Bee Gee finally succumbs to cancer
Their hits could fill an entire Saturday night, last until the first church bell rang on Sunday morning and provide a sweat-drenched workout on the dance floor that broke only for the slow numbers. Even more remarkable was that each classic gem of the Bee Gees, whose co-founder Robin Gibb died Sunday after a long battle with cancer, would be packed with feeling.
There’s “Jive Talkin’,” the group’s frenetic ode to a lying lover, which highlights a skeptical Gibb’s sweet tenor. “How Deep Is Your Love” finds Gibb, who co-founded the Bee Gees in 1958 with brothers Barry and Maurice (Robin’s fraternal twin), describing him and his lover “living in a world of fools breaking us down,” when they should really just leave them alone. That song alone was responsible for countless dark-corner slow dances.
The climax, of course, would hit with the first few notes of “Staying Alive” from “Saturday Night Fever,” the 1977 double-album soundtrack that made Robin and his brothers international superstars and helped define disco — and the 1970s.
The song, with its heaving R&B rhythm, captured the spirit of 1977, when the dance music born in New York, Philadelphia and Miami was being translated by poppier groups such as the Bee Gees and dipping into the mainstream. Younger brother Robin’s midrange tone tethered Barry’s wild falsetto, and they combined to create one of most instantly recognizable vocal teams in pop music.
Studio 54’s cocaine-fueled evenings became “Today” show fodder, and the Bee Gees’ feathered hair a look half the planet strove for. “Night Fever,” “More Than a Woman,” “Nights on Broadway” and “You Should Be Dancing” all became songs that could pack the dance floor.
But the group’s sound was more than just “disco.” There’s a misconception that the Bee Gees made their move into music with “Saturday Night Fever,” but it’s more accurate to say that disco became a name for the style of music the band had been migrating toward for half a decade.
Long before a white-suited John Travolta shuffle-stepped his way across a lighted dance floor, Robin, Barry and Maurice were experimenting with the R&B sounds coming out of the gay and straight discotheques in urban centers and combining them with rhythms so far removed from the group’s earlier hits that it might as well have been a different band.
In a sense, it was different bands. After a successful career in the ’60s rising alongside the British Invasion acts and finding success, Robin left the Bee Gees late in the decade, a symptom of a sibling rivalry that would drive their energy for the rest of the 1970s and ’80s. He pursued a solo career, one that yielded the baroque pop gem “Robin’s Reign” in 1969.
He returned to the Bee Gees in 1970, but while many of their post-British Invasion contemporaries continued along predictable paths, following the Beatles’ lead in the late ’60s, then moving into harder rock or country rock, the Bee Gees in the early 1970s, under the guidance of influential British music impresario and film producer Robert Stigwood, dived into the dance-floor sounds being born in America. Recording at Criteria Studios in Miami, the band stitched complicated Caribbean rhythms — and cowbell — into its innate pop sensibilities and the soul and funk of Curtis Mayfield, the O’Jays, MFSB and James Brown.
It was this distillation that half a decade later resulted in “Saturday Night Fever,” the double album released in November 1977 that went on to generate at least 10 disco classics, sell more than 15 million albums and transform the entire pop landscape. Working with those joyous, exuberant harmonies in service of long, life-affirming grooves like on “You Should Be Dancing,” the trio became the voice of Saturday night.
That influence continues. No matter how hard critics and the rock establishment tried to kill disco, after the Bee Gees’ peak success — shattered by the debacle that was their film version of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and too many cheesy Rod Stewart crossover songs — the music went back underground, rising from time to time as a reminder of its spirit. In 2012, the beat-driven genre is cited by artists as an influence just as often as punk rock, which supposedly “killed” disco.
It didn’t. The evidence lies within the grooves that Robin and his brothers created, as vital, life-affirming and human as ever.
With producer Ben Folds, Sara goes rogue
First, let's start with the good stuff. You wanna hear Sara Bareilles' song "Bright Lights and Cityscapes?" There's only one place to here it, here on MSN Music, by clicking right here.
Wanna hear more? The EP comes out on Tuesday, but the song "Lie to Me" is here, and Perez Hilton has the mildly obscene song "Sweet As Whole" for listening (don't believe it's mildly obscene? Either listen to the download or just say the song title really fast).
