"One" by Bee Gees

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  3983

Date:  07/29/1989

Debut:  73

Peak:  7

Weeks:  14

Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary

Pop Bits:  After getting caught up in the disco backlash at the turn of the decade, the Bee Gees were kind of personas non grata in the US. After six consecutive #1 Pop hits between '77 and '79, nothing they were releasing in the 80s could even get close to the Top 10. They decided to lay low for a while and do other projects including writing and producing hits for other artists like Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, and Dionne Warwick. Six years after their last regular studio album, the brothers finally returned with 1987's "E-S-P." It would do well around Europe including the UK where it went to #5. In the US, it seemed audiences weren't ready for the trio yet and the LP stalled at #96. However, with some good success in Europe, the brothers kept on going and recorded their next effort One. In the US, this title track served as the lead single. The tune, which didn't necessarily do well overseas, began to catch on. It would end up becoming their first Pop Top 10 hit since 1979 and their only one of the 80s. It did even better at AC where it reached #1. Despite the hit, it seems folks were still reluctant to buy a Bee Gees album and One stalled at #68. Still, it was a nice career resurrection from the musical grave for the trio.

ReduxReview:  I remember when this single started to gain some attention. I was looking forward to hearing it as I had liked the E-S-P album and figured this really had to be a great song since there was chatter about a comeback. After hearing the tune, I was kind of like...meh. It was a nice, easy going track that just sort of rolled along. I didn't find it all that interesting or special. Yet it began to take off and sure enough it made the Top 10. That result kind of pissed me off a bit because the main single from E-S-P, "You Win Again" (#75) was far superior and should have been their comeback hit. So I was kinda like - wait, you pop listeners and radio programmers ignored a great tune, but now y'all wanna send this lackluster track to the Top 10?  Jerks. Well, I can't be all that mad because it was great that they finally were able to score a hit. I like it a bit better these days, but it wouldn't make my list of favorite Bee Gees songs.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  This minor comeback by the Bee Gees proved to be a bit short-lived. Their next LP, '91's High Civilization, failed to chart. It was their last effort for Warner Bros. and the label did little to promote it and basically showed the trio the door. They moved over to Polydor for '93's Size Isn't Everything, but it too had a lackluster performance stopping at #153. The trio then recorded an album of acoustic covers of songs they wrote for other artists, but the label wasn't interested and shelved it. As they began to assemble a new original album late in '96, they were put in the spotlight thanks to their nomination and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The trio rode a nostalgia wave from the honor and it most likely helped their '97 album Still Waters. It would prove to be their biggest worldwide hit since their late 70s heydays. In the US, the LP would top out at #11 and go platinum. It got a boost from the #8 AC/#28 Pop hit "Alone." The trio's next LP, 2001's This Is Where I Came In would do fairly well reaching #16 in the US. However, it would prove to be their final studio effort as Maurice Gibb would die in 2003 from a heart attack while awaiting surgery.

_________________________________________________________________________________