Song#: 1463
Date: 05/21/1983
Debut: 49
Peak: 24
Weeks: 11
Genre: Pop, Adult Contemporary, Soundtrack
Pop Bits: The Bee Gees were kind of in a no-win situation. The disco backlash killed their career and their previous album, "Living Eyes," couldn't muster a major hit and sold poorly. With radio stations not wanting to play any of their music, the brothers were at a crossroads as to what their next move should be. Then Sylvester Stallone has an idea. He writes a sequel to "Saturday Night Fever" and plans to direct it as well. It would be named after the Bee Gees hit from the first film, "Stayin' Alive." With John Travolta on board, it seemed like a good idea to also get the Bee Gees to do more songs for the soundtrack. They agreed and wrote five new songs for the film. The balance of the soundtrack would be co-written by Stallone's brother Frank. This first single was released prior to the film to generate interest. It didn't quite work. The song remained locked out of the Pop Top 20 while reaching #31 AC and #77 R&B. Then, the film came out. Although it was blasted by most every critic, the lure of Travolta revisiting the Tony Manero character allowed the film to do well at the box office. The soundtrack would end up doing well reaching #6, but not due to the Bee Gees. Frank Stallone's hit "Far From Over" would help sell the soundtrack. The project would end up making money, but it quickly became the butt of jokes for many years after.
ReduxReview: This whole thing was just a bad idea. Besides the movie itself, why on earth at this point in time would the Bee Gees want to revisit what made them musical pariahs in the first place? Maybe it seemed like a good way to recapture magic in an updated way. After all, if the film ended up be a well-reviewed blockbuster, it might get the Bee Gees back on good footing in the music world. Although the film was a decent hit, the Bee Gees ended up locked out of everything. Their music was relegated to the background with all the attention going to the Stallone brothers and how bad the film really was. It didn't promote the Bee Gees, but it didn't further damage them either. Still, it probably wasn't the best choice for them. I didn't like this song at all and I still don't. I love the Bee Gees, but most everything about this song is wrong. At the time they were writing great songs for other artists so it is really surprising that this is what they came up with for themselves. For me, it ranks among their worst singles. They admitted in later years that their hearts were not really into the film's music and this song totally conveys that feeling.
ReduxRating: 3/10
Trivia: In addition to their work with other artists, the individual Bee Gees were doing their own solo recordings. Both Barry and Robin would issue solo albums in 1984 with each album featuring a Top 40 entry. Although Maurice would never record an album, he did issue a solo single the same year. Originally, the song "Hold Her in Your Hand" was recorded by the Bee Gees in their sessions for the "Living Eyes" album, but the song was not used. Maurice re-recorded the song on his own and it was used in the Kathleen Turner film "A Breed Apart." The film was not a hit and neither was the single release of the song. It would be one of only two solo records from Maurice ever released. The other was the 1970 single "Railroad." It also failed to chart in the US and UK, but went Top 10 in a couple of other countries. At that time, Maurice had recorded a full album, but it ended up remaining on the shelf.
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