I say let the sun catch you crying. You have control over your own life. As long as you’re not impinging on someone else’s rights or happiness, do it. Cry.
The late Gerard Marsden of Gerry and The Pacemakers was born on this date in 1942. A couple of his group’s tunes are on this week’s playlist.
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The Bee Gees wrote “How Deep Is Your Love” at the Château d’Hérouville in France, where Chopin had stayed and played piano, though Chopin wasn’t involved in the recording of the song, as he was busy being dead. The song was intended for Yvonne Elliman, but Robert Stigwood, the producer of Saturday Night Fever, said “No, no way. Uh uh. Forget it.” The Gibb brothers took their song to number one, the first of 7034 number one hits (give or take) from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. HDIYL spent 17 weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, a record at that time.
Bee Gee Barry Gibb was born on this date in 1946. A half dozen of his group’s hits are included on today’s playlist.
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The Captain & Tennille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together” was a huge hit in 1975, but not everyone agreed with its message. Ian Curtis, the leader of Joy Division and a newlywed in 1975, was one of them. His composition “Love Will Tear Us Apart” could be seen as a response to the cheerful song, expressing his disillusionment with love and life. He took his own life in 1980, a month before his song was released as a single, on its way to becoming a classic.
Daryl Dragon, better known as The Captain, a nickname given to him by The Beach Boys’ Mike Love, was born on this date in 1942. A few of his duo’s hits are included on today’s playlist.
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Today’s playlist celebrates Hanukkah; the December 21 birthdays of The Beach Boys’ Carl Wilson, Frank Zappa, Betty Wright, Carla Thomas, Nick Gilder, Paul & Paula’s Ray Hildebrand, Gwen McCrae, Fuel’s Brett Scallions, Black Box Recorder’s Sarah Nixey, and Jane Fonda; and the December 22 birthdays of Bee Gees’ Robin and Maurice Gibb; Cheap Trick’ Rick Nielsen, Vanessa Paradis, Meghan Trainor, 2 Live Crew’s Luke Campbell, Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross, Latto, and Alvin Robinson.
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Today’s playlist celebrates the September 1 birthdays of Archie Bell, Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb, Conway Twitty, Alton Ellis, Gloria Estefan, Lily Tomlin, The Noisettes, and Steven Grossman; and the September 2 birthdays of Billy Preston, Joe Simon, Bobby Purify, Chris Knox, Eleanor Friedberger, Zedd, King Missile’s John S. Hall, K-Ci, and Victor Lundberg.
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Back when I handled the licensing for the Bee Gees, they turned down requests to be included on disco compilations. They rejected the disco label, as it limited them. Fair enough. As performers the trio placed 42 entries on the Billboard Hot 100. Do you know how many entries they placed on Billboard’s Disco chart? Three. “You Should Be Dancing” went to number one on that chart, “Tragedy” peaked at number 22, and the three new uptempo songs they recorded for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack – “Stayin’ Alive,” “Night Fever” and “More Than a Woman” – constituted one entry, which peaked at number three. It’s the association with Saturday Night Fever,a movie where much of the action takes place at a disco, that saddled them with the disco label. That said, those five disco songs are nothing to be ashamed of. All are great. Today’s playlist spotlights their work in and outside of the disco genre, and it includes extracurricular production and songwriting activities one or more of the guys did for other acts.
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