the billions of families

1:29:57 > 1:30:00born in the world, I got to be born in the family with him.

1:30:00 > 1:30:02How good can it get?!

1:30:02 > 1:30:04I mean, that's...

1:30:04 > 1:30:08Well, it gets... What it gets is mutual.

1:30:08 > 1:30:12What it gets is mutual. What you draw from me, I draw from you.

1:30:12 > 1:30:17And I look forward to the next time that we concoct something

1:30:17 > 1:30:21that we both look at each other and say "that's it".

1:30:21 > 1:30:23- That's all I care about.- Me too.

1:30:23 > 1:30:25# There's a light

1:30:27 > 1:30:30# A certain kind of light

1:30:31 > 1:30:33# That never shone on me

1:30:36 > 1:30:38# I want my life to be

1:30:38 > 1:30:41# Lived with you

1:30:41 > 1:30:45# Lived with you

1:30:45 > 1:30:47# There's a way

1:30:49 > 1:30:51# Everybody say

1:30:52 > 1:30:54# To do each and every little thing

1:30:57 > 1:31:00# But what does it bring

1:31:00 > 1:31:02# If I ain't got you

1:31:02 > 1:31:05# Ain't got

1:31:05 > 1:31:07# Faith?

1:31:07 > 1:31:10# You don't know what it's like

1:31:11 > 1:31:15# Baby, you don't know what it's like

1:31:16 > 1:31:18# To love somebody

1:31:18 > 1:31:21# To love somebody

1:31:21 > 1:31:23# The way I love you. #