"Non abbiamo esattamente ritirato il nome "Bee Gees" . Lo abbiamo fatto intendendolo un onore ed un rispetto per Maurice per essere parte di qualcosa nella cultura musicale che abbiamo raggiunto insieme. Io e Barry staremo insieme e faremo album e canzoni, ma alla fine la gente ci chiameranno sempre "Bee Gees", non possiamo cambiare questo. In rispetto di Maurice, i Bee Gees saranno sempre tre fratelli. Non potremo mai cambiare la concezione della gente su me e Barry insieme o io o Barry come solisti. Come Paul Mc Cartney sarà sempre un Beatle, noi saremo sempre i Bee Gees, ma per quanto ci riguarda i Bee Gees saranno sempre tre".
Altre parti interessanti dell'intervista riguardano i commenti di Robin sui remix presenti in "Greatest", ("preferisco sempre gli originali, ma in definitiva sono accettabili"), sulla considerazione dell'incertezza sulla possibilità che se i Bee Gees nascessero ora avrebbero successo ("non so, la scena musicale è diversa, oggi se hai una melodia, sei bianco e sei uomo, devi andare sul country... ") e su come crede che alla fine i Bee Gees saranno ricordati ("non tutti gli artisti di oggi hanno l'enorme catalogo di canzoni che noi abbiamo, credo che saremo ricordati come autori, anche per le canzoni che abbiamo scritto per altri artisti")
Da segnalare inoltre "30 years of fever", lo special sui Bee Gees e su "Greatest" realizzato dal sito di Microsoft, msn.com.
Contiene un'altra intervista con Robin, quasi tutta incentrata sulla ristampa del disco, ed una video-intervista, dove appare anche Barry (sebbene apparentemente l'intervista sembra realizzata in due diverse "location").
(Fonti: spinner.com e msn.com)
"Bee Gees' Robin Gibb Isn't Jive Talking"
The Bee Gees' Robin Gibb is one third of not only one of the most successful family acts in popular music but one of the most successful, period. From their early days in their native England to their childhood musical successes in Australia to their later status as world conquerors with their 15-times platinum 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack, the brothers Gibb -- Robin, his twin, Maurice, and their older brother, Barry -- have had more careers, and hit records, than any five bands. They've thrived with and excelled at Beatlesque orchestral rock, dance-floor-ready R&B and disco, and just about every pop style under the sun in their more than 40 years as music makers. Prolific songwriters that they have been, this doesn't even take into account the numerous hits other artists have had with their songs.
Robin was eager to talk about the historical significance of the 'Fever'-era songs compiled on the just-reissued and expanded double CD 'Bee Gees Greatest,' a collection of the group's R&B smashes. He also discusses the ego problems that led to a rift between him and his brothers in the late '60s, the idea of retiring the Bee Gees name after the 2003 death of Maurice and why country music is the last bastion for songwriters.
What was the thought behind reissuing your disco-era greatest hits with bonus material?
I think we -- me and Barry --were quite cautious about this at the very beginning when [the record label] approached us about re-releasing a landmark greatest-hits album. It's not all the hits, but it's a particular period, and it's actually a re-release of an album of the greatest hits with the original artwork, the original logo at the front, and the original photography, and the original track listing with bonus tracks. One of those bonus tracks, interestingly enough, is one of the songs that didn't make, by our own choice, the soundtrack, called 'Warm Ride.' Incidentally, none of the tracks that we wrote were written for 'Saturday Night Fever,' they were put to 'Saturday Night Fever.' We never saw the film till it came out. We'd recorded them in France and we had all of them -- 'Stayin' Alive,' 'How Deep Is Your Love,' 'Night Fever,' 'If I Can't Have You,' 'More Than a Woman' and 'Warm Ride' were all written -- and they came over to France, listened to them and took them away with them. It was just like we never heard another thing for another nine months, then it came out at Christmas of '77, and we know what happened after that.
Do you now appreciate just how musically revolutionary the 'Saturday Night Fever' movie was?
I think the interesting thing about 'Fever' is that is was never a musical in the true sense of the word in that nobody ever actually sang in the film, like they do in 'Grease.' And secondly, it was a contemporary film, it was about the time, it was a modern film about modern-day New York City and it went against the grain of normal, traditional musicals. So it was a new way of presenting music. Instead of having the actors sing, you have the soundtrack intertwined into the story and the plot, which is my favorite way. I mean, I like it when it is part of the narration of the film and the atmosphere rather than someone actually singing it. I'm not a great fan of actually watching people sing in musicals, but I am a great fan of writing the right music to the right film. And 'Fever' is still the best-selling soundtrack album worldwide.