But Bareilles and her team have always been new-music savvy. "Love Song" was a free download from iTunes, and its official music video has more than 40 million views. With the recent cancellation of her show "The Sing Off" with co-judge Ben Folds, Bareilles is free to do whatever she wants. Her new EP, "Once Upon Another Time," produced by Folds, is officially available on Tuesday. You can hear the title track here.
Sara talked with MSN for a few minutes during a much-needed break at her home in Los Angeles.
MSN: I'm so sorry to see "The Sing Off got canceled this week.
Bareilles: "I know! I’m sad too. It’s bittersweet. I’m really grateful to be part of the show, but it feels like its ending before it’s time. Hopefully there will be a place for it somewhere; the producers are trying to find a home for it. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it’ll reincarnate in some way.
Did you know Ben Folds before you were on the show together?
"We actually had met. We did a couple of show together on tour, a handful of shows. It was when he was doing the a capella tour of his own music. We found that we were a cappela kindred spirits. I talked to him about doing this EP, and then I was part of the show. It would seem that it would happen the other way around, but I met him before I was part of the show.”
What did Ben bring to the project
I knew I wanted this EP to be a step in a different direction and approach it from a new angle. We were both in Nashville. … his studio is juts amazing, a really special quality to it. I knew I wanted to record there… it dawned on me, I was gonna be in his studio, did he even wanna do the production? …he took the bait so it worked out."
You seem to pick up opportunities to market yourself that don't seem cheesy yet get your music out there.
"I feel lucky I have a great team. I very much believe in the value of collaboration…. Sometimes I come up with an idea, lots of time there’s an opportunity through management…I’m really someone who has learned to be open-minded about things. I used to be more closed off about collaboration or a TV show. I can totally imagine myself in the beginning of my career saying ‘Absolutely not. No way will I be on a TV show.’ But never say never…if I don’t like it, I never have to do it again.’ I don’t wanna do a bunch of cheesy (crap).”
How were the sessions for this EP? They sound raw, quick, and pull no punches.
“These sessions were fairly quick. We were in and out of studio in less than two weeks… a lot of stuff I did at home…and we sweetened up the quality. … the title track 'Once Upon Another Time' was solely recorded and programmed here at my house. … one of the things I appreciated most about working with Ben is he was really validating of my ideas, stepping out a bit on my own a bit and standing on my own two feet. He really helped shape it and make it feel the way it feels… I liked letting it go a little bit.”
You've also done the documentary "A Trace of the Sun" about the tsunami in Japan. It seems like we get concerned about disasters then forget about them.
“It’s nice to highlight some of the programs and institutions out there that aren’t moving on. The organization I worked with “All Hands Volunteers.” they still have a program based out of Japan…it’s nice to be educated on some of that stuff. My take-away was to get people to volunteer in whatever makes sense in their lives. You don’t have to jump on a plane to Japan to volunteer. … I consider myself a nice person, a generous person, but it’s a whole different level of awareness to serve in that way. It’s so valuable and so beautiful to be a giver …it’s nice to remember you’re not the center of the universe.”
Band has spent too long on the mean streets
Sometimes the simplest explanations are the least-sexy ones. When Van Halen announced this week it was postponing the second leg of its tour, conspiracy theories flew. Eddie Van Halen and David Lee Roth are fighting so badly they can't stand it. Ticket sales are in the toilet. Eddie's health issues have resurfaced.But none of them made sense. Fighting? They can't stand each other, yet they'll work together for five more weeks? No. Low ticket sales? Continuing to tour would be like throwing good money after bad, so they'd pull the plug immediately as well. Besides, the tour is selling strongly. Health issues? Again, a five-week wait to deal with that makes no sense.
The truth? According to a source, the band is simply burned out after dozens of high-energy dates so far this year. This first leg ends in New Orleans on June 26 and the band is going to take some time off and regroup for the second leg. Sources couldn't promise any dates when the band would be back out, but the key at the moment is that the dates are "postponed," not "canceled."
So catch 'em while you can between now and June 26, or take your chances on the rest of the year.
Late disco diva had an admirer in Springsteen
Plenty of accolades and tributes will surface in the coming days for the late Donna Summer and the vast influence she had on popular music. But for the moment, here's a rarity worth hearing.While many rock fans were still toeing the "Disco sucks!" line in the early '80s, Bruce Springsteen was an admirer of all forms of music, writing songs for everyone from The Ramones (who declined) to The Knack. He also wrote a song with Summer in mind - "Cover Me." The decision was made to keep it for the "Born in the USA" album so he came up with another song, "Protection." He played on Summer's version, which was released in 1982.
