Hello, one and all and welcome to a new and improved Top Five!
So, we're still in January, but I figured I'd jump the gun and give you all the "time machine" treatment a little early. As "Saturday Night Fever" still reigned supreme at the box-office; the Brothers Gibb, better known to all of us as the Bee Gees, continued their invincible reign on the chart throne with their fifth number one overall, the unsanctioned theme to the John Travolta movie, "Stayin' Alive." The disco anthem reigned atop the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. The three brothers, Barry, Robin and Maurice were originally from Manchester, UK; but reared in Australia and had their first chart inception with the 1967 hit song: "New York Mining Disaster 1941". While their initial sound was more folksy and psychedelic rock-oriented; by 1974, they retooled their sound to include funk, R&B and disco - a sound that would also create a backlash after the genre was met with disdain and scorn and rock, metal and new wave began to dominate the music charts. Still, between 1975 to 1979, any Gibb song (including theirs and their late younger brother, Andy) was an instant out-of-the-box smash and netted the brothers fame and fortune. Sadly, Maurice Gibb passed away in 2003 at age 53 of a blocked intestine. Robin Gibb passed away in 2012 at age 62 of, oddly enough, the same condition (colorectal cancer). Barry (often the lead singer) is still with us and it's unclear as to whether any new music is on the horizon. Still, the Bee Gees are considered one of the biggest rock acts of the era.
Stayin' Alive Bee Gees Video 1977
Rounding out the Top Five of February 4, 1978
L.A. native Randy Newman peaked at number two with his controversial novelty hit: "Short People", a song that generated outrage as it seemed to delineate a sense of overt prejudice towards "dwarfs" and "dwarfism", although years after the fact, it was obviously meant to be ironic and anti-prejudice.
Short People Randy Newman Video 1977
The L.A. five-man band Player moved to the number three spot with their soft rock/pop ballad, "Baby Come Back". Notable for having guitarist Ronn Moss, who was also a star on the CBS daytime drama, "The Bold & The Beautiful".
Player Baby Come Back Video 1977
The UK band Queen, led by the late, great singer, Freddy Mercury had a double-sided hit with "We Are The Champions", but its B-side: "We Will Rock You" began getting massive airplay and is now played in many sports arenas during sports events. That would be ditto the A-side.
The Gibb's youngest brother, Andy, was poised for his second number one in a row: "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water", which featured Eagles member, guitarist Joe Walsh playing a memorable guitar solo. Sadly, he too would pass away at the young age of 30 in 1988 of a coronary incident. Many attribute it to his years of drug and alcohol abuse.
Until next time...
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