But didn't the Bee Gees make the transition from a pop-rock sound to to a more R&B one well before 'Fever,' for example, with 'Jive Talkin''?
We were already going in that direction two years earlier with the 'Main Course' album. And then the following year we had the 'Children of the World' album, which produced 'You Should Be Dancing' and 'Love So Right,' which were Number One in black radio, as the previous ones were, so we were already in a black R&B direction. We never heard of the word "disco," by the way, that was something the radio created when the film took off. We knew nothing about that; we were doing R&B music.
Was there any skittishness about giving the songs over to the 'Fever' soundtrack?
We were very cautious about these songs being used in the film, because this was a very low-budget movie. It was a new actor, John Travolta, who had been in 'Welcome Back Kotter,' and we didn't really know that much about the film other than the fact it was low budget and there was not going to be a tremendous amount of promotion on it. There was no great anticipation of its success, certainly no prediction of it, and we were more concerned about, well, are we going to throw these songs away on a film that doesn't do anything?
What was it about those songs that made people embrace it in such a huge way?
Well, first of all, there's an emotion in the sound. The songs are very human songs. They're about human relationships, which are perennial. And, of course, the sound is very emotional, the harmonies are very emotional, and the sound of the harmony that we use, they do have a tendency to transcend and reach people in a way that affects them. I think there was a magical quality about that sound.
Even in the early days, there was a lot of R&B influence in songs like 'To Love Somebody' and 'I Can't See Nobody.'
That is correct. That's the way we grew up in Australia. We used to listen to a lot of commercial radio stations in Sydney that were playing a lot of this stuff, and I think if we had stayed in England we wouldn't have heard that because they weren't playing it. A lot of white acts, even in America, would not be exploring that kind of music in those days. We didn't feel any boundaries to that in Australia.
So many Bee Gees songs, even the ones that aren't overtly R&B-sounding, have been covered by black artists. What would you attribute that to?
Recently, we had 'Emotion' [covered] by Beyonce and Destiny's Child -- a lot of black artists have always been interested in our sound and our music and influenced by it. And a lot of black artists are influenced by these tracks today in their own way and they try to put their own stamp on the sound, they sample them and they are influenced by the harmonies. So much the style of the songs transcends the times that they're written in.
A couple of 'Fever' classics have been given the remix treatment for the album's re-release, like the Teddybears' remix of 'Stayin' Alive.' Are you happy with how they turned out?
I always like the originals, but we're living in a day and age where people like remixes. I suppose it's really an acquired taste. One person's gonna say, 'I like it,' another person's gonna say, 'Oh, I don't like that.' It's a mixed bag of emotion, really, but it's an acceptable thing.
You and your brothers have written songs for everyone from Barbara Streisand and Dionne Warwick to a duet for Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Do you wish you were more recognized for your songwriting?
I think it's an important thing to be songwriters. When Elton John was signed, he was writing songs, and I think there was a time, as the Beatles themselves were writing songs, when artists were writing their own songs and people were covering them. And also it was just good to write your own songs and to be first, not to copy people, to try and be original and set the pace rather than today where they copy what's gone on in the last forty years.
Your 1969 album 'Odessa' has been acknowledged as your masterpiece, but it also temporarily broke up the band. What do you recall about that record?
An adventurous album in a sense, because it was actually written not as a commercial album. It was done always as a theme, and it was suggested by [manager] Robert Stigwood to do something that was entirely different, and we knew it was going to be a hard sell, even by the standards of the time. But we wanted to do something that was entirely different and unusual, for a better word. But again it was all part of our evolvement; it was part of the writing development of where we were going. We were still teenagers at the time.
You were so young while you were having all this commercial and critical success -- did it go to your head?
Yeah, it did, but it didn't go to our head through money, because we didn't have much of that, 'cause we didn't own our own publishing or anything like that at the time. I think it had more to do with freedom of choice and we weren't listening to each other as much as we were going to much later. So it was an exciting time, but it was also a very tough time emotionally, coming to terms with this, you know, this ego.
Right after 'Odessa' you left the Bee Gees to record your solo album 'Robin's Reign' and your brothers carried on with 'Cucumber Castle.' How hard was it being and working without them?