Many years later, Springsteen's own version leaked on bootleg recordings. And fans being fans, someone took his version and combined it with hers, creating the duet that the two were rumored to have recorded and shelved at the time. So here we have, through the magic of bootlegging and computer technology, Springsteen and Summer finally doing a mashed-up duet on the song.
Here We Go Magic Picks Up John Waters
2:45 p.m.: Band member Michael Bloch tells us, "There's a hydro-fracking boom in western Pennsylvania. You can't get a motel room. We had to drive til 4AM, and finally found a Days Inn in eastern Ohio. Getting back on the highway this morning, there was a man at the side of the on-ramp with a sign that read 'to the end of Rte 70.' Jen wanted to pick him up, but we drove past him. As we passed by, our sound guy said 'John Waters' Luke said, 'Yep, definitely John Waters.' We got off at the next exit and circled back. He was still there. We pulled up, opened the door and asked where he was coming from. 'Baltimore,' he said. And we said 'Get in, sir.' "
Dates announced for first tour since 2003
It's hard to believe it has been nine years since Neil Young and Crazy Horse launched a full tour (and some fans don't even count it - at every show on the 2003 tour, "Greendale" was performed in its entirety with sets and actors, with just a handful of Young classics thrown in as encores). With the album "Americana" due out June 5, Young has announced several dates over what looks like a very slim summer tour. Those include two nights at Red Rocks in Colorado (where Young filmed a show for release in 2000), the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco for three nights and then three more nights at New Orleans' Voodoo Fest in October.
That's one odd touring schedule no matter how you cut it. Presumably the missing dates will be filled in soon.Fans who worried about "Americana" - it's all covers of classic American songs - are breathing a little easier as tracks emerge. The song "Jesus' Chariot" (better known as "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain") has been released and there's plenty of Crazy Horse rock along with wailing guitar solos to satisfy the hardcore.
Like Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Neil Young and Crazy Horse is one of those pairings that fans just expect to see -- but history has shown us in both cases that it can be fleeting. This is the must-see tour of the summer.
Genesis singer has one of the rarest collections in the world
Jeff Beck loves cars, and George Harrison loved Formula 1 racing. Neil Young is obsessed with trains, be it Lionel tracks or the real deal. Bob Dylan paints, and Jack White is into taxidermy. Elton John and Rod Stewart are both so obsessed with soccer that they've written songs about it. Ian Anderson owns salmon farms.Phil Collins? He loves the history of Texas, especially what happened at The Alamo.
Collins recently made a trip to Buffalo Gap, Texas to talk about his extensive collection of artifacts and history of The Alamo and the American West. He owns a rifle previously owned by Davy Crockett, a genuine Bowie knife owned by Jim Bowie and a Sam Houston snuffbox.
"It keeps me off the streets. What am I going to do? I don't want to traipse around the world anymore," he told Steve Campbell of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I love it. I sit downstairs in my basement and looking at and sort of drooling over what I've got. It was never my intention to have this huge collection, but one thing led to another and it's my private thing."
He has written a new book, "The Alamo and Beyond, A Collector's Journey." It chronicles his obsession with the place ever since watching TV as a child and his first trip to the landmark when Genesis toured the U.S. in the '70s. In recent years he has funded archeological digs and built his collection into one of the finest in the world. Hey, there are worse ways to spend your money.
This time it's a photo rather than the music
Fans and fanatics have made a cottage industry out of playing the music of The Beatles backwards, be it to get clues about whether Paul is dead or whether the band was singing something nasty in the inner groove of the "Sgt. Pepper" album.Here's the Beatles in reverse again, but this time it's a legit rarity. It's amazing that the cover of "Abbey Road" ended up being such an iconic photo, because the "session" involved walking back and forth across a crosswalk outside the studio and letting a photographer get off a few quick shots. Outtakes have leaked over the years, but now you can legitimately own one. The above photo of the band going the "wrong" way across the famous crosswalk now goes up for auction in England, according to The Guardian. Notice that in the photo Paul McCartney is wearing his sandals, bolstering his explanation of why he took his shoes off that day. He claimed he was hot; I hope he was simply embarrassed by those clogs.
If you look at all the outtakes, it really is a miracle that Iain Macmillan got a usable image at all. There are only six actual crosswalk shots, most of them looking like a tourist's snapshot, while one captures the four perfectly spaced, perfectly in pace with each other.
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