Saturday Night Fever

Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Sound Track - 1977 - RSO Records

Hello Friends,

Its a muggy Summer's night here on Vinyl in the Valley and we're working up a healthy sweat listening to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack double album.

One of the most successful soundtrack album's of all time, the album captures the disco phenomenon at its apex.  Most of the tracks were either written or performed by The Bee Gees and features some of their biggest all time hits: "Stayin' Alive", "How Deep Is Your Love", "Night Fever", "More Than A Woman" (with a Bee Gees and a Tavares version), "Jive Talkin", "You Should Be Dancing" & "If I Can't Have You" (performed here by Yvonne Elliman.)

Other songs that round out the collection include Walter Murphy's classical-disco mash-up, "A Fifth of Beethoven"; David Shire's disco instrumentals (disco-mentals?) "Manhattan Skyline", "Night On Disco Mountain" (another classical mashup) and "Salsation"; Ralph MacDonald's frenzied "Calypso Breakdown" (which to us sounds like The People's Court theme music from the 80's); Kool & The Gang's "Open Sesame"; KC & The Sunshine Band's "Boogie Shoes"; Philly-soul legends MFSB's "K-Jee"; and everything culminating with a 10+ minute disco classic, "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps.

A great sweaty and somewhat sleazy record for a great sweaty and somewhat sleazy evening!

RATING: 4.5 ways of killing yourself without killing yourself out of 5

Bee Gees - "Massachusetts" (1967)

Even though its freezing outside and a light snow covers the ground, Baseball season starts tomorrow!

To celebrate, The Brothers Gibb are providing some ear-candy for our listening pleasure. Ridiculously sweet!

Go Sawx!

Bee Gees - "Run To Me" (1972)

Hello Friends,

Here's a great early Bee Gees song from 1972's To Whom It May Concern.

Featuring Barry Gibb (aka 'the hunky' one) on lead vocals.

Enjoy!

To Whom It May Concern

Bee Gees - "To Whom It May Concern" (1972) - Atco Records

Hello Friends,

To Whom It May Concern is the tenth release by the great Bee Gees.  It would be one of their last LPs to prominently feature their folk rock roots with their whimsical, brotherly harmonies and Beatles-influenced melodies.  

In just two short years, the band would head in a far more successful R&B/funk/disco direction and they would leave their psychedelic-tinged folky roots behind.  On this record they sound more like Donovan or late period Monkees than they do Donna Summer!

We absolutely love this album.  Thirteen songs without a stinker among them!  Lots of hooks, great vocals and acoustic guitars.

Side One is home the single, "Run To Me", "We Lost The Road", "Never Been Alone", the astounding, "Paper Mache, Cabbages & Kings", "I Can Bring Love", "I Held A Party" and the so-soulful it hurts, "Please Don't Turn Out the Lights".

Side Two drops off a little but still keeps things interesting balancing the whimsy and the melancholy with "Sea of Smiling Faces", the T-Rexy "Bad Bad Dreams", the McCartney-ish "You Know Its For You", the achingly sappy but still beautiful-sounding "Alive", the sleazy-sounding "Road to Alaska" & the rather amazing psych-prog closer, "Sweet Song of Summer" (featuring Maurice playing some druggy moog!)

Good, solid production (if not a little over the top) by the band and Robert Stigwood with some nice string arrangements sprinkled throughout.  If anything the record sounds a little too sweet.  These songs all sound pretty great, but if they were a little more acoustic, a little more stripped down, this album would probably be an all-time classic! 

RATING: 4 Jimmy had a bomb and the bomb went bang Jimmy was everywhere out of 5