It was a tough time, it was 18 months of writing songs that probably we would have written together or would have ended up on a Bee Gees album, and instead we put them out individually. And it was kind of tough emotionally when you want to work together and you've still got so much to do and you're still actually teenagers, you know, and we had 18 months of that where we had time apart. But I think it was probably necessary for what was to come later. 'Cause the first thing, as soon as we got back together, in one afternoon we wrote 'Lonely Days' and 'How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.' So it was productive, it was worth the 18 months off.
Am I to understand that with the passing away of your brother Maurice in 2003, you've retired the Bee Gees name?
We haven't exactly retired the Bee Gees name, we did it as an honor and respect for Maurice as being part of something in musical culture that we achieved together. Me and Barry will get together and make albums and make songs, but in the end people will always call us Bee Gees -- we can't change that. In respect for Maurice, the Bee Gees will always be the three brothers. We can never change people's concept of even me and Barry or even me or Barry alone. As Paul McCartney is a always going to be a Beatle, we're always going to be the Bee Gees, but as far as we're concerned the Bee Gees will always be us three.
Do you think if the Bee Gees were a new group they would be successful in today's music market?
I don't know -- because popular radio is not the same as it used to be. It wouldn't be just us: Where would Elton John be? Where would the Beatles be? Your starting point is where your advantage is. Today there isn't a platform for popular music and the popular song. And I think the popular song is always going to have a place in history, and the vehicles have been vastly reduced and music has been sidelined. What we have now is, if you have a melody and you're white and you're male -- you have to go to country.
How do you think the Bee Gees will be remembered?
I think the legacy of the Bee Gees -- you can't really enforce it, but I would like to think as a songwriter is the most important thing. And creating a huge catalog, which most people aren't really doing today. As being not just songwriters for ourselves but for other people.
(Sources: spinner.com and msn.com)
(p)Link
Storico
StampaLa classifica (ufficiale) di che trattasi è la "Top Pop Catalog Albums" chart pubblicata dalla rivista "Billboard.
Nella settimana di debutto nei negozi (dal 20 settembre), sono state vendute circa 20.000 copie di "Bee Gees Greatest", il che fa piazzare la ristampa dell'album dei Gibb al numero 35 delle vendite complessive degli album U.S.A., (riportate nella Billboard "Top Comprehensive Albums" chart), un risultato abbastanza sorprendente per una ristampa.
Negli States esistono tre esistono tre tipi di classifiche ufficiali per gli album (a prescindere da quelle per genere o la classifica delle vendite via internet):
1) "Top Pop Catalog Albums" (album e/o ristampe di album la cui pubblicazione originale risale a 2 anni oppure oltre)
2) "Billboard Top 200" (album con meno di 2 anni di vita)
3) "Top Comprehensive Albums" (classifica che comprende tutti gli album di tutti i generi e di qualsiasi data di pubblicazione.
Quest'ultima è disponibile solo a pagamento su "billboard.biz" (il sito destinato agli operatori del mercato discografico) o agli abbonati di Billboard e Billboard Business Bulletin, versioni online e cartacee.
(Fonte: Billboard.com. Un ringraziamento all'amico Juan Cristobal )
Bee Gees Greatest enters the US catalog chart at #1!
The new deluxe version of "Bee Gees Greatest " debuts at # 1 this week in the Billboard Top Pop Catalog Albums. According to Nielsen/Soundscan "Greatest" has sold this week 20.000 units, which means that in the Billboard "Top Comprehensive Albums" the Gibb album marks an impressive # 35.The Billboard "Top Comprehensive Albums" chart is similar to The Billboard 200, in that is tallies up the week's top-selling albums across all genres of music. However, it also includes catalog titles (those that are 2-years-old or older) and albums that are exclusive to one retailer.
Nel sito web "Corriere.it" (relativo al giornale "Corriere della Sera"), è presente il seguente sondaggio:
Qual è la canzone d'amore che preferite per creare "atmosfera"?
"How deep is your love" dei Bee Gees è attualmente in testa.
Per votare, cliccate su questo link.
(Fonte: corriere.it ) - Grazie a Paolo Recanati per la segnalazione!
Vote for the Bee Gees...
In the Corriere.it website (the website of the most popular Italian newspaper, the "Corriere della sera"), there is the following poll: Which love song do you prefer to create "atmosphere"?
"How deep is your love" by the Bee Gees is currently at #1...
If you want to vote for the Bee Gees, please follow this link
(Source: corriere.it )
Tutto esaurito e grandissimo successo per l'unico concerto bulgaro di Robin Gibb, che si è esibito al palazzo Nazionale della Cultura di Sofia davanti ad oltre 4.000 fans.
