21. Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack by The Bee Gees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_izvAbhExY&list=OLAK5uy_k2P31OPRADjYdtzYiDjFmk5Q5wxGIYm_U
While there are a variety of artists on the album, most of them were previously released songs that got included in the movie. But it was the new songs by the Bee Gees that really made this album a true disco juggernaut. Two of the Bee Gees songs on the album had been previously released--"Jive Talkin'" and "You Should Be Dancin'." But they wrote five new songs for the album, all of which became major hits, including:
- Stayin' Alive
- How Deep Is Your Love (one of my Top 200 songs)
- Night Fever
- More Than a Woman
- If I Can't Have You -- performed by Yvonne Eliman
Fun Fact: John Travolta wasn't dancing to the Bee Gees during the filming of the movie. He was dancing to...you guessed it...Boz Scaggs. But the record company wouldn't license the Boz Scaggs music because they wanted to hold on to it for another disco movie. Bad move. So the Bee Gees were brought in AFTER the film was shot, and they made sure that the music beats of their songs matched that of the Boz Scaggs songs that were being danced to in the movie.
This soundtrack won the Gramm for Album of the Year, and it's the second-best selling movie soundtrack album of all time. (The Bodyguard soundtrack overtook it.) But as good as the album was, it could have been better. The Bee Gees wrote other songs for it that didn't get included, so they gave them to others to record. "Emotion" got recorded by Samantha Sang with Barry Gibb singing backup vocals. And little brother Andy Gibb recorded "(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away."
There are some other fun disco songs to listen to on this album, including "A 5th of Beethoven," "Disco Inferno," and "Boogie Shoes"--a B-side song for K.C. and the Sunshine Band that found new life when it got included on this album and got rereleased as a single. There are a handful of other instrumental disco songs that might work well as elevator music, but nothing so good that it deserves repeated listening. Nope. It's the Bee Gees songs that are the main attraction of this album, and it's because of the way that those songs trigger memories of that sixth grade year--playing fear-free at recess because all the bullies had moved on and we were at the top of the food chain, me and Sheldon getting in trouble for wearing bandanas and then stealing them back from the principal's office during the night of the school fair, riding the motorcycle on the farm for hours after school until it was time to watch "Wonder Woman" and "The Incredible Hulk." There just aren't too many albums that can conjure up the feelings and memories of that wonderful time for me anymore, but this one always delivers.
Nardo
#21: Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack. The other day I was sorting laundry after the kids had gone to bed whilst listening to this album. (You’d be amazed how much time I’ve spent listening to Nardo’s Top 60 albums whilst sorting and/or folding laundry.) My wife walks in during the song “Calypso Breakdown” and says, “What are you listening to? I thought it was a weird and really long ring tone.”
ReplyDeleteSo, there you have it. You can’t just easily dismiss the non-Bee Gees songs as if they don’t exist. They also could be really long ring tones. “Open Sesame” sounds like a song from a Shaquille O’Neal movie. “Night On Disco Mountain” could be from a “Bugs Bunny” cartoon featuring John Travolta as Elmer Fudd. And “Manhattan Skyline” sounds like the theme from a 1970’s detective show, like maybe “Bronk!” starring Jack Palance as Detective Lieutenant Alex Bronkov (also known as Bronk.)
Of course, it is the Bee Gees songs that carry this album, and they’re some excellent songs. My personal favorite from them is “You Should Be Dancing,” but “Stayin’ Alive,” “Jive Talkin’,” and “Night Fever” aren’t far behind. Yes, I prefer the up tempo songs to the slower “How Deep Is Your Love,” and “More Than a Woman,” but that’s not to say they aren’t good songs, too.
And, let’s not forget “A Fifth of Beethoven,” “Boogie Shoes,” and “Disco Inferno,” which all disco down delightfully.
But, I find it hard to believe that you listened to all four sides of this double album with any frequency. It could clearly (and fairly easily) been a single album, with just the Bee Gees songs and the three other hits mentioned in the previous paragraph, and I think everyone would have been fine with that, with the noted exceptions of Shaq, Bronk, and those in need of really long calypso ringtones.