Dopo avere annullato due concerti a S. Pietroburgo (Russia), originariamente previsti per il 23 e 24 ottobre, Robin, (accompagnato dalla sua solita band, che annovera ben tre componenti bulgari, appunto) ha riscosso un enorme successo di pubblico ed una grande attenzione dei media bulgari, che lo hanno seguito in tutti i suoi movimenti nella capitale bulgara.
La scaletta del concerto, (all'interno del quale non sono mancati alcuni momenti di autentica commozione nostalgica) ha dedicato molto spazio, come al solito, al repertorio dei Bee Gees.
Il prossimo 30 novembre uscirà un singolo che vede duettare Robin Gibb e la boyband americana US5, gruppo popolarissimo sopratutto in Germania.
Si tratta della cover di "Too much heaven", grande successo dei Bee Gees del 1979.
Il video del singolo, (che verrà pubblicato inizialmente solo in Germania, Austria e Svizzera), è stato girato da Robin e dai US5 a Berlino in questi giorni, (approfittando del fatto che Robin era di ritorno dal trionfale concerto che ha tenuto a Sofia).
I diritti di questa canzone, come si sa, sono stati ceduti dai fratelli Gibb all'UNICEF, pertanto saranno destinati alla suddetta organizzazione benefica anche i proventi derivanti dalle vendite di questa ennesima cover dei successi dei Bee Gees che vede protagonista Robin.
E' infatti la terza volta che Robin si cimenta in una cover di una canzone (di cui è co-autore), originalmente cantata dai Bee Gees.
I precedenti sono "Wish you were here" inserita nel suo album solista "Magnet" nel 2004 (cover della canzone dei Bee Gees originalmente pubblicata in "One" nel 1989) e "My lover's prayer", cover della canzone originalmente inserita in "Still Waters" nel 1997, che Robin riprese nel 2004 in coppia con Alistair Griffin (UK # 5).
Questo senza considerare la cover di "Woman in Love" di Barbra Streisand (scritta in coppia con Barry), co-prodotta da Robin nel 2005 e portata nella top 5 UK dalla starlet Liz McClarnon.
E come non ricordare che oltre due terzi della playlist dei concerti di Robin riguarda il repertorio dei Bee Gees...
(Fonte: us5-fansite.de)
La storica soul band statunitense ha inserito una cover di "How deep is your love" dei Bee Gees nel disco "Back to front", uscito nei negozi la settimana scorsa.
L'album (il quarantottesimo in oltre 40 anni di carriera) contiene soltanto covers, ed insieme ai Bee Gees troviamo canzoni di alcuni mostri sacri della musica soul del calibro di Barry White, Sam and Dave, Staple Singers e George Benson.
I Temptations, di recente ammessi alla prestigiosa "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame", furono uno dei simboli più significativi del cosidetto "Motown" sound, dal nome della famosissima casa discografica che negli anni 60 e 70 sfornò una lunga striscia di singoli ed album soul di grandissimo successo.
Fra i successi più importanti si ricordano "My Girl","Get Ready” e "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)".
Oggi 15 novembre 2007 è il nono "compleanno" di questo sito, che vide la luce esattamente alle ore 16,30 del 15 novembre 1998 
In nove anni il web si è rivoluzionato, tantissime cose sono cambiate.
La grandissima diffusione e le evoluzioni tecnologiche di questo formidabile strumento di comunicazione hanno reso molto più semplice la possibilità di offerta e fruizione di contenuti. Purtroppo è innegabile che si è moltiplicata anche la possibilità di ostacolare la fruizione dei contenuti (vedi spamming ed hackeraggi vari 
).
Dopo nove anni "Bee Gees Italy" è sempre qui, per cercare di rendere il giusto tributo ad una delle icone più prestigiose della musica pop degli ultimi 40 anni, i fratelli Gibb, ed a fare in modo che chi li segue (in Italia e nel mondo) possa trovare una "casa comune" virtuale (che poi certe volte si trasforma in reale, come quando ci incontriamo )
Come ogni anno ringrazio tutti i visitatori di "Bee Gees Italy" per l'interesse mostrato e per il loro supporto!
Enzo Lo Piccolo
"Bee Gees Italy" is nine!
Today, 15 November 2007, is the ninth "birthday" of this site, which was online for the first time exactly at 16.30 on 15 November 1998
In nine years, the web has revolutionized, many things have changed.
The great spread and technological developments of this formidable way of communication have made it much easier for the possibility of supply and use of content. Unfortunately, it is undeniable that has multiplied the possibility of impeding the access to the content (see spam and hackering )
After nine years "Bee Gees Italy is always here, to try to make the right tribute to one of the most important icons of pop music in the last 40 years, the brothers Gibb, and to ensure that those who loves them (in Italy and the world) can find a virtual "common home" (which sometimes becomes real, as when we meet)
Like every year I'm very happy to thank all visitors of "Bee Gees Italy" for their interest and for their support!
Enzo Lo Piccolo
Dopo ben 28 anni, i Bee Gees ritornano nelle classifiche dance a stelle e striscie.
Infatti uno dei numerosi remix di "If I can't have you" (inserito nella versione speciale di "Bee Gee Greatest") debutta al #50 nella USA "Hot Dance Club Play" chart.
Il commento della prestigiosa rivista "Billboard" spiega perchè i Gibb non siano da considerare stars della disco music: infatti è appena la quarta volta che nella loro carriera che i Bee Gees (come gruppo) entrano nelle classifiche dance USA. E' vero comunque che numerose canzoni scritte dai Gibb, cantate da altri artisti (Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Tavares, Yvonne Elliman, etc) hanno avuto un ottimo successo nelle chart dance.
Nel frattempo "Too much heaven" , (la cover della boyband U5 che vede una piccola partecipazione di Robin Gibb) debutta molto bene al #7 in Germania. Robin ha deciso di prendere parte ad uno show in Germania con gli U5 per effettuare ulteriore promozione del singolo.
Fonte: Billboard.com e "Words" mailing list. (Grazie a Juan Cristobal Guzman).
"The Bee Gees back in the US dance chart"
(Fred Bronson from Billboard) ANOTHER NOTABLE RETURN: Another famous trio returns to the Billboard charts this week, The Bee Gees are back on Hot Dance Club Play for the first time in 28 years. A remix of "If I Can't Have You" (Rhino) opens at No. 50.
This is only the fourth entry on this chart for the Bee Gees. "You Should Be Dancing" was a No. 1 hit in 1976. "Stayin' Alive," "Night Fever" and "More Than a Woman" from the soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" shared the No. 3 spot in 1978 and "Tragedy" stopped at No. 22 in 1979.
-------------------------------------
And in the meantime the cover of "Too much heaven" by US5 featuring Robin Gibb enters at #7 in the German Official Chart... 
Durante un'intervista rilasciata alla BBC (e come confermato ad alcuni fans presenti), Robin sta per iniziare a lavorare alla realizzazione di un nuovo album solista, che sarà pubblicato nella primavera del 2008. L'album conterrà esclusivamente materiale nuovo.
Non è noto se saranno canzoni scritte da Robin o comunque con la sua collaborazione.
Nel corso della stessa intervista Robin ha dichiarato che è in realizzazione un musical a Broadway sulla musica dei Bee Gees.
La settimana scorsa Robin ha incontrato Barry a Miami, ed a quanto pare i due fratelli hanno parlato proprio di questo progetto.
Robin ha registrato alcune interviste promozionali in Gran Bretagna in occasione del trentennale di "Saturday Night Fever", di cui è in distribuzione un DVD con contenuti extra (in UK è stato messo in vendita di recente).
In una di queste interviste (a BBC News), robin ha lasciato di sasso gli increduli giornalisti dichiarando di non avere mai visto (in 30 anni) l'intero famoso film con Travolta...
Ecco il clip dell'intervista:
news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7140000/newsid_7145600/7145656.stm
Fonti: BBC, Words Mailing List e robingibb.com
"Bee Gee never caught 'Fever' and is working for a new solo set"
Bee Gee Robin Gibb has admitted to the BBC that he has never watched all of Saturday Night Fever, the iconic film for which his band wrote the soundtrack.
news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7140000/newsid_7145600/7145656.stm
Robin Gibb has stated that he's working on a new solo album, due in spring 2008. The set will include only brand new material (it's unknown if written or co-written bay Robin)
Robin Gibb festeggia oggi il suo 58esimo compleanno.
A lui tutti gli auguri dei vistatori di "Bee Gees Italy" e di tutti i fans italiani.
Robin festeggia anche con il suo nuovo sito ufficiale, in linea dal 20.12.2007, che contiene notizie, foto e tanto materiale.
Date un'occhiata:
www.robingibb.com
"Robin: birthday and the brand new official site"
Robin Gibb is 58 today. Happy birthday to him from all the visitors of Bee Gees Italy and from all the Italian fans.
Let's congratulate him also for his brand new official site, with a lot of interesting features. Take a look:
www.robingibb.com
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